Bill Text: FL S0964 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Florida Public Service Commission
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities [S0964 Detail]
Download: Florida-2014-S0964-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2014 SB 964 By Senator Legg 17-00562A-14 2014964__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the Florida Public Service 3 Commission; amending s. 350.01, F.S.; authorizing each 4 commissioner serving on July 1, 2014, to remain in 5 office until the completion of his or her term; 6 deleting obsolete provisions; restricting 7 commissioners appointed after July 1, 2014, from 8 serving more than two consecutive terms; making 9 technical changes; amending s. 350.031, F.S.; for the 10 purpose of statewide representation on the commission, 11 creating five districts whose boundaries align with 12 the five state district courts of appeal; requiring 13 one commissioner to be appointed to represent each 14 district; requiring the Florida Public Service 15 Commission Nominating Council to select nominees who 16 are residents of the district they are being nominated 17 to represent; providing an effective date. 18 19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 20 21 Section 1. Section 350.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to 22 read: 23 350.01 Florida Public Service Commission; terms of 24 commissioners; vacancies; election and duties of chair; quorum; 25 proceedings.— 26 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Florida Public Service Commission 27 consistsshall consistof five commissioners appointed pursuant 28 to s. 350.031. 29(2)(a) Each commissioner serving on July 1, 20141978, is 30 authorizedshall be permittedto remain in office until the 31 completion of his or her current term. An individual appointed 32 to fill a vacancy for an unexpired portion of a term of a 33 commissioner serving on July 1, 2014, is authorized to remain in 34 office until completing the unexpired portion of such term. 35 (b) Upon the expiration of atheterm, a successor shall be 36 appointed for a 4-year term beginning on January 2 and ending 4 37 years later on January 1 in the manner prescribed by s. 350.031. 38for a 4-year term, except thatThe following vacanciesterms of39the initial members appointed under this actshall be filled as 40 follows: 41 1. The vacanciesvacancycreated by the expiration of the 42 two termspresent termending in January 2015,1981, shall be 43 filled by the appointment of two individuals, each representing 44 a different districtfor a 4-year term and for 4-year terms45thereafter;and46 2. The vacancyvacanciescreated by the expiration of the 47 termtwo present termsending in January 2017,1979, shall be 48 filled by the appointment of an individual representing a 49 district not represented by the appointments made under 50 subparagraph 1.; andfor a 3-year term and for 4-year terms51thereafter52 3. The vacancies created by the expiration of the two terms 53 ending in January 2018, shall be filled by the appointment of 54 two individuals, each representing a district not represented by 55 the appointments made under subparagraphs 1. and 2. 56(b) Two additional commissioners shall be appointed in the57manner prescribed by s. 350.031 for 4-year terms beginning the58first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, 1979, and59successors shall be appointed for 4-year terms thereafter with60each term beginning on January 2 of the year the term commences61and ending 4 years later on January 1.62 (c) Vacancies on the commission shall be filled for the 63 unexpired portion of the term in the same manner as original 64 appointments to the commission. 65 (d)(3)AAnyperson serving on the commission who seeks 66 reappointment for a second consecutive 4-year termto be67appointed orreappointedshall file a statement to that effect 68 with the nominating council byno later thanJune 1 prior to the 69 year in which his or her term expiresa statement that he or she70desires to serve an additional term. 71 (e) A commissioner appointed after July 1, 2014, may not 72 serve more than two consecutive terms. 73 (2)(4)COMMISSION CHAIR.— 74 (a) One member of the commission shall be elected by 75 majority vote to serve as chair for a term of 2 years, beginning 76 on January 2 of the first year of the 2-year term. A member may 77 not serve two consecutive terms as chair. 78 (b)(5)The primary duty of the chair is to serve as chief 79 administrative officer of the commission; however, the chair may 80 participate in any proceedings pending before the commission if 81whenadministrative duties and time permit. In order to 82 distribute the workload and expedite the commission’s calendar, 83 the chair, in addition to other administrative duties, mayhas84authority toassign the various proceedings pending before the 85 commission which requirerequiringhearings to two or more 86 commissioners or to the commission’s staff of hearing examiners 87 under the supervision of the office of general counsel. 88 (3) PROCEEDINGS.— 89 (a) Only those commissioners assigned to a proceeding that 90 requires hearingsrequiring hearingsare entitled to participate 91 in the final decision of the commission relatingasto that 92 proceeding; howeverprovided, if only two commissioners are 93 assigned to a proceeding requiring hearings and they cannot 94 agree on a final decision, the chair shall cast the deciding 95 vote for final disposition of the proceeding. If more than two 96 commissioners are assigned to any proceeding, a majority of the 97 members assigned constitutesshall constitutea quorum and a 98 majority vote of the members assigned isshall beessential to 99 final commission disposition of those proceedings requiring 100 actual participation by the commissioners. If a commissioner 101 becomes unavailable after assignment to a particular proceeding, 102 the chair shall assign a substitute commissioner. After the 103 conclusion of hearings in those proceedings assigned to a 104 hearing examiner,following the conclusion of the hearings,the 105 designated hearing examiner is responsible for preparing 106 recommendations for final disposition by a majority vote of the 107 commission. A petition for reconsideration shall be voted upon 108 by those commissioners participating in the final disposition of 109 the proceeding. 110 (b)(6)A majority of the commissioners may determine 111 whetherthatthe full commission shall sit in any proceeding. 112 (c) The public counsel or a person regulated by the Public 113 Service Commission and substantially affected by a proceeding 114 may file a petition requesting that the proceeding be assigned 115 to the full commission. Within 15 days afterofreceiptby the116commissionof aanypetitionor application, the full commission 117 shall dispose of thesuchpetition by majority vote and render a 118 written decision beforethereonprior toassignment of less than 119 the full commission to a proceeding. In disposing of such 120 petition, the commission shall consider the overall general 121 public interest and impact of the pending proceeding, including, 122 but not limited to, the following criteria: the magnitude of a 123 rate filing, including the number of customers affected and the 124 total revenues requested; the services rendered to the affected 125 public; the urgency of the requested action; the needs of the 126 consuming public and the utility; the value of service involved; 127 the effect on consumer relations, regulatory policies, 128 conservation, the economy, competition, and the public health,129 and safety of the area involved. If the petition is denied, the 130 commission shall specifyset forththe grounds for denial. 131 (d)(7)This section does not prohibit a commissioner, 132 designated by the chair, from conducting a hearing as provided 133 under ss. 120.569 and 120.57(1) andthe rules of thecommission 134 rulesadopted pursuant thereto. 135 Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 350.031, Florida 136 Statutes, is amended to read: 137 350.031 Florida Public Service Commission Nominating 138 Council.— 139 (5)(a) To provide for statewide representation on the 140 Florida Public Service Commission, five districts whose 141 boundaries align with the five state district courts of appeal 142 as provided under chapter 35 are created. One commissioner shall 143 be appointed to represent each district. A person may not be 144 nominated to the Governor for appointment to the commission 145 unless he or she is a resident of the district he or she is 146 being nominated to represent. 147 (b) A person may not be nominated to the Governor for 148 appointment to thePublic Servicecommission until the council 149 has determined that the person is competent and knowledgeable in 150 one or more fields, includingwhich shall include, but notbe151 limited to,:public affairs, law, economics, accounting, 152 engineering, finance, natural resource conservation, energy, or 153 another field substantially related to the duties and functions 154 of the commission. The commission membership shall fairly 155 represent thesethe above-statedfields. 156 (c) Recommendations of the council shall be nonpartisan. 157 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.