The legislature has extended the 2018 Session through Sunday, March 11 in order to allow for the 72-hour cooling off period before a final vote can be taken on the budget. The chambers also agreed that they will consider ONLY the Conference Reports budget bills and a tax relief bill – HB 7087 — after…
After extensive discussions with the families of victims, Gov. Rick Scott signed new gun restrictions Friday in response to last month’s massacre that took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Scott, a Republican who has long enjoyed the political support of the National Rifle Association, approved a three-day waiting period for…
Tallahassee, FL – Watch this edition of the FSBA Legislative Weekly Update to hear details as Florida’s Legislature approaches Sine Die.
Today, legislators settled the final budget issues and published the 2018-2019 General Appropriations Act (Budget) and related bills and information. To allow for the constitutionally required 72-hour “cooling off” period before voting on the budget, legislators will extend the Session through Sunday, March 11. We are in the process of compiling our annual FSBA Legislative…
The Legislature’s new plan to arm school employees as a last line of defense to an active shooter might never get tested in Florida’s biggest school districts. Officials in 10 of the state’s largest systems, which educate nearly 60 percent of all Florida school children, said they have no intention of giving teachers or other…
This afternoon, legislative leaders announced that an agreement has been reached on the $87 billion state budget. Because this is a day later than would be necessary to adjourn on Friday, it is expected that the Session will be extended and the budget will be subject to a final vote on Sunday or Monday. As…
Florida’s regular 60-day legislative session will end Friday with no budget agreement, ensuring that legislators will have to return next week or later to pass a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. House Speaker Richard Corcoran told his House colleagues Tuesday night that they would have to stay later or come back…
Unfortunately, Senate President Negron and House Speaker Corcoran did not complete negotiations on the state budget today. As we have reported, in order for the Session to adjourn on schedule on Friday, March 9, the budget should have been printed before midnight today to allow for the constitutionally required 72-hour “cooling off” period before a…
The chairman of the Senate education committee wants to change the main federal education law to allow schools to hire more counselors, make infrastructure improvements, and fund violence-prevention programs. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., announced Tuesday that he would introduce the School Safety and Mental Health Service Improvement Act at some point this week. Among other…
As we begin the last scheduled week of the 2018 Session, please take a few minutes to view our Legislative Weekly video featuring Andrea Messina providing a recap of recent legislative events and focusing on the key bills and issues that remain to be resolved. One of those key bills – HB 7055 — was…