In theory, almost any major has a directly related type of job at the BA/BS level. In practice, for some majors, the directly related type of jobs at the BA/BS level are very hard to get or not all that desirable, so many graduates in those majors seek less-major-specific employment or aim for graduate or professional school.
In practice, the billâs sponsor thinks an AS un Funeral Science is a good example - not what a Benacquisto scholar is likely envisioning. Outside of teaching, nursing, engineering (and cs) very very few subjexts at the bachelorâs degrees are directly employable since they would require internships where students apply their knowledge and skills (and thus become employable), theough graduate or professional studies, through various cocurricular experiencesâŠ
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During the 2020 legislative session, Senator Baxley introduced 44 bills. 35 died in committees, 6 had companion bills passed, 2 became law. This year he has so far introduced 35 bills. Here is an example of what Senator Baxley finds particularly important to Floridians: Bicycle operation. Maybe, instead of reducing the amount of money given to the brightest students pursuing a degree in a discipline ânot leading to employmentâ, itâs time to reduce the amount of money given to legislators not concerned with improving constituents lives, i.e., remove those who waste taxpayersâ dollars from office?
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The Education Committee passed SB86 today. Many students and parents spoke in strong opposition to the bill. There were both democratic and republican senators who also expressed concerns about the impact of the bill. However, the republican senators voted in favor of the bill (?) while the democratic senators voted no.
The bill will go through two more committees. From the comments of the republican senators, it sounds as if they want to work with Baxley to amend the bill.
One point that was made about the bill which I found to be interesting is that Bright Futures/Benacquisto is/are currently funded in large part (maybe fully?) by the Florida lottery. This bill would transfer the funding source to the GAA, which is generally funds derived from taxes. I need to look into this more because it seems sort of backward to stop using lottery funds for these programs.
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MSN.
This article says Bright Futures is fully funded by the Florida Lottery.
One comment from one of the senators was that when Floridians purchase lottery tickets, they know they are funding Bright Futures.
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Lottery revenue is used to fund the scholarships but that is already part of the GAA. The funding source would not change. The only change is that the statutes would no longer guarantee certain scholarship amounts. The GAA would set the amounts on a year-by-year basis. The GAA already did appropriate funds for these programs, but now it would set the amount instead of it being an âautomaticâ legislative action. Lottery revenue and spending is a part of the GAA, as is all public spending. At least as far as I know, I do not live in Florida but believe I have a decent understanding of the budgetary process.
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Thank you for the update. Although itâs not what I wanted to hear, it provides some clarity for D22. We are taking all the FL schools off our list⊠unless individual institutions roll out NMF packages. As an OOS student, itâs far too risky.
As a resident of Georgia, the Hope Scholarship has transformed our public universities by keeping high stat kids in state. The apparent direction that FL is heading is a shame.
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OK, thanks for that clarification!
I guess we will see what amendments surface after this. I am also interested in DeSantisâ position on a possible veto given that he seemed to want to increase funding for the Benacquisto.
The questions asked of Baxley during this session yielded frustratingly little in terms of concrete answers. He referred to a few anecdotes, but really had no data to support his positions. He seemed to know very little about things like medical school applications, and college education in general, which was as I suspected. He didnât always seem to know what was in his own bill at times.
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What next for this bill? Another vote later on?
Not having guaranteed money and having it dictated by the economic condition is my biggest concern. I think Benacquisto is safe because of DeSantisâs proposal to expand funding for it, but the amount for bright futures will definitely be up in the air.
It has to go through two more committees before they send it to the floor.
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The amended bill now moves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, where the same process will play out. You can find the committee members here: https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/Show/AED/. Please reach out and we can stop this bill.
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Damn, looks like itâs a 6-3 Republican majority in that committeeâI guess it will pass during that round as well. Looks like the only hope is DeSantis vetoing it.
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The GOP supermajorities are disheartening indeed. But this bill still has a long way to go in the Senate, donât forget that the bill also has to through the entire process in the house as well. There are plenty of opportunities to stop this bill in the legislative branch. Hopefully, we never have to rely on DeSantis for a veto or proper funding, and we never should if we can stop this bill at any stop along the way.
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I definitely hope it gets stopped sooner rather than later. Watching the discussion today, I was not impressed by the questions that the senators proposed to Baxley. They didnât address the funding part enough, and not having the money be guaranteed is a HUGE deal. Hopefully, this point gets brought up in later deliberations.
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Well by my quick count, republicans outnumber democrats in the House 78 to 42. So I am not holding my breath and will not be going to UF unless this is sorted.
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Totally fair to explore all your options, the House is definitely not encouraging. It is important to never forget that these representatives work for us, and we need to hold them accountable.
Well, as an OOS, they donât work for me. Appreciate all the work you Florida residents are doing very much.
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I am also OOS, by us I mean the people as a whole. By establishing this scholarship, the legislature ought to be obligated to consider our concerns. But Florida residents have even more opportunity to contribute to the cause.
I was not impressed by Senator Thurston at all. Senator Polsky hit on the funding issue the most, but not enough. Senator Jones did ask some good questions. I do think all the democratic senators did a better job in their closing arguments against the bill than in their questioning.
I was mostly surprised by Senator Bradley (Repub) , who seemed pretty concerned about the bill but voted in favor. I guess her position was she will have another bite at the apple once it gets to the floor and if itâs not amended to address her concerns, she will vote it down? Seems like a sloppy way to legislate, but whatever.
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Iâm also oos, this bill sucks man. I rlly like UF too⊠def donât want to have to go to my sh*tty in-state school.
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