Florida Senate - 2009                                     SB 682
       
       
       
       By Senator Fasano
       
       
       
       
       11-00880-09                                            2009682__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Department of Business and
    3         Professional Regulation; amending s. 20.165, F.S.;
    4         creating the Division of Service Operations of the
    5         department; amending s. 455.217, F.S.; conforming
    6         provisions and transferring to the Division of Service
    7         Operations from the Division of Technology certain
    8         responsibilities related to examinations; deleting a
    9         requirement that the department use professional
   10         testing services for the development, preparation, and
   11         evaluation of examinations under certain
   12         circumstances; providing an effective date.
   13         
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15         
   16         Section 1. Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (2) of
   17  section 20.165, Florida Statutes, to read:
   18         20.165 Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
   19  There is created a Department of Business and Professional
   20  Regulation.
   21         (2) The following divisions of the Department of Business
   22  and Professional Regulation are established:
   23         (k) Division of Service Operations.
   24         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   25  455.217, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   26         455.217 Examinations.—This section shall be read in
   27  conjunction with the appropriate practice act associated with
   28  each regulated profession under this chapter.
   29         (1) The Division of Service Operations Technology of the
   30  Department of Business and Professional Regulation shall
   31  provide, contract, or approve services for the development,
   32  preparation, administration, scoring, score reporting, and
   33  evaluation of all examinations. The division shall seek the
   34  advice of the appropriate board in providing such services.
   35         (a) The department, acting in conjunction with the Division
   36  of Service Operations Technology and the Division of Real
   37  Estate, as appropriate, shall ensure that examinations
   38  adequately and reliably measure an applicant's ability to
   39  practice the profession regulated by the department. After an
   40  examination developed or approved by the department has been
   41  administered, the board or department may reject any question
   42  which does not reliably measure the general areas of competency
   43  specified in the rules of the board or department, when there is
   44  no board. The department shall use professional testing services
   45  for the development, preparation, and evaluation of
   46  examinations, when such services are available and approved by
   47  the board.
   48         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.