TALLAHASSEE, FL—As Lawmakers enter the third week of the Legislative Session, with it comes a slew of hard-hitting bills, sure to ignite debate in both chambers. This week's agenda covers sex reassignment insurance coverage, the banning of identity politics in teacher preparation courses, drunk driving, and much more.
Licenses and Drunk Driving
Monday will see Republican Rep. Doug Bankson's HB 1639, a bill requiring sex, not gender, to be placed on an individual's driver's license. It goes on, requiring any health insurance agency that provides coverage for sex reassignment surgery to also cover a surgery for de-transitioning.
The fast pace is maintained on Tuesday, with two bills related to drunk driving hitting committee in rapid succession. Republican Sen. Tom Wright's SB 232 makes it a misdemeanor to refuse to submit a breath, blood or urine test, and further bans judges from regularly accepting pleas of guilty or no contest to lesser charges in DUI cases, unless in specific cases of good faith. The second bill, SB 260 by Republican Sen. Nick DiCeglie, requires ignition interlock device on all cars owned or leased by an individual who refuses to submit a breath, urine, or blood test.
Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia—who is sponsoring a bevy of hot-button bills this week—cracks down on driving without a license in SB 1324, creating a three-level process for offenders. First time offenders are hit with a second-degree misdemeanor, second time offenders with a first-degree misdemeanor, and third-time offenders with a first-degree misdemeanor and a minimum of 10 days in jail.
Mental Health Awareness, Abortion, and Child Protection
Legislators take a step forward in terms of Autism awareness this week, with Democrat Sen. Darryl Rouson's SB 550 designed to create transparency for autism-related services, to be heard on Wednesday. The bill clarifies ambiguous terms in statute, and requires the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to provide a written notification to each applicant. Republican Sen. Jay Collins addresses the law enforcement side of Autism awareness with SB 864, requiring current and future officers to undergo an autism spectrum disorder training on how to interact with individuals with autism.
Republican Sen. Erin Grall aims to create an anti-abortion website for pregnant women with SB 436. The bill requires the Department of Health to maintain a website that provides information and links to pregnancy and parenting resources, in hopes of promoting pro-life sentiment among pregnant women.
Republican Rep. Tyler Sirois will present HB 1 on the House floor Tuesday, a bill banning social media use for minors under the age of 16. The bill requires a third-party age verification site to determine the age of an account holder, and mandates social media platforms terminate all accounts belonging to minors.
SB 1190, by Sen. Ingoglia, would create the Online Sting Operations Grant Program within the Department of Law Enforcement. The program would fund and support local law enforcement agencies in creating sting operations to protect children from online predators and potential sexual abuse.
Education
In the Senate, SB 1372—by Sen. Ingoglia—addresses education programs for teachers in postsecondary institutions. The bill bans teacher preparation programs from instructing "identity politics" or theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are "inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities."
