FSBA Session Spotlight — March 5, 2018

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…

Florida Legislature approves vouchers for bullied students

Florida took steps Monday to set up the nation’s first ever private school voucher program for bullied students under a sweeping education bill that the state’s Legislature passed and sent to Gov. Rick Scott.The vote came the same day that legislators also sent to Scott a significant revamp of Florida’s universities and colleges that includes…

There’s a week left for this year’s Legislature. Here’s what’s still undecided in the budget

There’s one week left in this year’s Legislative session, and there’s a lot of money left on the table to be bargained over between House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron.  If lawmakers want to end by Friday, the leaders of both houses need to present a budget by Tuesday. Read More

FSBA Session Spotlight — March 4, 2018

Because the Senate held a rare Saturday floor session, this issue of the Session Spotlight provides our report on bills that were considered on both Friday and Saturday. On Friday, both chambers postponed consideration of their respective public safety bills but legislators did consider several other bills of interest, including bills relating to local tax…

Gun debate pushes Florida Legislature into rare weekend session

The Florida state Senate will hold an extraordinary Saturday session to try to forge a compromise on a school safety plan.  Both the state House and the Senate delayed taking up the proposal Friday as they work toward a March 9 deadline to pass new safety laws in the wake of a high school massacre…

Florida Senate advances massive education bill with last-minute changes

The Florida Senate advanced HB 7055 on Friday, but it wasn’t the same education package that had passed through a committee earlier in the week.  A major amendment filed the evening before it went to the floor for a vote was the result of negotiations with House members, said sponsor Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples. Those negotiations…

DeVos Approves Grant to Help Florida District Cope With Shooting Aftermath

Broward County Public Schools will receive a $1 million federal grant to help cope with the aftermath of the mass shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Friday.  The grant will be financed through the Project School Emergency Response to Violence, or SERV, which helps communities…

FSBA Session Spotlight — March 1, 2018

Today, was a fairly light day of committee meetings and floor sessions. The Senate Public Safety bills were expected to be debated on the Senate floor, but that debate has been postponed until tomorrow.  Meanwhile, other bills of interest that were considered, including bills relating to local government ethics, impact fees, and early learning,   Please…

FSBA Session Spotlight — February 28, 2018

Today, both chambers were engaged in floor sessions to move bills forward through the legislative process. The Senate did not consider any education related bills, but the House considered several, including bills relating to local government ethics, impact fees, and early learning,   Please click on the first link below for our report on the outcome…