The Legislature began budget conferencing this weekend, but there was little to no action on the K12 budget front. Meetings were authorized to begin as early as 10am Saturday, but K12 conferees did not meet until Sunday at 1:30p.m. If K12 conferees do not close out issues by close of business today, the budget issues…
Budget conference officially began yesterday at 2pm. The subcommittees will meet to exchange offers and close our budget negotiations until 1pm Monday. At that point, all unresolved issues are “bumped up” to the Appropriations chairs. Meetings are called with one hour notice, so our team is staying close to the Capitol this weekend. You can access…
Repeal of a controversial teacher bonus program is on a Senate committee agenda Monday. SB 486, filed by Sen. Rob Bradley, would repeal the teacher bonus program known as “Best and the Brightest.” The bill, to be considered by the Education Committee, would fully remove the sections of Florida law defining the program and strike it out…
The Legislature will hold a sixth, and final, round of Interim Committee Meetings this week to lay more groundwork for the 2020 Legislative Session that will convene on January 14, 2020. Several committees/subcommittees will consider bills addressing topics of interest including, among others, health and safety, curriculum, personnel issues, and school choice options. In addition,…
Sen. Manny Diaz, a Hialeah Republican, is putting forward his “starting point” pitch on Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ proposal to raise teacher salaries in the state. But that bill may also divert from the Governor’s goals, detailed in his October announcement, by potentially requiring DeSantis to back off his proposed salary floor. Read More
State law requires the governor to release his/her state budget recommendations at least 30 days before the opening of the legislative session. Governor DeSantis unveiled his state budget recommendation on Monday with time to spare. It is important to keep in mind that the governor’s budget recommendation is exactly that: a recommendation. It is the…
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday proposed a record $91.4 billion state budget for the next fiscal year, including spending an additional $1 billion on teacher raises. The proposed budget is more than $400 million higher than the current year and includes plans to spend millions to protect the state’s elections systems and hire hundreds of new…
The Legislature held a 5th week of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Several bills and topics of interest were considered, including funding, health and safety, public records, and ethics. The outcome of the legislative meetings of interest is provided in the first file below. In addition, updates on several federal issues are provided in the…
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday proposed a nearly $1 billion teacher pay package, including a newly revamped teacher bonus program of $300 million that would be on top of some $600 million to boost minimum salaries for teachers. Read More
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday a plan to replace the Best and Brightest bonus program to reward teachers and principals with tier-based systems. DeSantis, joined by Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran in Vero Beach, called for $300 million in teacher and principal bonuses in the Florida Classroom Teacher and Florida School Principal Bonus programs. Read More