Florida Senate - 2018                             CS for SB 1012
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Appropriations; and Senators Passidomo and
       Young
       
       
       
       
       576-04144-18                                          20181012c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to toll operations; amending s.
    3         338.155, F.S.; exempting a law enforcement officer
    4         from paying a toll on a toll facility when operating a
    5         marked or unmarked official vehicle while on official
    6         law enforcement business; defining the term “official
    7         law enforcement business”; amending s. 338.26, F.S.;
    8         requiring fees generated from tolls to be used to
    9         reimburse, by interlocal agreement within a specified
   10         timeframe, a county or another local governmental
   11         entity for the direct actual costs of operating a
   12         specified fire station; providing services to the
   13         public on Alligator Alley; deleting obsolete language;
   14         amending s. 348.0003, F.S.; requiring the governing
   15         body of the authority in certain counties to, by a
   16         specified date, submit to the Governor information
   17         regarding its compliance with a specified minimum
   18         percent toll reduction; requiring, effective on a
   19         specified date, the existing board to be dissolved
   20         and, except for the district secretary of the
   21         Department of Transportation, a new board to be
   22         appointed by that date if the required toll reduction
   23         has not taken place; prohibiting a member of the board
   24         on a specified date to be appointed to the new board,
   25         except for the district secretary of the department;
   26         requiring the members to be residents of the county,
   27         except for the district secretary of the department;
   28         requiring a specified number of voting members to be
   29         appointed by the governing body of the county;
   30         authorizing, at the discretion of the governing body
   31         of the county, up to a specified amount of the members
   32         appointed by the governing body of the county to be
   33         elected officials residing in the county; requiring a
   34         specified amount of voting members of the authority to
   35         be appointed by the Governor; requiring that the
   36         district secretary of the department from the
   37         appropriate district be an ex officio voting member;
   38         providing an effective date.
   39          
   40  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   41  
   42         Section 1. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 338.155,
   43  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   44         338.155 Payment of toll on toll facilities required;
   45  exemptions.—
   46         (1)(a) A person may not use a any toll facility without
   47  payment of tolls, except:
   48         1.An employee employees of the agency operating the toll
   49  project when using the toll facility on official state
   50  business.,
   51         2. State military personnel while on official military
   52  business.
   53         3.A person with a disability, handicapped persons as
   54  provided in subsection (3).
   55         4.A person this section, persons exempt from toll payment
   56  by the authorizing resolution for bonds issued to finance the
   57  facility.
   58         5.A person, and persons exempt on a temporary basis where
   59  use of such toll facility is required as a detour route.
   60         6.A Any law enforcement officer operating a marked or
   61  unmarked official vehicle while is exempt from toll payment when
   62  on official law enforcement business. For purposes of this
   63  subparagraph, the term “official law enforcement business”
   64  includes, but is not limited to, patrol operations,
   65  investigative activities, crime prevention operations, and
   66  traffic operations.
   67         7.A Any person operating a fire vehicle while when on
   68  official business or a rescue vehicle while when on official
   69  business is exempt from toll payment.
   70         8.A Any person participating in the funeral procession of
   71  a law enforcement officer or firefighter killed in the line of
   72  duty is exempt from toll payment.
   73         (b) The secretary or the secretary’s designee may suspend
   74  the payment of tolls on a toll facility when necessary to assist
   75  in emergency evacuation.
   76         (c) The failure to pay a prescribed toll constitutes a
   77  noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation
   78  as provided in s. 318.18. The department may adopt rules
   79  relating to the payment, collection, and enforcement of tolls,
   80  as authorized in this chapter and chapters 316, 318, 320, and
   81  322, including, but not limited to, rules for the implementation
   82  of video or other image billing and variable pricing.
   83         (d) With respect to toll facilities managed by the
   84  department, the revenues of which are not pledged to repayment
   85  of bonds, the department may by rule allow the use of such
   86  facilities by public transit vehicles or by vehicles
   87  participating in a funeral procession for an active-duty
   88  military service member without the payment of tolls.
   89         (3) A Any handicapped person with a disability who has a
   90  valid driver license, who operates a vehicle specially equipped
   91  for use by persons with disabilities the handicapped, and who is
   92  certified by a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter
   93  459 or by comparable licensing in another state or by the
   94  Adjudication Office of the United States Department of Veterans
   95  Affairs or its predecessor as being severely physically disabled
   96  and having permanent upper limb mobility or dexterity
   97  impairments that which substantially impair the person’s ability
   98  to deposit coins in toll baskets, shall be allowed to pass free
   99  through all tollgates and over all toll bridges and ferries in
  100  this state. Such A person who meets the requirements of this
  101  subsection shall, upon application, be issued a vehicle window
  102  sticker by the Department of Transportation.
  103         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
  104  338.26, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  105         338.26 Alligator Alley toll road.—
  106         (3)(a) Fees generated from tolls shall be deposited in the
  107  State Transportation Trust Fund and shall be used:
  108         1. To reimburse outstanding contractual obligations;
  109         2. To operate and maintain the highway and toll facilities,
  110  including reconstruction and restoration;
  111         3. To pay for those projects that are funded with Alligator
  112  Alley toll revenues and that are contained in the 1993-1994
  113  adopted work program or the 1994-1995 tentative work program
  114  submitted to the Legislature on February 22, 1994; and
  115         4. By interlocal agreement effective July 1, 2014, through
  116  no later than June 30, 2019, to reimburse a county or another
  117  local governmental entity for the direct actual costs of
  118  operating the To design and construct a fire station at mile
  119  marker 63 on Alligator Alley, which may be used by a county or
  120  another local governmental entity to provide fire, rescue, and
  121  emergency management services to the public on Alligator Alley;
  122  and
  123         5.By interlocal agreement effective July 1, 2014, through
  124  no later than June 30, 2018, to reimburse a county or another
  125  local governmental entity for the direct actual costs of
  126  operating such fire station.
  127         Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section
  128  348.0003, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  129         348.0003 Expressway authority; formation; membership.—
  130         (2) The governing body of an authority shall consist of not
  131  fewer than five nor more than nine voting members. The district
  132  secretary of the affected department district shall serve as a
  133  nonvoting member of the governing body of each authority located
  134  within the district. Each member of the governing body must at
  135  all times during his or her term of office be a permanent
  136  resident of the county which he or she is appointed to
  137  represent.
  138         (d)1. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this
  139  subsection, in any county as defined in s. 125.011(1), the
  140  governing body of an authority shall consist of up to nine
  141  members, and the following provisions of this paragraph shall
  142  apply specifically to such authority. Except for the district
  143  secretary of the department, the members must be residents of
  144  the county. Five voting members shall be appointed by the
  145  governing body of the county. At the discretion of the governing
  146  body of the county, up to two of the members appointed by the
  147  governing body of the county may be elected officials residing
  148  in the county. Three voting members of the authority shall be
  149  appointed by the Governor. One member shall be the district
  150  secretary of the department serving in the district that
  151  contains such county. This member shall be an ex officio voting
  152  member of the authority. If the governing body of an authority
  153  includes any member originally appointed by the governing body
  154  of the county as a nonvoting member, when the term of such
  155  member expires, that member shall be replaced by a member
  156  appointed by the Governor until the governing body of the
  157  authority is composed of five members appointed by the governing
  158  body of the county and three members appointed by the Governor.
  159  Except as provided in subparagraph 2., a member of the authority
  160  serving as of July 1, 2016, may serve the remainder of his or
  161  her term. However, upon the conclusion of the term or upon
  162  vacancy, such expired term or vacancy may not be filled except
  163  if such appointment meets the requirements of this section. When
  164  the term of a member expires or a vacancy occurs, the member may
  165  shall not be replaced by the appointing entity until the
  166  governing body of the authority is composed of five voting
  167  members appointed by the governing body of the county and three
  168  voting members appointed by the Governor, which three members
  169  shall not include the district secretary serving as an ex
  170  officio member. Except as provided in subsection (5), the
  171  qualifications, terms of office, and obligations and rights of
  172  members of the authority shall be determined by resolution or
  173  ordinance of the governing body of the county in a manner that
  174  is consistent with subsections (3) and (4).
  175         2. Notwithstanding subparagraph 1., in any county as
  176  defined in s. 125.011(1), the governing body of the authority
  177  shall, by October 1, 2018, submit to the Governor information
  178  regarding its compliance with the minimum 5 percent toll
  179  reduction prescribed in s. 348.0004(6). If the required toll
  180  reduction has not taken place, the existing board shall be
  181  dissolved effective October 31, 2018, and, except for the
  182  district secretary of the department, a new board shall be
  183  appointed by that date. Other than the district secretary of the
  184  department, a member of the board on October 1, 2018, may not be
  185  appointed to the new board. Except for the district secretary of
  186  the department, the members must be residents of the county.
  187  Five voting members shall be appointed by the governing body of
  188  the county. At the discretion of the governing body of the
  189  county, up to two of the members appointed by the governing body
  190  of the county may be elected officials residing in the county.
  191  Three voting members of the authority shall be appointed by the
  192  Governor. One member shall be the district secretary of the
  193  department serving in the district that contains such county.
  194  This member shall be an ex officio voting member of the
  195  authority.
  196         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.