Dear Friends & Neighbors,

The third week of the 2015 Legislative Session has come to a close. I believe a number of important steps were taken throughout the week to improve the great State of Florida.

House Committees continued to hear, debate, and vote on important policy issues. Last week, various budget proposals were discussed in their respective appropriations subcommittees, and the Appropriations Committee released a $76.1 billion budget proposal for the 2015-16 Fiscal Year. This is the beginning of an extensive process that will conclude with the Legislature passing a balanced budget.

The House passed several notable bills this past week. House Bill 7069 relating to Education Accountability by Chair O’Toole passed unanimously. This bill is part of the Speaker’s Work Plan 2015 and addresses legitimate concerns about the amount of testing in Florida’s schools without retreating from accountability. House Bill 7001 by Chair Trujillo will help protect children and other victims by making it legal for victims to intercept and record an abuser without the abuser’s consent and have that communication used as evidence in court. 

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

House Begins Discussion of 2015-16 Budget

The sole constitutional obligation of the Legislature is to annually pass a balanced budget. This week, each appropriations subcommittee proposed their yearly budgets, which are used to build the Fiscal Year 2015-16 House budget. This process allows each subcommittee budget to be presented to the public, discussed and debated by members, and fully evaluated. Building on the work done by the appropriations subcommittees, the Appropriations Committee released a draft $76.1 billion budget proposal for consideration on Friday.

I believe the House is off to a good start in producing a fiscally responsible budget that addresses our state’s critical needs. I look forward to continuing to work on this important issue in the weeks ahead.

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House Committee Unanimously Supports Florida Unique Abilities Partner Program

The House Economic Affairs Committee unanimously supported the creation of the Florida Unique Abilities Partner program, which recognizes businesses that employ individuals with disabilities. The program also recognizes businesses that contribute to organizations or establish their own program that contributes to the independence of individuals with disabilities.

People with disabilities often face difficulties entering the workforce and do so at a much lower rate than most individuals. I applaud the efforts of the House to support a pathway to economic independence for individuals with disabilities, which is part of the House and Senate’s Work Plan 2015 joint agenda. 

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Strengthening K-12 Education Accountability

The Florida House strengthened our K-12 education system by unanimously passing House Bill 7069 relating to Education Accountability. The bill addresses legitimate concerns about student testing while maintaining a strong accountability system that promotes quality instruction in the classroom, increasing transparency to provide clear and consistent information, and maximizing flexibility for our local school districts.

HB 7069 is a broad bill that includes many important reforms. The bill eliminates unnecessary and duplicative state and district assessments by repealing the statewide, standardized 11th grade English language arts (ELA) assessment, repealing the required administration of the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) to high school students, removing prescriptive remediation and progress monitoring requirements, and prohibiting the administration of final exams in addition to statewide, standardized end of course (EOC) assessments.

To provide greater transparency to parents and students, the bill requires the use of a uniform assessment calendar with common definitions to make the administration, purpose, and use of assessments.

The bill also grants districts more flexibility in measuring student performance in grades and subjects not associated with the state assessment program and in evaluating teacher and administrator performance by reducing the student performance and instructional practice evaluation components to one third each.

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Education Bills Helping Students with Unique Abilities

Helping students with unique abilities is a component of the House and Senate’s Work Plan 2015 joint agenda. The House passed two bills this week that will help these students receive the education that best suits their needs.

The Education Committee passed PCB EDC 15-03, which expands the Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts (PLSA) Program to a greater number of students with unique abilities. The PLSA program provides eligible students with a scholarship that parents can use to purchase a combination of approved educational services or products so parents have the flexibility and freedom to provide their children with a high-quality, individualized education.

The Higher Education & Workforce Subcommittee passed PCB HEWS 15-02 relating to Postsecondary Education Options for Students with Disabilities. The bill creates the ‘Florida Postsecondary Comprehensive Transition Program Act,’ which allows postsecondary institutions in Florida to seek approval to offer a Florida Postsecondary Comprehensive Transition Program (FPCTP) for students with intellectual disabilities. The bill also establishes the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities to serve as the statewide coordination center for providing information regarding programs and services available for students with disabilities and their parents.

This bill helps pave a pathway to economic independence for students with disabilities by ensuring we have high-quality postsecondary options available for them to gain the education and training they need to best utilize their own unique abilities in Florida’s workforce.

Melissa, Jackson & I at 'Fresh From Florida Day' at the Capital. 

Great Healthcare discussions with these Doctors from the new St. Josephs Hospital back home, in House District 57.

Enjoyed chatting with these agriculture and science teachers from across the state.