Title: Charitable Organizations

Summary: Prohibits solicitation or acceptance of contributions or anything of value from foreign sources of concern; requires DACS to create Honest Services Registry, publish registry on its website, & adopt rules; provides requirements for charitable organizations to be included on registry.

Full Text:
An act relating to charitable organizations; amending s. 496.404, F.S.; defining the terms "foreign country of concern" and "foreign source of concern"; amending s. 496.415, F.S.; prohibiting the solicitation or acceptance of contributions or anything of value from a foreign source of concern; creating s. 496.431, F.S.; requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to create an Honest Services Registry for a specified purpose; providing requirements for charitable organizations to be included on the registry; requiring the department to publish the registry on its website; requiring the department to adopt rules; amending s. 741.0305, F.S.; conformi ng a cross-reference; reenacting ss. 496.416 and 496.417, F.S., relating to violations as deceptive or unfair trade practices and criminal penalties, respectively, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 496.415, F.S., in references thereto; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Subsections (13) through (27) of section 496.404, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (15) HB 1327 2024 through (29), respectively, and new subsections (13) and (1 4) are added to that section, to read: 496.404 Definitions.-As used in ss. 496.401-496.424, the term: (13) "Foreign country of concern" means the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro, or the Syrian Arab Republic, including any agency of or any other entity under significant control of such foreign country of concern. (14) "Foreign source of concern" mean sany of the following: (a) The government or any official of the government of a foreign country of concern; (b) A political party or member of a political party or any subdivision of a political party in a foreign country of concern; (c) A partners hip, an association, a corporation, an organization, or other combination of persons organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign country of concern, or a subsidiary of such entity; (d) Any person who is domiciled in a foreign country of concern and is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States; (e) An agent, including a subsidiary or an affiliate of a HB 1327 2024 foreign legal entity, acting on behalf of a foreign source of concern; or (f) An entity in which any person, entity, or collection of persons or entities described in paragraphs (a) through (e) has a controlling interest. As used in this paragraph, the term "controlling interest" means the possession of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of an entity, whether through ownership of securities, by contract, or otherwise. A person or an entity that directly or indirectly has the right to vote percent or more of the voting interests of the company or is entitled to percent or more of its profits is presumed to possess a controlling interest. Section 2. Subsection (20) is added to section 496.415, Florida Statutes, to read: 496.415 Prohibited acts.-It is unlawful for any person in connection with the plan ning, conduct, or execution of any solicitation or charitable or sponsor sales promotion to: (20) Solicit or accept contributions or anything of value, including contributions or any other assistance, from a foreign source of concern. Section 3. Section 496.431, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 496.431 Honest Services Registry.-(1) The department shall create an Honest Services Registry to provide the residents of this state with the HB 1327 2024 information necessary to make an informed choice when deciding which charitable organizations to support. (2) To be included on the Honest Services Registry, a charitable organization must, at a minimum, submit to the department an attestation, verified as provided in s. 92.525, of the following: (a) The organization does not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, funding, support, or services from a foreign source of concern. (b) The organization's messaging and content is not directly or indirectly produced or influenced by a foreign source of conc ern. (3) The department shall publish the Honest Services Registry on the department's website. (4) The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 741.0305, Florida Statutes, is ame nded to read: 741.0305 Marriage fee reduction for completion of premarital preparation course.-(3)(a) All individuals electing to participate in a premarital preparation course shall choose from the following list of qualified instructors: 1. A psyc hologist licensed under chapter 490. 2. A clinical social worker licensed under chapter 491. HB 1327 2024 3. A marriage and family therapist licensed under chapter 491. 4. A mental health counselor licensed under chapter 491. 5. An official representative of a religious institution which is recognized under s. 496.404 s. 496.404(23),if the representative has relevant training. 6. Any other provider designated by a judicial circuit, including, but not limited to, school counselors who are certified to offer su ch courses. Each judicial circuit may establish a roster of area course providers, including those who offer the course on a sliding fee scale or for free. Section 5. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment made by this act to section 496.415, Florida Statutes, in a reference thereto, section 496.416, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 496.416 Violation as deceptive or unfair trade practice.-Any person who commits an act or practice that violates any provision of ss. 496.401-496.424 commit san unfair or deceptive act or practice or unfair method of competition in violation of chapter 501, part II, and is subject to the penalties and remedies provided for such violation. Section 6. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment made by this act to section 496.415, Florida Statutes, in a reference thereto, section 496.417, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: HB 1327 2024 496.417 Criminal penalties.-Except as otherwise provided in ss. 496.401-496.424, and in addition to any administrative or civil penalties, any person who willfully and knowingly violates ss. 496.401-496.424 commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For a second or subsequent conviction, such violation constitutes a felon yof the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.