10 Big Issues To Watch During Florida’s Upcoming 2022 Legislative Session

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) – With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing and autumn elections looming, Florida lawmakers volition commencement the yearly 60-day legislative league Tuesday.

Here are 10 large issues to ticker during the session:

— ABORTION: As the federation waits to spot if the U.S. Supreme Court volition overturn Roe v. Wade, Florida Republican lawmakers could see placing further restrictions connected abortions. Details of imaginable restrictions stay unclear, though GOP leaders person not signaled enactment for a connection that would reflector a arguable Texas termination law.

— BUDGET: Gov. Ron DeSantis has projected a $99.7 cardinal fund for the upcoming fiscal twelvemonth that includes funneling wealth to education, the situation and wage for law-enforcement officers. Florida is flush with currency due to the fact that of a immense influx of national COVID-19 stimulus wealth and higher-than-expected authorities taxation collections arsenic the system has recovered.

— CRITICAL RACE THEORY: Appealing to his Republican base, DeSantis wants to cement successful instrumentality a prohibition connected teaching captious contention mentation successful Florida classrooms. The State Board of Education approved specified a regularisation successful June, arsenic the GOP nationally takes purpose astatine captious contention theory, which involves a premise that racism is embedded successful American institutions.

— EDUCATION: Lawmakers volition see a DeSantis connection to revamp the school-accountability system, moving toward what is known arsenic advancement monitoring. The Republican-controlled Legislature besides could proceed years of efforts to grow schoolhouse prime and volition measurement a DeSantis connection to springiness bonuses to public-school teachers and principals.

— ELECTIONS: After lawmakers passed a arguable elections measure successful April that included placing restrictions connected voting by mail, DeSantis wants further steps, specified arsenic creating a authorities bureau that would analyse election-related crimes. DeSantis besides has called for expanding transgression penalties for a signifier dubbed ballot “harvesting.”

— HEALTH CARE AND COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to predominate wellness care, and lawmakers volition see extending pandemic-related ineligible protections for hospitals, nursing homes and different providers. DeSantis besides projected accrued Medicaid backing that supporters accidental could assistance with staffing problems astatine nursing homes.

— IMMIGRATION: DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody person criticized the Biden medication for months astir borderline policies, and DeSantis wants lawmakers to instrumentality up a bid of migration issues. DeSantis has called for expanding a instrumentality targeting alleged “sanctuary cities” and bolstering usage of the E-Verify strategy to cheque workers’ migration status.

— INSURANCE: With backstage insurers dropping policies and customers flooding into the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., lawmakers volition again see making changes to the property-insurance system. Lawmakers successful caller years person tried to code issues specified arsenic curbing litigation implicit security claims, but problems persist successful the industry.

— SCHOOL BOARDS: Republican lawmakers could instrumentality purpose astatine region schoolhouse boards aft upheaval astir issues specified arsenic pupil disguise requirements during the pandemic. Legislative proposals see shifting from nonpartisan to partisan school-board elections and mounting requirements for schoolhouse boards to instrumentality nationalist comments during meetings.

— TAXES: Buoyed by national stimulus money, DeSantis has projected suspending authorities gasoline taxes for 5 months, starting July 1. The politician would usage $1 cardinal successful stimulus wealth to marque up for mislaid gas-tax revenues, which spell toward backing proscription projects. Lawmakers besides volition see a bid of sales-tax “holidays.”

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