Designation of the State Birds; Designates American flamingo as official state bird and the Florida scrub-jay as the official state songbird; provides that such designation supersedes designation of mockingbird as official Florida state bird.
Administrative Efficiency in Public Schools; Exempting district school boards from requirements for adopting certain rules; deleting a requirement for a district school board to employ an internal auditor in certain circumstances; requiring innovation schools of technology to comply with specified provisions relating to instructional multiyear contracts, in addition to annual contracts, for instructional personnel in addition to annual contracts; revising requirements relating to district school board attendance policies for Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Programs; revising requirements for assessments needed for a student to earn a high school diploma; providing requirements for advanced degrees which may be used to set salary schedules for instructional personnel and school administrators hired after a specified date; revising eligibility requirements for individuals to participate in the Teacher Apprenticeship Program, etc.
Utility Terrain Vehicles; Authorizing a utility terrain vehicle (UTV) to be operated during all hours; authorizing the operation of UTVs on certain parts of the State Highway System; authorizing the Department of Transportation to prohibit the use of UTVs under certain circumstances; requiring the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to issue a license plate to the owner or lessee of a vehicle registered as a UTV upon payment of certain taxes and fees, etc.
Pub. Rec./Sales of Ammunition; Provides exemption from public records requirements for records containing certain information pertaining to buyer or transferee who is not found to be prohibited from receipt or transfer of ammunition; provides for future legislative review & repeal of exemption; provides statement of public necessity.
Aiding Unmarried Minors; Provides enhanced criminal penalties for knowingly sheltering unmarried minor or aiding unmarried minor runaway; creates presumption concerning knowledge of minor's age; provides defense.
Health Screenings For K-12 Students; Authorizes specified screening services to be performed on K-12 students after written parental notification of such services is provided & student's parents are given specified opportunities.
Educational Dollars for Duty Program; Requires program to set aside certain amount of funds to provide tuition assistance to spouses & children of active members of Florida National Guard; requires Department of Military Affairs to oversee implementation & enforcement; requires department to establish certain procedures.
Insurance Research; Renaming the Florida Catastrophic Storm Risk Management Center to the Florida Center for Excellence in Insurance and Risk Management; requiring the center to collaborate with the Office of Insurance Regulation to produce an annual report analyzing the property insurance market in this state; requiring the center to use the public hurricane loss projection model when necessary; requiring the office to contract with the center to manage the public hurricane loss projection model; providing for a type two transfer of the public hurricane loss projection model from Florida International University to Florida State University, etc.
HB 121 revises the legal criteria grandparents must meet to petition a court for visitation with a minor child. It directly affects grandparents seeking court-ordered visitation rights when parents are divorced, separated, or deceased. The bill changes the specific requirements a grandparent must satisfy to file such a petition, though the abstract does not detail the exact revised criteria. This is a substantive change to the existing legal process for grandparent visitation requests.
Use of Campaign Funds for Child Care Expenses; Authorizes candidate to use funds on deposit in his or her campaign account to pay for child care expenses under specified conditions; requires candidates to maintain specified records for specified timeframe; requires candidates to disclose certain child care expenses in campaign finance reports.
Prescriptive Authority Certification for Psychologists; Requires Board of Psychology to certify psychologists to exercise prescriptive authority if specified criteria are met; requires board to maintain current record of every prescribing psychologist authorized to prescribe controlled substances; requires board to establish interim panel; requires panel to submit recommendations for rules to board by specified date; requires panel to develop formulary for prescribing psychologists; provides for expiration of panel on specified date.
Universal Free School Breakfast and Lunch Program; Requires DACS, subject to appropriation of certain funds, to establish & operate Universal Free School Breakfast & Lunch a Program in public schools; specifies requirements for school districts; authorizes school districts to operate program using offsite food preparation locations.
