HB 1015 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 Architect Education Minority 2
Assistance Program; creating s. 481.2095, F.S.; 3
creating the program within the Department of Business 4
and Professional Regulation; providing a purpose for 5
the program; requiring the Architect Education 6
Minority Assistance Advisory Council to assist the 7
Board of Architecture and Interior Design with 8
administering the program; providing funding 9
requirements for scholarships provided under the 10
program; requiring that funds be deposited into a 11
specified account in the Professional Regulation Trust 12
Fund; capping the amount of funds that the department 13
may spend annually on the program; requiring that 14
funds for scholarships be disbursed twice each year; 15
authorizing the Chief Financial Officer to invest 16
funds in the program account in a specified manner; 17
requiring that all earned interest from such 18
investments be credited to the program account; 19
requiring the board to adopt rules; specifying that 20
certain determinations made by the board are not 21
agency actions for the purposes of the Administrative 22
Procedure Act; prohibiting a person or his or her 23
agent from knowingly filing documents with the board 24
which contain false information or material 25
HB 1015 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
misstatements of fact; providing criminal penalties; 26
creating the council within the department; providing 27
requirements for council membership; specifying that 28
the council membership of a member with certain 29
absences is void; req uiring council members to serve 30
without compensation; providing an exception; 31
providing an effective date. 32
33
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 34
35
Section 1. Section 481.2095, Florida Statutes, is created 36
to read: 37
481.2095 The Architect Education Minority Assistance 38
Program; Architect Education Minority Assistance Advisory 39
Council.— 40
(1) The Architect Education Minority Assistance Program is 41
created within the department for the purpose of providing 42
scholarships to minority pe rsons as defined in s. 288.703 who 43
are residents of this state and who are students enrolled in 44
their fifth year of an architectural education program 45
accredited by the National Architecture Accrediting Board at an 46
institution in this state. The Architect Education Minority 47
Assistance Advisory Council created in subsection (6) shall 48
assist the board in administering the program. 49
(2) All funds used to provide scholarships under the 50
HB 1015 2022
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program must be derived from a portion of existing license fees 51
established under s. 481.207, not to exceed $10 per license, and 52
must be deposited into the Professional Regulation Trust Fund in 53
a separate account maintained for that purpose. The department 54
may spend up to $200,000 per year from such account for the 55
program but may not allocate overhead charges to the account. 56
Funds for scholarships must be disbursed twice each year as 57
recommended by the advisory council and approved by the board, 58
based on eligibility criteria adopted by board rule and a 59
comparative evaluation of a ll applicants. The Chief Financial 60
Officer may invest funds in the program account, subject to the 61
same limitations that apply to the investment of other state 62
funds, and all interest earned thereon must be credited to the 63
program account. 64
(3) The board shall adopt rules to administer the program, 65
including rules relating to the following: 66
(a) Eligibility criteria for receipt of a scholarship, 67
which, at a minimum, must include the following factors: 68
1. Financial need; 69
2. Status as a minority person as defined in s. 288.703; 70
and 71
3. Scholastic ability and performance. 72
(b) Scholarship application procedures. 73
(c) Scholarship amounts, the timeframe for payments or 74
partial payments, and criteria governing how scholarship funds 75
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may be spent by the rec ipient. 76
(d) The total amount of scholarship funds which can be 77
awarded each year. 78
(e) The minimum balance that must be maintained in the 79
program account. 80
(4) Determinations made by the board regarding recipients 81
of scholarship funds are not agency actions for purposes of 82
chapter 120. 83
(5) A person or his or her agent may not knowingly file 84
with the board any notice, statement, or other document that is 85
false or that contains any material misstatement of fact. A 86
person who violates this subsection commits a misdemeanor of the 87
second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 88
775.083. 89
(6) The Architect Education Minority Assistance Advisory 90
Council, an advisory council as defined in s. 20.03(7), is 91
created within the department to assist the board in 92
administering the program. Except as otherwise provided in this 93
section, the advisory council shall operate in a manner 94
consistent with s. 20.052. The council membership must be 95
diverse and representative of mi nority persons as defined in s. 96
288.703. 97
(a) The council shall consist of five architects licensed 98
under this chapter appointed by the board. Of the five council 99
members, one must be a board member, who shall serve as chair of 100
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the council; two must be re presentatives of the American 101
Institute of Architects, Florida Section; one must be a 102
representative of the National Organization of Minority 103
Architects; and one must be appointed as a member -at-large. At 104
least one member of the council must be a woman. 105
(b) The board shall determine the terms for initial 106
appointments, which must be staggered, and appointments 107
thereafter. 108
(c) Any vacancy on the council must be filled in the same 109
manner as the initial appointment. Any member appointed to fill 110
a vacancy of an unexpired term shall be appointed for the 111
remainder of that term. 112
(d) The council membership of any member who has three 113
consecutive absences or absences constituting 50 percent or more 114
of the council's meetings within any 12 -month period is void and 115
the member's position is deemed vacant. 116
(e) Council members shall serve without compensation, and 117
any necessary and actual expenses incurred by a member while 118
engaged in the business of the council must be borne by such 119
member or by the organization or agency such member represents. 120
However, a board member who serves as a member of the council 121
must be compensated in accordance with ss. 112.061 and 122
455.207(4). 123
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 124