The 2018 Legislative Session adjourned, sine die, on Sunday evening with the passage of the $88.7 billion state budget, budget implementing bill, and a tax relief bill. On the same day, Governor Scott signed Senate President Joe Negron’s priority legislation relating to post-secondary education ( SB 4) and House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s priority legislation relating to PreK-12 education (HB 7055). You may view the video of the signing ceremony for both bills HERE. Earlier in the week, Governor Scott signed another major bill, SB 7026 relating to public safety. You may view the signing ceremony HERE. After the signing ceremony, Governor Scott spoke briefly with the press and expressed some of his reasons for his support and some of his concerns about this bill – you may view this press availability HERE.
We are continuing to work on our annual FSBA Legislative Session Summary. Our Summary is comprised of two Parts: Part I provides an analysis of the education related portions of the budget and related funding bills; Part II provides detailed summaries of the education related bills that passed during the Session. We will post each Part as it is completed and will notify you when each Part is available on the FSBA website. In addition, we have scheduled a series of Legislative Review Workshops and Webinars in which we will present and discuss the budget and bills. We will email an announcement of the schedule and registration information for these Workshops and Webinars and also will notify in our next issue of the Session Spotlight. In the meantime, please click on the link below for our preliminary list of the major education related bills that passed during the Session.
[toggle title=”Bills that Passed During the 2018 Legislative Session“]
These are just the major bills — several others passed as well:
- SB 4 – Higher Education by Galvano (HB 423 by Rodrigues)
- HB 165 – Threats to Kill or Do Bodily Injury by McClain (SB 310 by Steube)
- HB 495 – Education by Diaz (SB 824 by Garcia)
- HB 577 – High School Graduation Requirements by Silvers (SB 856 by Montford)
- HB 731 – Home Education by Sullivan (SB 732 by Baxley)
- HB 1013 – Daylight Saving Time by Nunez (SB 858 by Steube)
- HB 1091 – Early Learning by Grall (SB 1254 by Passidomo)
- HB 1201 – Education For Prisoners by Ahern (SB 1318 by Rouson)
- HB 1279 – School District Accountability by Sullivan (SB 1804 by Stargel)
- SB 1392 – Prearrest Diversion Programs by Brandes (HB 1197 by Ahern)
- HJR 7001 – Supermajority Vote for State Taxes or Fees by Ways & Means (SJR 1742 by Stargel)
- HB 7055 – Education by Education
Public Safety Bills:
- SB 7026 – Public Safety
- SB 1940 – Public Records and Public Meetings/School Safety
- SB 7024 – Public Records / Victim of a Crime of Mass Violence
Budget and Related Bills:
- HB 5001 – 2018-2019 General Appropriations Act
- HB 5003 – Implementing the 2018-2019 General Appropriations Act
- HB 5007 – State Administered Retirement Systems
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In other important news, the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) will complete their series of public hearings tomorrow and have scheduled meetings of the full CRC during the weeks of March 19 and March 26 to consider the remaining active proposals for amending the state constitution. It is our understanding that these meetings will be held in the Senate chamber and will not be open for public testimony. However, comments and concerns may be emailed to the CRC members. We have posted a great deal of information about the CRC on our Constitution Revision Commission page on the FSBA website, including our chart of the education related proposals under consideration, detailed discussion and talking points on the major education proposals, and CRC member list – this information is available by clicking on the link below. Please review the proposals and contact the CRC members to express your thoughts and concerns about each proposal.
[toggle title=”Major Education Related CRC Proposals and Information“]
Chart of PreK-12 Education Related Proposals
Discussion and Key Points on Major Proposals:
- Proposal 4: Religious Freedom & Separation of Church and State – FSBA Analysis
- Proposal 33: Appointed vs. Elected Superintendents – FADSS Analysis
- Proposal 43: School Board Member Term Limits – FSBA Analysis
- Proposal 45: Education Services in Addition to Public Schools – FSBA Analysis
- Proposal 71: Authority to Establish Public and Charter Schools – FSBA Analysis
CRC Member List (click on each name to access email contact information)
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