A committee of the powerful Constitution Revision Commission advanced several constitutional amendments that may appear on voters’ ballots in November, including a proposal that would make Miami-Dade’s sheriff an elected position and an ethics measure that would bar former officials from lobbying for six years. In a three-hour meeting, the commission’s Style and Drafting Committee…
Florida voters would see 24 proposals rolled into 12 amendments on the November ballot under a preliminary proposal unanimously adopted by the Style and Drafting Committee of the powerful Constitution Revision Commission on Wednesday. The proposal was prepared by Commissioner Brecht Heuchan, chair of the committee, which has the power to decide which amendments get…
In a series of floor sessions in March, the full Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) trimmed down its original list of proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution from more than 100 to 24 – 5 of which are of primary interest to school boards. The proposals have now been referred to the CRC Style & Drafting…
Just days after Gov. Rick Scott signed Florida’s new school safety rules into law, one of the state’s largest charter schools made a big ask of the 13 districts where it operates. “In keeping with the spirit of the Act, we request that a full time School Resource Officer be provided to each of the…
After spending months discussing more than a hundred possible changes to the Florida Constitution, a state commission on Monday will head into its homestretch and begin the task of narrowing the list of proposed amendments to be placed on the November for voters to decide on. The Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), appointed once every…
The 2018 Legislative Session adjourned, sine die, on Sunday evening with the passage of the $88.7 billion state budget, budget implementing bill, and a tax relief bill. On the same day, Governor Scott signed Senate President Joe Negron’s priority legislation relating to post-secondary education ( SB 4) and House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s priority legislation relating to…
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…
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…
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…
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…