Senate Bill 1524 (2023) — Florida Medical School Scholarship and Grant Program
SB 1524
Florida Bills
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 1524 By Senator Davis 5-01600A-23 20231524__ Page 1 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the Florida Medical School 2 Scholarship and Grant Program; amending s. 1009.70, 3 F.S.; revising the authorized use of funds from the 4 Florida Education Fund; revising the responsibilities 5 of the Board of Directors of the Florida Education 6 Fund; establishing the Florida Medical School 7 Scholarship and Grant Program within the fund for 8 specified purposes; requiring the fund to award 9 scholarships to certain minority students enrolled in 10 specified schools or programs; providing requirements 11 for such scholarships; authorizing the fund to provide 12 grants to certain postsecondary educational 13 institutions or nonprofit organizations to create and 14 implement nontraditional mentoring services or support 15 programs for specified purposes; providing an 16 appropriation; providing an effective date. 17 18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19 20
Section 1. Present subsections (6) and (7) of
section 21 1009.70, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (7) 22 and (8), respectively, a new subsection (6) is added to that 23 section, and paragraph (
b) of subsection (2), paragraph (
c) of 24 subsection (3), and subsection (5) are amended, to read: 25 1009.70 Florida Education Fund.— 26 (2) 27 (
b) The Legislature may appropriate funds to the Florida 28 Education Fund to be used for scholarships and grants under 29
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 1524 5-01600A-23 20231524__ Page 2 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. subsections (5) and (6) subsection (5).
Funds appropriated to 30 the Florida Education Fund shall be matched on a dollar-for-31 dollar basis by funds contributed from private sources, 32 including, but not limited to, income earned from investment 33 returns on the Florida Education Fund Endowment, the value of 34 monetary and in-kind contributions to the McKnight Doctoral 35 Fellowship Program, the value of services provided by McKnight 36 Doctoral Fellows to Florida not-for-profit corporations and 37 public and nonpublic colleges and universities, and the value of 38 tuition and fees paid on behalf of McKnight Doctoral Fellows 39 from funds not appropriated to the Florida Education Fund.
The 40 Florida Education Fund shall certify to the Department of 41 Education’s Office of Student Financial Assistance the estimated 42 value of such matching amounts before prior to the disbursement 43 of the appropriation and shall certify to the Legislature the 44 actual value of such matching amounts as of June 30 each year. 45 Only new donations above the certified prior year base shall be 46 calculated for state matching funds. The department shall 47 provide the format for which the Florida Education Fund shall 48 comply with the reporting requirements of this paragraph. 49
(3) The Florida Education Fund shall use the income of the 50 fund to provide for programs which seek to: 51 (
c) Increase the representation of minorities in faculty 52 and administrative positions in higher education and medical 53 fields in this state and to provide more highly educated 54 minority leadership in business and professional enterprises in 55 this state. 56
(5) The Board of Directors of the Florida Education Fund 57 shall review and evaluate initial programs created by the 58
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 1524 5-01600A-23 20231524__ Page 3 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. McKnight Foundation and continue funding the McKnight Doctoral 59 Fellowship Program and the McKnight Junior Faculty Fellowship 60 Program if the evaluations are positive, shall fund the Florida 61 Medical School Scholarship and Grant Program under subsection 62 (6), and the board shall identify, initiate, and fund new and 63 creative programs and monitor, review, and evaluate those 64 programs.
The purpose of this commitment is to broaden the 65 participation and funding potential for further significant 66 support of higher education in this state. In addition, the 67 board shall: 68 (
a) Hold such meetings as are necessary to implement this 69 section. 70 (
b) Select a chairperson annually. 71 (
c) Adopt and use an official seal in the authentication of 72 its acts. 73 (
d) Make rules for its own government. 74 (
e) Administer this section, including creating a budget 75 for the administration of the Florida Medical School Scholarship 76 and Grant Program. 77 (
f) Appoint an executive director to serve at its pleasure 78 and perform all duties assigned by the board. The executive 79 director shall be the chief administrative officer and agent of 80 the board. 81 (
g) Maintain a record of its proceedings. 82 (
h) Delegate to the chairperson of the board the 83 responsibility for signing final orders. 84 (
i) Utilize existing higher education organizations, 85 associations, and agencies to carry out its educational programs 86 and purposes with minimal staff employment. 87
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 1524 5-01600A-23 20231524__ Page 4 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. (
j) Be empowered to enter into contracts with the Federal 88 Government, state agencies, or individuals. 89 (
k) Receive bequests, gifts, grants, donations, and other 90 valued goods and services. Such bequests and gifts shall be used 91 only for the purpose or purposes stated by the donor. 92 (6)(
a) There is established the Florida Medical School 93 Scholarship and Grant Program to be administered by the Florida 94 Education Fund to provide scholarships to black and Hispanic 95 students enrolled in an accredited medical school or an approved 96 physician assistant program in this state and to create 97 nontraditional mentoring services or support programs for such 98 students. 99 (
b) The Florida Education Fund shall award scholarships to 100 black and Hispanic students who are United States citizens and 101 are currently enrolled in an accredited medical school or an 102 approved physician assistant program in this state which will 103 lead to licensure under
chapter 458 or
chapter 459. The 104 scholarship amount shall be determined by the fund. Priority 105 must be given to students who are enrolled in an accredited 106 medical school in this state and who graduated from a high 107 school in this state within the last 10 years or graduated from 108 a public or private postsecondary educational institution within 109 the state in the last 5 years. The fund may establish additional 110 eligibility criteria. 111 (
c) The Florida Education Fund may award grants to public 112 or private postsecondary educational institutions or nonprofit 113 organizations under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to 114 create and implement nontraditional mentoring services or 115 support programs to assist minority students and students of 116
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 1524 5-01600A-23 20231524__ Page 5 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. underrepresented racial and ethnic groups who are interested in 117 pursuing careers that require a professional degree. 118
Section 2. For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, and each fiscal 119 year thereafter, the sum of $500,000 in recurring funds is 120 appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Florida 121 Education Fund for the purpose of implementing the Florida 122 Medical School Scholarship and Grant Program. 123