Florida Senate Bill 86 (2021)

Last updated
Florida Senate Bill 86 (2021)
Seal of Florida.svg
Florida State Legislature
Full nameCS/CS/SB 86: Student Financial Aid
IntroducedFebruary 23, 2021
Senate voted22 Yeas – 18 Nays
Sponsor(s) Dennis Baxley
Governor Ron DeSantis
Website https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/86
Status: Not passed
(Died In Messages in Florida House)

Senate Bill 86, also titled SB 86: Student Financial Aid or An act relating to student financial aid was a proposed 2021 Florida educational funding bill that would have made major changes to the implementation and administration of the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. [1] The bill drew considerable controversy due to its proposals. [2]

Contents

History

Senate Bill 86 was originally proposed by Senator Dennis Baxley of Lady Lake in February 2021, during the 2021 Legislative Session of the Florida Legislature. [3] The bill intended to impose certain limitations on the amount of Bright Futures funding students could receive based on their major. The Board of Governors and State Board of Education were to draft a list of majors and programs of study which lead to employment. This list would have been used in determine who would receive full funding and who would receive half funding. [4]

The bill was first heard by the Florida Senate Committee on Education on March 16, 2021. [5] It was originally scheduled to be heard on March 9, 2021, but could not be fit into the schedule. After debate between GOP and Democratic senators, the committee passed an amendment by Dennis Baxley along party lines, 5-4. [6] The newly amended version would put a hold on registration freshman year, until students completed certain training modules. Most other language was kept.

In mid-March, when asked about Bright Futures, Governor Ron DeSantis signaled his support for full funding. [7] The bill passed through two other committees, the Appropriation Subcommittee on Education and Committee on Appropriations. In this process, the bill was further amended. The version that advanced to the floor would put Bright Futures into general appropriations. [8] The bill passed in the Senate with two GOP senators, Keith Perry and Jennifer Bradley, voting against it. [9]

The bill died in messages, not being considered in the House of Representatives. [10]

Controversy

The bill faced considerable backlash throughout its many forms. Several student accounts appeared on Instagram to try and organize against SB 86. [11] A website was even created by some students, titled Save Bright Futures. [12] Several parent groups also emerged on Facebook to organize and share resources. A Change.org petition was created, which received 138,557 signatures. Several other smaller ones emerged.

At the first committee hearing, nearly 70 students, parents, and teacher spoke. [5] Among those that spoke were several student body presidents from the Florida Student Association, teachers from across Florida and concerned parents. While there was progress with the amendment.

Concerned people also spoke at the next committees, the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education and Committee on Appropriations. In early April, the Florida Student Association cosigned a letter condemning the intentions of the bill. [13]

Across the process, small protests and awareness campaigns emerged across Florida and at universities in the state. In Gainesville, UF students created a mural to protest SB 86 on 34th Street whilst some parents protested. [14] [15] Others in Tampa held protests, especially students of USF. [16] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bright Futures Scholarship Program</span> Florida scholarship program

Bright Futures is a scholarship program in the state of Florida. It is funded by the Florida Lottery and was first started in 1997.

Florida Student Association was formed in 1976 and is a non-profit corporation composed of the student body presidents from each of the State University System of Florida universities.

Florida House Bill H-837, also known as HB-837 or The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights, was a proposed bill in 2005 that would have allowed students to establish lawsuits against their professors and university for perceived intolerance of the student's beliefs. The bill could have also required professors to teach concepts that may have contradicted established facts, if the concept was considered a "serious scholarly" theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen H. Urquhart</span> American politician

Stephen Harold Urquhart is an American politician and religious leader from Utah. A Republican, he was a member of the Utah State Senate, representing the State's 29th Senate district in Washington County from 2009 to 2016, and he served in the Utah House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Pruitt</span> American politician

Ken Pruitt is an American politician who served as a member of the Florida Senate. A Republican, he represented the 28th District from 2000 to 2009, which included portions of Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie Counties. He was previously a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1990 through 2000.

Bruce C. Kone is an American professor, nephrologist and molecular biologist. He is also a World Aquatics Masters Swimming world record holder, United States Masters Swimming (USMS) national record holder, twenty-three-time USMS national champion, and eight-time FINA Masters world's top-ranked age group swimmer. He is currently a tenured professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Baxley</span> American politician

Dennis K. Baxley is a state legislator in Florida who has served in the Florida Senate since 2016. A Republican, he represents the 12th district including Sumter County and parts of Lake County and Marion County in Central Florida. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing parts of Marion County from 2000 to 2007 and again from 2010 until his election to the Senate. He served on the Belleview City Commission and as its mayor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Wayne Reitz Union</span> Student union in Florida, United States

The J. Wayne Reitz Union is the student union of the University of Florida, located on Museum Road on the university campus in Gainesville, Florida, United States. The union was named in honor of J. Wayne Reitz, the fifth president of the university, who served from 1955 to 1967. The building, which was originally completed in 1967, contains dining facilities, meeting rooms, offices, a computer lab, a game room, an outdoor amphitheater, retail stores, a movie theater and a hotel.

The California DREAMAct is a package of California state laws that allow children who were brought into the US under the age of 16 without proper visas/immigration documentation who have attended school on a regular basis and otherwise meet in-state tuition and GPA requirements to apply for student financial aid benefits. It and past similarly named legislation have been authored by California State Senator Gil Cedillo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Brodeur</span> American politician

Jason T. Brodeur is a Florida State Senator representing the 10th district, which consists of Seminole and a small part of Orange County. Before the redistricting that took effect with the 2022 election, he represented the old 9th district. A Republican, Brodeur also serves as the president and CEO of the Seminole County Chamber, which advocates for pro-business practices in Seminole County and across the state of Florida. He previously served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2010 to 2018. From 2010-2012, he represented the 33rd District. During his final six years in the Florida House, Brodeur represented the 28th District, which consists of eastern Seminole County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Frockt</span> American politician from Washington

David S. Frockt is an American politician and attorney who served as a member of the Washington State Senate for the 46th legislative district, which includes North Seattle, Lake Forest Park, and Kenmore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Rodrigues</span> American politician

Raymond Wesley Rodrigues is the 12th chancellor of the State University System of Florida since 2023. Previously, he served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing southern and coastal Lee County from 2012 to 2020 and one term in the Florida Senate from 2020 to 2022. His campaign website describes him as conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Weiler</span> American politician

Todd Weiler is a Republican member of the Utah State Senate. He lives in Woods Cross, Utah. Weiler was first appointed to the state Senate in January 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Guillermo Smith</span> Politician from Orlando, Florida, U.S.

Carlos Guillermo Smith is an American community activist, lobbyist, and politician. A Democrat, he served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from District 49, which covered the University of Central Florida area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Book</span> American politician

Lauren Frances Book is an American politician and former educator who has served in the Florida Senate since 2016, representing parts of Broward County. A member of the Democratic Party, she has been the Senate's minority leader since April 28, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Andrade</span> American politician from Florida

Robert Alexander Andrade is a Republican member of the Florida Legislature representing the state's 2nd House district, which includes parts of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Beltran</span> American politician from Florida

Mike Beltran is an American politician in the state of Florida. He is a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives representing the state's 70th district, which includes part of Hillsborough County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Griffith (politician)</span> American politician

Mike Griffith is a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 35B since January 7, 2020. Griffith was appointed by Maryland governor Larry Hogan after Andrew Cassilly resigned the seat to become a senior advisor to Hogan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Parental Rights in Education Act</span> Florida state law; "Dont Say Gay" bill

The Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" law, is a Florida state law passed in 2022 that regulates public schools in Florida. The law is most notable for its controversial sections which prohibit public schools from having "classroom discussion" or giving "classroom instruction" about sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade or in any manner deemed to be against state standards in all grades; prohibits public schools from adopting procedures or student support forms that maintain the confidentiality of a disclosure by a student, including of the gender identity or sexual orientation of a student, from parents; and requires public schools to bear all the costs of all lawsuits filed by aggrieved parents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Senate Bill 266</span> Florida legislation dealing with public universities

Florida Senate Bill 266, also commonly known by its Florida House of Representatives counterpart House Bill 999, is Florida legislation relating to public universities within the state. Under the legislation, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and certain college majors relating to DEI would be eliminated or heavily restricted; the legislation phrases such courses as being based on "unproven, theoretical, or exploratory content". The legislation would prohibit state universities from including DEI and political identity filters within higher education hiring processes, and bans the usage of critical race theory in hiring. The law was filed in the Florida House of Representatives on February 21, 2023, by Republican representative Alex Andrade, while a Florida Senate version was filed seven days later by Republican state senator Erin Grall. The senate version of the legislation, which was noted as less intense in its requirements than the house version, ultimately passed and was signed by governor Ron DeSantis, concurrently with the similar Florida House Bill 931, on May 15, 2023. SB 266 took effect on July 1, 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "SB 86 / 202186". Florida Senate.
  2. ↑ "Florida Senate could overhaul controversial Bright Futures bill following backlash". WKMG. 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  3. ↑ "'It's definitely not fair': Parents, students concerned about effort to cut Bright Futures funds". firstcoastnews.com. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  4. ↑ Ceballos, Joshua. "Florida Republicans Advance Bill to Restrict Bright Futures Aid to "Employable" Students Only". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  5. 1 2 "Committee on Education Final Meeting Packet - 03/16/2021" (PDF). Florida Senate.
  6. ↑ "New plan preserving Bright Futures passes despite suspicions from Democrats and students". Florida Politics . 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  7. ↑ "Gov. DeSantis signals support for fully funded Bright Futures". Florida Politics . 2021-03-17. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  8. ↑ Ivanov, Danielle. "Here's what you should know about SB86, Bright Futures before the legislative session ends". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  9. ↑ "Senate passes controversial Bright Futures proposal". Florida Politics . 2021-04-09. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  10. ↑ "Winners and losers emerging from the 2021 Legislative Session". Florida Politics . 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  11. ↑ Taramykin, Andrew (April 6, 2021). "The Student-Led Fight Against SB 86". Florida Political Review.
  12. ↑ "Save Bright Futures". Save Bright Futures. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  13. ↑ "FSA Letter About Bright Futures" . Archived from the original on 2021-12-26.
  14. ↑ Syed, Camille (7 March 2021). "UF students create mural to protest bill that would limit student aid programs to certain majors". wcjb.com. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  15. ↑ Torrente, Jessica (2021-04-08). "Gainesville Community Members Rally As Student Financial Aid Bill Progresses To Florida Senate Floor". WUFT News. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  16. ↑ "Tampa students protest budget cuts and bill that would implement cuts to Bright Futures". Fight Back! News. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  17. ↑ Hinds, Haley (2021-04-20). "USF students protest proposed Bright Futures changes, university budget cuts". FOX 13 News. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.