Florida News – Highlights from around the state – January 31st
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- The State Senate produced a record $92.8 billion proposed budget for the upcoming year. It’s $1.4 billion more than Governor DeSantis’s framework. The emphasis for increases is overwhelmingly behind education increases led by the adoption of most of DeSantis’s teacher pay package. For the second straight year environmental issues also draw a significant funding increase. Another significant area of increase is pay for state workers which would see the largest raise in three years at 3%.
- A school choice bill advanced in the House Education Committee. The proposal would expand the Family Empowerment Scholarship from 18,000 students to 28,000 students.
- The ban on sunscreen bans has now cleared all committees and is set for a full vote in the House. It’s already passed in the Senate.
- The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would end the legal requirement for various notices to be posted in newspapers. Instead notices would be posted on websites for the government entity requiring the notice. It has a companion in the Senate but hasn’t been take up yet.
- The thirty students and three teachers at risk to exposure of the conrona virus from the Benjamin School,during a UN visit,were given the all clear to return to school after being confined to their homes while awaiting test results. The test results from the South Florida group aren’t in but none showed symptoms and the Chinese student in question at the UN event was diagnosed with the flu – not the corona virus.