As a State Legislator, Jennifer focused on economic and tax policies. She sponsored legislation that focused on growing small businesses in particular. Jennifer sponsored a $203 million jobs package to provide tax credits to encourage companies to hire Floridians who have been out of work. Some of the incentives include: improving the Qualified Target Industry Program to provide tax refunds to businesses that commit to creating a certain number of higher-wage and higher-skilled jobs for Floridians.

Another tax credit Jennifer sponsored was the Entertainment Industry Financial Incentive Program which stimulated job growth and generated millions in revenue to local and state governments. Jennifer was successful in amending portions of the Unemployment Compensation (UC) Statutes which provided immediate relief to employers by reducing their UC taxes. During the 2009 economic recession this relief provided Florida businesses with a delay of $909.6 million in tax increases over a period of three years which enabled them to continue running their businesses.

 

Representative Jennifer S. Carroll’s
Passed Legislation

Below is a breakdown of all the legislation passed by Representative Jennifer S. Carroll including committee bills by year; bill number, title, approved date, and a description. 

23 Total Bills Passed and Enacted

2010 – Passed Total of 6

HB 697/ SB 1430: Entertainment Economic Development
(Prime Sponsor) (Amended to SB 1752: Economic Development)
Governor Approved SB 1752 on 5/28/10
Description: In 2003 Florida ranked 3rd in the nation for film production, as of 2010 Florida does not appear on the list of states that is competitive.  Florida has lost film production projects to competing states.  The bill creates a film and digital media tax credit that has a proven track record of attracting and growing the industry in other states.  This bill, known as the Entertainment Industry Economic Development Act created a proposal to stimulate job growth and generate millions in revenue to local and state government.  The tax credit program also levels the playing field for Florida to once again compete in the emerging economic cluster of film and digital media production. 

HB 523 / SB 1354: Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame (Prime Sponsor)  
Governor Approved HB 523 on 5/12/10
Description: This bill creates the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame. The Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame will be located inside the Capitol Building in a public area designated by the Department of Management Services (DMS).  DMS must consult with the Florida Commission on Human Relations regarding the design and theme of the public area.  The Commission annually must accept nominations for persons to be recommended as members of the Hall of Fame and must recommend 10 persons from which the Governor will select up to three members. Each person selected will have a designation placed in the Hall of Fame. The bill provides criteria for the Commission to follow when recommending members to the Hall of Fame.

HB 731 / SB 1366: Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
Governor Approved HB 731 on 5/28/10
Description: This bill revised an outdated Florida Chapter to conform to Federal regulations for the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).  The UCC is a set of uniform laws that regulates the storage and shipment of tangible goods for commercial purposes.  This bill will adopt revisions made to Article 7 of the UCC by updating and creating an option for electronic documents of title to be used instead of paper documents.  Documents of title are fundamental to the transfer of goods as they travel through commerce and an essential part of our economy.

HB 1551 / SB 1720: Black Business Investment Board, Inc. (BBIB)
Governor Approved HB 1551 on 5/7/10
Description: The Legislature passed the Florida Black Business Investment Act, which recreated the Florida Black Business Investment Board (BBIB) as a non profitable public-private-partnership to evaluate the needs of black business enterprises and aid in their development.  The bill made clarifying changes to board and the Black Business Loan Program.  The bill expands the scope of the board to include federal participation, including seeking federal funds. It made changes to simplify the reports required and the application process.  It made minor changes to the loan program and made administrative changes to the board.

HB 7033 / SB 1666: Unemployment Compensation
(Chair of Committee Bill)
Governor Approved HB 7033 on 3/2/10
Description: This bill amended portions of the unemployment compensation (UC) statutes for a period of time to provide immediate relief to employers to reduce their UC taxes.  This relief provided Florida businesses with a delay of $909.6 million in tax increases, which enabled them to continue running their businesses.  This bill kept Floridians working, prevented layoffs, brought a degree of economic certainty to help create new jobs, and fostered economic growth in Florida.  It provided an additional eight weeks of unemployment benefits to unemployed Floridians.  According to the Agency for Workforce Innovation, approximately 20,000 Floridians benefited from the extended unemployment benefits.

HB 7109 / SB 1856: Tax Refund Program for Qualified Target Industry Businesses (QTI)
(Chair of Committee Bill) (Amended to SB 1752: Economic Development)
Governor Approved HB 1752 on 5/28/10
Description: This bill enhances the incentives provided through the Qualified Target Industry Program (QTI).   The incentive provides tax refunds to businesses that commit to creating a certain number of higher-wage and higher-skilled jobs for Floridians.  The bill was reenacted to make a number of changes to improve the QTI program.

HB 7227 / SB 2284: Legislature
(Chair of Committee Bill)
Governor Approved SB 2284 on 5/18/10
Description: This bill changed the start date for the 2012 Regular Session to January 17, 2012 instead of the traditional March starting date.  The Legislature will approve redistricting plans during the 2012 Session for House, Senate, and Congressional district boundary lines.  By changing the date, this will give greater assurance that the plans will be drawn, and reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Department of Justice in ample time for qualifying offices in June of 2012.  The date change has been done in prior Sessions when redistricting.

Florida Export Finance Corp (FEFC)
Secured $2.9 million in 2010 budget and $2 million in contingent FMAP dollars for a total of $4.9 million for Florida Export Finance Corporation to help with exports. The main industry in Florida that allowed the state to continue to generate revenue during the sluggish economy was companies who exported their goods. Exports have kept the state from having a worse recession. Banks were not lending to small business export intermediaries; these companies needed needed access to capital. The funds from this appropriation had an immediate impact.  It helped retain and created jobs, it kept companies in business, it enabled export companies to maintain long-term relationships with overseas buyers and it filled a short term gap-short term loans. Funds placed in revolving loan fund-do deals continuously, 60-90 day loan time frame and only risking 10% of funds put up, FEFC guarantees 90%.

 

2009 – Passed Total of 6

HB 319 / SB 1480: Recertification of Minority Business Enterprises
Governor Approved HB 319 on 5/27/09
Description: This bill extended the recertification requirement for minority business enterprises from annually to every two years.  This helps reduce barriers for minority business enterprise owners by allowing them more time for seeking growth and development opportunities rather than having to navigate a paper intensive recertification process every two years versus annually. 

HB 729 / SB 1534: Money Services Businesses   
Governor Approved SB 1534 on 6/16/09
Description: This was a glitch bill to clarify changes made to ch. 560 from the previous Session.  The bill clarifies that license fees relating to authorized vendors are assessed by the Office of Financial Regulation against the money service business based on each location of an authorized vendor rather than on a per appointment basis.  It also clarifies that all currency transactions over $10,000 must be reported.

HB 997 / SB 1540: Student Discipline and School Safety (Zero Tolerance)
Governor Approved SB 1540 on 5/27/09
Description: This bill provides school districts more flexibility in administering the state’s zero-tolerance policies.  The policy was intended to promote safety in our schools instead it has been harmful with a disproportionate impact on students.  It will require district school boards to define petty acts of misconduct, define criteria for reporting acts to law enforcement, define acts that pose a serious threat to school safety, minimize the victimization of students, staff, or volunteers, and establish a procedure that ensures each student has the opportunity to appeal disciplinary action. As a result of this legislation, school-related delinquency activity between July and March of 2009-2010 compared to the same period during 2008-09 was reduced by 3,500 referrals a 36% reduction. This legislation prevents children from being referred to the police for simple infractions at school.  This bill gives schools the flexibility to not include law enforcement as the first course of action.  With this bill in place many children, especially minority’s  will not be subjected to going to prison and getting a criminal record for minor incidents which will limit their ability to possibly gain quality employment, entry to the military, or grants and scholarships for college. The reduction in cost to the state would be associated with: reduced incarceration, court cost, attorney’s cost, and cost to the prison system.

 

HB 1055 / SB 2248: Taxation of Public-Private Transportation Facilities
(First Coast Outer Beltway) (Amended to HB 1213: Jacksonville Transportation Authority)
Governor Approved HB 1213 on 6/1/09
Description: This bill provides that when a private entity enters into a public‐private partnership agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to design, build, operate, own, or finance a transportation facility, that facility will be exempt from intangible taxes and special assessments, and ad valorem taxes to the extent that the property is owned by the state or another governmental entity.  

HB 61 / SB 392: Temporary Accommodations
(Amended Rep. Carroll’s language to Rep. Precourt’s bill; she was a Co-Sponsor.)     
Governor Approved HB 61 on 6/10/09
Description: This bill is related to timeshare resale and taxes for occupancy of timeshare units.  Due to the variety of timeshare transactions, such as purchases, rentals, and exchanges, this bill will provide clarification surrounding which transactions are taxable and not taxable.  It also enables citizens to get upfront, information about the claimed performance of resale companies who promise to sell the timeshare interest and then they cannot be found after sales fee is paid.  It will allow full disclosure of what the performance will entail of the resale company.  If deception is made, then the seller has a legal recourse to be made whole. This is a consumer friendly bill that will stop Floridians from getting ripped off.

HB 7031 / SB 2034: Economic Development
(Chair of Committee Bill)
Governor Approved HB 7031 on 5/21/09
Description: This bill amends several sections of Florida Statutes to replace an outdated coding system with the Federally recognized standard coding system used to classify businesses, provides a requirement for Enterprise Florida, Inc., and amends several state economic development programs. Changing the coding system will save business owners time and money.
Aircraft Services Education Facility
Obtained funding of $10 million to match with a $10 million grant for Florida State College to build an Aircraft Service (Coating) Education Facility.  When the facility is completed in the fall of 2010 it will provide about 200 new jobs. The facility construction is about 85% finished.  The first aircraft coating class will start on January 2, 2011.  This facility is the largest economic development project at Cecil Field.  This facility will train a dynamic work force that will be able to be employed and fully support the aircraft coating operations at Cecil Field Commerce Center.

 

2008 – Passed Total of 4 but 2 Vetoed

HB 187 / SB 966: Automated Teller Machine Transactions
Governor Approved SB 966 on 6/17/08
Description: This bill is glitch bills to give authorize owners of an Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to recoup access fees from individuals using foreign bank accounts.  The international networks like Visa and Master Card will not honor the legislation passed in the 2006 Session because of the section that states a fee “may” be charged on international transactions. 

HB 343/ SB 818: Financial Services
Governor Approved HB 343 on 5/28/08
Description: Debt cancellation products are lending transactions between a financial institution and the consumer who holds a debt.  The financial institution, for a fee, will agree to cancel or suspend the debt upon the occurrence of certain events such as death, disability, or unemployment.  It creates a new insurance type product that enables consumers to purchase protection on debt cancellation products.  The bill makes clear that debt cancellation products are not insurance but a financial service product. 

 

2007 – Passed Total of 4 but 2 Vetoed

HB 137/ SB 136: Live the Dream License Plates      
Governor Approved SB 136 on 6/12/07
Description: This bill revises the use of funds received from sale of the Live the Dream plate.  It redirects the twenty-five percent of allocated funds for research, care, and treatment of sickle cell disease to be distributed equally among the eight sickle cell organizations in Florida instead of them applying for a grant to receive the allocated funds. As of December 31, 2009 the Live the Dream sales generated $425,239 for these programs.

 

HB 1283 / SB 2860: Black Business Investment (BBIB/BBIC)
Governor Approved HB 1283 on 6/15/07
Description: This legislation appropriates an additional $1.9 million to the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development.  These funds were for the sole purpose of implementing and administering the Black Business Loan Program.  The bill revamps the BBIB/BBIC program to provide loans, loan guarantees, and investments through eligible recipients such as Black Business Investment Corporations to black business enterprises that cannot otherwise obtain funds through conventional lending institutions.  The legislation also helps to establish partnerships between the public and private sector to leverage state funds and other resources from the private sector.  In 2009/2010 the BBIC’s created 132 new jobs, retained 221 jobs, with a business annual payroll totaling over $9.9 million. In the past three years I secured $7.50 million dollars to fund this program.

 

2006 – Passed Total of 3

HB 361 / SB 704 Automated Teller Machine Transaction Charges
Governor Approved SB 704 on 6/15/06
Description: This bill gives authorize owners of an Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to recoup access fees from individuals using foreign bank accounts.  The international networks like Visa and MasterCard require that a state have a law that will allow the ATM owners to collect these fees from foreign visitors for the service that is provided to them. Previously small business owners annually lost money for services rendered because they were not able to collect fees for transactions form Visa and MasterCard.  With this new law small business owners will be able to capture revenue to cover their cost.

 

HB 367/ SB 730: Accessories to a Crime
Governor Approved SB 730 on 6/21/06
Description: This bill removes the provision that prevents family members from being charged as an accessory after the fact if they assist a family member that they know has committed a felony or had been an accessory to a crime; this does not apply to family under the age of 18.  This law enables our law enforcement officers to have the necessary tools to prosecute.

HB 761 / SB 488: Trespass on the Property of a Certified Domestic Violence Center
Governor Approved HB 761 on 6/26/06
Description: This bill will significantly increase penalties for anyone who trespasses at a domestic violence shelter.  This safe shelter bill is designed to keep abusers away from those they have victimized by making the shelters more secure.  Anyone who trespasses on the grounds of a domestic violence shelter is subject to 5 years in jail and a $5,000 fine.  This will provide a powerful deterrent against those who wish to continue the reprehensible practice of assaulting loved ones.

 

2005 – Passed Total of 2

HB 153 / SB 434: Individuals with Disabilities      
Governor Approved SB 434 on 5/26/05
Description: This bill brought a State law into compliance with a Federal law to protect citizens with disabilities when they utilize a service animal to assist them with their daily functions.  The penalty for subsequent offenses of discrimination against an individual with a disability was increased to a first degree misdemeanor. 

HB 951 / SB 2284: FL Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program
Governor Approved HB 951 on 5/26/05
Description: This bill brought an outdated Florida law up to date for the State to drawdown more federal funds to help with elimination of slum and blighted communities after hurricanes.

 

2004 – Passed Total of 2

HB 249 / SB 588: Specialty License Plates          
(Amended to SB 2020: Specialty License Plates)
Governor Approved SB 2020 on 6/18/04
Description: This bill created the "Live the Dream" Specialty License Plate which pays tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by using his likeness.  The proceeds from the sale of the plate will go to four worthwhile causes; The Sickle Cell Disease Association of Florida (provides education and research), March of Dimes (fight infant mortality), The Community Partnership for Homeless (to improve state homelessness), and The Florida’s Association of Healthy Start Coalitions (to fight birth defects among low income citizens). 

HB 511 / SB 1410: Neighborhood Crime Watch Programs
Governor Approved HB 951 on 4/22/04
Description: This bill will protect members of Neighborhood Crime Watch Programs by making each offense of harassment and intimidation a first degree misdemeanor.  In the inner city many individuals were harassed or threatened by gang members for defending their neighborhoods.  Law enforcement had no power to arrest or charges these gang members for intimidation or threats. The bill creates new statutes that authorize these programs within a county or municipality by the county sheriff or municipal police department allowing local residents and business owners to protect themselves and their streets. It also gives power to law enforcement to arrest and fine intimidators.

 

Black Male College Explorers Program
Secured appropriations of $500,000 for the Black Male College Explorers Program.  The program is an At Risk prevention/intervention program at Historical Black Colleges in Florida: Florida A&M University, Bethune Cookman College, Edward Waters College, and Florida Memorial College designed specifically for black males that was initiated as an attempt to reduce the number of Black Males who drop out of school, use drugs, arrested, and being victims or perpetrators of homicide or other violent crimes.  The goals of the program are to increase the number of black males graduating from high school, facilitate their admission to college, and significantly increase their chances of earning a college degree. 

 

Passed House & Senate in 2007 & 2008

Vetoed by the Governor
 Cosmetology
Description: This bill updated the 1980’s statute to bring the licenses and training requirement into the 21st Century. The bill would break the cosmetology license into three different licenses; hair stylist, esthetician, and nail technician.  Persons wanting to provide all three services would obtain training in all three areas to be a Cosmetologist.  These changes would reduce the costs for the three licensed areas, reduce time in school getting people to work in their specialized field faster, and improve workforce training.  It would also bring Florida into better alignment with industry standards, enhance public health and safety, and improve reciprocity for licenses of workers coming into Florida from other states.