Dear Friends & Neighbors,

Week two (March 9 - March 13) of Session has come to a close and things are moving quickly. Committees continued to meet and discuss many issues that are important for our state and several bills were considered on the House floor. 

For more frequent updates, please visit www.myfloridahouse.gov and connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

I look forward to continuing to serve our district in Tallahassee and as always, please feel free to contact me or my office whenever we can be of assistance. 

Kind Regards,

JAKE

Amendment 1 Implementation Moves Forward

On November 4, 2014, Amendment 1 passed with 74.96% of voters supporting the amendment. The amendment requires that 33% of documentary stamp taxes collected be distributed to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund (LATF). The amendment prohibits funds from the LATF from being used for other than the specified purposes and prohibits the commingling of the LATF with the General Revenue Fund. The amendment will take effect on July 1, 2015.

This session, the Legislature must implement the amendment through legislation. Representative Jim Boyd has sponsored House Bill 1291, which creates a process that will allow the money spent on Amendment 1 issues to be easily seen and transparently tracked, so the public can hold the Legislature accountable. The bill was passed unanimously by the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee this week.

The Legislature has been spending at near Amendment 1 levels in recent years. As our economy continues to improve, I believe environmental spending should increase even more, and this implementing legislation will build a solid framework to facilitate this.

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Strengthening K-12 Education Accountability

The House took a step toward strengthening our K-12 education accountability system by passing House Bill 7069 out of the Education Committee and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. 

The House and Senate’s Work Plan 2015 joint agenda includes a review and evaluation of federal, state and local assessment requirements with the goal of maintaining a strong accountability system that effectively measures student learning and promotes quality instruction in the classroom. The bill increases transparency of accountability requirements so parents, students, teachers and taxpayers can have clear and consistent information and maximizes teacher, principal and school district flexibility to successfully implement our education accountability system.

The bill eliminates unnecessary and duplicative state and district assessments by repealing two tests currently given to high school students. The bill also prohibits the administration of final exams in addition to statewide, standardized end of course assessments and enhances district discretion regarding the administration of local assessments. In addition, the bill grants districts greater flexibility in evaluating the performance of their teachers and administrators by reducing the student performance and instructional practice evaluation components to one third each and streamlining evaluation system monitoring provisions.

I believe there are legitimate concerns from parents, teachers and principals about student assessments, and this bill works to address those concerns. These reforms, in my opinion, will strengthen both our schools and our accountability system, so our students continue to receive a first-rate education that prepares them to succeed in today’s world.

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House Committee Passes Local Pension Reform

The House Government Operations Subcommittee passed House Bill 341 to reform local retirement plans for our city firefighters and police officers. The bill proposes what I believe are reasonable changes to city firefighter and police officer pension plans to help ensure the plans are stable and well-funded for the future.

By reforming these plans now, I believe we are taking the steps necessary to keep the retirement plans sustainable for our brave public servants and their families.  By doing so, I also believe we are protecting the future of our police officers and firefighters who work hard to protect us from harm every day. 

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House Sets Florida’s 2016 Presidential Primary Date

The Florida House unanimously passed a bill that sets Florida’s 2016 Presidential Preference Primary on March 15th. This is the date allowed by both parties’ rules that will give the political parties the most flexibility and encourage candidates to spend more time here talking to Floridians about issues that are important to our state.

As the third largest state in America, I believe our voters should have an important and meaningful role in the presidential nomination process. This date, in my opinion, benefits both major parties and maximizes the impact Florida voters will have on selecting the Republican and Democrat presidential nominees in 2016. 

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Armwood High School Students, presenting SB 1202 to the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on Tuesday. 

Great discussions with USF pharmacy students.

Enjoyed chatting with members from the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.