Starting Friday, Florida teachers salaries will be more closely tied to their students performance; welfare recipients must pass a drug test to receive benefits; and women seeking abortions will be first required to undergo an ultrasound procedure.
The changes come as a result of bills passed this year by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.
SB 736, placing 50 percent of a teachers salary dependent upon student test scores, was the first bill Scott signed into law. The new law was the Legislatures second crack at a merit pay law, after Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed similar legislation last year. This years merit pay law also ends tenure for new teachers, offering one-year contracts and making it easier to fire teachers who underperform.
Crist vetoed the bill last year after a statewide campaign by the Florida Education Association --the states largest teachers union, and other teacher groups -- lobbying him to strike down the bill. FEA general counsel Ron Meyer has hinted that they will likely file suit against the law in August when the 2011-2012 school year begins.
If filed, the lawsuit would be the second filed by the FEA against Scotts administration. Along with two other public-sector unions, they argued in court Thursday in the first hearing in a lawsuit against a requirement for state workers and other members of the Florida Retirement System to contribute 3 percent of their salaries to their pensions.
Another controversial law taking effect Friday is HB 353, which requires welfare recipients to pass a drug test before receiving benefits.
Recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families will now pay for drug screenings upfront before receiving their checks. If they pass, the fee for the test would be refunded to them. Initial screenings cost $10, with additional confirmation tests running to as much as $32.
The welfare drug-testing law is not the subject of a lawsuit, but a separate executive order by Scott to drug-test state employees has drawn a suit from the Florida branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Scott has since delayed the implementation of his order, which applies to all agencies under his control with the exception of the Department of Corrections, which already drug-tests most of its employees.
As part of the new restrictions being placed on abortions, beginning Friday women in Florida must undergo an ultrasound before going through with the procedure, but can sign a waiver to forego looking at sonogram pictures and hearing a description of the fetus.
The bill is one of several new laws aimed at curbing abortions in the state. Parental notification requirements have been strengthened for minors seeking abortions, and a judicial waiver for those requirements must be obtained in the same judicial circuit in which they reside, but that law does not take effect until Oct. 1.
Other large changes in Florida brought by the 2011 legislative session wont happen right away.
New penalties in the form of higher fines and suspensions for doctors and pain clinic operators wont come online until Oct. 1. Theyre part of the new pill mill law aimed at cracking down on Floridas prescription-drug abuse epidemic, which also cuts the time for doctors to report prescriptions to the states drug database from two weeks to one.
A fundamental change in the states Medicaid program, moving from a fee-for-service system to a managed-care system, where private companies are responsible for the health care of Medicaid recipients, wont happen until Florida gets a federal waiver for the program. The waiver is due by Aug. 1. A temporary, 30-day waiver for a similar five-county pilot program was issued by the federal government this week, extending the program through July.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
