Sen. Rosalind Osgood

Early Learning; Requiring that at least one staff person receive in-person cardiopulmonary resuscitation training; providing that private prekindergarten provider or public school curricula may not use a certain coordinated screening and progress monitoring program or other specified methods for direct student instruction; revising requirements with respect to performance metric methodology and the assignment of designations under the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program; revising the percentage of funds that an early learning coalition may retain and expend, etc.

School Readiness Program; Revising requirements for the sliding fee scale for families receiving school readiness program services to include a new method to calculate parent copayments at the time of eligibility determination and annually thereafter, regardless of the number of children; revising requirements for the data elements that must be collected and reported by the Department of Education; revising the method for determining the annual allocation for the school readiness program; deleting a provision relating to certain expenditures from the Gold Seal Quality Care Program allocation, etc.

Affordable Housing Parking Requirements; Requiring counties and municipalities, respectively, to reduce parking requirements for certain developments if they are located within a specified distance of a major transportation hub; defining the term “major transportation hub”, etc.

Child Care and Early Learning Providers; Providing an exemption for public and private preschools from specified special assessments levied by a municipality; defining the term “preschool”; authorizing the use of credits against certain taxes beginning on a specified date; providing a limitation on such credits; requiring repayment of tax credits under certain conditions and using a specified formula; revising licensing standards for all licensed child care facilities and minimum standards and training requirements for child care personnel, etc.

Deregulation of Public Schools/Instructional, Administrative, and Support Personnel; Requiring innovation schools of technology to comply with specified provisions of law relating to instructional multiyear contracts for instructional personnel in addition to annual contracts; requiring newly hired prekindergarten instructors to complete specified training within a specified timeframe; requiring the State Board of Education to develop written strategies to address critical teacher shortages; revising requirements for school bus drivers; revising requirements for individuals to participate in the Teacher Apprenticeship Program; requiring the State Board of Education to adopt rules to provide for the transition to or renewal of a 10-year professional certificate in certain situations, etc.

Community Associations; Requiring community associations to return official records of an association within a specified period following termination of a contract; requiring community association managers and management firms to provide a written disclosure of certain conflicts of interest to the association’s board; providing criminal penalties for any officer, director, or manager of an association who knowingly solicits, offers to accept, or accepts a kickback; authorizing, rather than requiring, certain hurricane protection specifications; specifying when the cost of installation of hurricane protection is not a common expense, etc. APPROPRIATION: $7,416,269

Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program; Establishing the Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program within the Department of Legal Affairs; requiring the department to accept and process applications for the payment of compensation claims under the program; requiring the department to provide specified notice of the program; requiring the department, subject to the appropriation of funds for that purpose, to pay a specified compensation amount to approved applicants, etc. APPROPRIATION: $20,000,000

Verification of Eligibility for Homestead Exemption; Requiring the Department of Revenue to provide a specified form that county property appraisers may use to provide tentative verification of persons’ eligibility for specified exemptions after purchasing homestead property; providing a requirement for such form; providing that certain decisions are not subject to administrative or judicial review, etc.

Safe Exchange of Minor Children; Citing this act as the “Cassie Carli Law”; providing requirements for a parenting plan relating to the exchange of a child; requiring the court to order the parties in a parenting plan to exchange their child at a neutral safe exchange location or at a location authorized by a supervised visitation program under certain circumstances; requiring sheriffs to designate certain areas as neutral safe exchange locations; providing immunity from civil liability, etc.

Surrendered Infants; Changing the term “newborn infant” to “infant”; increasing the age at which a child is considered an infant; authorizing a parent to leave an infant with medical staff or a licensed health care professional at a hospital after the delivery of the infant, upon the parent giving a certain notification; authorizing a parent to surrender an infant by calling 911 to request that an emergency medical services provider meet the surrendering parent at a specified location, etc.