| 1 | Representative Gelber offered the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Amendment (with directory and title amendments) |
| 4 | Remove lines 34-92 and insert: |
| 5 | 220.187 Credits for contributions to nonprofit |
| 6 | scholarship-funding organizations and to public schools.-- |
| 7 | (1) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.-- |
| 8 | (a) The Legislature finds that: |
| 9 | 1. It has the inherent power to determine subjects of |
| 10 | taxation for general or particular public purposes. |
| 11 | 2. Expanding educational opportunities and improving the |
| 12 | quality of educational services within the state are valid |
| 13 | public purposes that the Legislature may promote using its |
| 14 | sovereign power to determine subjects of taxation and exemptions |
| 15 | from taxation. |
| 16 | 3. Ensuring that all parents, regardless of means, may |
| 17 | exercise and enjoy their basic right to educate their children |
| 18 | as they see fit is a valid public purpose that the Legislature |
| 19 | may promote using its sovereign power to determine subjects of |
| 20 | taxation and exemptions from taxation. |
| 21 | 4. Expanded educational opportunities and the healthy |
| 22 | competition they promote are critical to improving the quality |
| 23 | of education in the state and to ensuring that all children |
| 24 | receive the high-quality education to which they are entitled. |
| 25 | 5. Providing additional resources to public schools to be |
| 26 | used to provide special assistance, tutoring, mentoring, and |
| 27 | remediation services to eligible students furthers the paramount |
| 28 | duty of the state to provide all students with a high quality |
| 29 | education as required by s. 1, Art. IX of the State |
| 30 | Constitution. |
| 31 | (b) The purpose of this section is to: |
| 32 | 1.(a) Enable taxpayers to make Encourage private, |
| 33 | voluntary contributions to nonprofit scholarship-funding |
| 34 | organizations in order to promote the general welfare. |
| 35 | 2. Provide taxpayers who wish to help parents with limited |
| 36 | resources exercise their basic right to educate their children |
| 37 | as they see fit with a means to do so. |
| 38 | 3.(b) Promote the general welfare by expanding Expand |
| 39 | educational opportunities for children of families that have |
| 40 | limited financial resources. |
| 41 | 4.(c) Enable children in this state to achieve a greater |
| 42 | level of excellence in their education. |
| 43 | 5. Improve the quality of education in this state, both by |
| 44 | expanding educational opportunities for children and by creating |
| 45 | incentives for schools to achieve excellence. |
| 46 | (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term: |
| 47 | (b) "Eligible contribution" means a monetary contribution |
| 48 | from a taxpayer, subject to the restrictions provided in this |
| 49 | section, to an eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding |
| 50 | organization or to a public school, earmarked to provide special |
| 51 | assistance, tutoring, mentoring and remediation services to |
| 52 | eligible students meeting the criteria in paragraph (3) until |
| 53 | such students achieve grade-level performance at the public |
| 54 | school which the student is attending. The taxpayer making the |
| 55 | contribution may not designate a specific child as the |
| 56 | beneficiary of the contribution. |
| 57 | (3) PROGRAM; SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--The Corporate |
| 58 | Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program is established. A student |
| 59 | is eligible for a corporate income tax credit scholarship if the |
| 60 | student qualifies for free or reduced-price school lunches under |
| 61 | the National School Lunch Act and: |
| 62 | (a) Was counted as a full-time equivalent student during |
| 63 | the previous state fiscal year for purposes of state per-student |
| 64 | funding; |
| 65 | (b) Received a scholarship from an eligible nonprofit |
| 66 | scholarship-funding organization or from the State of Florida |
| 67 | during the previous school year; or |
| 68 | (c) Is eligible to enter kindergarten or first grade. |
| 69 |
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| 70 | Contingent upon available funds, a student may continue in the |
| 71 | scholarship program as long as the student's household family |
| 72 | income level does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty |
| 73 | level. A sibling of a student who is continuing in the program |
| 74 | and resides in the same household as the student shall also be |
| 75 | eligible as a first-time corporate income tax credit scholarship |
| 76 | recipient as long as the student's and sibling's household |
| 77 | income level does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty |
| 78 | level. |
| 79 | (5) AUTHORIZATION TO GRANT SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING TAX |
| 80 | CREDITS; TAX CREDIT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL CONTRIBUTIONS; LIMITATIONS |
| 81 | ON INDIVIDUAL AND TOTAL CREDITS.-- |
| 82 | (a) There is allowed a credit of 100 percent of an |
| 83 | eligible contribution against any tax due for a taxable year |
| 84 | under this chapter. The term "eligible contribution" shall |
| 85 | include a contribution made to a public school, which |
| 86 | contribution is earmarked for the purpose of providing special |
| 87 | assistance, tutoring, mentoring, and remediation services to |
| 88 | eligible students meeting the criteria in paragraph (3) who are |
| 89 | attending the public school. However, such a credit may not |
| 90 | exceed 75 percent of the tax due under this chapter for the |
| 91 | taxable year, after the application of any other allowable |
| 92 | credits by the taxpayer. The credit granted by this section |
| 93 | shall be reduced by the difference between the amount of federal |
| 94 | corporate income tax taking into account the credit granted by |
| 95 | this section and the amount of federal corporate income tax |
| 96 | without application of the credit granted by this section. |
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| 100 | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| 101 | D I R E C T O R Y A M E N D M E N T |
| 102 | Remove line 29 and insert: |
| 103 | Section 1. Subsections (1) and (3), paragraph (b) of |
| 104 | subsection (2), paragraphs (a) and (b) of |
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| 108 | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| 109 | T I T L E A M E N D M E N T |
| 110 | Remove lines 4-6 and insert: |
| 111 | legislative findings; revising program purposes; defining |
| 112 | the term "eligible contribution"; providing that siblings |
| 113 | of certain students are eligible for participation in the |
| 114 | program; providing a tax credit for contributions made to |
| 115 | a public school that are earmarked for providing special |
| 116 | assistance, tutoring, mentoring, and remediation services; |
| 117 | revising provisions |