Last week marked the second week of the 2024 Regular Legislative Session, and both chambers began to move significant priority legislation of the Florida Alliance of Children’s Councils & Trusts. On Tuesday, January 16th, SB 544 Swimming Lesson Voucher Program was introduced by Senator Travis Hutson, (R- Palm Coast) in the Senate Committee on Health Policy where it passed unanimously.
On Wednesday, January 17th, HB 929 School Readiness Program was introduced by Representative Dana Trabulsy, (R- St. Lucie) in the House Pre K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee where it also passed unanimously. Continuing the focus on early learning the Senate Committee on Education Pre K-12 took up three early learning bills. The first was SB 916 School Readiness Program by Senator Alexis Calatayud, (R- Miami) which passed unanimously. The remaining two bills SB 820 Child Care and Early Learning Providers and SB 1026 Early Learning by Senator Erin Grall, (R- Ft. Pierce) also passed unanimously. Rounding out Wednesday there was major movement in the House with HB 1 Social Media Use for Minors by Representative Tyler Sirois, (R- Merritt Island) and HB 3 Online Access to Materials Harmful to Minors by Representative Chase Tramont, (R- Port Orange) in the House Judiciary Committee passing their final committee stop.
Finally, Friday, January 19th saw a presentation on the State of Early Learning in Florida in the House Education Quality Subcommittee and the introduction of HB 1181 Juvenile Justice by Representative Berny Jacques, (R- Clearwater) in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
As always, we look forward to bringing you all the information from the 2024 Regular Legislative Session.
Until next time!
Sincerely,
The Children's Trust
|