CS/CS/CS/HB 653

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Corporate Income Tax Credit
3	Scholarship Program; amending s. 220.187, F.S.; providing
4	legislative findings; revising program purposes; providing
5	that specified students who are currently or have been in
6	foster care are eligible for participation in the program;
7	providing that siblings of certain students are eligible
8	for participation in the program; providing income
9	criteria for continuation of scholarships for students in
10	foster care; revising provisions authorizing the total
11	amount of tax credits that may be granted and deleting the
12	reservation of a portion thereof; revising authorized uses
13	of scholarship funds; revising provisions relating to
14	expenditure of contributions received by a scholarship-
15	funding organization during a state fiscal year;
16	authorizing expenditure of contributions for specified
17	administrative expenses by certain scholarship-funding
18	organizations; providing for the annual return of
19	specified eligible contributions to the State Treasury;
20	correcting a cross-reference; revising scholarship
21	amounts; revising requirements relating to verification of
22	student attendance for purposes of scholarship payment;
23	providing for preservation of credits under certain
24	circumstances; requiring the Office of Program Policy
25	Analysis and Government Accountability to submit a report
26	on funding for the scholarship program to the Governor and
27	the Legislature; specifying report requirements;
28	authorizing the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
29	Government Accountability to request the Revenue
30	Estimating Conference and the Education Estimating
31	Conference to evaluate its findings and recommendations;
32	providing an effective date.
33
34	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
35
36	Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (3), paragraph (b) of
37	subsection (5), paragraphs (d) and (i) of subsection (6),
38	paragraph (c) of subsection (8), and subsection (11) of section
39	220.187, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (14) is
40	added to that section, to read:
41	220.187  Credits for contributions to nonprofit
42	scholarship-funding organizations.--
43	(1)  FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.--
44	(a)  The Legislature finds that:
45	1.  It has the inherent power to determine subjects of
46	taxation for general or particular public purposes.
47	2.  Expanding educational opportunities and improving the
48	quality of educational services within the state are valid
49	public purposes that the Legislature may promote using its
50	sovereign power to determine subjects of taxation and exemptions
51	from taxation.
52	3.  Ensuring that all parents, regardless of means, may
53	exercise and enjoy their basic right to educate their children
54	as they see fit is a valid public purpose that the Legislature
55	may promote using its sovereign power to determine subjects of
56	taxation and exemptions from taxation.
57	4.  Expanding educational opportunities and the healthy
58	competition they promote are critical to improving the quality
59	of education in the state and to ensuring that all children
60	receive the high-quality education to which they are entitled.
61	(b)  The purpose of this section is to:
62	1.(a)  Enable taxpayers to make Encourage private,
63	voluntary contributions to nonprofit scholarship-funding
64	organizations in order to promote the general welfare.
65	2.  Provide taxpayers who wish to help parents with limited
66	resources exercise their basic right to educate their children
67	as they see fit with a means to do so.
68	3.(b)  Promote the general welfare by expanding Expand
69	educational opportunities for children of families that have
70	limited financial resources.
71	4.(c)  Enable children in this state to achieve a greater
72	level of excellence in their education.
73	5.  Improve the quality of education in this state, both by
74	expanding educational opportunities for children and by creating
75	incentives for schools to achieve excellence.
76	(3)  PROGRAM; SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--The Corporate
77	Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program is established. A student
78	is eligible for a corporate income tax credit scholarship if the
79	student qualifies for free or reduced-price school lunches under
80	the National School Lunch Act and:
81	(a)  Was counted as a full-time equivalent student during
82	the previous state fiscal year for purposes of state per-student
83	funding;
84	(b)  Received a scholarship from an eligible nonprofit
85	scholarship-funding organization or from the State of Florida
86	during the previous school year; or
87	(c)  Is eligible to enter kindergarten or first grade; or
88	(d)  Is currently placed, or during the previous state
89	fiscal year was placed, in foster care as defined in s. 39.01.
90
91	Contingent upon available funds, a student may continue in the
92	scholarship program as long as the student's household family
93	income level does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty
94	level. A sibling of a student who is continuing in the program
95	and resides in the same household as the student shall also be
96	eligible as a first-time corporate income tax credit scholarship
97	recipient as long as the student's and sibling's household
98	income level does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty
99	level. Household income for purposes of a student who is
100	currently in foster care as defined in s. 39.01 shall consist
101	only of the income that may be considered in determining whether
102	he or she qualifies for free or reduced-price school lunches
103	under the National School Lunch Act.
104	(5)  AUTHORIZATION TO GRANT SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING TAX
105	CREDITS; LIMITATIONS ON INDIVIDUAL AND TOTAL CREDITS.--
106	(b)  The total amount of tax credits and carryforward of
107	tax credits which may be granted each state fiscal year under
108	this section is:
109	1.  Through June 30, 2008, $88 million.
110	2.  Beginning July 1, 2008, and thereafter, $118 million.
111	At least 1 percent of the total statewide amount authorized for
112	the tax credit shall be reserved for taxpayers who meet the
113	definition of a small business provided in s. 288.703(1) at the
114	time of application.
115	(6)  OBLIGATIONS OF ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT SCHOLARSHIP-FUNDING
116	ORGANIZATIONS.--An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
117	organization:
118	(d)  Must provide scholarships, from eligible
119	contributions, to eligible students for the cost of:
120	1.  Tuition and fees or textbook expenses for, or
121	transportation to, an eligible private school. At least 75
122	percent of the scholarship funding must be used to pay tuition
123	expenses; or
124	2.  Transportation expenses to a Florida public school that
125	is located outside the district in which the student resides or
126	to a lab school as defined in s. 1002.32.
127	(i)1.  May use up to 3 percent of eligible contributions
128	received during the state fiscal year in which such
129	contributions are collected for administrative expenses if the
130	organization has operated under this section for at least 3
131	state fiscal years and did not have any negative financial
132	findings in its most recent audit under paragraph (l). Such
133	administrative expenses must be reasonable and necessary for the
134	organization's management and distribution of eligible
135	contributions under this section. No more than one-third of the
136	funds authorized for administrative expenses under this
137	subparagraph may be used for expenses related to the recruitment
138	of contributions from corporate taxpayers.
139	2.  Must expend for annual or partial-year scholarships an
140	amount equal to or greater than 75 percent of the net eligible
141	contributions remaining after administrative expenses during the
142	state fiscal year in which such contributions are collected. No
143	more than 25 percent of such net eligible contributions may be
144	carried forward to the following state fiscal year. Any amounts
145	carried forward shall be expended for Must obligate, in the same
146	fiscal year in which the contribution was received, 100 percent
147	of the eligible contribution to provide annual or partial-year
148	scholarships; however, up to 25 percent of the total
149	contribution may be carried forward for expenditure in the
150	following state fiscal year. Net eligible contributions
151	remaining on June 30 of each year that are in excess of the 25
152	percent that may be carried forward shall be returned to the
153	State Treasury for deposit in the General Revenue Fund.
154	3.  A scholarship-funding organization Must, before
155	granting a scholarship for an academic year, document each
156	scholarship student's eligibility for that academic year. A
157	scholarship-funding organization may not grant multiyear
158	scholarships in one approval process. No portion of eligible
159	contributions may be used for administrative expenses. All
160	interest accrued from contributions must be used for
161	scholarships.
162
163	Any and all information and documentation provided to the
164	Department of Education and the Auditor General relating to the
165	identity of a taxpayer that provides an eligible contribution
166	under this section shall remain confidential at all times in
167	accordance with s. 213.053.
168	(8)  PRIVATE SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY AND OBLIGATIONS.--An
169	eligible private school may be sectarian or nonsectarian and
170	must:
171	(c)  Be academically accountable to the parent for meeting
172	the educational needs of the student by:
173	1.  At a minimum, annually providing to the parent a
174	written explanation of the student's progress.
175	2.  Annually administering or making provision for students
176	participating in the scholarship program to take one of the
177	nationally norm-referenced tests identified by the Department of
178	Education. Students with disabilities for whom standardized
179	testing is not appropriate are exempt from this requirement. A
180	participating private school must report a student's scores to
181	the parent and to the independent research organization selected
182	by the Department of Education as described in paragraph (9)(j).
183	3.  Cooperating with the scholarship student whose parent
184	chooses to have the student participate in the statewide
185	assessments pursuant to s. 1008.22 1008.32.
186
187	The inability of a private school to meet the requirements of
188	this subsection shall constitute a basis for the ineligibility
189	of the private school to participate in the scholarship program
190	as determined by the Department of Education.
191	(11)  SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT AND PAYMENT.--
192	(a)  The amount of a scholarship provided to any student
193	for any single school year by an eligible nonprofit scholarship-
194	funding organization from eligible contributions shall be for
195	total costs authorized under paragraph (6)(d), not to exceed the
196	following annual limits:
197	1.  Three thousand nine hundred fifty dollars Three
198	thousand seven hundred fifty dollars for a scholarship awarded
199	to a student enrolled in an eligible private school for the
200	2008-2009 state fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter.
201	2.  Five hundred dollars for a scholarship awarded to a
202	student enrolled in a Florida public school that is located
203	outside the district in which the student resides or in a lab
204	school as defined in s. 1002.32.
205	(b)  Payment of the scholarship by the eligible nonprofit
206	scholarship-funding organization shall be by individual warrant
207	made payable to the student's parent. If the parent chooses that
208	his or her child attend an eligible private school, the warrant
209	must be delivered by the eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
210	organization to the private school of the parent's choice, and
211	the parent shall restrictively endorse the warrant to the
212	private school. An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
213	organization shall ensure that the parent to whom the warrant is
214	made restrictively endorsed the warrant to the private school
215	for deposit into the account of the private school.
216	(c)  An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization
217	shall obtain verification from the private school of a student's
218	continued attendance at the school for prior to each period
219	covered by a scholarship payment.
220	(d)  Payment of the scholarship shall be made by the
221	eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization no less
222	frequently than on a quarterly basis.
223	(14)  PRESERVATION OF CREDIT.--If any provision or portion
224	of subsection (5) or the application thereof to any person or
225	circumstance is held unconstitutional by any court or is
226	otherwise declared invalid, the unconstitutionality or
227	invalidity shall not affect any credit earned under subsection
228	(5) by any taxpayer with respect to any contribution paid to an
229	eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization before the
230	date of a determination of unconstitutionality or invalidity.
231	Such credit shall be allowed at such time and in such a manner
232	as if a determination of unconstitutionality or invalidity had
233	not been made, provided that nothing in this subsection by
234	itself or in combination with any other provision of law shall
235	result in the allowance of any credit to any taxpayer in excess
236	of one dollar of credit for each dollar paid to an eligible
237	nonprofit scholarship-funding organization.
238	Section 2.  Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program
239	funding.--
240	(1)  By December 1, 2008, the Office of Program Policy
241	Analysis and Government Accountability shall submit a report to
242	the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
243	the House of Representatives which:
244	(a)  Reviews the advisability and net state fiscal impact
245	of:
246	1.  Increasing the maximum annual amount of credits for the
247	corporate income tax permitted under s. 220.187, Florida
248	Statutes, for the scholarship program.
249	2.  Authorizing the use of credits for insurance premium
250	taxes under chapter 624, Florida Statutes, as an additional
251	source of funding for the scholarship program under s. 220.187,
252	Florida Statutes.
253	(b)  Provides recommendations, if warranted by the review
254	under paragraph (a):
255	1.  For methodologies to annually or otherwise increase the
256	maximum annual amount of corporate income tax credits for
257	scholarship funding.
258	2.  To implement the use of insurance premium tax credits
259	for scholarship funding.
260	(c)  Identifies strategies to encourage private schools
261	that accept scholarship students to participate in the statewide
262	assessment program under s. 1008.22, Florida Statutes.
263
264	Such recommendations may only include options that will annually
265	produce a neutral or positive net fiscal impact on state revenue
266	and expenditures.
267	(2)  The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
268	Accountability may request that the Revenue Estimating
269	Conference and the Education Estimating Conference established
270	under s. 216.134, Florida Statutes, evaluate its findings and
271	recommendations under this section.
272	Section 3.  This act shall take effect June 30, 2008.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.