CS/HB 931 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to postsecondary educational 2
institutions; amending ss. 1001.03 and 1001.706, F.S.; 3
revising the date by which the State Board of 4
Education and the Board of Governors must annually 5
compile and publish specified assessments; creating s. 6
1001.93, F.S.; providing legislative findings; 7
providing definitions; requiring the Board of 8
Governors of the State University System to establish 9
a Committee on Public Policy Events; requiring each 10
state university to establish an Office of Public 11
Policy Events; providing duties of the offices; 12
authorizing a state university to assign the duties of 13
the office to an existing office within the 14
university; requiring such offices to report to 15
specified state university offices; amending s. 16
1004.097, F.S.; prohibiting public institutions of 17
higher education from requiring the completion of a 18
political loyalty test or for persons to meet certain 19
qualifications; providing requirements for such 20
prohibited tests and qualifications; requiring the 21
State Board of Education and the Board of Governors to 22
adopt rules and regulations for specified purposes; 23
providing severability; amending s. 1004.26, F.S.; 24
designating the Florida Student Association as the 25
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nonprofit advocacy organization for students of the 26
State University System; authorizing the Chancellor of 27
the Board of Governors, with approval from the Board 28
of Governors, to designate another organization to 29
serve such students under certain circumstances; 30
providing membership for the board of directors of the 31
association; providing requirements for such board of 32
directors relating to the board's chair and the 33
association's president; requiring the board of 34
directors to adopt certain bylaws; providing an 35
effective date. 36
37
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 38
39
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (19) of section 40
1001.03, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 41
1001.03 Specific powers of S tate Board of Education. — 42
(19) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 43
ASSESSMENT.— 44
(b) The State Board of Education shall require each 45
Florida College System institution to conduct an annual 46
assessment of the intellectual freedom and viewpoint di versity 47
at that institution. The State Board of Education shall select 48
or create an objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid 49
survey to be used by each institution which considers the extent 50
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to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented and 51
members of the college community, including students, faculty, 52
and staff, feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on 53
campus and in the classroom. The State Board of Education shall 54
annually compile and publish the assessments by December 31 55
September 1 of each year, beginning on December 31, 2024 56
September 1, 2022. The State Board of Education may adopt rules 57
to implement this paragraph. 58
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (13) of section 59
1001.706, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 60
1001.706 Powers and duties of the Board of Governors. — 61
(13) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 62
ASSESSMENT.— 63
(b) The Board of Governors shall require each state 64
university to conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual 65
freedom and viewpoin t diversity at that institution. The Board 66
of Governors shall select or create an objective, nonpartisan, 67
and statistically valid survey to be used by each state 68
university which considers the extent to which competing ideas 69
and perspectives are presented and members of the university 70
community, including students, faculty, and staff, feel free to 71
express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the 72
classroom. The Board of Governors shall annually compile and 73
publish the assessments by December 31 September 1 of each year, 74
beginning on December 31, 2024 September 1, 2022. 75
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Section 3. Section 1001.93, Florida Statutes, is created 76
to read: 77
1001.93 Offices of Public Policy Events within the State 78
University System.— 79
(1) The Legislature finds that th e advancement of 80
knowledge is the fundamental purpose of the State University 81
System and that such advancement is facilitated by the fearless 82
sifting and winnowing of a wide diversity of views and that the 83
open discussion and debate of contested public pol icy issues 84
from diverse perspectives provides essential preparation for 85
mature citizenship and an informed exercise of the right to 86
vote. 87
(2) For purposes of this section, the term: 88
(a) "Debate" means an event at which two or more 89
participants speak in favor of opposing approaches to the same 90
public policy dispute, after which each participant is allotted 91
time to address and rebut the position presented by the opposing 92
speakers. 93
(b) "Group forum" means an event at which two or mor e 94
speakers address a public policy dispute from divergent or 95
opposing perspectives, after which each participant is allotted 96
time to address questions from the audience and to comment on 97
the other speakers' positions. 98
(3) The Board of Governors of the St ate University System 99
shall establish a Committee on Public Policy Events. Each state 100
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university within the State University System must have an 101
Office of Public Policy Events and must appoint a Director of 102
Public Policy Events who is responsible for the d uties and 103
reporting responsibilities of the office. The office must, at a 104
minimum: 105
(a)1. Organize, publicize, and stage debates, group 106
forums, or individual lectures at the state university. These 107
events must address, from multiple, divergent, and opposi ng 108
perspectives, an extensive range of public policy issues widely 109
discussed and debated in society at large. The university shall 110
sponsor no less than four events each academic year. At least 111
two events must occur during the fall semester and at least two 112
events must occur during the spring semester. 113
2. Such debates, group forums, and individual lectures 114
must include speakers who represent widely held views on 115
opposing sides of the most widely discussed public policy issues 116
of the day and who hold a wide diversity of perspectives from 117
within and outside of the state university community. 118
3. If the office is unable to readily find an advocate 119
from within the state university community who is well -versed in 120
a perspective, the office shall invite a speaker who is able to 121
represent such perspective. The office shall, when necessary, 122
provide such speakers who are not from within the state 123
university community with per diem and a reimbursement for 124
travel expenses. 125
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(b) Maintain a permanent, publicly accessib le, searchable, 126
and up-to-date calendar in print, on the office's website, and 127
on the state university's website listing all of the events 128
sponsored by the office and all other debates, group forums, and 129
individual lectures open to the entire campus commun ity at the 130
state university that address public policy issues. The calendar 131
must itemize the title of the event or lecture, the name and 132
institutional affiliation of the speaker or speakers, and the 133
office, institute, department, program, or organization t hat 134
sponsored the event, excluding those events sponsored by off -135
campus groups in rented state university facilities. Such 136
calendars must be kept in the library system of each state 137
university. 138
(c) Beginning September 1, 2024, and annually each 139
September 1 thereafter, provide to the Board of Governors 140
Committee on Public Policy Events a report detailing the 141
following: 142
1. The number of debates, group forums, and individual 143
lectures. 144
2. In chronological order, the calendars itemizing the 145
title of each event or lecture, the name and institutional 146
affiliation of the speaker or speakers, and the office, 147
institute, department, program, or organization that sponsored 148
the event. 149
3. The number of enrolled students attending each event. 150
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4. Expenditure inform ation relating to any per diem or 151
reimbursement for travel expenses. 152
153
The report must reflect prior academic year statistics. 154
(d) Make publicly available, in an online format, a 155
complete video record of every debate, group forum, and 156
individual lecture o rganized by the office. The video recording 157
for an event organized by the office must be posted on the 158
office's website within 10 business days after the event. Such 159
video must remain publicly accessible on the office's website 160
for at least 5 years after t he date of the event. Such videos 161
must also be permanently preserved within, and made available to 162
the public through, the library of the state university that 163
hosted the event. 164
(4) Upon approval of the board of trustees of the state 165
university and the B oard of Governors, a state university may 166
assign the duties of the office to an existing administrative 167
office within the state university rather than establish a 168
separate office. 169
(5) Each office shall report directly to either the state 170
university's office that is responsible for compiling and 171
reporting the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System's 172
graduation rate survey or Office of General Counsel. 173
(6) Each debate, group forum, and individual lecture 174
organized by the office must be open to all students, faculty, 175
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and staff of the state university and, unless restricting 176
attendance to such event is necessary to achieve a compelling 177
governmental interest, to the general public. 178
Section 4. Subsection (4) of section 1004.097, Florida 179
Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (5), and a new subsection 180
(4) is added to that section, to read: 181
1004.097 Free expression on campus. — 182
(4)(a) A public institution of higher education may not: 183
1. Require or solicit a person to complete a political 184
loyalty test as a condition of employment or admission into, or 185
promotion within, such institution. 186
2. Give preferential consideration to a person for 187
employment by, admission into, or promotion within the 188
institution for an opinion or actions in support of: 189
a. A partisan, a political, or an ideological set of 190
beliefs; or 191
b. Another person or group of persons based on the 192
person's or group's race or ethnicity or support of an ideology 193
or movement identified under sub -subparagraph (b)1.a. 194
(b)1. A political lo yalty test includes compelling, 195
requiring, or soliciting a person to identify commitment to or 196
to make a statement of personal belief in support of: 197
a. Any ideology or movement that promotes the differential 198
treatment of a person or a group of persons ba sed on race or 199
ethnicity, including an initiative or a formulation of 200
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diversity, equity, and inclusion beyond upholding the equal 201
protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to 202
the United States Constitution or a theory or practice that 203
holds that systems or institutions upholding the equal 204
protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of 205
the United States Constitution are racist, oppressive, or 206
otherwise unjust; or 207
b. A specific partisan, political, or ideological set of 208
beliefs. 209
2. A political loyalty test does not include fidelity to, 210
or an oath or effort taken to uphold, the United States 211
Constitution or the State Constitution. 212
(c) The State Board of Education and the Board of 213
Governors may adopt rules and regulations, respectively, to 214
implement this subsection and establish penalties for a willful 215
violation of this section. 216
(d) If any provision of this subsection or its application 217
to any person or circumstance is held invali d, the invalidity 218
does not affect other provisions or applications of this 219
subsection or chapter which can be given effect without the 220
invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions 221
of this subsection are severable. 222
Section 5. Subsection (5) of section 1004.26, Florida 223
Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (6), and a new subsection 224
(5) is added to that section, to read: 225
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1004.26 University student governments ; the Florida 226
Student Association.— 227
(5)(a) The Florida Student Association is designated as 228
the nonprofit advocacy organization serving the needs of the 229
students of the State University System. If the Florida Student 230
Association fails to meet the requirements of this section, the 231
Chancellor of the Board of Governors shall designa te an 232
equivalent nonprofit advocacy organization to serve the needs of 233
the students of the State University System with the approval of 234
the Board of Governors. 235
(b) The Florida Student Association shall be governed by a 236
board of directors. The membership of the board of directors 237
shall be comprised of the 12 student body presidents of the 238
state universities. The board of directors shall annually elect 239
a chair from among the board's members. The chair shall also 240
serve as president of the association. 241
(c) The Florida Student Association shall adopt bylaws to 242
establish: 243
1. A due process for the removal or impeachment of the 244
president of the association. Such due process must provide that 245
the president of the association may be removed by the majority 246
vote of members of the board of directors. The grounds for 247
removal of the president of the association are limited to 248
malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, incompetence, 249
permanent inability to perform official duties, or conviction of 250
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a felony. 251
2. Procedures for the suspension and removal of the 252
president of the association following the conviction of a 253
felony. 254
3. Procedures for a president of the association who has 255
been disciplined, suspended, or removed from his or her position 256
to directly appeal suc h decision to the Vice Chancellor for 257
Academic and Student Affairs for the Board of Governors. The 258
bylaws may not place any condition precedent on the exercise of 259
such right granted by this paragraph and the association may not 260
elect a new president until the exhaustion of the appeals 261
process or any other due process rights afforded by this 262
section. 263
Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 264