Florida Senate - 2026                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 7040
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì9055720Î905572                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                  Floor: WD            .                                
             03/13/2026 12:58 PM       .                                
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       Senator Hooper moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to House Amendment (520451) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete lines 6 - 65
    5  and insert:
    6  within the Executive Office of the Governor, which terminated
    7  pursuant to s. 19(f), Article III of the State Constitution on
    8  February 17, 2026, is re-created within the Executive Office of
    9  the Governor.
   10         Section 2. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 252.3711,
   11  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   12         252.3711 Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund.—
   13         (2) The fund is established for use as a depository for
   14  moneys specifically transferred or appropriated to the fund.
   15         (a) The moneys deposited in the fund are available as a
   16  primary funding source for the Governor for purposes of
   17  preparing or responding to a disaster declared by the Governor
   18  as a state of emergency that exceeds regularly appropriated
   19  funding sources.
   20         (b)The moneys in the fund may not be invested as provided
   21  in s. 17.61 but must be retained in the fund for investment with
   22  interest appropriated to the General Revenue Fund as provided in
   23  s. 17.57.
   24         (c)The moneys received as federal reimbursements of state
   25  emergency expenditures may not be directly deposited in the
   26  fund.
   27         (3) In accordance with s. 19(f)(2), Art. III of the State
   28  Constitution, The Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund
   29  shall, unless terminated sooner, be terminated July 1, 2028 4
   30  years after the effective date of this act. Before its scheduled
   31  termination, the fund shall be reviewed as provided in s.
   32  215.3206(1) and (2).
   33         Section 3. (1) The unexpended balance of funds in the
   34  Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund shall immediately
   35  revert to the General Revenue Fund. The Chief Financial Officer
   36  shall transfer funds in an amount equal to the sum transferred
   37  to the General Revenue Fund pursuant to this subsection to the
   38  Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund from the General
   39  Revenue Fund for the purpose of preparing or responding to a
   40  disaster declared by the Governor as a state of emergency as
   41  provided in s. 252.3711, Florida Statutes.
   42         (2) The Chief Financial Officer shall transfer an
   43  additional $250 million from the General Revenue Fund to the
   44  Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, as authorized by s.
   45  252.3711, Florida Statutes.
   46         (3) All expenditures and payments made from the Emergency
   47  Preparedness and Response Fund between the termination of the
   48  trust fund and the effective date of this act are hereby
   49  ratified and deemed approved. Any encumbrance, debt, or
   50  obligation incurred between the termination of the Emergency
   51  Preparedness and Response Fund and the effective date of this
   52  act is hereby ratified and deemed approved and may be paid from
   53  funds available in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund.
   54  
   55  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   56  And the title is amended as follows:
   57         Delete lines 77 - 82
   58  and insert:
   59         252.3711, F.S.; providing that moneys in the Emergency
   60         Preparedness and Response Fund may not be invested in
   61         a specified manner but must be retained in the fund
   62         for investment with interest appropriated to the
   63         General Revenue Fund; prohibiting moneys received as
   64         federal reimbursement of certain state expenditures
   65         from being directly deposited in the fund; providing
   66         for the termination of the fund on a specified date;
   67         providing that certain unexpended funds immediately
   68         revert to the General Revenue Fund; requiring the
   69         Chief Financial Officer to transfer a certain amount
   70         of funds to the Emergency Preparedness and Response
   71         Fund from the General Revenue Fund for specified
   72         purposes; requiring the Chief Financial Officer to
   73         transfer a specified amount from the General Revenue
   74         Fund to the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund;
   75         ratifying certain expenditures, payments,
   76         encumbrances, debts, and obligations and deeming them
   77         approved; providing for retroactive application;
   78         providing