Florida Senate - 2024 SB 1292
By Senator Davis
5-00980-24 20241292__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Florida Medical School
3 Scholarship and Grant Program; amending s. 1009.70,
4 F.S.; revising the authorized use of funds from the
5 Florida Education Fund; revising the responsibilities
6 of the Board of Directors of the Florida Education
7 Fund; establishing the Florida Medical School
8 Scholarship and Grant Program within the fund for
9 specified purposes; requiring that the fund award
10 scholarships to certain minority students enrolled in
11 specified schools or programs; providing requirements
12 for such scholarships; authorizing that the fund
13 provide grants to certain postsecondary educational
14 institutions or nonprofit organizations to create and
15 implement nontraditional mentoring services or support
16 programs for specified purposes; providing an
17 appropriation; providing an effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Subsections (6) and (7) of section 1009.70,
22 Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (7) and (8),
23 respectively, paragraph (b) of subsection (2), paragraph (c) of
24 subsection (3), and subsection (5) are amended, and a new
25 subsection (6) is added to that section, to read:
26 1009.70 Florida Education Fund.—
27 (2)
28 (b) The Legislature may appropriate funds to the Florida
29 Education Fund to be used for scholarships and grants under
30 subsections subsection (5) and (6). Funds appropriated to the
31 Florida Education Fund shall be matched on a dollar-for-dollar
32 basis by funds contributed from private sources, including, but
33 not limited to, income earned from investment returns on the
34 Florida Education Fund Endowment, the value of monetary and in
35 kind contributions to the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program,
36 the value of services provided by McKnight Doctoral Fellows to
37 Florida not-for-profit corporations and public and nonpublic
38 colleges and universities, and the value of tuition and fees
39 paid on behalf of McKnight Doctoral Fellows from funds not
40 appropriated to the Florida Education Fund. The Florida
41 Education Fund shall certify to the Department of Education’s
42 Office of Student Financial Assistance the estimated value of
43 such matching amounts before prior to the disbursement of the
44 appropriation and shall certify to the Legislature the actual
45 value of such matching amounts as of June 30 each year. Only new
46 donations above the certified prior year base shall be
47 calculated for state matching funds. The department shall
48 provide the format for which the Florida Education Fund shall
49 comply with the reporting requirements of this paragraph.
50 (3) The Florida Education Fund shall use the income of the
51 fund to provide for programs which seek to:
52 (c) Increase the representation of minorities in faculty
53 and administrative positions in higher education and medical
54 fields in this state and to provide more highly educated
55 minority leadership in business and professional enterprises in
56 this state.
57 (5) The Board of Directors of the Florida Education Fund
58 shall review and evaluate initial programs created by the
59 McKnight Foundation and continue funding the McKnight Doctoral
60 Fellowship Program and the McKnight Junior Faculty Fellowship
61 Program if the evaluations are positive, shall fund the Florida
62 Medical School Scholarship and Grant Program under subsection
63 (6), and the board shall identify, initiate, and fund new and
64 creative programs and monitor, review, and evaluate those
65 programs. The purpose of this commitment is to broaden the
66 participation and funding potential for further significant
67 support of higher education in this state. In addition, the
68 board shall:
69 (a) Hold such meetings as are necessary to implement this
70 section.
71 (b) Select a chairperson annually.
72 (c) Adopt and use an official seal in the authentication of
73 its acts.
74 (d) Make rules for its own government.
75 (e) Administer this section, including creating a budget
76 for the administration of the Florida Medical School Scholarship
77 and Grant Program.
78 (f) Appoint an executive director to serve at its pleasure
79 and perform all duties assigned by the board. The executive
80 director shall be the chief administrative officer and agent of
81 the board.
82 (g) Maintain a record of its proceedings.
83 (h) Delegate to the chairperson of the board the
84 responsibility for signing final orders.
85 (i) Utilize existing higher education organizations,
86 associations, and agencies to carry out its educational programs
87 and purposes with minimal staff employment.
88 (j) Be empowered to enter into contracts with the Federal
89 Government, state agencies, or individuals.
90 (k) Receive bequests, gifts, grants, donations, and other
91 valued goods and services. Such bequests and gifts shall be used
92 only for the purpose or purposes stated by the donor.
93 (6)(a) There is established the Florida Medical School
94 Scholarship and Grant Program to be administered by the Florida
95 Education Fund to provide scholarships to black and Hispanic
96 students enrolled in an accredited medical school or an approved
97 physician assistant program in this state and to create
98 nontraditional mentoring services or support programs for such
99 students.
100 (b) The Florida Education Fund shall award scholarships to
101 black and Hispanic students who are United States citizens and
102 are currently enrolled in an accredited medical school or an
103 approved physician assistant program in this state which will
104 lead to licensure under chapter 458 or chapter 459. The
105 scholarship amount shall be determined by the fund. Priority
106 must be given to students who are enrolled in an accredited
107 medical school in this state and who graduated from a high
108 school in this state in the last 10 years or graduated from a
109 public or private postsecondary educational institution in this
110 state in the last 5 years. The fund may establish additional
111 eligibility criteria.
112 (c) The Florida Education Fund may award grants to public
113 or private postsecondary educational institutions or nonprofit
114 organizations under s. 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal
115 Revenue Code to create and implement nontraditional mentoring
116 services or support programs to assist minority students and
117 students of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups who are
118 interested in pursuing careers that require a professional
119 degree.
120 Section 2. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, and each fiscal
121 year thereafter, the sum of $750,000 in recurring funds is
122 appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Florida
123 Education Fund for the purpose of implementing the Florida
124 Medical School Scholarship and Grant Program.
125 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.