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CS/CS/HB 1325 2026
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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the Linking Industry to Nursing 2
Education Fund; amending s. 1009.8962, F.S.; revising 3
the Legislative intent for the Linking Industry to 4
Nursing Education (LINE) Fund; revising the definition 5
of the term "health care partner"; authorizing the 6
inclusion of nonmonetary contributions to institutions 7
for purposes of proposals for LINE Fund matching 8
funds; requiring monetary contributions to receive 9
priority in the award of matching funds; revising the 10
authorized uses of awarded funds; requiring proposals 11
for participation in the fund to be submitted by 12
specified persons; providing allowable nonmonetary 13
contributions; providing requirements for the 14
acceptance of nonmonetary contributions as health care 15
matching funds; prohibiting a proposal to participate 16
in the fund from being comprised solely of nonmonetary 17
contributions; revising the criteria the Board of 18
Governors and the Department of Education must use to 19
review proposals; requiring grant funds awarded based 20
on nonmonetary contributions to be based on such 21
contribution's fair market value; authorizing the 22
Board of Governors and the Department of Education to 23
provide multiyear awards under certain circumstances; 24
providing notification requirements for such awards; 25
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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
providing an effective date. 26
27
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 28
29
Section 1. Section 1009.8962, Florida Statutes, is amended 30
to read: 31
1009.8962 Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) 32
Fund.— 33
(1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the 34
"Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) Fund Act." 35
(2) Recognizing that the state has a persistent and 36
growing nursing shortage, it is the intent of the Legislature to 37
address this critical workforce need by incentivizing 38
collaboration between nursing education programs and health care 39
partners that contribute monetary or nonmonetary contributions 40
through the establishment of the LINE Fund. This fund is 41
intended to meet local, regional, and state workforce demand by 42
recruiting faculty and clinical preceptors, increasing the 43
capacity of high-quality nursing education programs, and 44
increasing the number of nursing education program graduates who 45
are prepared and licensed to enter the workforce. 46
(3) As used in this section, the term: 47
(a) "Health care partner" means a health care provider as 48
defined in s. 768.38(2) which is licensed to operate in this 49
state. 50
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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
(b) "Institution" means a school district career center 51
under s. 1001.44; a charter technical career center under s. 52
1002.34; a Florida College System institution; a state 53
university; an independent nonprofit college or university 54
located and chartered in this state and accredited by an agency 55
or association that is recognized by the database created and 56
maintained by the United States Department of Education to grant 57
baccalaureate degrees; or an independent school, college, or 58
university with an accredited program as defined in s. 464.003 59
which is located in this state and licensed by the Commission 60
for Independent Education pursuant to s. 1005.31, or an 61
institution authorized under s. 1009.521, which has a nursing 62
education program that meets or exceeds the following: 63
1. For a certified nursing assistant program, a completion 64
rate of at least 70 percent for the prior year. 65
2. For a licensed practical nurse, associate of science in 66
nursing, and bachelor of science in nursing program, a first-67
time passage rate on the National Council of State Boards of 68
Nursing Licensing Examination of at least 75 percent for the 69
prior year based on a minimum of 10 testing participants. 70
(c) "Student" means a person who is a resident for tuition 71
purposes pursuant to s. 1009.21 and enrolled in a nursing 72
education program at an institution. 73
(4) The LINE Fund shall be administered by the Board of 74
Governors for state universities and the Department of Education 75
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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
for all other institutions. 76
(5) Subject to available funds, for every monetary or 77
nonmonetary contribution dollar contributed to an institution by 78
a health care partner, the fund shall provide a dollar-to-dollar 79
match to the participating institution to implement the 80
activities outlined in the institution's approved proposal. 81
Monetary contributions from health care partners shall receive 82
priority when awarding matching funds to institutions. 83
(6)(a) Funds may be used for student scholarships;, 84
recruitment of additional faculty and preceptors; increasing 85
program enrollment, program completion, and licensure 86
examination passage rates;, equipment;, and simulation centers; 87
and internships to advance high-quality nursing education 88
programs throughout the state. 89
(b) Funds may not be used for the construction of new 90
buildings, but may be used to expand, retrofit, or upgrade 91
existing facilities if the proposal will result in increased 92
program enrollments or improved or modernized educational or 93
simulation space for an institution's nursing education program 94
students. 95
(7)(a) To participate, an institution's president, chief 96
administrative officer, or designee institution must submit a 97
timely and completed proposal to the Board of Governors or 98
Department of Education, in a format prescribed by the Board of 99
Governors or Department of Education, as applicable. 100
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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
(b) The proposal must identify a health care partner 101
located and licensed to operate in the state whose monetary 102
contributions will be matched by the fund on a dollar-to-dollar 103
basis. 104
(c) Allowable nonmonetary contributions are limited to the 105
following: 106
1. The value of the donated use of health care partner 107
employees as nursing education program instructors or 108
preceptors. 109
2. The value of the donated use of a health care partner's 110
space or equipment by a nursing education program. 111
3. The value of donated educational or simulation 112
equipment. 113
4. Other similar quantifiable donated goods and services 114
deemed by the Board of Governors or Department of Education, as 115
applicable, to be good faith contributions that support the 116
goals of the LINE Fund. 117
(d) To accept nonmonetary contributions as health care 118
matching funds, the applicant and Board of Governors or 119
Department of Education, as applicable, must quantify the fair 120
market value of the contribution in dollars and certify that the 121
proposed contribution directly supports the goals of the LINE 122
Fund outlined in subsection (2). 123
(e) A proposal may not be comprised solely of nonmonetary 124
contributions. 125
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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
(8) The Board of Governors or Department of Education, as 126
applicable, must review and evaluate each completed and timely 127
submitted proposal according to the following minimum criteria, 128
where applicable: 129
(a) Whether monetary and nonmonetary contributions funds 130
committed by the health care partner will contribute to an 131
eligible purpose. 132
(b) How the institution plans to use the funds or 133
nonmonetary contribution, including how such funds or 134
nonmonetary contribution will be utilized to increase student 135
enrollment and program completion. 136
(c) How the health care partner will onboard and retain 137
graduates or otherwise improve the likelihood that graduates 138
will successfully join the state or local workforce. 139
(d) How the funds or nonmonetary contribution will be used 140
to expand the institution's nursing education programs to meet 141
local, regional, or state workforce demands. If applicable, this 142
shall include advanced education nursing programs and how the 143
funds or nonmonetary contribution will increase the number of 144
faculty and clinical preceptors and planned efforts to utilize 145
the clinical placement process established in s. 14.36. 146
(9)(a) Each institution with an approved proposal shall 147
notify the Board of Governors or Department of Education, as 148
applicable, upon receipt of the health care partner provided 149
funds or nonmonetary contribution identified in the proposal. 150
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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
The Board of Governors or Department of Education, as 151
applicable, shall release grant funds, on a dollar-for-dollar 152
basis, up to the amount of funds or the fair market value of the 153
nonmonetary contribution received by the institution, including 154
notifications made on a rolling or periodic basis. 155
(b) If deemed to meet the long-term goals of the LINE 156
Fund, the Board of Governors or Department of Education, as 157
applicable, may, but are not required to, award funds for an 158
approved proposal for up to 2 academic years immediately 159
following the academic year within which the initial approval is 160
granted. If the Board of Governors or Department of Education, 161
as applicable, approves a multiyear award to an institution, it 162
must notify the recipient that the award amount in subsequent 163
years is subject to a LINE Fund appropriation and the continued 164
notification of the health care partner's contribution to match 165
the multiyear award of state funds. 166
(c)(b) Annually, by February 1, each institution awarded 167
grant funds in the previous fiscal year shall submit a report to 168
the Board of Governors or Department of Education, as 169
applicable, that demonstrates the expansion as outlined in the 170
proposal and the use of funds. At minimum, the report must 171
include, by program level, the number of additional nursing 172
education students enrolled; if scholarships were awarded using 173
grant funds, the number of students who received scholarships 174
and the average award amount; and the outcomes of students as 175
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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
reported by the Office of Reimagining Education and Career Help 176
pursuant to s. 14.36(3)(l). 177
(10) The Board of Governors shall adopt regulations and 178
the State Board of Education shall adopt rules to administer the 179
fund, establish dates for the submission and review of 180
proposals, award funds, and other regulations and rules 181
necessary to implement this section. 182
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 183