April 21, 2025
We have completed Week 7, and we continue to wait for the notice of the start of budget conferencing. We do not expect anything earlier than mid-week, due to all legislators having been home for the holiday weekend.
Our team at GrayRobinson is once again providing us with our bill tracker. All of the bills we are tracking are listed on the report in numerical order. Bills that align to our platform are highlighted in yellow. A few of the bills to highlight:
- HB 1367 School Attendance by Reps. Booth and Trabulsy would require the State Board of Education to establish a statewide attendance policy that defines types of absences, including chronic absenteeism, and provide guidelines for documentation and reporting. The bill passed off of the House floor. However, the Senate bill was never heard in committee.
- HB 1403 Rep. Yeager works to address the concerns from the implementation of last year’s HB 1473 School Safety bill including providing some flexibility regarding the keeping of some doors/gates unlocked. The bill passed its last committee stop in Education & Employment yesterday, and will next be heard on the House floor.
- HB 949 Wireless Communication Devices on School Grounds by Rep. Busatta would prohibit the use of wireless communication devices by students during the school day; this eliminated the ability for school boards to create policy prohibiting the use of devices during instructional time only. The bill would also mandate school boards to provide designated areas within schools where students can use wireless devices with permission of a school administrator. The bill continues to be very different from the Senate floor that looks to do a pilot program. The bill passed off of the House floor.
- HB 301 Suits Against the Government by Rep. McFarland deals with sovereign immunity by raising liability limits for tort claims against government entities, revising notice and filing deadlines, and clarifying settlement and insurance requirements. The bill reduces times in which to present claims from 3 years to 18 months in most cases and permits government subdivisions to settle claims above statutory limits without legislative approval. The bill passed off of the House floor. The Senate companion has yet to be heard in a committee.
- HB 679 Term limits for Members of County Commissioners and District School Boards by Rep. Salzman would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2026 to implement term limits for county commissioners and would move the school board members term limits to the constitution instead of being in statute. The bill passed off of the House floor. The Senate bill was only heard in one committee.
- HB 1267 Education by Rep. Busatta has become the House’s proposed education train bill. The bill would continue to modify the definition of “persistently low-performing school” and revise the requirements for Schools of Hope regarding the use of school district facilities and management. The bill would allow Schools of Hope to use school district facilities and eliminates a previous requirement for Schools of Hope to follow certain state requirements for educational facilities when using district facilities. Additionally, the bill now adds language from HB 1483, which revises educational requirements for the K-8 early warning system and adjusts grade-level criteria for students with significant academic deficiencies from K-3 to K-8. And finally, the bill would now create the Rural Incentive for Professional Educators (RIPE) Program to provide loan repayment awards for teachers and administrators who work in designated rural areas. The new version of the bill passed the Education & Employment Committee.
- HB 1255 Education by Rep. Trabulsy would revise recruitment and membership provisions in Florida’s K-12 and teacher-related statutes. The bill would restrict expenditures to certain organizations, modify academic instruction standards, and update accountability requirements for schools and staff. The bill passed the Education & Employment Committee.
