Florida Statutes 1010.25 – Foreign gift reporting
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(1) As used in this section, the term:
(a) “Affiliate organization” means any entity under the control of or established for the benefit of an organization required to report under this section, including a direct-support organization.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 1010.25
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(b) “Contract” means any agreement for the acquisition by purchase, lease, or barter of property or services by the foreign source, for the direct benefit or use of either of the parties, and any purchase, lease, or barter of property or services from a foreign country of concern as defined in s. 286.101(1)(b).
(c) “Direct-support organization” has the same meaning as provided in ss. 1004.28(1)(a), 1004.70(1)(a), and 1004.71(1)(a).
(d) “Foreign government” means the government of any country, nation, or group of nations, or any province or other political subdivision of any country or nation, other than the government of the United States or the government of a state or political subdivision, including any agent of such foreign government.
(e) “Foreign source” means any of the following:
1. A foreign government or an agency of a foreign government.
2. A legal entity, governmental or otherwise, created solely under the laws of a foreign state or states.
3. An individual who is not a citizen or a national of the United States or a territory or protectorate of the United States.
4. An agent, including a subsidiary or an affiliate of a foreign legal entity, acting on behalf of a foreign source.
(f) “Gift” means any contract, gift, grant, endowment, award, or donation of money or property of any kind, or any combination thereof, including a conditional or an unconditional pledge of such contract, gift, grant, endowment, award, or donation. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “pledge” means a promise, an agreement, or an expressed intention to give a gift.
(g) “Institution of higher education” means a state university, an entity listed in subpart B. of part II of chapter 1004 that has its own governing board, a Florida College System institution, an independent nonprofit college or university that is located in and chartered by the state and grants baccalaureate or higher degrees, any other institution that has a physical presence in the state and is required to report foreign gifts or contracts pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1011f, or an affiliate organization of an institution of higher education.
(2) Each institution of higher education must semiannually report, each January 31 and July 31, any gift received directly or indirectly from a foreign source with a value of $50,000 or more during the fiscal year. If a foreign source provides more than one gift directly or indirectly to an institution of higher education in a single fiscal year and the total value of those gifts is $50,000 or more, all gifts received from that foreign source must be reported. For purposes of this subsection, a gift received from a foreign source through an intermediary shall be considered an indirect gift to the institution of higher education. An institution of higher education may consolidate its report with that of all its affiliate organizations. A report required under this subsection must be made to the following entities:
(a) The Board of Governors, if the recipient is a state university, an entity listed in subpart B. of part II of chapter 1004 that has its own governing board, or an affiliate organization of such university or entity.
(b) Unless already reported to the Board of Governors pursuant to paragraph (a), the State Board of Education, if the recipient is any other institution of higher education or an affiliate organization of such institution.
(3) For each gift subject to the reporting requirement in subsection (2), the report of the institution of higher education must provide all of the following information, unless otherwise prohibited or deemed confidential under federal law having no exemption applicable to such reporting:
(a) The amount of the gift and the date it was received.
(b) The contract start and end date if the gift is a contract.
(c) The name of the foreign source and, if not a foreign government, the country of citizenship, if known, and the country of principal residence or domicile of the foreign source.
(d)1. A copy of a gift agreement between the foreign source and the institution of higher education, signed by the foreign source and the chief administrative officer of the institution of higher education, or their respective designees, which must include a detailed description of the purpose for which the gift will be used by the institution of higher education, the identification of the persons for whom the gift is explicitly intended to benefit, and any applicable conditions, requirements, restrictions, or terms made a part of the gift regarding the control of curricula, faculty, student admissions, student fees, or contingencies placed upon the institution of higher education to take a specific public position or to award an honorary degree. With respect to an agreement containing information protected from disclosure under s. 1004.22(2), an abstract and redacted copy providing all required information that is not so protected may be submitted in lieu of a copy of the agreement.
2. Beginning July 1, 2022, the Inspector General of the Board of Governors or the Inspector General of the Department of Education, as applicable, shall annually, within existing resources, randomly inspect or audit at least 5 percent of the total number of gifts disclosed by or gift agreements received from institutions of higher education pursuant to this paragraph during the previous year to determine an institution’s compliance with the requirements of this section with respect to the gifts and gift agreements reviewed.
3. Upon the request of the Governor, the President of the Senate, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Inspector General of the Board of Governors or the Inspector General of the Department of Education, as applicable, must inspect or audit a gift or gift agreement.
(4) The State Board of Education or the Board of Governors, as applicable, shall exercise the authority provided pursuant to s. 1008.32 or s. 1008.322, respectively, to sanction an institution of higher education that fails to report a reportable gift within 60 days after the reporting deadlines established in subsection (2).
(5)(a) An institution of higher education that knowingly, willfully, or negligently fails to disclose the information required by this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of 105 percent of the amount of the undisclosed gift, payable only from nonstate funds of the institution of higher education or the affiliate organization that received such gift. The recovered funds must be deposited into the General Revenue Fund. The Board of Governors and the State Board of Education, as applicable, may administratively enforce this section and impose the civil penalty as an administrative penalty.
(b) In the absence of enforcement by the Board of Governors or the State Board of Education, as applicable, the Attorney General or the Chief Financial Officer may bring a civil action to enforce this section. If such action is successful, the Attorney General or the Chief Financial Officer, as applicable, is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs.
(c) A whistle-blower who reports an undisclosed foreign gift to the appropriate inspector general may also report such undisclosed foreign gift to the Attorney General or the Chief Financial Officer and retain whistle-blower protection under s. 112.3188. Such whistle-blower shall be entitled to receive a reward in the amount of 25 percent of any penalty recovered by the Board of Governors, the State Board of Education, the Attorney General, or the Chief Financial Officer under this section. The Chief Financial Officer is authorized to incur expenditures to provide such reward from the penalty recovery. The reward may be paid through an intermediary attorney or trustee designated by the whistle-blower.
(6) Information reported under subsection (3) is not confidential or exempt from s. 119.07(1) and Fla. Const. Art. I, § 24(a), except as provided in s. 1004.22(2) or unless protected by any statute as a trade secret as defined in s. 688.002 or s. 812.081(1)(c).
(7) The Board of Governors may adopt regulations, and the State Board of Education may adopt rules, to implement this section.