Dismissing the People’s Voice: A Civics Lesson

This week, while Governor DeSantis was holding press conferences promising to make Florida “the national leader in civics education” and Senator Brandes’ SB146, authorizing the creation of a nonpartisan civic literacy practicum, passed the Florida Senate with unanimous votes at every stop, students got a real world lesson in the realities of civic engagement in Florida’s capital. Namely, when your state’s legislature is dominated by a single party with a specific agenda, legislators feel no obligation to respond to “the voice of the people.”

Lesson #1: If the public commenter won’t be directly harmed by a bill supported by leadership, legislators can (and probably will) dismiss their concerns.

On Tuesday, 3/16/21, the Senate Education committee finally heard SB86, the controversial Bright Futures Bill. There had been overwhelming opposition to the bill’s creation of a list of majors considered “lead directly to employment.” If SB86 passes, the amount of Bright Futures scholarship award a qualified student receives would be dependent on whether their major is was that approved list or not. Presumably students would receive full funding if they majored in nursing or, perhaps, engineering while those majoring in the arts or humanities might see their scholarship award diminished.  “As taxpayers we should all be concerned about subsidizing degrees that just lead to debt, instead of the jobs our students want and need,” Baxley said in a news release on the legislation. 

Originally placed on the 3/9/21 agenda, the bill was temporarily postponed the night before that committee meeting due to growing opposition. Lawmakers reported being bombarded with emails and phone calls in opposition to the bill. An online petition had collected over 100,000 signatures in opposition to SB86. By 3/13 the bill was back on the agenda and, on 3/15, Baxley filed a delete-all amendment which “grandfathered in” all students currently receiving the scholarship, delaying the changes until the 2023-2024 academic year and  changed the “list of majors leading directly to employment” to a “list of majors determined NOT lead directly to employment.” Despite the revisions, opponents to the bill remained firm in their opposition when the bill was finally heard before the Education committee on 3/16/21.

Forty public commenters, many of them current Bright Futures recipients and high school students, gave compelling testimony. One man spoke incoherently in favor of the bill. Many students spoke against the approved list of majors, saying “Allowing students to choose their paths… will lead to a more productive and well-equipped, diverse and impactful workforce.” Senator Thurston filed an amendment to remove the degree program list but Baxley said that the primary intent of the bill was to limit scholarship funding to “programs that are beneficial to the student, state and the environment of the economy.” 

All of the Democrats on the panel questioned whether the government should be influencing what college students choose to study. Sen. Tina Polsky, (D-29) implored the panel to “Please, let’s listen to the students, let’s listen to the parents, let’s listen to our constituents.” 

Rather than listen to the students, Senator Travis Hutson (R-7) reminded the committee (on two separate occasions) that “everyone who spoke today, even the seniors in high school, will be grandfathered in, and have their bright futures” saying any promise that had been made by the state to anyone currently in college, would be kept by the state. The bill, of course, passed the committee 5-4 along party lines despite Senator Jennifer Bradley (R-5) expressing concerns, noting that one of her children is majoring in Russian and international relations, and wondering if those fields of study would be on a list of career-friendly majors:

“Would I have picked those majors? No. But that’s her dream,” Bradley said. “And I just disagree with the idea that the state gets to define that dream.”

Bradley disagreed with the bill’s primary intent, just like the student opposition. Her NO vote, would have killed the bill…

[To be clear, there are also significant concerns regarding changes to how the Bright Futures program will be funded. Bright Futures is a merit based scholarship currently funded by lottery proceeds. Students are awards an amount (either 75% or 100% of tuition) based on their accomplishments plus a stipend for books funded through the General Appropriations Act (GAA). SB86 would change Bright Futures from “the award necessary to pay a specified percentage of tuition and specified fees” to “an award as specified in the GAA.” In other words, the value of the scholarship would become subject to legislative budget allocation, i.e. the whims of the current legislature. Hmmm… I wonder how that will turn out?]

Lesson #2: If you come to the Capitol to testify, do so in a civil and respectful manner. They won’t change their vote but they might thank you afterwards.

The right to collective bargaining is enshrined in Florida’s Constitution (Article 1, section 6) but, nevertheless, attacking teachers unions appears to be a favorite pastime of many legislators. This year, legislators wasted no time placing SB78 on the fast track. SB78, filed by Lee County Republican, Senator Ray Rodrigues, has been dubbed the “union busting bill.” It would add additional restrictions to payroll deductions for union dues from public-employee paychecks, requiring confirmation in addition to written request. SB78 passed its first two committee stops along party lines but appears to be temporarily stalled in the Senate Rules committee, probably because it affects all public unions. Its identical House companion, HB947, passed its first committee on 3/8/21 and it waiting to be heard in State Affairs.

If lawmakers are unable to “bust” all public unions, they still have options to, specifically, disempower the teachers union. SB1014 (Baxley)/ HB835 (Byrd) are union busting bills that only apply to teachers unions.  Other public unions (Police, Fire) would not be affected. The bills would require labor organizations to demonstrate every year that they have at least 50% of a bargaining unit’s workforce as dues-paying members. The bills also would prohibit school boards from deducting union dues from an employee’s paycheck. SB1014 was described as “a one-two punch” by Rich Templin of the Florida AFL-CIO, saying “It makes it very difficult for those dues to be paid by those who want to pay them, and if not enough dues are paid, then the bargaining unit is decertified.” On 3/8/21, HB835 received favorable approval in its first committee stop, the House Government Operations Subcommittee.

On 3/17/21, Baxley’s SB1014 was heard before the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability committee. Teachers from across the state assembled at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, to give public testimony in opposition to the bill. The teachers overwhelmed the Civic Center, filling the assigned room to capacity while excess commenters lined up around the building. Almost 100 people signed up to speak, many were given just 30 seconds to explain their concerns. Their message was clear. “SB 1014 is unnecessary red-tape. Nobody is asking for this bill.” Union members from across the political spectrum questioned why only the teachers union was under attack? A veteran Leon County teacher asked “If these additional requirements are so great, why do they not apply to all unions? Why are you just attacking educators?” Absolutely no one spoke in support of the bill.

So, of course, by a vote for 3 republican Yeas and 2 democratic Nos, the bill passed the committee. After voting in favor of the union busting bill despite overwhelming opposition, Senator Mayfield took a moment to thank all the teachers who had come to testify, saying “You know, we all immensely respect our teachers and this is in no way… an attack against them whatsoever and we do thank them for all that they do.” Committee Chair, Senator Rodrigues (the same Rodrigues who sponsored the now stalled SB78) applauded the teachers who had come to testify saying :

“We got through a significant number of speakers and we did that because they were very orderly stayed on time and task and really, I think, set an example for others who have come up to the legislature to speak on bills on how to advocate for yourself and do it in a manner that is very civil and respectful and, as always, our teachers are setting the example, right, I just hope that many people watched and saw their example and can learn from that …” -Senator Ray Rodrigues

https://thefloridachannel.org/videos/3-17-21-senate-committee-on-governmental-oversight-and-accountability/

Shortly after SB1014 passed the Government Oversight and Accountability committee, the bill was placed on the fast track to the Senate floor; the bill’s reference to the Judiciary committee was removed, sending the bill directly to its final committee stop in the Rules committee. Fast-tracking the union busting bill is an interesting way of rewarding teachers for their commendable behavior…

Dismissing the voice of overwhelming opposition… Are these the types of lessons our kids can expect to learn when Florida becomes “the national leader in civics education”?