Since last week, 15 more bills have been filed, bringing the total to over 2,977 Bills currently filed for the 2021 Florida Legislative Session. We’ve picked 2 new bills to discuss in this legislative roundup and will be providing updates as to the actions taken over the last week on the previously-discussed bills. The regular legislative session convened last week on Tuesday, March 2 and runs through Friday, April 30.
March 12, 2021
SB 78 / HB 947
Essentially a bill intended to throw up roadblocks to Union membership, SB 78 strives to make it harder for individuals to join employee organizations. As originally filed, the bill requires that employees wishing to join a union must sign a “membership authorization” form meeting very specific requirements by the bill, making it easier for an employee to leave a union, requiring a signed deduction authorization form to be provided by the bargaining agent and then further requiring confirmation from the employee before deduction of dues commences, and creating an expiration date for the authorization at which point a new authorization would be required to commence deduction of dues.
Each of these requirements is an additional roadblock intended to put more onus on the unions and the employees wishing to join a union, therefore discouraging individuals from doing so. Use of the wrong form, forgetfulness of an employee to confirm with their employer, or lapse by the bargaining agent all can lead to an employee not being a member of a union despite their actual desire or intent to join or remain a member.
The Senate version of this bill was filed on January 12 by the Judiciary Committee and Senator Rodrigues (R). The House version was filed on February 11 by Rep. Plakon (R) and both have moved steadily since then though is currently not considered in the Senate. The Senate version received a Favorable vote by the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee on January 27 via a 4-2 vote, received a favorable vote by the Judicial Committee for a Committee Substitute version by way of a 6-4 vote on February 10, the bill was scheduled to be reviewed by the Rules committee on March 4 but was not considered.
The House version of this bill was originally referred to the Government Operations subcommittee on February 25th and received a favorable vote on March 8 and is currently in the State Affairs Committee as of that date.
This bill is a blatant attempt at weakening unions and should not be allowed to pass. While it seems to have stalled, there is no real reason to believe it will stay that way.
SB 300
This bill, sponsored and filed by our local Senator Annette Taddeo (D) is an amazing bill which aims to assist certain individuals who are currently precluded from obtaining financial aid awards for continuing education based solely on their immigration status despite having legal status in the United States and being productive and beneficial members of our community. Her amendment to § 1009.40 would allow individuals granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to receive state financial aid awards as a resident of Florida so long as they meet all other requirements.
Individuals granted TPS or DACA, while not Lawful Permanent Residents or US Citizens, hold this status because they are pseudo-permanently residing in the United States. These are individuals who can not return to their home country due to disasters of varying types (TPS) or brought to the United States at a very young age (DACA).
To restrict these individuals who have made the United States their home and who contribute to our communities through their employment, their tax dollars, and their purchasing power from deriving the benefits available to their neighbors is unjust and Senator Taddeo’s bill goes a long way toward righting that injustice and allowing them to pursue a higher education with the assistance of the state to whom they contribute and will continue to contribute to with the benefits of their education.
This bill was filed on December 18, 2020 and was introduced on March 2, 2021. Sadly, it does not seem that additional action has yet been taken on this bill. A comparable House Bill HB 923 was filed by Rep Woodson (a Democrat out of Broward County) on February 10 and Co-Sponsored by Reps. Eskamani (a Democrat out of Orange County), Morales (a Democrat out of Orange County), and Smith, C. (a Democrat out of Orange County). The bill was referred to the Post-Secondary Education and Lifelong Learning Subcommittee, the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, and the Education and Employment Committee. It is currently before the Post-Secondary and Lifelong Learning Subcommittee as of February 22 and received its first reading on March 2.
SB 886 / HB 359
This bill was filed to prevent ill-effects on schools and students as a result of the academic uncertainty caused by pauses, transitions, and other such consequences of the OVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-2021 school year. Specifically, the bill prohibits a school from being required to select and implement a turnaround option in the 2021-2022 school year based on the school’s grade or improvement rating from the 2020-2021 school year, prohibits the school or approved provider from being subjected to sanctions or penalties as a result of that school year’s grade or rating, prohibiting schools from holding students back in grade 3, holding students back from high school graduation, calculating student performance measurement, evaluating personnel, and other such actions based on student performance on statewide standardized tests during the 2020-2021 school year.
In essence, the bill recognizes the external hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty and instability created by the pauses in schooling, transitions to online learning, and other such unstable, unexpected events. It allows schools, teachers, administrators, and students to avoid being penalized as a result of performance not indicative of actual knowledge or standard performance caused by these external factors beyond their control.
This bill was filed in the House as HB 359 by Rep. Bartleman (a Broward Democrat) on January 20 and co-sponsored by Reps. Hinson (a Democrat representing parts of Alachua and Marion Counties), Robinson, F. (a Broward and Miami-Dade Democrat), Slosberg (a Palm Beach Democrat), Tant (a Leon County Democrat), Thompson (an Orange County Democrat), and Woodson (a Broward Democrat). It has been referred to the Pandemics & Public Emergencies Committee, where it currently is, as well as the Early Learning & Elementary Education Subcommittee, Secondary & Career Development Subcommittee and the Education & Employment Committee. It received its first reading in the House on March 2.
An identical Senate Bill was filed on January 27 and received a favorable vote in the Education Committee by a 9-1 vote and is currently in the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education as of March 2.
Updates on Previously Covered Bills:
For a review of HB 1, SB 90, SB 50, and SB 86, please visit https://www.mdydemocrats.org/mdyd-blog/legislative-roundup-hb1-sb-90-sb-50-sb-86.
HB 1
This absolute disaster of a bill and significant attack on the civil liberties and First Amendment rights of Floridians has made significant headway since the last update. HB1 was added to the Judiciary Committee agenda on March 8th and received a favorable vote in the Judiciary Committee with a Committee Substitution on March 10th and reported out of the committee later that same day with the Committee Substitute being filed at 8:07pm that day. The bill then received a first reading yesterday, March 11, 2021 and was referred to the House Calendar and added to a Second Reading Calendar today, March 12. A similar bill in the Senate, SJ 69 was filed on January 6 ad introduced on the first day of the legislative session.
SB 90
This attack on the voting rights of Floridians has also made significant headway in the Senate, having been approved with Committee Substitute on March 10’s with a 4-2 vote in the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee and is now in the Rules Committee as of today, March 12th at 3:14pm.
SB 50
In slightly better news, this bill is also advancing through committees with no real opposition. SB 50 is retained on Special Order Calendar and completed its first reading in the Appropriations Committee on March 10. The comparable House Bill, HB 15 received a favorable vote with Committee Substitution in the Ways and Means Committee on March 11.
SB 86
SB 86 was temporarily postponed by the Education Committee on March 9th and was placed on the Education Committee agenda for March 16, at 12:30pm.