On Tuesday, March 2, Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, and House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, opened the 2021 Florida legislative session. The Florida Legislature meets in session every year for 60 consecutive days, convening in March in odd-numbered years, and in January in even-numbered years. At the end of each week of the session, the FCCB will provide a summary of legislative activity on priority bills and other items of interest at the capitol.

Before a joint session of the House and Senate, Governor Ron DeSantis delivered his State of the State address. DeSantis touted Florida's response to the pandemic and reported that our state's current fiscal outlook is much better than the bleak forecasts from last spring. The governor addressed his legislative priorities for the year, including measures that purport to address public disorder (HB 1/SB 484), reforms to the power of the Big Tech industry, and election administration. He also lent his support to bills that shield businesses (HB 7/SB 72) and health care providers (HB 7005/SB 74) from lawsuits related to deaths or injuries caused by COVID-19.

One of the FCCB's key legislative priorities for the 2021 Legislative Session is eliminating the prior-public-school attendance requirement in the Family Empowerment Scholarship and the McKay Scholarship while also continuing to promote educational pluralism and parental empowerment. SB 48 (Diaz) addresses both of these issues and is strongly supported by the FCCB. The bill streamlines and consolidates Florida's five K-12 scholarships into two programs, removes all existing requirements for students to be enrolled in a public school before participating in a scholarship program, and gives parents greater flexibility as to how they use scholarship funds to meet the particular needs of their students' education. You can read more about the measure on the FCCB Education Policy Team blog, Education and the Common Good.

In a recent episode of Catholics Across the Aisle, FCCB Executive Director Michael Sheedy talks with Ingrid Delgado, associate director for social concerns/respect life; Ken Kniepmann, associate for health; and Mike Barrett, associate for education. During these discussions, the associates highlight key topics and bills for the 2021 legislative session in their respective areas of work. Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.