HB 0137A 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Florida Faith-Based Initiative;
3	creating the Florida Families Faith-Based Initiative and
4	providing for administration by the Florida Agricultural
5	and Mechanical University; providing a definition;
6	providing duties; prohibiting imposition of fees for
7	certain purposes; requiring a report; providing for open
8	records and meetings; providing for construction of the
9	act in pari materia with laws enacted during the 2003
10	Regular Session of the Legislature; providing an
11	effective date.
12
13	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15	Section 1. Florida Faith-Based Initiative.--
16	(1) CREATION.--The Florida Families Faith-Based Institute
17	is created at and shall be administered by the Florida
18	Agricultural and Mechanical University. The Legislature
19	determines that public policy dictates that the Florida Families
20	Faith-Based Institute operate in the most open and accessible
21	manner consistent with its public purpose. To this end, the
22	Legislature specifically declares that the Florida Families
23	Faith-Based Institute is subject to the provisions of chapter
24	119, Florida Statutes, relating to public records and those
25	provisions of chapter 286, Florida Statutes, relating to public
26	meetings and records.
27	(2) DEFINITION.--“Faith-based organization” means an
28	organization which is owned by, operated by, or affiliated with
29	a religious entity and whose primary purpose is providing social
30	services and assistance to individuals in need of its services,
31	without regard to the race or religion of the person in need of
32	such services.
33	(3) DUTIES.--The Florida Families Faith-Based Institute
34	shall:
35	(a) Examine barriers to state-funded or federally funded
36	provision of services by faith-based organizations.
37	(b) Provide programmatic and managerial training and
38	technical assistance to faith-based organizations seeking or
39	using state or federal funds to provide services. Such training
40	and technical assistance shall focus on critical areas of faith-
41	based social services management, including community asset-
42	based program development, research-based "best program
43	practices," resource development for nonstate funding sources,
44	and financial management and budgeting.
45	(c) Establish a statewide resource center and
46	clearinghouse for information related to technical assistance
47	and training resources for faith-based and community-based
48	organizations.
49	(d) Serve, as required, as a fiscal intermediary for
50	faith-based and community-based organizations receiving state
51	funding.
52	(e) To the maximum extent possible, leverage state funding
53	for the initiative with any federal funding that the initiative
54	may receive to support similar faith-based activities.
55	(f) Provide specific goals and objective criteria to
56	measure, evaluate, and document the quality and cost of services
57	provided by faith-based organizations with state or federal
58	funds.
59	(g) Serve as liaison to the Centers for Faith-Based and
60	Community Initiatives established within the United States
61	Department of Justice, United States Department of Health and
62	Human Services, United States Department of Education, United
63	States Department of Labor, and United States Department of
64	Housing and Urban Development to work in tandem with the White
65	House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
66
67	The Florida Families Faith-Based Institute shall perform its
68	duties without imposing fees on faith-based organizations
69	receiving its assistance.
70	(4) REPORT.--By January 1 of each year, the institute
71	shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and
72	the Speaker of the House of Representatives an annual report,
73	which shall describe the activities of the institute in
74	fulfilling its duties, describe expenditures of funds by the
75	institute, and recommend to the President of the Senate and the
76	Speaker of the House of Representatives changes to the Florida
77	Statutes necessary to fulfill its purposes and duties.
78	Section 2. If any law amended by this act was also amended
79	by a law enacted at the 2003 Regular Session of the Legislature,
80	such laws shall be construed as if they had been enacted at the
81	same session of the Legislature, and full effect shall be given
82	to each if possible.
83	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.