Title: Job Opportunities for Youth

Summary: Requiring that Jobs for Florida's Graduates (JFG) submit to the Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida's Graduates a proposal for funding a statewide summer program for youth employment; revising the percentage of monthly collections of the excise taxes on alcoholic beverages to be deposited into the Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco Trust Fund; revising the excise tax amount payable by manufacturers, distributors, and vendors of malt beverages; providing a tax credit against certain taxes on alcoholic beverages for a business that employs youth during the summer under the internship program or provides an education scholarship to a student who completes a JFG internship, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to job opportunities for youth; providing legislative intent to support statewide vocational training and placement for at-risk youth through the Jobs for Florida s Graduates (JFG) program; requiring that JFG submit to the Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida s Graduates a proposal for funding a statewide summer program for youth employment; providing criteria concerning the proposal; requiring a report to the Legislature; requiring that the Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida s Graduates be the fiscal agent for the Jobs for Florida s Graduates program; amending s. 561.121, F.S.; revising the percentage of monthly collections of the excise taxes on alcoholic beverages to be deposited into the Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco Trust Fund; requiring that a certain percentage of net collections be deposited into the Grants and Donations Trust Fund within the Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida s Graduates to operate the statewide summer program for youth employment; amending s. 563.05, F.S.; revising the excise tax amount payable by manufacturers, distributors, and vendors of malt beverages; creating s. 563.09, F.S.; providing a tax credit against certain taxes on alcoholic beverages for a business that employs youth during the summer under the internship program or provides an education scholarship to a student who completes a JFG internship; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1.  Jobs for Florida s Graduates; legislative intent; statewide program; fiscal oversight.  (1)   It is the intent of the Legislature to provide support and funding for programs conducted by Jobs for Florida s Graduates (JFG). JFG provides paid internships and educational and developmental skills to youth between and years of age who have significant family troubles, have significant school troubles, or have experienced drug or alcohol use, or both, or who exhibit predelinquent behavior. (2)   In order to receive funding, JFG shall submit to the Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida s Graduates, by September 1, 2,a proposal for funding a statewide summer program for youth employment. The program shall include a summer internship of at least weeks, student-selection criteria, required parental involvement, and followup during the school year. By January 1, 3,and each January thereafter, JFG shall provide to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a report that includes, but need not be limited to, an itemized list of program costs, the number and types of businesses or partnerships that provide summer internships, and the following statistics concerning the youth served by the program: high school retention and graduation rates, postsecondary education or vocational training, job placement, increase in basic skills, mastery of work and life skills, and increase or decrease in juvenile crime. (3)   The Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida s Graduates shall be the fiscal agent for the Jobs for Florida s Graduates summer program for youth employment.Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 561.121, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 561.121 Deposit of revenue.  (1) All state funds collected pursuant to ss. 563.05, 564.06, and 565.12 shall be paid into the State Treasury and disbursed in the following manner: (a)  1.   One and eight-hundred-fifty-thousandths Two percent of monthly collections of the excise taxes on alcoholic beverages established in ss. 563.05, 564.06, and 565.12 shall be deposited into the Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco Trust Fund to meet the division s appropriation for the state fiscal year. 2.   Six and nine-hundred-fifty-thousandths percent of the net collections shall be deposited into the Grants and Donations Trust Fund within the Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida s Graduates to operate the statewide summer program for youth employment.(b) The remainder of the funds collected pursuant to ss. 563.05, 564.06, and 565.12 shall be credited to the General Revenue Fund. Section 3. Section 563.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 563.05 Excise taxes on malt beverages. As to malt beverages containing 0.5 percent or more of alcohol by volume, there shall be paid by all manufacturers, distributors, and vendors, as herein defined, a tax of cents per gallon upon all such beverages in bulk or in kegs or barrels; and, when such beverages are sold in containers of less than gallon, the tax will be cents on each pint or fraction thereof in the container. However, the excise taxes required to be paid by this section upon malt beverages are not required to be paid upon such beverages when they are sold to post exchanges, ship service stores, and base exchanges located in military, naval, or air force reservations within this state. Section 4. Section 563.09, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 563.09   Tax credit for youth summer employment. The following tax credits are allowed against the tax imposed under this chapter: (1)   The sum of $2,400 annually for each paid, qualified internship provided by the taxpayer under the statewide Jobs for Florida s Graduates (JFG) summer program for youth employment.An internship tax credit of $200 shall be taken against monthly excise taxes as remitted and reported pursuant to s. 561.50.As used in this subsection, the term  qualified internship  means employment as an intern in the public, private, or not-for profit sector. The internship should align with this state s targeted industries or with high-skill or high-wage jobs as well as the intern s individual career goals and may not include contact with alcoholic beverages. (2)   Up to $5,000 annually for each academic or vocational postsecondary education scholarship provided by the taxpayer to a student who successfully completes a JFG internship. The tax credit shall be taken in equal installments against monthly excise taxes as remitted and reported pursuant to s. 561.50.Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.