Sen. Ray Wesley Rodrigues

Student Assessments; Renaming “Next Generation Sunshine State Standards” as “state academic standards”; deleting provisions relating to the coordinated screening and progress monitoring program; providing that certain end-of-year comprehensive progress monitoring assessments are the statewide, standardized ELA and Mathematics assessments for certain students; requiring the coordinated screening and progress monitoring system to identify the educational strengths and needs of students; requiring 2022-2023 school and school district grades to serve as an informal baseline for schools and school districts; providing that school improvement ratings will not be calculated for the 2022-2023 school year, etc.

Implementation of the Recommendations of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force; Requiring owners of certain onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems to have the systems periodically inspected, beginning on a specified date; requiring the Department of Environmental Protection to administer the inspection program; requiring new or revised basin management action plans to include a list that identifies and prioritizes certain spatially focused projects, etc.

Small Business Saturday Sales Tax Holiday; Defining the term “small business”; providing that small businesses are not required to collect the sales and use tax on the retail sale of certain items of tangible personal property during a specified timeframe; authorizing certain dealers to opt out of participating in the tax holiday, subject to certain requirements, etc.

Military Corpsmen and Medics of Florida (MCMF) Program; Creating the MCMF Program Office of Veterans Advocacy within the Department of Health; requiring the MCMF Program, through the Department of Economic Opportunity, to assist certain veterans and their spouses with specified tasks; requiring Florida Is for Veterans, Inc., to collaborate with specified entities to implement the MCMF Program, etc.

Individual Education Plans; Requiring individual education plans for certain students to contain information and instruction on the legal rights and responsibilities regarding educational decisions which transfer to students at the age of 18; requiring such information to include ways in which a student may provide informed consent to allow his or her parent to continue to participate in his or her educational decisions, etc.

School Meals; Requiring public schools and nonprofit private schools participating in certain federal programs to provide students, at no cost, a printed meal application or an explanation and instructions on how to apply; requiring schools to complete and file an application for free or reduced-price meals on a student’s behalf under certain circumstances; requiring school district liaisons for homeless children to coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to ensure that homeless students in public schools receive free and reduced-price meals; providing duties for public and nonprofit private schools which apply regardless of a student’s ability to pay for meals or whether the student owes money for previous meals, etc.

Required Instruction in Public Schools; Requiring members of the instructional staff of public schools to provide instruction on social media literacy; defining the term “social media”; requiring district school boards to make social media literacy instructional material available online, etc.

Taxation of Affordable Housing; Authorizing counties and municipalities to adopt ordinances to grant partial ad valorem tax exemptions to property owners whose properties are used to provide affordable housing; specifying requirements for eligibility for such exemptions; specifying duties of boards of county commissioners and municipal governing authorities adopting ordinances granting such exemptions; requiring property owners improperly granted such exemptions to pay owed taxes, penalties, and interest, etc.

Damages Recoverable by Parents of an Adult Child in Medical Negligence Actions; Deleting a provision prohibiting parents of an adult child from recovering damages for mental pain and suffering in a medical negligence suit, etc.

Fee Waivers for Students Living in a Recovery Residence; Authorizing each Florida College System institution, career center operated by a school district, and charter technical career center to waive out-of-state fees for students living in a recovery residence; providing eligibility criteria for such students; prohibiting tuition and fees charged to a student granted the waiver from exceeding the tuition and fees charged to a resident student; providing a statewide limit on such waivers, etc.