Culture Bills The most contentious social bills of the Florida legislative session
Florida lawmakers are less focused on contentious social issues this session than in recent years. Instead, they're having tense fights over affordability topics. But there are still some bills that have L-G-B-T-Q advocates concerned.
One bill says public employees don't have to refer to someone by pronouns that don't align with their sex assigned at birth. Another would effectively ban LGBTQ pride flags in government buildings.
Stratton Pollitzer with Equality Florida recently spoke at the Capitol. He says while it's a hopeful sign, there are fewer bills targeting the LGBTQ community this year; the advocacy group is still on watch.
"Make no mistake: The bills that have been filed are still extraordinarily dangerous, and as long as they’re on the agenda we will be here to fight them.
Lawmakers are also considering measures that would restrict diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in state and local governments
UNBORN LEGISLATION
On Wednesday, the Florida House of Representatives will take up a bill to grant legal protections to an unborn person. House Bill 1517 would allow survivors of a deceased fetus to seek legal damages against people thought negligent in its death. The bill would also legally define an unborn person as a homo-sapien in any stage of development who is carried in the womb.
Jay Wolfson is a professor of Public Health Law at Stetson University. He says the bill’s broad language could have a chilling effect on families from seeking pregnancy.
“If they have a pregnancy where it's very high risk, and they learn later on that there are significant congenital issues with the fetus, the uncertainties that this places on families and on the health care system and on the legal system are not inconsequential.”
The bill would protect mothers from wrongful action and healthcare providers in certain circumstances. Wednesday’s House reading will be the bill’s second reading.
Book Ban CC Authors speak out against Florida book ban legislation
Authors are speaking out against Florida legislation they say will lead to more books getting pulled from school library shelves.
The proposal would prevent school officials from considering a book's literary value when someone accuses it of being harmful to minors.
Best-selling novelist Judy Blume joined book access advocates for a virtual press conference on Friday to criticize the bill.
"What message does this send to young people anyway? Books are bad. Books are dangerous. There's something in these books we don't want you to know."
Blume lives in the state and runs a bookshop in Key West.
Some of her books have been removed from school shelves.
Republicans who support the bill accuse some school districts of using the literary value standard to keep age-inappropriate books in their libraries.
About 22,000 students stand to lose private school scholarships under Florida House budget
Nearly 22,000 college students attending private and non-profit institutions could soon lose a scholarship.
The Effective Access to Student Education Grant or EASE provides scholarships to Florida residents at some private, not-for-profit colleges and universities.
But under the Florida House proposal, some of this funding would be cut impacting students at 15 of the 30 schools that qualify.
Art Keiser is the chancellor of Keiser University, one of the potentially impacted schools. He says students really need the annual $3500 grant.
AdventHealth University, Barry University, Bethune-Cookman University, and Embry-Riddle University in Central Florida would also lose these funds.
More: www.floridatoday.com
