FL
Florida House Bill H0931

Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0931 Compare Versions

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1010 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
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14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to postsecondary educational 2
1616 institutions; amending ss. 1001.03 and 1001.706, F.S.; 3
1717 revising the date by which the State Board of 4
1818 Education and the Board of Governors must annually 5
1919 compile and publish specified assessments; creating s. 6
2020 1001.741, F.S.; prohibiting public institutions of 7
2121 higher education from requiring the completion of a 8
2222 political loyalty test or for persons to meet certain 9
2323 qualifications; providing requirements for such 10
2424 prohibited tests and qualifications; authorizing the 11
2525 State Board of Education and the Board of Governors to 12
2626 adopt rules and regulations for specified purposes; 13
2727 providing severability; creating s. 1001.93, F.S.; 14
2828 providing legislative findings; providing definitions; 15
2929 requiring each state university to establish an Office 16
3030 of Public Policy Events; providing duties of the 17
3131 offices; authorizing a state university to assign the 18
3232 duties of the office to an existing office within the 19
3333 university; requiring such offices to report to 20
3434 specified state university offices; amend ing s. 21
3535 1004.26, F.S.; designating the Florida Student 22
3636 Association as the nonprofit advocacy organization for 23
3737 students of the State University System; authorizing 24
3838 the Chancellor of the Board of Governors, with 25
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4747 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
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5151 approval from the Board of Governors, to design ate 26
5252 another organization to serve such students under 27
5353 certain circumstances; providing membership for the 28
5454 board of directors of the association; providing 29
5555 requirements for such board of directors relating to 30
5656 the board's chair and the association's presiden t; 31
5757 requiring the board of directors to adopt certain 32
5858 bylaws; providing an effective date. 33
5959 34
6060 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 35
6161 36
6262 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (19) of section 37
6363 1001.03, Florida Statutes, is amended to re ad: 38
6464 1001.03 Specific powers of State Board of Education. — 39
6565 (19) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 40
6666 ASSESSMENT.— 41
6767 (b) The State Board of Education shall require each 42
6868 Florida College System institution to conduct an annual 43
6969 assessment of the int ellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity 44
7070 at that institution. The State Board of Education shall select 45
7171 or create an objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid 46
7272 survey to be used by each institution which considers the extent 47
7373 to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented and 48
7474 members of the college community, including students, faculty, 49
7575 and staff, feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on 50
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8484 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
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8888 campus and in the classroom. The State Board of Education shall 51
8989 annually compile and publish t he assessments by December 31 52
9090 September 1 of each year, beginning on December 31, 2024 53
9191 September 1, 2022. The State Board of Education may adopt rules 54
9292 to implement this paragraph. 55
9393 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (13) of section 56
9494 1001.706, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 57
9595 1001.706 Powers and duties of the Board of Governors. — 58
9696 (13) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 59
9797 ASSESSMENT.— 60
9898 (b) The Board of Governors shall require each state 61
9999 university to conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual 62
100100 freedom and viewpoint diversity at that institution. The Board 63
101101 of Governors shall select or create an objective, nonpartisan, 64
102102 and statistically valid survey to be used by each state 65
103103 university which considers the extent to which competing ide as 66
104104 and perspectives are presented and members of the university 67
105105 community, including students, faculty, and staff, feel free to 68
106106 express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the 69
107107 classroom. The Board of Governors shall annually compile and 70
108108 publish the assessments by December 31 September 1 of each year, 71
109109 beginning on December 31, 2024 September 1, 2022. 72
110110 Section 3. Section 1001.741, Florida Statutes, is created 73
111111 to read: 74
112112 1001.741 State university Boards of Trustees; personnel. — 75
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121121 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
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125125 (1)(a) A public institution of higher education may not: 76
126126 1. Require or solicit a person to complete a political 77
127127 loyalty test as a condition of employment or admission into, or 78
128128 promotion within, such institution. 79
129129 2. Give preferential consideration to a person for 80
130130 employment by, admission into, or promotion within the 81
131131 institution for an opinion or actions in support of: 82
132132 a. A partisan, a political, or an ideological set of 83
133133 beliefs; or 84
134134 b. Another person or group of persons based on the 85
135135 person's or group's race or ethnicity or support of an ideology 86
136136 or movement identified under sub -subparagraph (b)1.a. 87
137137 (b)1. A political loyalty test includes compelling, 88
138138 requiring, or soliciting a person to identify commitment to or 89
139139 to make a statement of personal belief in support of: 90
140140 a. Any ideology or movement that promotes the differential 91
141141 treatment of a person or a group of persons based on race or 92
142142 ethnicity, including an initiative or a formulation of 93
143143 diversity, equity, and inclusion beyond upholding the equal 94
144144 protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to 95
145145 the United States Constitution or a theory or practice that 96
146146 holds that systems or institutions upholding the equal 97
147147 protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of 98
148148 the United States Constit ution are racist, oppressive, or 99
149149 otherwise unjust; or 100
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158158 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
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162162 b. A specific partisan, political, or ideological set of 101
163163 beliefs. 102
164164 2. A political loyalty test does not include fidelity to, 103
165165 or an oath or effort taken to uphold, general and federal law, 104
166166 the United States Constitution, or the State Constitution. 105
167167 (2) The State Board of Education and the Board of 106
168168 Governors may adopt rules and regulations, respectively, to 107
169169 implement this section and establish penalties for a willful 108
170170 violation of this section. 109
171171 (3) If any provision of this section or its application to 110
172172 any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does 111
173173 not affect other provisions or applications of this section or 112
174174 chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision 113
175175 or application, and to this end the provisions of this section 114
176176 are severable. 115
177177 Section 4. Section 1001.93, Florida Statutes, is created 116
178178 to read: 117
179179 1001.93 Offices of Public Policy Events within the State 118
180180 University System.— 119
181181 (1) The Legislature finds that the adva ncement of 120
182182 knowledge is the fundamental purpose of the State University 121
183183 System and that such advancement is facilitated by the fearless 122
184184 sifting and winnowing of a wide diversity of views and that the 123
185185 open discussion and debate of contested public policy is sues 124
186186 from diverse perspectives provides essential preparation for 125
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195195 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
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199199 mature citizenship and an informed exercise of the right to 126
200200 vote. 127
201201 (2) For purposes of this section, the term: 128
202202 (a) "Debate" means an event at which two or more 129
203203 participants speak in favor of opposing approaches to the same 130
204204 public policy dispute, after which each participant is allotted 131
205205 time to address and rebut the position presented by the opposing 132
206206 speakers. 133
207207 (b) "Group forum" means an event at which two or more 134
208208 speakers address a public policy dispute from divergent or 135
209209 opposing perspectives, after which each participant is allotted 136
210210 time to address questions from the audience and to comment on 137
211211 the other speakers' positions. 138
212212 (3) Each state university within the State University 139
213213 System must have an Office of Public Policy Events and must 140
214214 appoint a Director of Public Policy Events who is responsible 141
215215 for the duties and reporting responsibilities of the office. The 142
216216 office must, at a minimum: 143
217217 (a)1. Organize, publicize, and stage debates or g roup 144
218218 forums at the state university. These events must address, from 145
219219 multiple, divergent, and opposing perspectives, an extensive 146
220220 range of public policy issues widely discussed and debated in 147
221221 society at large. The university shall sponsor no less than four 148
222222 events each academic year. At least two events must occur during 149
223223 the fall semester and at least two events must occur during the 150
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232232 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
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236236 spring semester. 151
237237 2. Such debates and group forums must include speakers who 152
238238 represent widely held views on opposing sides of the most widely 153
239239 discussed public policy issues of the day and who hold a wide 154
240240 diversity of perspectives from within and outside of the state 155
241241 university community. 156
242242 3. If the office is unable to readily find an advocate 157
243243 from within the state university co mmunity who is well-versed in 158
244244 a perspective, the office shall invite a speaker who is able to 159
245245 represent such perspective. The office shall, when necessary, 160
246246 provide such speakers who are not from within the state 161
247247 university community with per diem and a rei mbursement for 162
248248 travel expenses. 163
249249 (b) Maintain a permanent, publicly accessible, searchable, 164
250250 and up-to-date calendar in print, on the office's website, and 165
251251 on the state university's website listing all of the events 166
252252 sponsored by the office and all other d ebates, group forums, and 167
253253 events open to the entire campus community at the state 168
254254 university that address public policy issues. The calendar must 169
255255 itemize the title of the event, the name and institutional 170
256256 affiliation of the speaker or speakers, and the off ice, 171
257257 institute, department, program, or organization that sponsored 172
258258 the event, excluding those events sponsored by off -campus groups 173
259259 in rented state university facilities. Such calendars must be 174
260260 kept in the library system of each state university. 175
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269269 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
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273273 (c) Beginning September 1, 2024, and annually each 176
274274 September 1 thereafter, provide to the Board of Governors a 177
275275 report detailing the following: 178
276276 1. The number of debates and group forums. 179
277277 2. In chronological order, the calendars itemizing the 180
278278 title of each event, the name and institutional affiliation of 181
279279 the speaker or speakers, and the office, institute, department, 182
280280 program, or organization that sponsored the event. 183
281281 3. The number of enrolled students attending each event. 184
282282 4. Expenditure information relatin g to any per diem or 185
283283 reimbursement for travel expenses. 186
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285285 The report must reflect prior academic year statistics. 188
286286 (d) Make publicly available, in an online format, a 189
287287 complete video record of every debate and group forum organized 190
288288 by the office. The video recording for an event organized by the 191
289289 office must be posted on the office's website within 10 business 192
290290 days after the event. Such video must remain publicly accessible 193
291291 on the office's website for at least 5 years after the date of 194
292292 the event. Such videos must also be permanently preserved 195
293293 within, and made available to the public through, the library of 196
294294 the state university that hosted the event. 197
295295 (4) Upon approval of the board of trustees of the state 198
296296 university and the Board of Governors, a state university may 199
297297 assign the duties of the office to an existing administrative 200
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306306 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
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310310 office within the state university rather than establish a 201
311311 separate office. 202
312312 (5) Each office shall report directly to either the state 203
313313 university's office that is responsible for compiling and 204
314314 reporting the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System's 205
315315 graduation rate survey or Office of General Counsel. 206
316316 (6) Each debate and group forum organized by the office 207
317317 must be open to all students, faculty, and staff of the state 208
318318 university and, unless restricting attendance to such event is 209
319319 necessary to achieve a compelling governmental interest, to the 210
320320 general public. 211
321321 Section 5. Subsection (5) of section 1004.26, Florida 212
322322 Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (6), and a new subsection 213
323323 (5) is added to that section, to read: 214
324324 1004.26 University student governments ; the Florida 215
325325 Student Association.— 216
326326 (5)(a) The Florida Student Asso ciation is designated as 217
327327 the nonprofit advocacy organization serving the needs of the 218
328328 students of the State University System. If the Florida Student 219
329329 Association fails to meet the requirements of this section, the 220
330330 Chancellor of the Board of Governors shall designate an 221
331331 equivalent nonprofit advocacy organization to serve the needs of 222
332332 the students of the State University System with the approval of 223
333333 the Board of Governors. 224
334334 (b) The Florida Student Association shall be governed by a 225
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343343 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
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347347 board of directors. The mem bership of the board of directors 226
348348 shall be comprised of the 12 student body presidents of the 227
349349 state universities. The board of directors shall annually elect 228
350350 a chair from among the board's members. The chair shall also 229
351351 serve as president of the association . 230
352352 (c) The Florida Student Association shall adopt bylaws to 231
353353 establish: 232
354354 1. A due process for the removal or impeachment of the 233
355355 president of the association. Such due process must provide that 234
356356 the president of the association may be removed by the majori ty 235
357357 vote of members of the board of directors. The grounds for 236
358358 removal of the president of the association are limited to 237
359359 malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, incompetence, 238
360360 permanent inability to perform official duties, or conviction of 239
361361 a felony. 240
362362 2. Procedures for the suspension and removal of the 241
363363 president of the association following the conviction of a 242
364364 felony. 243
365365 3. Procedures for a president of the association who has 244
366366 been disciplined, suspended, or removed from his or her position 245
367367 to directly appeal such decision to the Vice Chancellor for 246
368368 Academic and Student Affairs for the Board of Governors. The 247
369369 bylaws may not place any condition precedent on the exercise of 248
370370 such right granted by this paragraph and the association may not 249
371371 elect a new presiden t until the exhaustion of the appeals 250
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380380 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
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384384 process or any other due process rights afforded by this 251
385385 section. 252
386386 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 253