This year’s Legislative Session and preceding Committee Weeks were the equivalent of flying white-knuckled through a massive thunderstorm. It started bumpy with a surprise call to a Special Session which bottomed out then smoothed for a short stretch only to nosedive to the runway but missing the gate.
Being in the supermajority wasn’t as fun or productive for policymakers as it was predicted to be and the minority party was shaken by successive headliner defections. Media releases and public appearances from two branches of government took more of a tone of campaign taunts than diplomatic posturing. No one escaped without a bruise or cut.
And yet the only legally mandated work – the state annual budget – remains to be decided. All Floridians should be holding their collective breath.
Door One, Two or Three
Imagine three doors each with curtains blocking a clear view and each curtain is tethered to each other. The one wire holding the curtains in place is revenue reduction.
Door number one is reducing property taxes. Great for the more affluent but not for renters – the everyday Florida families with children who make up as much as 54% of the renting population in some areas. Door number two is sales tax reductions, again helpful for large purchases by the more affluent and susceptible to downtowns in the economy. Door number three is a combination of Doors 1 and 2 and we have not yet mentioned the potentially devastating impacts on cities and counties which also support children’s services through matching funds, allocations and taxing districts.
Adding to Floridians’ discomfort is that revenue caps do not address the core worries of the vast majority, including the cost of home and car insurance and rising grocery prices.
Epic Impacts on Children and Families
So, can we vote for Door Number Four? Leave revenue alone for at least a year and at least until the range of federal cuts are known? The combination of state and federal cuts could be a tsunami of epic impacts on the future of children in our state! Unfortunately, the “save us, we’re the worthiest” rhetoric in some children’s circles is already airing in a zero-sum game.
Good Bills that Passed for Children
But through the wild ride some good legislation for children passed both chambers and bad bills were discarded due to thunderclaps rising up from advocates. Opportunities, though, were also missed.
Forward thinking legislation included:
- SB 112 by Sen. Gayle Harrell focused on children with disabilities, extending timeframes for Early Steps
- SB 296 by Sen. Jennifer Bradley allowing school districts to set middle and high school start times
- HB 969 by Rep. Hillary Cassell requiring more in-depth reporting of student mental health outcomes in order to understand the use of mental health dollars by school districts and coordination needs or lack thereof with managing entities and community- based agencies
- SB 7012 by Sen. Erin Grall which addresses a range of child welfare issues inclusive of sex trafficking and a pilot project for “treatment” foster homes. The American Children’s Campaign has been advised that dollars have dwindled over several years to serve sex trafficked children and has testified as to the absence of aftercare services for children released by DJJ detention centers and children’s jails only to be ensnared by a child welfare system not designed to meet those needs
- HB 1103 by Rep. Kincart-Jonnson, which the Intellectual and Developmental Disability community rallied around, holding the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities more accountable and transparent, providing access to services more rapidly, and providing more choices and pathways to receiving assistance.Most likely the worst children’s bill, which thankfully got shelved, was HB 1125 / SB 198 – Child Labor – by Rep. Miller and Sen. Collins respectively. Recognition for organizing the opposition by advocates goes to the Florida Policy Institute for the second year in a row. Enough can’t be written in the space allowed as to this bill’s awful provisions– children being subjected to harsh employment conditions, long hours without breaks, and a distraction from school attendance and performance.
Not to mention children referred to as “cheap labor,” which should be labeled an embarrassment. Unfortunately, with the hum of the deportation of immigrants in the background, this may become an annual clash.
A missed opportunity was the passage of HB 21 in the Florida House to authorize dental therapists, a new mid-level professional position opposed only by organized dentistry. It was sent over to the Senate in the Rural Renaissance package but did not come back. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Florida leads the nation in the number of children who haven’t seen a dentist within the past year. Bad oral health leads to horrific outcomes and expense.
To sum it up, revenue and policy can be smart and just and compassionate. They aren’t any of those if arbitrary or pandering. Will the shining City on the Hill dim so far as to not be seen at all?