HB 55 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the Assistive Technology Advisory 2
Council; amending s. 413.407, F.S.; revising 3
provisions relating to the membership of and 4
appointments and reappointments to the Assistive 5
Technology Advisory Council; requiring council members 6
to select a chair from among the council membership; 7
revising provisions relating to committees appointed 8
to perform the council's functions; expanding the 9
council's functions to include fundraising activities; 10
providing an effective date. 11
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
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Section 1. Section 413.407, Florida Statutes, is amended 15
to read: 16
413.407 Assistive Technology Advisory Council. —There is 17
created the Assistive Technology Advisory Council, responsible 18
for ensuring consumer involvement in the creation, application, 19
and distribution of technology -related assistance to and for 20
persons who have disabilities. The council shall fulfill its 21
responsibilities through statewide policy development, both 22
state and federal legislative initiatives, advocacy at both the 23
state and federal levels level, planning of statewide resource 24
allocations, policy-level management, and reviews of both 25
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consumer responsiveness and the adequacy of program service 26
delivery, and by performing the functions listed in this 27
section. 28
(1)(a) The council shall be composed of: 29
1. Persons Individuals who have disabilities and who are 30
assistive technology consumers or famil y members or guardians of 31
those persons individuals. 32
2. A representative Representatives of a consumer 33
organization organizations concerned with assistive technology. 34
3. A representative Representatives of business and 35
industry, including the insurance industry, concerned with 36
assistive technology. 37
4. A representative of the Division of Vocational 38
Rehabilitation. 39
5. A representative of the Division of Blind Services. 40
6. A representative of a center for independent living the 41
Florida Independent Li ving Council. 42
7. A representative of CareerSource Florida, Inc. 43
8. A representative of the Department of Education. 44
9. A representative Representatives of any other state 45
agency agencies that provides or coordinates provide or 46
coordinate services for persons with disabilities , if requested 47
by a majority vote of the council members . 48
49
Total membership on the council may not exceed 27 at any one 50
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time. A majority of the members shall be appointed in accordance 51
with subparagraph 1. 52
(b) Members of the council shall be appointed by the 53
Commissioner of Education from a list of candidates proposed by 54
the division director. However, a member who is a representative 55
of a state agency shall be appointed by the head of that state 56
agency. 57
(c) A majority of council members must shall be persons 58
who have disabilities as defined in s. 413.20 and s. 413.20(7) 59
who are also consumers of assistive technology or family members 60
or guardians of such persons. 61
(d) Members of the council must be geogr aphically 62
representative of the state and reflect the diversity of the 63
state's population with respect to race, ethnicity, gender, age, 64
type of disability, and type of disability -related services and 65
devices received. 66
(e)(d) The members of the council sh all select a chair two 67
co-chairs from among the membership of the council. 68
1. One co-chair may be selected from the group described 69
in paragraph (c) and one co -chair shall be selected from the 70
other council members. 71
2. The chair No co-chair may not be an elected member or 72
an employee of a state agency or of any political subdivision of 73
the state. 74
(f)1.(e)1. Each member of the council shall serve for a 75
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term of not more than 3 years, except that a member appointed to 76
fill a vacancy occurring before prior to the expiration of the 77
term for which a predecessor was appointed shall be appointed 78
for the remainder of such term. 79
2. A No member of the council may not serve more than two 80
consecutive terms; however, any appointment under subparagraph 81
1., if for less than 18 months, is shall not be considered a 82
term for the purposes of this section. 83
3. A member who has served two consecutive terms and has 84
been retired from the council for at least 3 years 1 year may be 85
reappointed to the council on the same b asis as a new member. 86
(g)(f) Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the 87
council shall be filled in the same manner as the original 88
appointment. A vacancy does not affect the power of the 89
remaining members to execute the duties of the council. 90
(2) In addition to the other functions specified in this 91
section, the council shall: 92
(a) Act as the board of directors of a not -for-profit 93
corporation created by the division. Through the corporation, 94
the council shall provide direction to the Florida Florida's 95
Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, a project 96
sponsored by the department for the coordination and delivery of 97
appropriate, cost-effective, state-of-the-art assistive 98
technology services and devices. 99
(b) Appoint committees made up of membe rs of the council 100
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to focus on specific issues within the council's mandate. 101
Committees may request and accept in -kind contributions of 102
personnel from public or private entities to supply such 103
staffing as the committees deem necessary to carry out their 104
individual mandates. These committees shall include, but are not 105
limited to: 106
1. Members who are representatives of state agencies 107
serving on the committees An interagency committee composed of 108
those members representing state agencies. The interagency 109
committee shall work towards the development of cooperative 110
agreements among government agencies and perform such other 111
duties as the council deems appropriate. 112
2. Members who are representatives of state agencies 113
serving on the committees The interagency committee's members 114
shall assign staff from their respective agencies to the 115
alliance, as an in-kind contribution for a specified period of 116
time, to review federal and state legislation and agency 117
policies and practices and to identify both facilitators of, a nd 118
barriers to, accessibility and utilization of assistive 119
technology services, devices, and funding sources. 120
2. A technology-awareness committee to guide the council's 121
public awareness, coordination, and collaboration activities. 122
3. A public policy an d advocacy committee to review 123
federal and state legislation and agency policies and practices 124
and to identify facilitators of and barriers to access and 125
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utilization of assistive technology services, devices, and 126
funding sources. 127
(c) Review and approve a ll reports, recommendations, and 128
proposed actions of committee staff. 129
(d) Appoint the executive director of the alliance who is. 130
The executive director shall be responsible for the overall 131
administration and day -to-day direction of the alliance, 132
including the as well as supervision of all staff. 133
(e) Annually review and approve the strategic or business 134
plan of the alliance, as submitted by the executive director. 135
(f) Submit an annual comprehensive report of the 136
activities of the council, the corporati on, and the alliance to 137
the division director. 138
(g) Perform such other functions, including fundraising 139
activities, as the council determines to be appropriate which 140
are comparable to functions performed by the council. 141
(h) Convene at least four meeting s each year in locations 142
that such places as it determines to be necessary to conduct 143
council business and may conduct such forums or hearings as it 144
the council considers appropriate. The council shall make a 145
report of each meeting which must contain shall include a record 146
of its discussions and recommendations and must , all of which 147
reports shall be made available to the public. 148
(3) In accordance with Pub. L. No. 108 -364, the council 149
shall: 150
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(a) Investigate financing options that will increase 151
access to and funding for assistive technology devices and 152
assistive technology services. 153
(b) Develop assistive technology demonstrations, 154
reutilization programs, and loan programs. 155
(c) Provide training and technical assistance in order to 156
increase knowledge a nd awareness of the uses and benefits of 157
assistive technology devices and assistive technology services. 158
(d) Promote public awareness activities designed to 159
provide information relating to the benefits of assistive 160
technology devices and assistive techno logy services. 161
(e) Promote coordination and collaboration among public 162
and private entities that are responsible for policies, 163
procedures, or funding for the provision of assistive technology 164
devices and assistive technology services. 165
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 166