Bill Text: FL S1094 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Architect Education Minority Assistance Program

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2022-03-14 - Died in Appropriations [S1094 Detail]

Download: Florida-2022-S1094-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 1094
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       39-00765A-22                                          20221094__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Architect Education Minority
    3         Assistance Program; creating s. 481.2095, F.S.;
    4         creating the program within the Department of Business
    5         and Professional Regulation; providing a purpose for
    6         the program; requiring the Architect Education
    7         Minority Assistance Advisory Council to assist the
    8         Board of Architecture and Interior Design with
    9         administering the program; providing funding
   10         requirements for scholarships provided under the
   11         program; requiring that funds be deposited into a
   12         specified account in the Professional Regulation Trust
   13         Fund; capping the amount of funds that the department
   14         may spend annually on the program; requiring that
   15         funds for scholarships be disbursed twice each year;
   16         authorizing the Chief Financial Officer to invest
   17         funds in the program account in a specified manner;
   18         requiring that all earned interest from such
   19         investments be credited to the program account;
   20         requiring the board to adopt rules; specifying that
   21         certain determinations made by the board are not
   22         agency actions for the purposes of the Administrative
   23         Procedure Act; prohibiting a person or his or her
   24         agent from knowingly filing documents with the board
   25         which contain false information or material
   26         misstatements of fact; providing criminal penalties;
   27         creating the council within the department; providing
   28         requirements for council membership; specifying that
   29         the council membership of a member with certain
   30         absences is void; requiring council members to serve
   31         without compensation; providing an exception;
   32         providing an effective date.
   33          
   34  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   35  
   36         Section 1. Section 481.2095, Florida Statutes, is created
   37  to read:
   38         481.2095 The Architect Education Minority Assistance
   39  Program; Architect Education Minority Assistance Advisory
   40  Council.—
   41         (1) The Architect Education Minority Assistance Program is
   42  created within the department for the purpose of providing
   43  scholarships to minority persons as defined in s. 288.703 who
   44  are residents of this state and who are students enrolled in
   45  their fifth year of an architectural education program
   46  accredited by the National Architecture Accrediting Board at an
   47  institution in this state. The Architect Education Minority
   48  Assistance Advisory Council created in subsection (6) shall
   49  assist the board in administering the program.
   50         (2) All funds used to provide scholarships under the
   51  program must be derived from a portion of existing license fees
   52  established under s. 481.207, not to exceed $10 per license, and
   53  must be deposited into the Professional Regulation Trust Fund in
   54  a separate account maintained for that purpose. The department
   55  may spend up to $200,000 per year from such account for the
   56  program but may not allocate overhead charges to the account.
   57  Funds for scholarships must be disbursed twice each year as
   58  recommended by the advisory council and approved by the board,
   59  based on eligibility criteria adopted by board rule and a
   60  comparative evaluation of all applicants. The Chief Financial
   61  Officer may invest funds in the program account, subject to the
   62  same limitations that apply to the investment of other state
   63  funds, and all interest earned thereon must be credited to the
   64  program account.
   65         (3) The board shall adopt rules to administer the program,
   66  including rules relating to the following:
   67         (a) Eligibility criteria for receipt of a scholarship,
   68  which, at a minimum, must include the following factors:
   69         1. Financial need;
   70         2. Status as a minority person as defined in s. 288.703;
   71  and
   72         3. Scholastic ability and performance.
   73         (b) Scholarship application procedures.
   74         (c) Scholarship amounts, the timeframe for payments or
   75  partial payments, and criteria governing how scholarship funds
   76  may be spent by the recipient.
   77         (d) The total amount of scholarship funds which can be
   78  awarded each year.
   79         (e) The minimum balance that must be maintained in the
   80  program account.
   81         (4) Determinations made by the board regarding recipients
   82  of scholarship funds are not agency actions for purposes of
   83  chapter 120.
   84         (5) A person or his or her agent may not knowingly file
   85  with the board any notice, statement, or other document that is
   86  false or that contains any material misstatement of fact. A
   87  person who violates this subsection commits a misdemeanor of the
   88  second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
   89  775.083.
   90         (6) The Architect Education Minority Assistance Advisory
   91  Council, an advisory council as defined in s. 20.03(7), is
   92  created within the department to assist the board in
   93  administering the program. Except as otherwise provided in this
   94  section, the advisory council shall operate in a manner
   95  consistent with s. 20.052. The council membership must be
   96  diverse and representative of minority persons as defined in s.
   97  288.703.
   98         (a) The council shall consist of five architects licensed
   99  under this chapter appointed by the board. Of the five council
  100  members, one must be a board member, who shall serve as chair of
  101  the council; two must be representatives of the American
  102  Institute of Architects, Florida Section; one must be a
  103  representative of the National Organization of Minority
  104  Architects; and one must be appointed as a member-at-large. At
  105  least one member of the council must be a woman.
  106         (b) The board shall determine the terms for initial
  107  appointments, which must be staggered, and appointments
  108  thereafter.
  109         (c) Any vacancy on the council must be filled in the same
  110  manner as the initial appointment. Any member appointed to fill
  111  a vacancy of an unexpired term shall be appointed for the
  112  remainder of that term.
  113         (d) The council membership of any member who has three
  114  consecutive absences or absences constituting 50 percent or more
  115  of the council’s meetings within any 12-month period is void and
  116  the member’s position is deemed vacant.
  117         (e) Council members shall serve without compensation, and
  118  any necessary and actual expenses incurred by a member while
  119  engaged in the business of the council must be borne by such
  120  member or by the organization or agency such member represents.
  121  However, a board member who serves as a member of the council
  122  must be compensated in accordance with ss. 112.061 and
  123  455.207(4).
  124         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.