April 28, 2025
We have completed Week 8, and as you have probably heard, the House and Senate have yet to agree on a tax package in policy or in number. Without an agreement on the tax package, the two sides are unable to agree to a total budget allocation. Both the House and Senate chambers were encouraged to go home this past weekend with the Senate returning this afternoon and the House returning tomorrow. This means that we will not have a budget by the anticipated end of session, which is scheduled to be this Friday. We await an announcement regarding either the extension of session for budget conferencing, or sine die of session on Friday with a special session to be called in the coming weeks to address the budget.
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 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 bill passed off of the House floor, but there continues to be substantial differences between the House and the Senate version.
- 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 would also require the Auditor General to conduct annual financial audits on small rural districts. Additionally, the bill would add detailed instruction on human embryological development and parental rights for exemption. The bill passed off of the House floor.
- HB 1115 Education by Rep. Valdez would require proportional sharing of school district infrastructure surtax revenues with charter schools, revise charter school oversight and reporting requirements, redefine sponsoring entities for Schools of Hope, and remove references to awarding certificates of completion in public high schools. The bill would also adjust the eligibility criteria for students with disabilities in the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program to include those aged 17 to 22 without a high school diploma. The bill passed off of the House floor.
- HB 875 Educator Preparation by Reps. Rizzo and Snyder makes changes to teacher preparation, certification, and professional development requirements by establishing the Coaching for Educator Readiness and Teaching Certification (CERT) Program and replacing certain existing certification exams and programs. The bill passed off of the House floor, but there continues to be a substantial difference between the House and Senate version. The House bill charges the Department of Education to revamp teacher preparation.
