School Prayer Bill Passes Senate

Week Four saw the final Senate passage of SB 98, Senator Gary Siplin’s (D-Orlando) bill allowing for “prayer by popular vote” in schools with a last minute change to the bill to include elementary and middle school students as well as high school students. The bill came under fire from several Democrats on the floor who debated the need and intention of the bill, warning of potential litigation from groups such as the ACLU. Despite being advised that the legislation clearly violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of separation of church and state by authorizing county school boards to establish prayer in public schools, the Senate voted 31 to 8 in favor of the bill. House companion bill HB 317 by Representative Charles Van Zant (R-Palatka) has not been heard in committee.

Anti-Choice Measures Make Headway

Two anti-choice bills cleared another House hurdle with this week with strong opposition from the ACLU and our partners at Planned Parenthood. HB 839 by Representative Daniel Davis (R-Jacksonville) would prohibit abortions at 20 weeks post-fertilization. HB 1327 by Rep. Scott Plakon (R-Longwood) uses race as a wedge to criminalize abortions, and would require a signed affidavit from a physician stating that an abortion is not being performed because of the race or sex of the fetus. These two bills cleared the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on party-line votes and each has one committee remaining in the House.

Prison Privatization Efforts Hit Wall

Expedited efforts to privatize 27 state prisons stalled on the Senate floor with bi-partisan opposition led by Senator Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey). SB 2038 met so much resistance on the Senate floor with several threatening amendments presented that the Senate President did not call the bill for consideration and has not yet called for its placement back on the Senate calendar. In apparent retaliation, Senate President Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne) stripped Sen. Fasano of his committee chairmanships and replaced him with members more favorable to privatizing efforts. Time is running short, however, and with SB 2036 – the bill actually creating the rule that would authorize the privatization of public facilities including prisons – still held up in committee and the House companion still not moving, only time will tell what other legislative maneuvers might be used to push this through.

Bipartisan In-State Tuition Sees Spark But No Flame

A bill by Senator Rene Garcia (R-Miami) and Representative Reggie Fullwood (D-Jacksonville) would have allowed citizen children of undocumented parents living in the state of Florida to attend colleges and universities at resident, or in-state, tuition rates. This bipartisan piece is a direct response to current litigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center representing several Florida college students who are U.S. citizens and Florida residents, but are being charged out-of-state tuition rates because their parents do not have legal immigrant status. The bill was heard in the Senate’s Higher Education Committee this week and after much discussion and debate, the six-member committee split the vote and an even 3 yays to 3 nays with one Republican joining Democrats on the affirmative. Unfortunately, a tie vote goes to the nays and the first bipartisan immigration bill heard in the Florida legislature, SB 1018, was dead on arrival.

More Drug Testing

In a clear response to our challenge to Governor Rick Scott’s executive order last session requiring state employees to submit to a random, suspicionless search of their bodily fluids, two members of the Florida legislature are seeking to expand the “Drug-Free Workplace” program so that nearly all state employees, including teachers, are subject to suspicionless drug testing. Senator Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) and Representative Jimmy Smith (R-Lecanto) are sponsoring a measure that would require state employees to submit to random drug tests every 3 months or face disciplinary action, to be referred to a drug or alcohol rehab program at the employee’s expense, and to effectively be discharged or transferred from their current job assignment based on the results. The bill met opposition this week from a group of Pasco County teachers testifying that although they had not received a pay increase in five years, the legislature now wants them to pay for a drug test. Several teachers stood in opposition alongside organizations such as AFSME, AFL-CIO, and the ACLU. The bills have two more committee stops in both the House and Senate.

Media Roundup:

Coming Up

This week is the last week for subcommittees to meet. The week of February 13 will be the final week for regular committees to meet. The last two weeks are dedicated to session on the floor. This will have a big impact on the bills we have not seen moving quickly through committees. If a bill has two committee stops left, this week is the last opportunity to have it scheduled. If a bill has three committees left, it is effectively dead. No new bills can be introduced. The House is standing firm on its decision to not allow bills to be pulled from committees, a legislative maneuver that circumvents the established process for hearings, and which is causing the Senate much strife as it debates prison privatization. Look out for emails and alerts from the ACLU on urgent actions that need your participation over the next few weeks.

Action Items:

If you haven’t already, please call or email your Senator and Representative and ask them to oppose the privatizing of prisons and profiting from mass incarceration.
Find your Senator’s contact information by clicking here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/
Find your Representatives contact information by clicking here: http://www.flhouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/representatives.aspx
Follow this link to read more about the bills: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/

Stay informed