Status Report to the Student Senate on the Legislative
Sessions
July 16, 2015
Since the beginning of the calendar year, the Student Senate has
passed nine resolutions expressing the sentiment of the Senate on
proposed state legislation. With the 2015 Regular Session and the
Special Session A concluded, the status of the legislation on which
the Senate expressed its position is surely of interest to the
Senate, University of Central Florida students, and the media.
With that in mind, I have prepared the following summary of the
nine resolutions passed by the Senate and of the relevant
legislation, with linked external sources to the legislation
itself, relevant news articles, and any additional context I am
able to provide.
Resolution 47-06 passed 41-0, and expressed our support for
House Bill 133, which extended the statute of limitations for
certain sexual assault offenses, passed the Florida House, 117-1,
and the Senate, 37-0, and was signed by the Governor on June 11.
Thank you to Senate President Pro Tempore Fulk and Senator Lim for
authoring this resolution.
Resolution 47-07 passed 36-0, and expressed our support for the
Florida Competitive Workforce Act, which would have prohibited
employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender
identity, or gender expression. Unfortunately, it died in the House
Civil Justice Subcommittee on April 28. A companion bill in the
Senate, SB 156, died in the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1.
Regardless, thank you to Chair Burbridge for authoring this
resolution.
Resolution 47-09 passed 41-0, and expressed our support for
House Bill 227 and Senate Bill 228, which would have established an
online voter registration system by January 1, 2016. To make a long
story short, though this bill did not pass in its original form, it
was effectively merged with a bill authored by another legislator,
and required the creation of online voter registration by October
1, 2017. It passed the Florida House, 109-9, and the Florida
Senate, 37-3, and was signed by the Governor on May 15. Thank you
to LAC Yeargain for authoring this resolution.
Resolution 47-11 passed 38-0, and expressed our support for
Senate Bill 7030 and House Bill 7091, which would have funded the
Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities, which was to be
dedicated to providing academic and employment assistance to
students with unique abilities. It passed the Senate, 38-0, and it
looked like it was going to pass the House easily. It passed the
Education Committee unanimously and headed for a floor vote. But
then the House adjourned abruptly, killing it. So in the budget,
the legislature allocated $8 million for postsecondary education
options for students with unique abilities. $1.5 million went to
the aforementioned Florida Center, $3 million went to colleges and
universities to establish Florida Postsecondary Comprehensive
Transition Programs for students with intellectual abilities, and
$3.5 million went to tuition assistance grants for students with
intellectual disabilities. But on June 19, the Governor vetoed the
$8 million in funding. Though the Center will still be created, it
will occur without that additional allocation. Regardless, thank
you to Vice-Chair Garwood for authoring this resolution.
Resolution 47-12 passed 38-0, and expressed our opposition to
House Bill 583 and Senate Bill 1464, which
would have prevented individuals from using bathrooms that did
not correspond with their biological sex or their sex on their
drivers licenses. It was widely perceived that the legislation
would have prevented transgender individuals from using the proper
bathrooms. It died in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and in
the House Judiciary Committee, and accordingly, did not become law.
Our work on this resolution was also the subject of a Central
Florida Future article. Thank you to LAC Yeargain for authoring
this resolution.
Resolution 47-13 passed 33-0, and expressed our support for
House Bill 427, which would have created corporate income tax
credits of up to $3600 for paid internships for college students.
It did not have a companion bill in the Senate, and died in the
House Finance and Tax Committee. Regardless, thank you to LAC
Yeargain for authoring this resolution.
Resolution 47-14 passed 21-18, and expressed our opposition to
Senate Bill 176 and House Bill 4005, which would have allowed
individuals with concealed carry licenses to carry weapons on
college and university campuses. Though it passed through several
committees in the House, the House Bill died when the House
abruptly adjourned. The Senate bill died when the Chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee refused to schedule a hearing on it.
Thank you to Senate President Pro Tempore Fulk for authoring this
resolution.
Resolution 47-27 passed 27-1, and expressed our support for
Medicaid expansion in Florida under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act. To give a little bit of context, the Florida
Senate was strongly supportive of the proposal, and the Florida
House strongly opposed. Because the two sides could not come to an
agreement over the budget before legislative adjournment on May 1,
the Florida House decided to adjourn several days early, which the
Florida Supreme Court said was unconstitutional. Therefore, a
summer session was called. The Senate passed Senate Bill 2A, which
would have expanded Medicaid, 33-3, but it failed in the House,
41-72. Ultimately, the legislature passed a budget that did not
include Medicaid in it, and it was signed into law by the Governor.
Regardless, thank you to Vice-Chair Garwood for authoring this
resolution.
Resolution 47-29 passed 30-0, and expressed our support for
Senate Bill 148, which would have expanded eligibility for in-state
tuition to all active duty military personnel, veterans, and their
children, regardless of whether they were stationed in Florida or
not. It did not have a companion bill in the House and died in the
Senate Higher Education Committee. Regardless, thank you to Senator
Lim and LAC Yeargain for authoring this resolution.
If there are any specific questions about the summaries I
provided or about the state legislative process generally, I am
happy to answer those questions if directed at my email address:
[email protected].
Best regards,
Tyler Q. Yeargain Legislative Affairs Coordinator University of
Central Florida Student Government Association
