VIDEO: FSBA Legislative Weekly – Week 8
Tallahassee, FL – Watch this edition of the FSBA Legislative Weekly Update to hear details on Week 8 of Florida’s Legislative Session.
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…
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…
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 27, 2018
Today marked the last day of regularly scheduled committee meetings during this Session. Although committee meetings may still be called, if needed, the bulk of each of the remaining days of the Session will be devoted to floor sessions where bills will be heard on 2nd and 3rd Reading and will be swapped in Messages…
FSBA Session Spotlight — February 20, 2018
Today, Governor Scott convened several workshops – an education workshop, a mental health and child welfare workshop, and a law enforcement workshop — that met throughout the day to examine the elements to improve student safety and school security. FSBA was well represented in these discussions by Dr. Terry Nichols, Jackson County School Board Chair,…
FSBA Session Spotlight — February 19, 2018
Today, we begin the 7th week of the Legislative Session with only a few more weeks remaining before the scheduled adjournment on March 9. As we start the week, please be sure to watch our Legislative Weekly video which features FSBA Executive Director Andrea Messina offering heartfelt comments on the horrible tragedy at Marjory Stoneman…
Florida Senate committee tackles mental health, charter schools and “Schools of Hope”
While House Democrats continued to blast Republican efforts to recast Florida education policy, Democrats in the Senate found common ground with the opposite party Wednesday on some similar issues. GOP leaders on the Senate PreK-12 Appropriations Committee accepted several Democrat amendments to chairwoman Kathleen Passidomo’s priority bill, SB 1434, which aims to refine and revise some…
FSBA Session Spotlight — February 6-8, 2018
The FSBA Day in the Legislature Conference has been in full swing this week with more than 125 school board members and other attendees in Tallahassee to participate in legislative briefings and advocacy training, network with education leaders, and meet with legislators to discuss issues of interest to school districts. This has been a particularly…
Battle royale: Florida House gears up for what could be its biggest debate of the session
It’s a debate worth about $26.9 billion, and involves the most fundamental, nagging question surrounding Florida’s education system: What does Florida owe its students in public education? And it begins today — at least this year’s rendition. The Florida House’s omnibus education bill, HB 7055, is slated to be heard on the floor Wednesday afternoon — an event that…