Florida Senate - 2024 CS for CS for SB 1380 By the Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services; the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Hutson 603-03520-24 20241380c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to transportation services for persons 3 with disabilities and the transportation 4 disadvantaged; reordering and amending s. 427.011, 5 F.S.; defining terms; amending s. 427.012, F.S.; 6 revising membership of the Commission for the 7 Transportation Disadvantaged and qualifications 8 therefor; providing for staggered terms; requiring 9 each member to be a resident of this state; deleting 10 provisions relating to background screening 11 requirements; amending s. 427.013, F.S.; revising the 12 duties of the commission; amending s. 427.0159, F.S.; 13 conforming a cross-reference; creating s. 427.02, 14 F.S.; providing responsibilities of a transportation 15 service provider with respect to training of certain 16 drivers, application-based and smartphone-based ride 17 booking and vehicle tracking services, maintenance and 18 upgrading of all technology-based services, and the 19 provision of pre-booking and on-demand services for 20 paratransit service users; requiring a transportation 21 service provider and the local government with which 22 the provider contracts to establish standards relating 23 to reasonable time periods between a request for 24 service and the arrival of the provider, limitation of 25 the duration of travel times, transparency regarding 26 the quality of service provided, and a system for the 27 reporting of adverse incidents; requiring that reports 28 of adverse incidents be submitted to the Agency for 29 Persons with Disabilities and the Department of 30 Transportation; requiring the agency and the 31 department to establish requirements for the 32 investigation of adverse incidents; requiring such an 33 investigation to commence within a certain timeframe; 34 providing nonapplicability of provisions exempting the 35 purchase of contractual services from competitive 36 bidding requirements; providing an effective date. 37 38 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 39 40 Section 1.Section 427.011, Florida Statutes, is reordered 41 and amended to read: 42 427.011Definitions.For the purposes of ss. 427.011 43 427.017: 44 (11)(1)Transportation disadvantaged means those persons 45 who because of physical or mental disability, income status, or 46 age are unable to transport themselves or to purchase 47 transportation and are, therefore, dependent upon others to 48 obtain access to health care, employment, education, shopping, 49 social activities, or other life-sustaining activities, or 50 children who are handicapped or high-risk or at-risk as defined 51 in s. 411.202. 52 (6)(2)Metropolitan planning organization means the 53 organization responsible for carrying out transportation 54 planning and programming in accordance with the provisions of 23 55 U.S.C. s. 134, as provided in 23 U.S.C. s. 104(f)(3). 56 (1)(3)Agency means an official, officer, commission, 57 authority, council, committee, department, division, bureau, 58 board, section, or any other unit or entity of the state or of a 59 city, town, municipality, county, or other local governing body 60 or a private nonprofit transportation service-providing agency. 61 (13)(4)Transportation improvement program means a staged 62 multiyear program of transportation improvements, including an 63 annual element, which is developed by a metropolitan planning 64 organization or designated official planning agency. 65 (2)(5)Community transportation coordinator means a 66 transportation entity recommended by a metropolitan planning 67 organization, or by the appropriate designated official planning 68 agency as provided for in ss. 427.011-427.017 in an area outside 69 the purview of a metropolitan planning organization, to ensure 70 that coordinated transportation services are provided to the 71 transportation disadvantaged population in a designated service 72 area. 73 (14)(6)Transportation operator means one or more public, 74 private for-profit, or private nonprofit entities engaged by the 75 community transportation coordinator to provide service to 76 transportation disadvantaged persons pursuant to a coordinated 77 system service plan. 78 (3)(7)Coordinating board means an advisory entity in 79 each designated service area composed of representatives 80 appointed by the metropolitan planning organization or 81 designated official planning agency, to provide assistance to 82 the community transportation coordinator relative to the 83 coordination of transportation services. 84 (9)(8)Purchasing agency means a department or agency 85 whose head is an ex officio, nonvoting adviser to the 86 commission, or an agency that purchases transportation services 87 for the transportation disadvantaged. 88 (8)(9)Paratransit means those elements of public transit 89 which provide service between specific origins and destinations 90 selected by the individual user with such service being provided 91 at a time that is agreed upon by the user and provider of the 92 service. Paratransit service is provided by taxis, limousines, 93 dial-a-ride, buses, and other demand-responsive operations 94 that are characterized by their nonscheduled, nonfixed route 95 nature. 96 (12)(10)Transportation disadvantaged funds means any 97 local government, state, or available federal funds that are for 98 the transportation of the transportation disadvantaged. Such 99 funds may include, but are not limited to, funds for planning, 100 Medicaid transportation, administration, operation, procurement, 101 and maintenance of vehicles or equipment and capital 102 investments. Transportation disadvantaged funds do not include 103 funds for the transportation of children to public schools. 104 (4)(11)Coordination means the arrangement for the 105 provision of transportation services to the transportation 106 disadvantaged in a manner that is cost-effective, efficient, and 107 reduces fragmentation and duplication of services. 108 (7)(12)Nonsponsored transportation disadvantaged 109 services means transportation disadvantaged services that are 110 not sponsored or subsidized by any funding source other than the 111 Transportation Disadvantaged Trust Fund. 112 (5)Immediate family member means a spouse, child, 113 parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin of a 114 person or the persons spouse or a person who resides in the 115 primary residence of the person. 116 (10)Request for service means a request made to a 117 transportation service provider by a person with a disability, 118 or by such persons immediate family member, for paratransit 119 service. 120 (15)Transportation service provider means an 121 organization or entity that contracts with a local government to 122 provide paratransit service for persons with disabilities. 123 Section 2.Section 427.012, Florida Statutes, is amended to 124 read: 125 427.012The Commission for the Transportation 126 Disadvantaged.There is created the Commission for the 127 Transportation Disadvantaged in the Department of 128 Transportation. 129 (1)The commission shall consist of 14 seven members, all 130 of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, in accordance with 131 the requirements of s. 20.052. 132 (2)The commission shall be composed of the following 133 members: 134 (a)The director of the Agency for Persons with 135 Disabilities. 136 (b)The Secretary of Transportation or his or her designee 137 from within the Department of Transportation. 138 (c)The Secretary of Children and Families or his or her 139 designee from within the Department of Children and Families. 140 (d)The Secretary of Elderly Affairs. 141 (e)The State Surgeon General or his or her designee from 142 within the Department of Health. 143 (f)Two county managers or administrators, one from a rural 144 county and one from a county with a population of more than 145 150,000 according to the last state census. 146 (g)The chief executive officer or president of a hospital 147 in this state. 148 (h)The director of the Division of Blind Services. 149 (i)Five members who have experience in transit, 150 transportation services, innovative technology, government 151 procurement, mobility, or service of persons with disabilities 152 or who have disabilities and use transportation for the 153 transportation disadvantaged. 154 (3)Appointed members shall serve 4-year terms, except that 155 initially, to provide for staggered terms, the Governor shall 156 appoint three members to serve 2-year terms and two members to 157 serve 3-year terms. All subsequent appointments shall be for 4 158 year terms. A member may be reappointed for one additional 4 159 year term. 160 (4)Each member must be a resident of this state. 161 (a)Five of the members must have significant experience in 162 the operation of a business, and it is the intent of the 163 Legislature that, when making an appointment, the Governor 164 select persons who reflect the broad diversity of the business 165 community in this state, as well as the racial, ethnic, 166 geographical, and gender diversity of the population of this 167 state. 168 (b)Two of the members must have a disability and use the 169 transportation disadvantaged system. 170 (c)Each member shall represent the needs of the 171 transportation disadvantaged throughout the state. A member may 172 not subordinate the needs of the transportation disadvantaged in 173 general in order to favor the needs of others residing in a 174 specific location in the state. 175 (d)Each member shall be appointed to a term of 4 years. A 176 member may be reappointed for one additional 4-year term. 177 (e)Each member must be a resident of the state and a 178 registered voter. 179 (f)At any given time, at least one member must be at least 180 65 years of age. 181 (g)The Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of 182 Children and Families, the Secretary of Economic Opportunity, 183 the executive director of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 184 the Secretary of Elderly Affairs, the Secretary of Health Care 185 Administration, the director of the Agency for Persons with 186 Disabilities, and a county manager or administrator who is 187 appointed by the Governor, or a senior management level 188 representative of each, shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting 189 advisors to the commission. 190 (h)A member may not, within the 5 years immediately before 191 his or her appointment, or during his or her term on the 192 commission, have or have had a financial relationship with, or 193 represent or have represented as a lobbyist as defined in s. 194 11.045, the following: 195 1.A transportation operator; 196 2.A community transportation coordinator; 197 3.A metropolitan planning organization; 198 4.A designated official planning agency; 199 5.A purchaser agency; 200 6.A local coordinating board; 201 7.A broker of transportation; or 202 8.A provider of transportation services. 203 (5)(2)The chair of the commission chairperson shall be 204 appointed by the Governor, and the vice chair chairperson of the 205 commission shall be elected annually from the membership of the 206 commission. 207 (6)(3)Members of the commission shall serve without 208 compensation but shall be allowed per diem and travel expenses, 209 as provided in s. 112.061. 210 (7)(4)The commission shall meet at least quarterly, or 211 more frequently at the call of the chair chairperson. Eight Four 212 members of the commission constitute a quorum, and a majority 213 vote of the members present is necessary for any action taken by 214 the commission. 215 (8)(5)The Governor may remove any member of the commission 216 for cause. 217 (6)Each candidate for appointment to the commission must, 218 before accepting the appointment, undergo background screening 219 under s. 435.04 by filing with the Department of Transportation 220 a complete set of fingerprints taken by an authorized law 221 enforcement agency. The fingerprints must be submitted to the 222 Department of Law Enforcement for state processing, and that 223 department shall submit the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau 224 of Investigation for federal processing. The Department of 225 Transportation shall screen the background results and inform 226 the commission of any candidate who does not meet level 2 227 screening standards. A candidate who has not met level 2 228 screening standards may not be appointed to the commission. The 229 cost of the background screening may be borne by the Department 230 of Transportation or the candidate. 231 (9)(7)The commission shall appoint an executive director 232 who shall serve under the direction, supervision, and control of 233 the commission. The executive director, with the consent of the 234 commission, shall employ such personnel as may be necessary to 235 perform adequately the functions of the commission within 236 budgetary limitations. Employees of the commission are exempt 237 from the Career Service System. 238 (10)(8)The commission shall appoint a technical working 239 group that includes representatives of private paratransit 240 providers. The technical working group shall advise the 241 commission on issues of importance to the state, including 242 information, advice, and direction regarding the coordination of 243 services for the transportation disadvantaged. The commission 244 may appoint other technical working groups whose members may 245 include representatives of community transportation 246 coordinators; metropolitan planning organizations; regional 247 planning councils; experts in insurance, marketing, economic 248 development, or financial planning; and persons who use 249 transportation for the transportation disadvantaged, or their 250 relatives, parents, guardians, or service professionals who tend 251 to their needs. 252 (11)(9)The commission is assigned to the office of the 253 secretary of the Department of Transportation for administrative 254 and fiscal accountability purposes, but it shall otherwise 255 function independently of the control, supervision, and 256 direction of the department. 257 (12)(10)The commission shall develop a budget pursuant to 258 chapter 216. The budget is not subject to change by the 259 department staff after it has been approved by the commission, 260 but it shall be transmitted to the Governor, as head of the 261 department, along with the budget of the department. 262 Section 3.Present subsections (8) through (29) of section 263 427.013, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (10) 264 through (31), respectively, new subsections (8) and (9) are 265 added to that section, and subsection (5) and present 266 subsections (13), (20), and (28) of that section are amended, to 267 read: 268 427.013The Commission for the Transportation 269 Disadvantaged; purpose and responsibilities.The purpose of the 270 commission is to accomplish the coordination of transportation 271 services provided to the transportation disadvantaged. The goal 272 of this coordination is to assure the cost-effective provision 273 of transportation by qualified community transportation 274 coordinators or transportation operators for the transportation 275 disadvantaged without any bias or presumption in favor of 276 multioperator systems or not-for-profit transportation operators 277 over single operator systems or for-profit transportation 278 operators. In carrying out this purpose, the commission shall: 279 (5)Serve as a clearinghouse for information about 280 transportation disadvantaged services, training, funding 281 sources, innovations, and coordination efforts and provide best 282 practices, latest technology innovations, and preferential 283 vendors lists to county transportation disadvantaged program 284 managers. 285 (8)Annually review and conduct a performance audit of each 286 coordinator contract and transportation operator contract in 287 each county. 288 (9)Establish a system for the filing, receipt, and 289 resolution of complaints regarding the transportation 290 disadvantaged system. 291 (15)(13)Make an annual report to the Governor, the 292 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of 293 Representatives by January 1 of each year. The report shall 294 summarize for each county the number of complaints filed 295 regarding the transportation disadvantaged system, contract 296 satisfaction, a breakdown of the total cost of services, the 297 amount of funds provided by the commission, and the results of 298 annual performance audits. 299 (22)(20)Ensure that drivers of motor vehicles used to 300 provide paratransit service attend Design and develop 301 transportation disadvantaged training programs delivered by the 302 Agency for Persons with Disabilities. 303 (30)(28)In consultation with the Agency for Health Care 304 Administration and the Department of Transportation, develop an 305 allocation methodology that equitably distributes all 306 transportation funds under the control of the commission to 307 compensate counties, community transportation coordinators, and 308 other entities providing transportation disadvantaged services. 309 The methodology shall separately account for Medicaid 310 beneficiaries. The methodology shall consider such factors as 311 the actual costs of each transportation disadvantaged trip based 312 on prior-year information, efficiencies that a provider might 313 adopt to reduce costs, results of the rate and cost comparisons 314 conducted under subsections (26) (24) and (27) (25), as well as 315 cost efficiencies of trips when compared to the local cost of 316 transporting the general public. This subsection does not 317 supersede the authority of the Agency for Health Care 318 Administration to distribute Medicaid funds. 319 Section 4.Subsection (4) of section 427.0159, Florida 320 Statutes, is amended to read: 321 427.0159Transportation Disadvantaged Trust Fund. 322 (4)A purchasing agency may deposit funds into the 323 Transportation Disadvantaged Trust Fund for the commission to 324 implement, manage, and administer the purchasing agencys 325 transportation disadvantaged funds, as defined in s. 427.011 s. 326 427.011(10). 327 Section 5.Section 427.02, Florida Statutes, is created to 328 read: 329 427.02Transportation services for persons with 330 disabilities. 331 (1)A transportation service provider must: 332 (a)Provide training to each driver of a motor vehicle used 333 to provide paratransit service to persons with disabilities 334 which, at a minimum, meets requirements established by the 335 Agency for Persons with Disabilities for training and 336 professional development of staff providing direct services to 337 clients of the agency. 338 (b)Offer Internet-based, application-based, and 339 smartphone-based ride booking and vehicle tracking services. 340 Each of these services must be provided in accessible formats. 341 (c)Regularly maintain and upgrade all technology-based 342 services. 343 (d)Offer both pre-booking and on-demand service to 344 paratransit service users. 345 (2)A transportation service provider, in collaboration 346 with the local government with which the provider contracts, 347 shall establish: 348 (a)Reasonable time periods between a request for service 349 and the arrival of the transportation service provider at the 350 location specified in the request, taking into account the 351 number of persons requesting paratransit service on the same 352 date, the distance between locations, usual or expected traffic 353 conditions during the provision of paratransit service, and any 354 other factor deemed necessary by the provider or the local 355 government. If a transportation service provider exhibits a 356 pattern of late arrivals based on such established reasonable 357 time periods, the local government may authorize another 358 provider to provide such paratransit service, including the 359 acceptance of any prepaid vouchers for future paratransit 360 service, notwithstanding the terms of the contract with the 361 original provider. 362 (b)Best practices for limiting the duration of travel 363 times for persons receiving paratransit service. To avoid 364 unreasonably long travel times, the provider and the local 365 government shall consider the level of service offered to 366 persons without disabilities by a public entity operating a 367 fixed route as compared to the level of paratransit service 368 offered by the transportation service provider in accordance 369 with 49 C.F.R. s. 37.121. 370 (c)Transparency regarding the quality of paratransit 371 service provided by the transportation service provider, 372 including, but not limited to, data relating to the timeliness 373 of paratransit service provided and the handling of complaints. 374 (d)An efficient system for the reporting of adverse 375 incidents occurring during the provision of paratransit service 376 to persons with disabilities. Such system may include the 377 assignment of a quick-response code to each motor vehicle used 378 to provide such service for the purpose of reporting adverse 379 incidents with a smartphone or other mobile device. Reports of 380 adverse incidents received by the local government or the 381 transportation service provider shall be submitted to the Agency 382 for Persons with Disabilities and the Department of 383 Transportation. 384 (3)The Agency for Persons with Disabilities, in 385 collaboration with the Department of Transportation, shall 386 establish requirements for the investigation of adverse 387 incidents reported pursuant to paragraph (2)(d), including 388 periodic review of ongoing investigations and documentation of 389 final outcomes thereof. The investigation of a reported adverse 390 incident must commence within 48 hours after receipt of the 391 report by the agency and the department. 392 (4)The provisions of s. 287.057 which exempt the purchase 393 of contractual services from competitive bidding requirements do 394 not apply to contracts entered into by local governments and 395 transportation service providers for the provision of 396 paratransit service to persons with disabilities under this 397 section. 398 Section 6.This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.