The Florida Legislation left their session after passing a pivotal school choice revision bill, which would allow for automatic budget increases in future years if program capacity is maxed out. House Bill 1403 (HB1403) was proposed following the passage of universal school choice last year, which led to the overwhelming support of Florida citizens as the program reached capacity and max budget just as quickly as it was passed. HB1403 will benefit the educational landscape of Florida and what citizens can expect to see as the popularity of educational freedom programs continues to rise.
HB1403 would revise both the contributions and provisions sections of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, the Hope Scholarship Program, virtual instruction program providers, private school requirements, and students in personalized learning programs.
The bill on its way to the governor’s desk is meant to solve funding issues that were seen after the passage of universal school choice last year by establishing separate renewal and initial applications and increasing the overall funding growth per year from 3% to 5%, with a plan of an initial 1% increase per year so long as the program exceeds 95% capacity.
The American Federation for Children (AFC), the nation’s leading school choice advocacy organization, played a large part in the passage and expansion of school choice policy in the state of Florida. Advocates for school choice have turned to AFC when discussing school choice advancements across the state than the one that has played such a large part in the advancement of Florida’s school choice initiatives.
Hera Varmah with The American Federation for Children says HB1403 it’s a big win on school choice for Florida families and how it can benefit those who are participating in the school choice programs.
