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
HB 759 2024
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Solicitation of Contributions
3 Act; amending s. 496.404, F.S.; revising the
4 definition of the term "solicitation"; creating s.
5 496.4151, F.S.; defining the term "panhandling";
6 prohibiting panhandling under certain circumstances;
7 prohibiting a person from approaching an operator or
8 other occupant of a motor vehicle for the purpose of
9 panhandling; providing penalties; amending s. 496.417,
10 F.S.; providing additional violations that constitute
11 a felony; amending s. 496.425, F.S.; revising the
12 definition of the term "facility"; conforming penalty
13 provisions to changes made by the act; amending s.
14 496.426, F.S.; requiring individuals engaged in
15 solicitation in certain areas to identify on whose
16 behalf and for what purpose contributions are being
17 solicited; including additional statutory provisions
18 in the Solicitation of Contributions Act; amending ss.
19 496.401, 496.403, 496.409, 496.410, 496.415, 496.416,
20 496.418, 496.419, 496.420, 496.421, 496.422, 496.423,
21 496.424, and 617.0601, F.S.; conforming cross-
22 references; providing an effective date.
23
24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
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26 Section 1. Section 496.404, Florida Statutes, is amended
27 to read:
28 496.404 Definitions.—As used in ss. 496.401-496.430 ss.
29 496.401-496.424, the term:
30 (1) "Charitable organization" means a person who is or
31 holds herself or himself out to be established for any
32 benevolent, educational, philanthropic, humane, scientific,
33 artistic, patriotic, social welfare or advocacy, public health,
34 environmental conservation, civic, or other eleemosynary
35 purpose, or a person who in any manner employs a charitable
36 appeal as the basis for any solicitation or an appeal that
37 suggests that there is a charitable purpose to any solicitation.
38 The term includes a chapter, branch, area office, or similar
39 affiliate soliciting contributions within the state for a
40 charitable organization that has its principal place of busin ess
41 outside the state.
42 (2) "Charitable purpose" means a benevolent,
43 philanthropic, patriotic, educational, humane, scientific,
44 artistic, public health, social welfare or advocacy,
45 environmental conservation, civic, or other eleemosynary
46 objective.
47 (3) "Charitable sales promotion" means an advertising or
48 sales campaign conducted by a commercial co-venturer which
49 represents that the purchase or use of goods or services offered
50 by the commercial co-venturer benefits a charitable
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51 organization. The provision of advertising services to a
52 charitable organization does not, in itself, constitute a
53 charitable sales promotion.
54 (4) "Commercial co-venturer" means a person who, for
55 profit, regularly and primarily is engaged in trade or commerce
56 other than in connection with solicitation of contributions and
57 who conducts a charitable sales promotion or a sponsor sales
58 promotion.
59 (5) "Contribution" means the promise, pledge, or grant of
60 money or property, financial assistance, or any other thing of
61 value in response to a solicitation. The term includes, in the
62 case of a charitable organization or sponsor offering goods and
63 services to the public, the difference between the direct cost
64 of the goods and services to the charitable organization or
65 sponsor and the price at which the charitable organization or
66 sponsor or a person acting on behalf of the charitable
67 organization or sponsor resells those goods or services to the
68 public. The term does not include:
69 (a) Bona fide fees, dues, or assessments paid by members
70 if membership is not conferred solely as consideration for
71 making a contribution in response to a solicitation;
72 (b) Funds obtained by a charitable organization or sponsor
73 pursuant to government grants or contracts;
74 (c) Funds obtained as an allocation from a United Way
75 organization that is duly registered with the department; or
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76 (d) Funds received from an organization duly registered
77 with the department that is exempt from federal income taxation
78 under s. 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and described in s.
79 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.
80 (6) "Crisis" means an event that garners widespread
81 national or global media coverage due to an actual or perceived
82 threat of harm to an individual, a group, or a community.
83 (7) "Department" means the Department of Agriculture and
84 Consumer Services.
85 (8) "Disaster" means a natural, technological, or civil
86 event, including, but not limited to, an explosion, chemical
87 spill, earthquake, tsunami, landslide, volcanic activity,
88 avalanche, wildfire, tornado, hurricane, drought, or flood,
89 which affects one or more countries and causes damage of
90 sufficient severity and magnitude to result in:
91 (a) An official declaration of a state of emergency; or
92 (b) An official request for international assistance.
93 (9) "Division" means the Division of Consumer Services of
94 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
95 (10) "Educational institutions" means those institutions
96 and organizations described in s. 212.08(7)(cc)8.a. The term
97 includes private nonprofit organizations, the purpose of which
98 is to raise funds for schools teaching grades kindergarten
99 through grade 12, colleges, and universities, including a
100 nonprofit newspaper of free or paid circulation primarily on
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101 university or college campuses which holds a current exe mption
102 from federal income tax under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal
103 Revenue Code, an educational television network or system
104 established pursuant to s. 1001.26, and a nonprofit television
105 or radio station that is a part of such network or system and
106 that holds a current exemption from federal income tax under s.
107 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The term also includes a
108 nonprofit educational cable consortium that holds a current
109 exemption from federal income tax under s. 501(c)(3) of the
110 Internal Revenue Code, the primary purpose of which is the
111 delivery of educational and instructional cable television
112 programming and the members of which are composed exclusively of
113 educational organizations that hold a valid consumer certificate
114 of exemption and that are either an educational institution as
115 defined in this subsection or qualified as a nonprofit
116 organization pursuant to s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
117 Code.
118 (11) "Emergency service employee" means an employee who is
119 a firefighter, as defined in s. 633.102, or ambulance driver,
120 emergency medical technician, or paramedic, as defined in s.
121 401.23.
122 (12) "Federated fundraising organization" means a
123 federation of independent charitable organizations that have
124 voluntarily joined together, including, but not limited to, a
125 united way or community chest, for purposes of raising and
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126 distributing contributions for and among themselves and where
127 membership does not confer operating authority and control of
128 the individual organization upon the federated group
129 organization.
130 (13) "Fundraising costs" means those costs incurred in
131 inducing others to make contributions to a charitable
132 organization or sponsor for which the contributors will receive
133 no direct economic benefit. Fundraising costs include, but are
134 not limited to, salaries, rent, acquiring and obtaining mailing
135 lists, printing, mailing, and all direct and indirect costs of
136 soliciting, as well as the cost of unsolicited merchandise sent
137 to encourage contributions.
138 (14) "Law enforcement officer" means a person who is
139 elected, appointed, or employed by a municipality or the state
140 or a political subdivision thereof and:
141 (a) Who is vested with authority to bear arms and make
142 arrests and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and
143 detection of crime or the enforcement of the criminal, traffic,
144 or highway laws of the state; or
145 (b) Whose responsibility includes supervision, protection,
146 care, custody, or control of inmates within a correctional
147 institution.
148 (15) "Management and general costs" means all such costs
149 of a charitable organization or sponsor which are not
150 identifiable with a single program or fundraising activity but
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151 which are indispensable to the conduct of such programs and
152 activities and the charitable organization or sponsor's
153 existence.
154 (16) "Membership" means the relationship of a person to an
155 organization which entitles her or him to the privileges,
156 professional standing, honors, or other direct benefit of the
157 organization in addition to the right to vote, elect officers,
158 and hold office in the organization.
159 (17) "Owner" means a person who has a direct or indirect
160 interest in a professional fundraising consultant or
161 professional solicitor.
162 (18) "Parent organization" means that part of a charitable
163 organization or sponsor which coordinates, supervises, or
164 exercises control over policy, fundraising, and expenditures or
165 assists or advises one or more of the organization's chapters,
166 branches, or affiliates in this state.
167 (19) "Person" means an individual, organization, trust,
168 foundation, group, association, entity, partnership,
169 corporation, or society or any combination thereof.
170 (20) "Professional fundraising consultant" means a person
171 who is retained by a charitable organization or sponsor for a
172 fixed fee or rate under a written agreement to plan, manage,
173 conduct, carry on, advise, consult, or prepare material for a
174 solicitation of contributions in this state but who does not
175 solicit contributions or employ, procure, or engage any
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176 compensated person to solicit contributions and who does not at
177 any time have custody or control of contributions. A bona fide
178 volunteer or bona fide employee or salaried officer of a
179 charitable organization or sponsor maintaining a permanent
180 establishment in this state is not a professional fundraising
181 consultant. An attorney, investment counselor, or banker who
182 advises an individual, corporation, or association to make a
183 charitable contribution is not a professional fundraising
184 consultant as the result of such advice.
185 (21) "Professional solicitor" means a person who, for
186 compensation, performs for a charitable organization or sponsor
187 a service in connection with which contributions are or will be
188 solicited in, or from a location in, this state by the
189 compensated person or by a person it employs, procures, or
190 otherwise engages, directly or indirectly, to solicit
191 contributions, or a person who plans, conducts, manages, carries
192 on, advises, consults, directly or indirectly, in connection
193 with the solicitation of contributions for or on behalf of a
194 charitable organization or sponsor but who does not qualify as a
195 professional fundraising consultant. A bona fide volunteer or
196 bona fide employee or salaried officer of a charitable
197 organization or sponsor maintaining a permanent establishment in
198 this state is not a professional solicitor. An attorney,
199 investment counselor, or banker who advises an individual,
200 corporation, or association to make a charitable contribution is
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201 not a professional solicitor as the result of such advice.
202 (22) "Program service costs" means all expenses incurred
203 primarily to accomplish the charitable organization or sponsor's
204 stated purposes. The term does not include fundraising costs.
205 (23) "Religious institution" means a church,
206 ecclesiastical or denominational organization, or established
207 physical place for worship in this state at which nonprofit
208 religious services and activities are regularly conducted and
209 carried on and includes those bona fide religious groups that do
210 not maintain specific places of worship. The term also includes
211 a separate group or corporation that forms an integral part of a
212 religious institution that is exempt from federal income tax
213 under s. 501(c)(3) of the