Florida Elections Rundown via LobbyTools Morning Edition, et al. (November 4, 2020)

Election 2020, via LobbyTools Morning Edition, et al. (November 4, 2020) Trump Wins Florida, But Other States Still Unclear Florida voters went for President Donald Trump in Tuesday’s presidential election, giving him the state’s electoral votes over Joe Biden, though the overall national race remained undecided. Trump was pulled to a win in Florida mostly…

ARTICLE: Legislative Session & Legislative Budget Request Process

This article was contributed by Kim McDougal, Senior Government Affairs Consultant, G R A Y | R O B I N S O N and FSBA Advocacy and Legislative Services team member As we approach the General Election and anticipation for the 2021 Legislative Session grows, below are updates from Tallahassee regarding the upcoming session…

FSBA Session Spotlight – December 9, 2019

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,…

DeSantis’ budget: $1 billion on teacher pay, millions for elections security

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…

Bill again filed to require ‘supermajority’ to raise local taxes

A bill is back in the Florida House for 2020 that would require a supermajority vote for a local tax referendum.  HJR 477 would, if passed, allow a referendum to let voters decide whether to require a two-thirds majority for any municipality or subsidiary form of government to raise taxes. Read More

FSBA Session Spotlight — May 15, 2019

We are pleased to announce the publication of the FSBA 2019 Legislative Session Summary. Our Summary provides an in-depth analysis of the education related funding in the state budget and detailed summaries of the education related bills passed during the session.  We will update our Summary if, during the coming days, Governor DeSantis chooses to…

FSBA Session Spotlight — May 4, 2019

The 2019 Legislative Session has adjourned, sine die, with public education enjoying some important victories in education funding and policy, but also enduring some significant disappointments.  We are still sorting through the final bill actions, including the status of last minute amendments to the bills that are of interest, but we have provided a PRELIMINARY…

FSBA Session Spotlight — May 2, 2019

As we count down the final days of the 2019 Session, we have begun compiling our FSBA 2019 Legislative Session Summary and, after the Legislative Session adjourns, we will conduct a series of onsite and online Legislative Session Review Workshops and Webinars.  These Workshops and Webinars provide a comprehensive analysis of education appropriations and detailed…

FSBA Session Spotlight — April 29, 2019

As we enter what is scheduled to be the last week of the 2019 Legislative Session, new procedural rules will kick in that will make the schedule both hectic and unpredictable. During this week in floor sessions, both chambers will focus on bills on 2nd and/or 3rd Reading, on bills passed back and forth in…

House passes bill shoring up public, charter schools revenue sharing

The Florida House passed a bill Thursday night that would require school districts and charter schools to share revenues raised by future tax measures approved by voters.  Under House Bill 7123, sponsored by Rep. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah, funds collected through a tax referendum will be distributed to public schools and charter schools on a per-student ratio.…