Bill > H5101

Introduced Session

An act relating to education; amending s. 216.136, F.S.; revising the official information the Education Estimating Conference is required to forecast to include specified student calculations; requiring governmental agencies to provide the Office of Economic and Demographic Research with specified data; requiring nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations to submit specified information to the conference; requiring the conference's forecasted numbers of certain students to be forwarded to and approved by the school districts; requiring the conference's forecasted scholarships to be made available to and reviewed by nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations; providing requirements for such organizations; requiring the full conference to agree to changes in official information of the conference; amending s. 1002.394, F.S.; revising the purpose of the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program; defining the term "fraud"; prohibiting school districts from reporting specified students for funding in the Florida Education Finance Program; revising the requirements for certain scholarships to no longer remain in force and student ineligibility criteria; providing that certain funding through the program constitutes funding under specified provisions of law; requiring school districts to provide verification of student disenrollment under certain circumstances; revising the information the Department of Education must publish and update relating to the program; requiring the department to assign a Florida student identification number to certain students; revising department, eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization, and parent responsibilities and duties relating to applying for a scholarship, verifying student eligibility, and funding and award disbursement; requiring the department to develop standard request forms for student withdrawal from public schools and the program and provide the forms to specified entities; revising requirements for calculation of funding and disbursement of funds for the program; revising requirements for the application process and continued participation in the program; authorizing the department to suspend or permanently revoke a student's participation in the program under certain circumstances; requiring the department to investigate possible fraud within the program; requiring the department to provide to the Legislature certain information; providing that noncompliance with specified requirements shall lead to a declined scholarship; requiring parents to verify that students are not attending a public school; requiring eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations to recover specified funds and provide specified information to the Auditor General; prohibiting eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations from awarding scholarships under certain circumstances; prohibiting the department from releasing program funds outside of a specified schedule or releasing funds to students who have not been assigned a Florida Student identification number; amending s. 1002.395, F.S.; revising department, eligible nonprofit scholarship- funding organization, and parent responsibilities and duties relating to applying for a scholarship, verifying student eligibility, and funding and award disbursement for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program; requiring a school district to provide verification of student disenrollment under certain circumstances; providing that noncompliance with specified requirements shall lead to a declined scholarship; prohibiting school districts from reporting certain students for funding through the Florida Education Finance Program; defining the terms "obligate" and "disburse"; deleting a provision including certain transportation expenses in program administrative expenses; revising the requirements for the cross-check of certain student attendance information; requiring the department to assign a Florida student identification number to certain students; requiring the department to submit specified reports to the Legislature within a specified timeframe; requiring specified approvals and denials of certain expenses to be consistent with specified guidelines; requiring eligible nonprofit scholarship- funding organizations to recover specified funds; requiring eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations to use specified forms for certain purposes; revising requirements for the disbursement of program funds; amending s. 1002.421, F.S.; prohibiting a private school from participating in certain scholarship programs for failure to reimburse an eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization under certain circumstances; amending s. 1008.386, F.S.; requiring the department to establish unique Florida student identification numbers for students participating in certain scholarship programs; amending s. 1010.305, F.S.; requiring the Auditor General to annually examine certain records of specified eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations; authorizing specified actions to be taken against such organizations under certain circumstances; amending s. 1011.61, F.S.; revising definitions; amending s. 1011.62, F.S.; revising requirements for base funding through the Florida Education Finance Program; providing requirements for full-time equivalent membership surveys for the program; revising specified additional full-time equivalent student membership calculations within the program; revising the calculation for the determination of the base program; removing an authorization for the State Board of Education to adopt rules relating to credits for high school graduation; revising the exceptional student education guaranteed allocation to include specified additional costs; requiring certain allocations within the program to be recalculated pursuant to the membership surveys; requiring a specified funding amount to be used for new educational entities funded through the program; revising the requirements for the total allocation of state funds to each district; removing the state-funded discretionary supplement and the educational enrollment stabilization program from the program; amending s. 1011.622, F.S.; providing that certain provisions relating to program calculations apply to specific students; amending s. 1011.65, F.S.; removing requirements relating to the Florida Education Finance Program Appropriation Allocation Conference; requiring certain information to be provided to the Legislature and the Executive Office of the Governor for specified purposes; requiring the Legislature and the Executive Office of the Governor to provide a certain written notification before the release of specified funds through the program; creating s. 1011.695, F.S.; creating the state-funded discretionary supplement; providing requirements for the supplement; amending ss. 110.1228, 402.22, 1002.32, 1002.33, 1002.37, 1002.45, 1003.4203, 1003.485, 1003.4935, 1003.498, 1007.271, 1008.44, 1010.20, 1011.68, and 1012.44, F.S.; conforming cross- references; providing an effective date.

Committee Categories

Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R)*, 

Other Sponsors (1)

Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see SB 2500 (Ch. 2025-198), SB 2510 (Ch. 2025-203) (on 04/09/2025)

Official Document