Florida bills being discussed in November 2023

Write or call your state legislators if you support or oppose these bills. Ask your legislator to protect our taxpayer dollars.
You can find the bills and what committee will be discussing them at this link:

https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/bills.aspx?SessionId=104&HouseChamber=B

As of November 3, 2023, these bills are on the House of Representatives’ list:

HB 1 C Disaster relief

HB 3 C see below

HB 5 C seems to restrict Floridians from doing business with certain Iranian companies

HB 7 C Security grants

HB 9 C Resolution that the Florida House of Representatives supports Israel’s right to defend itself and protect its citizens from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.

One of the ones being discussed in the House Appropriations Committee on November 6th is HB 3C.

HB-1, passed earlier in 2023, expanded vouchers to include the private school tuition of millionaires. Vouchers were made available to all students who had been attending private schools. Oddly, the state put a limit on the number of vouchers that would go to kids with disabilities BUT not on the vouchers going to students without disabilities. Details of the bill:
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=78888

Please take a look at HB-1 that was passed earlier in 2023 starting at line 1922. One of the problems of HB-1 can be corrected in HB 3C; it should make clear that private schools accepting vouchers MUST adhere to the Individuals with Disability in Education Act. Please consider suggesting to your legislator that the strikethrough words are repealed and the underlined words are added to the statutes:

From HB-1 passed in 2023 beginning on line 1922:
1922 (j) Publish on the school’s website, or provide in a
1923 written format, information for parents regarding the school,
1924 including, but not limited to, programs, services, and the
1925 qualifications of classroom teachers, and a statement that a parentally placed private school student with a disability does
1927 not have an individual right to receive some or all of the
1928 special education and related services that the student would
1929 receive if enrolled in a public school under the Individuals
1930 with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended. Private schools accepting voucher money MUST comply with IDEA. Also any services requested of the public schools must be paid out of the voucher money or by the family according to a fee structure that will reimburse the public schools for variable and fixed income lost due to the student enrolling in a private school and receiving a taxpayer funded voucher.

https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=76982&SessionId=99

Please consider asking your legislator to do a strike all and substitute this for HB 3C; add (via HB 3C) the part underlined to 
  Florida Statute 1002.394 

(3) SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.—

(a)1. A parent of a student may request and receive from the state a scholarship [voucher] for the purposes specified in paragraph (4)(a) if the student is a resident of this state and is eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 in a public school in this state. The scholarship funding organization must distribute all FES – Unique Abilities or FES UA scholarships before distributing any other scholarships. No parent should be promised funds until it has been determined how much funds remain available in the General Appropriations Act after the FES-Unique Abilities scholarships have been distributed.
(12) SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING AND PAYMENT.—
(b)1. Scholarships for students determined eligible pursuant to paragraph (3)(b) are established for up to 26,500 students annually beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, but can be greater if The General Appropriation Act budgeted for more.  The General Appropriations Act shall specify a maximum dollar amount for the total amount of all scholarships. The scholarship funding organization must distribute all FES – Unique Abilities or FES UA scholarships before distributing any other scholarships. No parent should be promised funds until it has been determined how much funds remain available in the General Appropriations Act after the FES-Unique Abilities scholarships have been distributed.

This blog offers a brief history of FES-UA:

The FES-UA voucher, formerly known as the Gardiner Scholarship, was Florida’s first Education Savings Account and was designed to allow parents to customize the education of their children with special education needs (diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder and muscular dystrophy). In 2021, the Gardiner was merged with the Family Empowerment Scholarship and renamed the FES-UA. Last year, the Legislature removed all income requirements from its companion scholarship, the FES-EO, making access universal and transforming the tuition vouchers into ESAs. HB1 also tripled the expansion rate of the FES-UA. The enrollment cap for FES-UA increased from 26,500 students in 2022-23 to 40,942 during this (2023-24) school year.

https://accountabaloney.com/index.php/2023/11/04/will-adding-even-more-vouchers-improve-sufss-customer-service/

About Susan

Susan joined the First Coast Freethought Society in 2008 after hearing about the organization on NPR. Susan has coordinated the FCFS book group since 2016. She retired in 2018 after working as a CPA for 42 years! Now, she is a member of the Advocacy Overview Committee for FCFS.
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