Florida Senate - 2022 SB 810 By Senator Polsky 29-00500-22 2022810__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to education; amending ss. 1001.03 and 3 1001.706, F.S.; deleting definitions; repealing a 4 requirement that the State Board of Education and the 5 Board of Governors, respectively, require each Florida 6 College System (FCS) institution and state university 7 to conduct an annual assessment of intellectual 8 freedom and viewpoint diversity; repealing a 9 prohibition on the state board and Board of Governors 10 shielding students, faculty, or staff at FCS 11 institutions and state universities from free speech; 12 amending s. 1004.097, F.S.; deleting the definition of 13 the term shield; repealing a prohibition on FCS 14 institutions and state universities shielding 15 students, faculty, or staff from expressive 16 activities; repealing provisions authorizing a student 17 to record certain video or audio; repealing 18 authorization for a person injured by certain 19 violations to bring an action against a person who has 20 published certain video or audio; providing an 21 effective date. 22 23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24 25 Section 1.Subsection (19) of section 1001.03, Florida 26 Statutes, is amended to read: 27 1001.03Specific powers of State Board of Education. 28 (19)INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 29 ASSESSMENT. 30 (a)For the purposes of this subsection, the term: 31 1.Intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity means the 32 exposure of students, faculty, and staff to, and the 33 encouragement of their exploration of, a variety of ideological 34 and political perspectives. 35 2.Shield means to limit students, faculty members, or 36 staff members access to, or observation of, ideas and opinions 37 that they may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable, or 38 offensive. 39 (b)The State Board of Education shall require each Florida 40 College System institution to conduct an annual assessment of 41 the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at that 42 institution. The State Board of Education shall select or create 43 an objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid survey to be 44 used by each institution which considers the extent to which 45 competing ideas and perspectives are presented and members of 46 the college community, including students, faculty, and staff, 47 feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and 48 in the classroom. The State Board of Education shall annually 49 compile and publish the assessments by September 1 of each year, 50 beginning on September 1, 2022. The State Board of Education may 51 adopt rules to implement this paragraph. 52 (c)The State Board of Education may not shield students, 53 faculty, or staff at Florida College System institutions from 54 free speech protected under the First Amendment to the United 55 States Constitution, Art. I of the State Constitution, or s. 56 1004.097. 57 Section 2.Subsection (13) of section 1001.706, Florida 58 Statutes, is amended to read: 59 1001.706Powers and duties of the Board of Governors. 60 (13)INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 61 ASSESSMENT. 62 (a)For the purposes of this subsection, the term: 63 1.Intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity means the 64 exposure of students, faculty, and staff to, and the 65 encouragement of their exploration of, a variety of ideological 66 and political perspectives. 67 2.Shield means to limit students, faculty members, or 68 staff members access to, or observation of, ideas and opinions 69 that they may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable, or 70 offensive. 71 (b)The Board of Governors shall require each state 72 university to conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual 73 freedom and viewpoint diversity at that institution. The Board 74 of Governors shall select or create an objective, nonpartisan, 75 and statistically valid survey to be used by each state 76 university which considers the extent to which competing ideas 77 and perspectives are presented and members of the university 78 community, including students, faculty, and staff, feel free to 79 express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the 80 classroom. The Board of Governors shall annually compile and 81 publish the assessments by September 1 of each year, beginning 82 on September 1, 2022. 83 (c)The Board of Governors may not shield students, 84 faculty, or staff at state universities from free speech 85 protected under the First Amendment to the United States 86 Constitution, Art. I of the State Constitution, or s. 1004.97. 87 Section 3.Paragraph (f) of subsection (2), paragraphs (f) 88 and (g) of subsection (3), and subsection (4) of section 89 1004.097, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 90 1004.097Free expression on campus. 91 (2)DEFINITIONS.As used in this section, the term: 92 (f)Shield means to limit students, faculty members, or 93 staff members access to, or observation of, ideas and opinions 94 that they may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable, or 95 offensive. 96 (3)RIGHT TO FREE-SPEECH ACTIVITIES. 97 (f)A Florida College System institution or a state 98 university may not shield students, faculty, or staff from 99 expressive activities. 100 (g)Notwithstanding s. 934.03 and subject to the 101 protections provided in the Family Educational Rights and 102 Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. s. 1232g, and ss. 1002.22 and 103 1002.225, a student may record video or audio of class lectures 104 for their own personal educational use, in connection with a 105 complaint to the public institution of higher education where 106 the recording was made, or as evidence in, or in preparation 107 for, a criminal or civil proceeding. A recorded lecture may not 108 be published without the consent of the lecturer. 109 (4)CAUSE OF ACTION.A person injured by a violation of 110 this section may bring an action: 111 (a)against a public institution of higher education based 112 on the violation of the individuals expressive rights in a 113 court of competent jurisdiction to obtain declaratory and 114 injunctive relief and may be entitled to damages plus court 115 costs and reasonable attorney fees, which may only be paid from 116 nonstate funds. 117 (b)Against a person who has published video or audio 118 recorded in a classroom in violation of paragraph (3)(g) in a 119 court of competent jurisdiction to obtain declaratory and 120 injunctive relief and may be entitled to damages plus court 121 costs and reasonable attorney fees, with the total recovery not 122 to exceed $200,000. 123 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.