On April 14, HB 1475 (Tuck) passed the full House (77-40). The measure protects the rights of female athletes and promotes equality in women's sports by recognizing key biological differences between men and women and requiring separate sex-specific athletic teams. Laws and policies that affirm gender identities not aligned with biological sex often overlook the potential for serious, and often irreversible, physical harm to gender dysphoric individuals, especially minors, who attempt to "transition." In a letter to Rep. Tuck, the FCCB outlined its support for HB 1475. The Senate companion, SB 2012 (Stargel), includes an exception for "persons who transition from male to female" if they meet certain conditions, such as specified testosterone levels. SB 2012 was temporarily postponed this week by the Senate Rules Committee but is scheduled for a hearing on April 20.
On April 15, the full Senate passed HB 1 (23-17). In response to recent riots, the bill purports to address public disorder by creating new riot-related crimes and enhancing penalties on existing offenses. The FCCB opposes the bill as it is unnecessary and potentially harmful. Any violence committed during a riot, or at any time, is already prosecutable, and it is unnecessary to raise penalties for those crimes. Additionally, some broad terms in the bill could potentially criminalize some of our ministries' public activities such as praying in front of an abortion facility, sidewalk counseling, and prayer vigils to end the use of the death penalty. FCCB's concerns with the measure are further outlined in a letter. The proposal passed the House (76-39) on March 26. A top priority of Governor Ron DeSantis, the measure will be sent to him for his signature.
As on alternative to HB 1, FCCB offered other approaches to civil unrest including collecting data on use-of-force, de-escalation training, and limiting chokeholds. A bill with these provisions and others, HB 7051, was filed and passed unanimously by two House committees this week. Additionally, the measure prohibits a child younger than seven years of age from being arrested, charged, or adjudicated delinquent, unless the violation of law is a forcible felony. The measure has been placed on the House calendar on second reading.
The legislature passed an amended version of its affordable housing and resiliency plan. SB 2512 passed the Senate (25-14) on April 7 and the House (78-38) on April 8. The Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund will receive approximately $200 million from documentary stamp taxes this year. About half of the revenue that would have previously been available for affordable housing will be protected from future sweeps. This is an improvement over an earlier proposal that redirected two-thirds of funds designated for affordable housing to resiliency efforts. However, the FCCB has long supported full funding of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Sea-level rise initiatives and sewage treatment projects will each receive approximately $111.7 million under the revised plan. SB 2512 will go next to Governor DeSantis for his signature.
On April 6, HB 1475 (Tuck) passed its final committee, Education & Employment (15-6), and has been placed on the House Special Order Calendar for April 13. The measure protects the rights of female athletes and promotes equality in women's sports by recognizing key biological differences between men and women and requiring separate sex-specific athletic teams. Laws and policies that affirm gender identities not aligned with biological sex often overlook the potential for serious, and often irreversible, physical harm to gender dysphoric individuals, especially minors. In a letter to Rep. Tuck, the FCCB outlined its support for HB 1475. The Senate companion, SB 2012 (Stargel), includes an exception for "persons who transition from male to female" if they meet certain conditions, such as specified testosterone levels. SB 2012 has been passed by its first two committees of reference and is now in the Senate Rules Committee.