Florida passes over 30 bills in the 2023 legislative session affecting education

This year, a new law—SB 256—was introduced to the Florida Senate. Having now been signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 9, the law affects the payment of union dues and increases the number of dues paying members unions are required to have.  This new piece of legislation comes five years after a similar one, signed into law by former Florida Gov. Rick Scott in 2018. This law—HB 7055—was wide...

Since the March 2022 signing of Florida’s HB 1557, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, sparked criticism from the Walt Disney Company, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney have been locked in a fierce, year-long political battle. Currently, Disney is suing DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District; the district responded with a counter-suit against Disney. “As of right now,...

Florida’s Department of Education and Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected College Board’s proposed Advanced Placement African American studies course on Jan. 12. Originally rejected on Sept. 23, 2022 due to concerns by the FLDOE, College Board revised the course; yet, it was rejected again in the new year. With the course focused in detail on African history, DeSantis claimed that the course “lack[ed]...

Senate Bill 300, named the “Heartbeat Protection Act,” makes all abortions after six weeks illegal with the exception of victims of rape, incest or human trafficking. The bill, which was signed into by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 13, also implements a requirement that doctors are now only allowed to prescribe medications intended for use in a medical abortion in person, such as mifepristone, and wil...

The state of Florida is expanding its school vouchers program to allow all K-12 students in Florida to receive an estimated $8,500 in taxpayer-funded vouchers for a student to attend the public, private or home school of their choice. The controversial bill, Senate Bill 202, was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 27 and will take effect on July 1 for the 2023-2024 school year. This law does ...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 254 to grant courts temporary emergency jurisdiction of a child in Florida if they are provided gender-affirming healthcare, such as hormone prescriptions or reassignment surgeries. This means that all minors who receive any type of medical care to treat gender dysphoria could potentially be removed from the custody of their parents under the pretense of abuse. De...

House Joint Resolution 31 was enrolled on April 19 in the Florida House, proposing partisan elections for Florida school boards. The joint resolution would require school board candidates to run under a political party starting in the 2026 school board election if voters pass the resolution with 60% approval in the 2024 election. With 79 Yeas-34 Nays in the Florida House chamber, the resolution...

Florida has doubled down on anti-LGBTQ+ legislation during the 2023 legislative session, following last year’s passage of House Bill 1557, or better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. This year, transgender people were banned from using bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender, children were banned from attending drag shows and the “Don’t Say Gay” law was expanded. “...

In an attempt to decrease the cost of housing in the state of Florida, Senate Bill 102 will reduce regulations on housing and attributes over $700,000,000 to housing and housing efforts in the upcoming fiscal year. The law passed unanimously on the senate floor and 103-6 on the House floor, with the six on the house floor who voted no being composed of one Republican and five Democrats. The near unanimous voting is a rare occasion, with such voting last being seen since this past February. Gov. Ron DeS...

Florida’s Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine have further passed rules restricting access to gender-affirming healthcare for minors. This decision comes after the passing of several bills limiting rights based on gender and sexual identity. The boards approved the ruling on March 16 and March 28 respectively. According to the World Health Organization, gender-affirming health...

Florida became the 26th U.S. state to enact a “constitutional carry” law, which authorizes individuals 21 years of age or older to carry a concealed weapon or firearm without a government-issued permit and without paying a fee. House Bill 543 is now of 27 similar laws in U.S. states that eliminated a licensing process for concealed weapons. The licensing process for concealed weapons currently...

Following a slew of controversial house bills made in regard to education such as the now-passed House Bill 1, which expanded private school vouchers, Florida House Republicans are attempting to pass HB 999 under the name Public Postsecondary Educational Institutions. HB 999 was first introduced to the Florida House of Representatives in late February by Republican Rep. Alex Andrade. He says the reas...