Florida HB999: DeSantis conservative overhaul hits state universities

Table Of Content

• Supreme Court Signals that Institutions Can Keep Designing Programs...
• HB 999: Post-trial Counseling Services for Jurors
• Florida bill targets educational programs on diversity, equity, inclusion, critical race theory
• Standards required of Florida general education core courses
• Who is Katie Britt? The youngest woman ever elected to Senate got GOP spotlight
• SB 1616 — Electronic Access to Official Records
• HB 7013 — Special Districts

In addition, the law requires the state Department of Education to identify “best practices” in career and technical education (CTE) pathways from middle to high school. However, that doesn’t mean these aides have rights of tenancy within these mobile home parks, the law says. Aside from the new mediation rules, the law mandates that live-in healthcare aides must be able to get into and out of a relevant mobile home owner’s property without any additional fees or rent being charged. Under this law, a woman who has given birth within six months before the reporting date on a jury summons may be excused from service upon request. To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th.

Supreme Court Signals that Institutions Can Keep Designing Programs...

However, the repeal is pending the passage of SJR 1114, which proposes a repeal of the constitutional requirement in the State Constitution that the state provide public financing for statewide campaigns. Under this law, people are prohibited from non-consensually placing tracking devices on someone else’s property or using a tracking device to find out their location. The exemption is also subject to an Open Government Sunset Review and stands repealed on Oct. 2, 2029 unless reenacted by the state Legislature. Under the law, anyone who becomes aware of someone’s death (as provided by state statutes) is required to report the death to either the district medical examiner or law enforcement.

HB 999: Post-trial Counseling Services for Jurors

The bill would place control of core curricula and institutional mission statements entirely in the hands of political appointees. It would limit or ban students’ ability to pursue certain majors or areas of study. Simply put, it would make Florida’s colleges and universities into an arm of the DeSantis political operation. Among other things, the bill would ban majors and minors that require courses in subjects related to critical race theory, gender studies and intersectionality. It would also prohibit general education core courses from including critical race theory in the curriculum. While the original bill prohibited degree programs related to critical race theory, gender studies and intersectionality, the newer version replaces that language by prohibiting critical theory outright.

Florida bill targets educational programs on diversity, equity, inclusion, critical race theory

A large and well-established Tampa company is seeking a contracts administrator to support the company's in-house attorney and manage a wide... The premier educational and networking event for employee benefits brokers and agents. Senate Bill 1688 adds requirements to improve student awareness of CTE opportunities.

Florida bill targets "diversity, equity, or inclusion" on college campuses - CBS News

Florida bill targets "diversity, equity, or inclusion" on college campuses.

Posted: Sun, 26 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Standards required of Florida general education core courses

The bill would also give university boards of trustees the power to hire faculty members, and then review their tenure at any time, with cause. Wording in HB 999 has also sparked fears that it could threaten sororities, fraternities and other clubs on campus that cater to Black students and other students of color. Currently in the Florida House’s Education and Employment Committee, HB 999 will take effect July 1 if enacted. Along with its companion legislation in the Florida Senate, the bill is one of the latest introduced in a state that has passed a series of recent laws to limit what students can learn about race, gender, sexuality or inequity. In early January, his budget office required all universities to detail what they spend on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And on Jan. 31, the governor held a news conference announcing a sweeping package of changes that mirror those in Andrade’s bill.

Who is Katie Britt? The youngest woman ever elected to Senate got GOP spotlight

A bill working its way through the Florida legislative process could outlaw certain programs and change how state colleges and universities hire employees. Andrade said if there are faculty advisory boards overseeing any such groups, those will be impacted by the bill. "Those student groups can continue to operate how they see fit currently, subject only to the policies and procedures that are content neutral that apply to all organizations, student organizations on campus," he said.

Recent bills spark outrage among FAU, FIU students - University Press

Recent bills spark outrage among FAU, FIU students.

Posted: Wed, 29 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

SB 1616 — Electronic Access to Official Records

But Chris Finan, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, said in an interview that Florida schools would wear a “badge of infamy” to employers and other universities if the legislation passed. Joe Cohn, legislative and policy director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a ​​nonprofit that works to protect free speech on college campuses, called HB 999 unconstitutional because it bans both majors and ideas that legislators have deemed disfavorable. NCF Freedom – an organization which arose out of DeSantis’s conservative takeover of the New College of Florida – filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida on August 10. The complaint alleged that SB266 violated students’ and professors’ free speech in limiting what subjects could or could not be learned and taught. An injunction was filed weeks later in the hopes that enforcement of SB266 would be halted until a ruling on the complaint was made. However, on November 2, the judge presiding over the injunction denied the motion.

HB 1281 — Wiretapping

First, the law replaces the term “gender” with “sex” when discussing restrictions on where delinquent minors may be committed. Seventy-two other organizations have signed on to the AHA's statement, including the American Association of University Professors, the American Philosophical Association and the Tully Center for Free Speech at Syracuse University. The newest version of House Bill 999 may elicit a sigh of relief from UF’s department of gender, sexuality and women’s studies. Under the March 15 version, UF’s women’s studies major and minor seems to no longer be at risk of elimination, Provost Joe Glover said at a Faculty Senate meeting March 23. Her organization is currently in the process of investigating academic freedom and political interference in the state. “It’s going to be a gut punch to anyone who values academic freedom or higher education’s role in democracy,” she said.

HB 7013 — Special Districts

Programs that show preferential treatment based on race, gender or other identifiers are also prohibited. Educational gag orders — which is how free expression advocacy group PEN America describes legislation that limits lessons on certain topics — typically target K-12 schools. Most states have introduced such bills over the past two years, and House Republicans last month passed the Parental Bill of Rights Act, which echoes legislation filed at the state level and purports to give parents a say in their children’s education. This includes access to learning materials, school board meetings and conferences with teachers — rights educators note that parents already enjoy. While student groups aren’t expected to be impact, Andrade explained that certain majors dealing in critical race theory — which he defined as the notion that “racism is baked into every aspect of society today” — would be pulled if the bill were to pass.

Under this law, the Florida Gaming Control Commission may deny, revoke or suspend a license of anyone who has been subjected to a provisional suspension by the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. In addition, the law increases the penalties for such violations to a third-degree felony. To receive the exemption, current and former personnel are required to submit a written request to the relevant agency, along with a statement that the applicant has made reasonable efforts to protect the information. Senate Bill 548 creates a public records exemption for certain military personnel and their families. These cards are intended to help law enforcement better respond to violations of such protection orders. Senate Bill 86 requires clerks of the court to create a “Hope Card” program for people who have been issued protection orders, such as domestic violence injunctions.

State Sen. Linda Stewart — who sponsored the Senate version of this bill — said the new rules will help investigators use search warrants to locate bodies that have been illegally dumped. And if they fail to make the report because they’re trying to hide the death or mislead investigators, they can face a third-degree felony. Congress passed the SAFE Act, which set forth rules for residential mortgage loan originators.

Register now for our free OneVote public service or GAITS Pro trial account and you can begin tracking this and other legislation, all driven by the real-time data of the LegiScan API. Providing tools allowing you to research pending legislation, stay informed with email alerts, content feeds, and share dynamic reports. Use our new PolitiCorps to join with friends and collegaues to monitor & discuss bills through the process.Monitor Legislation or view this same bill number from multiple sessions or take advantage of our national legislative search. The University of Central Florida in Orlando has around 68,000 students enrolled; the University of Florida in Gainesville has some 61,000 students, and Florida International University in Miami boasts about 56,000. DeSantis kicked off his very public fight against “woke indoctrination” last spring when he signed into law the Stop WOKE Act, which aims to regulate how racism is discussed in schools and workplaces (though a federal judge struck down the provision pertaining to private businesses).

It prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion spending, including through grants and contracts. It calls for the removal of majors and minors like critical race theory and gender studies, and calls for general education courses that “promote the philosophical underpinnings of Western civilization” whenever applicable. Florida’s HB 999 would destroy academic freedom, tenure, shared governance, and university independence in the state’s public higher education system.

Several accreditation agencies have requirements for compliance with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. A potential consequence of statewide legislation that takes aim at diversity, equity and inclusion; prohibits students from learning about race, gender and sexuality; and weakens tenure is that faculty and students may decide to pursue scholarship elsewhere. Many progressive Florida youth with the means to leave the state plan to do so, Fenning said.

The board of trustees may delegate its hiring authority to the president but the president may not delegate hiring authority. HB999 — on page 22 out of the bill's 23 pages — said "courses with a curriculum based on unproven, theoretical, or exploratory content are best suited to fulfill elective or specific program prerequisite credit requirements, rather than general education credit requirements." The specific implications of the bill with respect to Greek life and student-run organizations remain to be seen, and the Florida Senate, which is also controlled by Republicans, must pass its version of the bill next before it reaches DeSantis' desk. One course … is described as "exploring the structures and institutions of social inequality along the intersectional axes of class, race, and gender/sexuality by focusing on how these categories are socially constructed, maintained, and experienced." Florida homeowners and those involved in Homeowners' Associations (HOAs) should take note of the recently passed HB 919, a significant piece of legislation that introduces several critical changes to Florida Statute 720, which governs HOAs. The law also creates new rules about “generated child pornography,” which makes it a crime to own or purposefully view generated child pornography.