The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Florida 2030 Blueprint sets goals to have 100% of children ready for kindergarten and 100% of 3rd & 8th grade students able to read at or above grade level. The Florida House and Florida Senate early this week each advanced Florida Chamber priority bills to help make progress towards these important early childhood education goals. Passed out of the Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee, HB 419 establishes a timeline for phasing in a new Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK) accountability system that is based on performance metrics to include state outcomes, learning gains and observations of child-teacher interactions. Rep. Grall’s bill also required the Education Commissioner to develop a coordinated screening and progress monitoring program for VPK through grade 3 to provide outcomes and learning gains data for the VPK performance metric. SB 1898, which passed out of subcommittee on Education, creates a coordinated screening and progress monitoring system for students enrolled in the VPK program and students enrolled in public schools in kindergarten through grade 8. In order to grow our economy from 17th to 10th largest in the world by 2030, we must ensure all of Florida’s current learners are adequately prepared to compete in the global economy.

The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability took significant action on public sector union reforms, expanding Senate Bill 1014’s Public Sector Union Accountability bill to include Paycheck Protection and expanding 2017 reforms to cover higher education instructional personnel. The Florida Chamber has long supported these measures, believing that the role that government plays in union dues collection and disbursement amounts to a state subsidy of political organizations, which is inappropriate and can potentially hide the true cost of union membership from public servants. The expanded bill was opposed by dozens of union members, who were mostly teachers on spring break. The bill now matches its House companion, which advanced out of its initial committee of reference last week, and both bills have two committee stops remaining.  

Thursday, the Senate passed the “Right to Farm” modernization bill, SB 88, by Senator Jason Brodeur. The bill updates the 1979 “Right to Farm Act” and protects agricultural interests from frivolous litigation. The bill limits damages against farming operations to the value of the property being harmed by the nuisance and allows only plaintiffs within a half mile the ability to sue. If the farming operation is following state and federal environmental laws, regulations, or best management practices, they cannot be held liable under the bill. The House passed the “Right to Farm” companion out of its first committee this week as well, HB 1601 by Representative Jayer Williamson. It is important to Florida’s continued economic growth and food security that we protect this foundational industry from out-of-state plaintiffs and developers that are hoping to use the court system to shut down legacy farming operations.  

On Wednesday, Governor DeSantis sent a letter to Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson and Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Chris Sprowls outlining how to utilize a portion of federal funds the state is expected to receive via the recently signed American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 

One thing COVID has taught us is the importance of mental health at home and in the workplace. Mental health is vital to productivity in the workplace. Join nationally-recognized mental health expert Dr. Aaron Weiner for this informational webinar for Florida employers and their employees.

Hear from U.S. Army Col. (Ret.) Derrick Fishback on his transition to the civilian workforce.

All small businesses welcome for this informational webinar providing economic data from Florida Chamber Foundation Chief Economist Dr. Jerry Parrish, insight from Small Business Council Chair Glenda Hood, and a special legislative update from Director of Business, Economic Development and Innovation Policy Carolyn Johnson.

Safety, Health, and Sustainability leaders convene to share the latest data/research, industry benchmarks and best practices for the EHS industry. Take advantage of professional development opportunities and network with peers across industries who share a passion for safety, health, and sustainability as a competitive business advantage.