TODAY’S HAPPENINGS
In the Senate Appropriations Committee:
SB 766 – Ad Valorem Taxation by Flores – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE (CS)
Requiring a property appraiser to notify the Department of Revenue if the recertified just value of an assessment roll is less than the initial just value of an assessment roll by a specified amount; establishing deadlines for value adjustment boards to hear petitions and issue the second tax roll certification; revising the entities authorized to determine under certain circumstances that a petitioner owes ad valorem taxes or is owed a refund of overpaid taxes; authorizing the school board and county commission to audit certain expenses of the value adjustment board, etc.
SB 1360 – Student Assessments by Gaetz — PASSED
Authorizing a district school board to choose to implement certain rigorous alternative assessment options by a certain school year; requiring each school district to annually notify students and parents of standard high school diploma requirements by a specified date; requiring a classroom teacher’s performance evaluation to be based on the performance of certain students, etc.
SB 1418 – Supplemental Academic Instruction by Simmons – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS; PLACED ON SPECIAL ORDER FOR 3/3/16
Requiring supplemental academic instruction categorical funds and research-based reading instruction allocation funds to be used by a school district that has one or more of the lowest-performing elementary schools for additional intensive reading instruction at the school during the summer program in addition to instruction during the school year, requiring certain school districts to provide additional instruction under certain circumstances; requiring such districts to provide the Department of Education with certain plans. [NOTE: As amended, the bill maintains the additional hour of instruction to the 300 lowest performing elementary schools during the school year and adds the requirement that, in the 100 lowest performing elementary schools, at least 40 hours of instruction is provided during a 2017 summer program to students who have Level 1 and Level 2 reading assessment scores. In addition, for an elementary school that is one of the 300 lowest performing in reading, but not one of the 100 lowest performing in reading, a school district must provide additional instruction through a plan adopted by the local school district.]
SB 1462 – Educational Instruction / Life Skills by Latvala – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
Requiring the Commissioner of Education to develop an elective course for certain students which must be included in the Course Code Directory, etc.
SB 7050 – Information Technology Security by Gov. Oversight – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
Revising the membership of the Technology Advisory Council to include a cybersecurity expert; requiring the council, in coordination with the Florida Center for Cybersecurity, to identify and recommend STEM training opportunities; providing for the establishment of computer security incident response teams within state agencies; revising entities directed to adopt a unified state plan for K-20 STEM education to include the Technology Advisory Council, etc.
In the House Session:
HB 1125 – Child Care Personnel by McBurney – READ 2ND TIME; PLACED ON 3RD READING FOR 3/2/16
Provides criteria for disqualification from employment for child care personnel; requires that certain persons who have been granted an exemption from disqualification from child care employment be rescreened by specified date; provides applicability with respect to specified provisions adopted during same legislative session.
COMING UP TOMORROW
[NOTE: Nearly all meetings and floor sessions may be viewed via the Florida Channel athttp://thefloridachannel.org/.
The Senate will be in Session (10:00 am – 6:00 pm) to consider the following bills and others:
Bills on 3rd Reading:
HB 719 – Education Personnel by Spano
Authorizing certain information to be used for educator certification discipline and review; authorizing certain employees or agents of the Department of Education to have access to certain reports and records; authorizing rather than requiring the Department of Education to sponsor a job fair; requiring the department to coordinate a best practice community; eliminating State Board of Education rulemaking authority for certain teacher assignments; providing requirements regarding liability insurance for students performing clinical field experience; requiring the department to approve school leader preparation programs; providing program requirements; providing for rulemaking; requiring annual notification of liability insurance to specified personnel; abrogating the scheduled expiration of the educator liability insurance program; revising membership of the Education Practices Commission; authorizing the Commissioner of Education to appoint emeritus members to the commission; authorizing the commissioner to issue a letter of guidance in response to a complaint against a certified teacher or administrator.
SB 1220 – Award of Attorney Fees / Public Records by Garcia
Revising the circumstances under which a court must assess and award the reasonable costs of enforcement against an agency in a civil action to enforce Chapter 119, F.S.; prohibiting a court from assessing and awarding the reasonable costs of enforcement against an agency if certain conditions exist; specifying circumstances under which a complainant is not required to provide certain written notice of a public record request.
Bills on 2nd Reading:
SB 520 – Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program by Lee
HB 793 – Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program by O’Toole
Providing that the initial award period and the renewal period for students who are unable to accept an initial award immediately after completion of high school due to a full-time religious or service obligation begin upon the completion of the religious or service obligation; requiring a student, as a prerequisite for the Florida Academic Scholars award, the Florida Medallion Scholars award, or the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award, to identify a social or civic issue or a professional area of interest and develop a plan for his or her personal involvement in addressing the issue or learning about the area, etc.
SB 986 – Workers’ Compensation by Simpson
Requiring members of limited liability companies to submit specified notices; requiring that the Department of Financial Services allow an employer who has not previously been issued an order of penalty assessment to receive a specified credit to be applied to the penalty; eliminating the certification requirements when an expert medical advisor is selected by a judge of compensation claims; deleting the requirement that employers notify the department within 24 hours of any injury resulting in death, etc.
SB 436 – Terroristic Threats by Simpson
Creating the crime of falsely reporting the use of firearms in a violent manner against a person or persons; defining the terms “family member of a person” and “law enforcement officer”; providing a criminal penalty for a violation of specified provisions under certain circumstances; requiring payment of restitution; reenacting ss. 1006.07(2)(m) and 1006.13(3)(b), F.S., relating to district school board duties relating to student discipline and school safety and a policy of zero tolerance for crime and victimization, respectively, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 790.163, F.S., in references thereto.
SB 1538 – Veterans’ Employment by Evers
Requiring each state agency and authorizing other political subdivisions of the state to develop and implement a veterans recruitment plan; requiring specified goals for veterans recruitment plans; requiring the Department of Management Services to collect specified data and to include the data in its annual workforce report and on its website.
SB 524 – Education by Gaetz
Creating a Florida College System Performance-Based Incentive for Florida College System institutions; establishing a collaboration between the state board and the Legislature to designate certain Florida College System institutions as distinguished colleges; revising the academic and research excellence standards for the preeminent state research universities program; requiring the Board of Governors to designate a state university that meets specified requirements as an “emerging preeminent state research university”; requiring a school district to add a specified number of points to the calculation of a matrix of services for a student who is deaf and enrolled in an auditory-oral education program; revising eligibility for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program; revising the online course requirement; creating a federally connected student supplement for school districts; creating the Principal Autonomy Pilot Program Initiative; providing requirements regarding liability insurance for students performing clinical field experience; establishing the Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program; deleting provisions relating to priorities for charter school capital outlay funding; deleting provisions relating to a charter school’s allocation; providing that a charter school is not eligible for funding unless it meets certain requirements; revising the funding allocation calculation; providing that a school district may not receive funds from the Special Facility Construction Account under certain circumstances; revising the criteria for a request for funding; prohibiting certain consultants from specified employment and compensation; providing an exception to prohibiting the cost per student station from exceeding a certain amount; requiring OPPAGA to conduct a study, in consultation with the department, on cost per student station amounts and on the State Requirements for Education Facilities; providing sanctions for school districts that exceed certain costs; deleting a provision relating to applicability of certain restrictions on the cost per student station of new construction; authorizing a university board of trustees to expend reserve or carry-forward balances for certain projects; establishing a competency-based innovation pilot program within the Department of Education; defining the term “competency-based education”; authorizing certain schools to apply to the department for approval of a competency-based innovation pilot program; requiring the department to compile certain information and provide access to statewide, standardized assessments; etc. [NOTE: This is the bill that was substantially amended last week to incorporate the substance of several bills and proposed policies including, but not limited to, SB 978 relating to the Best and Brightest Teacher awards, SB 434 relating to the Principal Autonomy Pilot Program, SB 1714 relating to the Competency Based Education Pilot Program, SB 1126 relating to Auditory-Oral Education Programs, SB 1360 relating to Student Assessments, SB 1166 relating to Education Funding; SB 1064 relating to the Special Facility Construction Account Program, and the Senate’s proposal with regard to charter school capital outlay funding. The Senate charter school capital outlay proposaldoes not include any requirement for school districts to share local capital outlay millage revenue with charter schools, but it does include provisions that call for a study of the calculation of the statutory cost per student station, provisions that would limit district spending on capital projects, and provisions that would apply sanctions on school districts that exceed the cost per student station. Several amendments have been filed for consideration. The Senate will also take up HB 7043 (see below) which includes the House version of some, but not all, of the provisions that are currently in SB 524. The Senate has prepared amendments to align HB 7043 with SB 524. We will carefully watch the action on these two bills tomorrow.]
HB 7043 – Education Funding by Education
Creates Florida College System Performance-based Incentive for Florida College System institutions & Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program; revises provisions relating to preeminent state research universities program, state university system performance-based incentives, & teacher liability insurance. [NOTE: See the summary and notes for SB 524 above.]
SB 1570 – School Bus Stop Safety by Simmons
Revising the terms of violation and the penalties for failure to stop a vehicle upon approaching a school bus that displays a stop signal; providing for criminal penalties under certain circumstances; requiring an additional fee to be added to a fine imposed for a specified violation; providing for distribution of the fee; etc.
SB 1160 – Art in the Capitol Competition by Detert
Creating the Art in the Capitol Competition for students in specified grades; specifying procedures for student participation, notification, and the selection and display of winning submissions; authorizing rulemaking, etc.
SB 700 – Juvenile Criminal History Records by Soto
HB 293 – Juvenile Criminal History Records by Pritchett
Specifying that certain confidential information obtained under chapter 985, F.S., relating to juvenile justice, is exempt from public records requirements; providing for future review and repeal of such applicability provisions; providing an exemption from public records requirements for juvenile information compiled by the Criminal Justice Information Program from intrastate sources; providing for future review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.
The House will be in Session (10:30 am – completion of business) to consider the following bills and others:
Bills on 3rd Reading:
HB 1125 – Child Care Personnel by McBurney
Providing criteria for disqualification from employment for child care personnel; requiring that certain persons who have been granted an exemption from disqualification from child care employment be rescreened by a specified date; providing applicability with respect to specified provisions adopted during the same legislative session.
HB 1083 – Agency for Persons with Disabilities by Renner
Repeals provisions relating to program for prevention & treatment of severe self-injurious behavior; adds client needs that qualify as extraordinary needs, which may result in increase in client’s allocated funds; requires APD to conduct utilization review; provides for annual reviews for persons involuntarily committed to residential services; abrogates scheduled expiration & reversion of amendments to ss. 393.067(15) & 393.18, F.S.; specifies that AHCA is not required to contract with certain licensed facilities; revises residency limitations for comprehensive transitional education programs. [NOTE: In addition to other provisions, the bill revises the purposes of comprehensive transitional education programs, revises the organization and operation of components of such a program, and provides for the integration of educational components with the local school district.]
Bills on 2nd Reading:
HB 613 – Workers’ Compensation by Sullivan
Deletes required item to be listed on notice of election to be exempt; revises specified rules regarding maintenance of business records by an officer of corporation; provides and removes duties of DFS; prohibits application of specified credit unless employer provides specified documentation & proof of payment to department within specified period; revises penalty calculation for imputed weekly payroll for an employee; eliminates certification requirements when expert medical advisor is selected by judge of compensation claims; deletes requirement that employers notify department within 24 hours of any injury resulting in death; revises requirements for filing claim; deletes preferred worker program; deletes notification fees on certain filed claims which supplement Special Disability Trust Fund; deletes fee for certain registration of insurance carriers.
HB 981 – Administrative Procedures by Richardson
Provides additional requirements for calculation of estimated adverse impacts & regulatory costs.
HB 499 – Ad Valorem Taxation by Avila
Revises provisions related to value adjustment board proceedings; revises provisions related to appointments & selection of special magistrates; revises dates in computing school district required local effort; provides statement of important state interest.
HB 1219 – Veterans’ Employment by Raburn
Requires state agencies, & authorizes political subdivisions of state, to develop & implement veterans’ recruitment plan; requires DMS to collect specified data & include such data in its annual workforce report & on its website; provides applicability.
HB 701 – Art in the Capitol Competition by Lee
Creates the “Art in the Capitol Competition” for students in specified grades; provides procedures for student participation, notification, & selection & display of winning submissions.
HB 1361 – Growth Management by La Rosa
Authorizes governing body of county to employ tax increment financing for certain purposes; revises provisions regarding developments of regional impact; revises certain provisions regarding recommended orders & final orders; revises provisions to require state land planning agency to approve comprehensive plan amendments & land development regulations in Apalachicola Bay Area of critical state concern.
HB 535 – Building Codes by Eagle
Revises provisions related to Florida Building Code; revises provisions regarding Florida Building Code Compliance and Mitigation Program; restricts application of Florida Building Code for certain aspects of construction; revises provisions related to portable pools; revises provisions regarding Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund; revises minimum requirements for certificate of completion for residential swimming pools; revises provisions regarding authority of building officials to issue building permits; revises provisions regarding appeal boards; revising provisions addressing certain fire service access elevators; creates task force to study electrical safety in swimming pools; creates construction industry workforce task force to study issues associated with training of construction workforce.
HB 89 – Florida Kidcare Program by Diaz
Provides eligibility for optional payments for medical assistance & related services for certain lawfully residing children; clarifies that undocumented immigrants are excluded from eligibility for optional Medicaid payments or related services; provides appropriation.
I hope you find this information useful. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Ruth
Ruth Haseman Melton
Director of Government Relations
Florida School Boards Association
Office: 850 / 414-2578
Cell: 850 / 509-6411
Email: melton@fsba.org
