Florida Senate Passes Bill To Undermine Teacher Unions

Florida Politics reports:

The Senate voted 23-17 on Wednesday to pass a measure that would increase the required percentage of union members who pay dues to 60% for all public sector employees excluding police, firefighters and correctional officers.

The proposals also would affect how unions collect dues, set limits on the salaries of union officials, restrict when members can recruit others and prohibit unions from soliciting support from high school or grade school students during classroom time.

The Pinellas County Teacher Association is one of 45 teacher unions that fail to meet the 60% requirement, according to the Senate. Nearly two-thirds of all teacher unions in Florida would fail to meet the new threshold and face decertification.

Read the full article. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, last appeared here for his bill that would effectively ban the Democratic Party from operating in Florida. Ingoglia first appeared on JMG in May 2021 when he introduced an ultimately failed bill that would have banned giving water to people waiting in line to vote. Ingoglia was chair of the Florida GOP from 2015 to 2019.

Florida’s Republican-led Senate votes 23-17 on bill that would undermine most of state’s teacher unions, which usually support Democrat candidates, policies; six Republicans cross aisle to unsuccessfully oppose it @emmabehrmann @FreshTakeFla https://t.co/yTMVkMbofd

— Ted Bridis (@tbridis) March 30, 2023