Several bills of interest were considered today including a significant Proposed Committee Bill (PCB) by the House Education Committee that addresses private school accountability, school choice programs, district flexibility, and a new reading scholarship program. Other bills of interest address early learning, students with disabilities, public meetings and records, and labor organizations. Please click on…
Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran made one thing perfectly clear after the passage of the omnibus education bill HB 7069 in the spring: You ain’t seen nothing yet. “We will continue to have zero tolerance for a system that determines a child’s destiny based on demographics,” Corcoran intoned in his session opening remarks in January. Exactly…
Today, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee chairs released their budget proposals for their specific budget areas. The initial proposal submitted by Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee chair Kathleen Passidomo provides more than $21.1 billion in FEFP funding — an increase of more than $535.2 million or 2.60%. This increase is due, in part, by maintaining the…
Today, the House Appropriations Subcommittee chairs released their budget proposals for their specific budget areas. The initial proposal submitted by House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee chair Manny Diaz provides more than $21 billion in FEFP funding — an increase of more than $506.8 million or 2.46%. This increase is due, in part, by allowing the Required…
As we begin the third week of the 2018 Legislative Session, we encourage you to view our Legislative Weekly video that features Andrea Messina providing a recap of the major bills and meetings last week. Today, legislators took up several bills of interest today including bills relating to the Hope Scholarship Program, educational enhancements, school…
Tallahassee, FL – Executive Director Andrea Messina provides updates and insight to last week (Week 2) of Florida’s Legislative Session and meetings of the Constitution Revision Commission.
This will be a busy week with several bills of interest under consideration throughout the week, release of budget proposals from the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Tuesday and Wednesday, and meetings of the Constitution Revision Commission Committees scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Please click on the link below for the…
Florida legislators are heading into the third week of their 60-day session where they are ready to start grappling with a state budget that will exceed $80 billion. While passing the budget is the only obligation the Florida Legislature has each year, there are dozens of other bills being considered ranging from a duck license…
For a second time, the Florida Constitution Revision Commission education committee has killed a proposal to end school board member salaries. Committee members in the majority argued that the change could eliminate the diversity of people able to serve, particularly in poor and rural counties. Memorializing such a move in the constitution would limit the state’s…
Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero on Friday urged a Constitution Revision Commission panel to repeal a constitutional ban on state support for religious groups. Cantero told the commission’s Education Committee that the so-called “no-aid” provision in the Florida Constitution is unnecessary and would likely be held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court based…