Senate Bill 958 (2023) — Postsecondary educational institutions
SB 958
Florida Bills
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 By Senator Perry 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 1 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. 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, respectively, 5 must annually compile and publish specified 6 assessments; creating s. 1001.93, F.S.; providing 7 legislative findings; defining terms; requiring the 8 Board of Governors of the State University System to 9 establish an Office of Public Policy Events; requiring 10 the office to establish satellite offices at each 11 state university; providing duties of the office, 12 including duties relating to hosting specified events 13 and recordings of such events, maintaining calendars, 14 and reporting requirements; authorizing a state 15 university to assume the responsibilities of the 16 satellite office on its campus; providing requirements 17 for such state universities; requiring satellite 18 offices to report to specified state university 19 offices; providing requirements for events of the 20 office; amending s. 1004.097, F.S.; prohibiting public 21 institutions of higher education from requiring the 22 completion of a political loyalty test or for persons 23 to meet certain qualifications; providing requirements 24 for such prohibited tests and qualifications; 25 requiring the State Board of Education and the Board 26 of Governors to adopt rules and regulations, 27 respectively, for specified purposes; providing 28 severability; amending s. 1004.26, F.S.; designating 29
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 2 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. the Florida Student Association as the nonprofit 30 advocacy organization for students of the State 31 University System; requiring the Chancellor of the 32 State University System, with approval from the Board 33 of Governors, to designate another organization to 34 serve such students under certain circumstances; 35 providing membership for the board of directors of the 36 association; providing requirements for such board of 37 directors relating to the board’s chair and the 38 association’s president; requiring the board of 39 directors to adopt certain bylaws; providing an 40 effective date. 41 42 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 43 44
Section 1. Paragraph (
b) of subsection (19) of
section 45 1001.03, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 46 1001.03 Specific powers of State Board of Education.— 47
(19) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 48 ASSESSMENT.— 49 (
b) The State Board of Education shall require each Florida 50 College System institution to conduct an annual assessment of 51 the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at that 52 institution. The State Board of Education shall select or create 53 an objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid survey to be 54 used by each institution which considers the extent to which 55 competing ideas and perspectives are presented and members of 56 the college community, including students, faculty, and staff, 57 feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and 58
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 3 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. in the classroom. The State Board of Education shall annually 59 compile and publish the assessments by December 31 September 1 60 of each year, beginning on December 31, 2024 September 1, 2022. 61 The State Board of Education may adopt rules to implement this 62 paragraph. 63
Section 2. Paragraph (
b) of subsection (13) of
section 64 1001.706, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 65 1001.706 Powers and duties of the Board of Governors.— 66
(13) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 67 ASSESSMENT.— 68 (
b) The Board of Governors shall require each state 69 university to conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual 70 freedom and viewpoint diversity at that institution. The Board 71 of Governors shall select or create an objective, nonpartisan, 72 and statistically valid survey to be used by each state 73 university which considers the extent to which competing ideas 74 and perspectives are presented and members of the university 75 community, including students, faculty, and staff, feel free to 76 express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the 77 classroom.
The Board of Governors shall annually compile and 78 publish the assessments by December 31 September 1 of each year, 79 beginning on December 31, 2024 September 1, 2022. 80
Section
Section 1001.93, Florida Statutes, is created to 81 read: 82 1001.93 The Office of Public Policy Events within the State 83 University System.— 84
(1) The Legislature finds that the advancement of knowledge 85 is the fundamental purpose of the State University System and 86 that such advancement is facilitated by the fearless sifting and 87
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 4 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. winnowing of a wide diversity of views and that the open 88 discussion and debate of contested public policy issues from 89 diverse perspectives provides essential preparation for mature 90 citizenship and an informed exercise of the right to vote. 91
(2) For purposes of this section, the term: 92 (a) “Debate” means an event at which two or more 93 participants speak in favor of opposing approaches to the same 94 public policy dispute, after which each participant is allotted 95 time to address and rebut the position presented by the opposing 96 speakers. 97 (b) “Group forum” means an event at which two or more 98 speakers address a public policy dispute from divergent or 99 opposing perspectives, after which each participant is allotted 100 time to address questions from the audience and to comment on 101 the other speakers’ positions. 102
(3) The Board of Governors of the State University System 103 shall establish, fund, and staff an Office of Public Policy 104 Events. The office must have a satellite office at each state 105 university within the State University System. The office must, 106 at a minimum: 107 (a)1. Organize, publicize, and stage a substantial number 108 of debates, group forums, and individual lectures at each state 109 university that address, from multiple, divergent, and opposing 110 perspectives, an extensive range of public policy issues widely 111 discussed and debated in society at large. 112 2.
Such debates, group forums, and lectures must include 113 speakers who represent widely held views on opposing sides of 114 the most widely discussed public policy issues of the day and 115 who hold a wide diversity of perspectives from within and 116
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 5 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. outside of the state university community. 117 3. If the office is unable to readily find an advocate from 118 within the state university community who is well-versed in a 119 perspective, the office shall invite a speaker who is able to 120 represent such perspective. The office shall, when necessary, 121 provide such speakers who are not from within the state 122 university community with per diem and a reimbursement for 123 travel expenses. 124 (b)1.
Maintain a permanent, publicly accessible, 125 searchable, and up-to-date calendar in print, on the office’s 126 website, and on each state university’s website listing all of 127 the events sponsored by the office and all other debates, group 128 forums, and individual lectures open to the entire campus 129 community at the state university that address public policy 130 issues.
The calendar must itemize the title of the event or 131 lecture, the name and institutional affiliation of the speaker 132 or speakers, and the office, institute, department, program, or 133 organization that sponsored the event, excluding those events 134 sponsored by off-campus groups in rented state university 135 facilities. 136 2.
Beginning September 1, 2024, and annually each September 137 1 thereafter, provide to the Governor, the Legislature, and to 138 each state university a printed and an electronic copy of the 139 previous academic year’s calendar for each state university. 140 Such calendars must be arranged chronologically. Such calendars 141 must be kept in the library system of each state university. 142 (
c) Make publicly available, in an online format, a 143 complete video recording of every debate, group forum, and 144 individual lecture organized by the office. The video recording 145
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 6 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. for an event organized by the office must be posted on the 146 office’s website within 10 business days after the event. Such 147 video must remain publicly accessible on the office’s website 148 for at least 5 years after the date of the event. Such videos 149 must also be permanently preserved within, and made available to 150 the public through, the library of the state university that 151 hosted the event. 152
(4) At the discretion of the board of trustees of a state 153 university and the Board of Governors, the Board of Governors 154 may assign the duties of the office to an existing 155 administrative office within the state university rather than 156 establish a satellite office. The state university must appoint 157 a Director of Public Policy Events. The Director of Public 158 Policy Events and his or her staff are responsible for the 159 duties and reporting responsibilities of the office. 160
(5) Each satellite office shall report directly to either 161 the state university’s office that is responsible for compiling 162 and reporting the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 163 System’s graduation rate survey or Office of General Counsel. 164
(6) Each debate, group forum, and individual lecture 165 organized by the office must be open to all students, faculty, 166 and staff of the state university and, unless restricting 167 attendance to such event is necessary to achieve a compelling 168 governmental interest, to the general public. 169
Section 4. Present subsection (4) of
section 1004.097, 170 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (5), and a new 171 subsection (4) is added to that section, to read: 172 1004.097 Free expression on campus.— 173 (4)(
a) A public institution of higher education may not: 174
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 7 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. 1. Require or solicit a person to complete a political 175 loyalty test as a condition of employment or admission into, or 176 promotion within, such institution. 177 2. Give preferential consideration to a person for 178 employment by, admission into, or promotion within the 179 institution for an opinion or actions in support of: 180 a. A partisan, a political, or an ideological set of 181 beliefs; or 182 b.
Another person or group of persons based on the person’s 183 or group’s race or ethnicity or support of an ideology or 184 movement identified under sub-subparagraph (b)1.a. 185 (b)1. A political loyalty test includes compelling, 186 requiring, or soliciting a person to identify commitment to or 187 to make a statement of personal belief in support of: 188 a.
Any ideology or movement that promotes the differential 189 treatment of a person or a group of persons based on race or 190 ethnicity, including an initiative or a formulation of 191 diversity, equity, and inclusion beyond upholding the equal 192 protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the 193 United States Constitution or a theory or practice that holds 194 that systems or institutions upholding the equal protection of 195 the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the United States 196 Constitution are racist, oppressive, or otherwise unjust; or 197 b.
A specific partisan, political, or ideological set of 198 beliefs. 199 2. A political loyalty test does not include fidelity to, 200 or an oath or effort taken to uphold, the United States 201 Constitution or the State Constitution. 202 (
c) The State Board of Education and the Board of Governors 203
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 8 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. may adopt rules and regulations, respectively, to implement this 204 subsection and establish penalties for a willful violation of 205 this section. 206 (
d) If any provision of this subsection or its application 207 to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity 208 does not affect other provisions or applications of this 209 subsection or
chapter which can be given effect without the 210 invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions 211 of this subsection are severable. 212
Section 5. Present subsection (5) of
section 1004.26, 213 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (6), and a new 214 subsection (5) is added to that section, to read: 215 1004.26 University student governments; the Florida Student 216 Association.— 217 (5)(
a) The Florida Student Association is designated as the 218 nonprofit advocacy organization serving the needs of the 219 students of the State University System. If the Florida Student 220 Association fails to meet the requirements of this section, the 221 Chancellor of the State University System must designate an 222 equivalent nonprofit advocacy organization to serve the needs of 223 the students of the State University System with the approval of 224 the Board of Governors. 225 (
b) The Florida Student Association shall be governed by a 226 board of directors. The membership of the board of directors 227 shall be composed of the 12 student body presidents of the state 228 universities. The board of directors shall annually elect a 229 chair from among the board’s members. The chair shall also serve 230 as president of the association. 231 (
c) The Florida Student Association shall adopt bylaws to 232
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 958 9-01519A-23 2023958__ Page 9 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. establish: 233 1. A due process for the removal or impeachment of the 234 president of the association. Such due process must provide that 235 the president of the association may be removed by the majority 236 vote of members of the board of directors. The grounds for 237 removal of the president of the association are limited to 238 malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, incompetence, 239 permanent inability to perform official duties, or conviction of 240 a felony. 241 2.
Procedures for the suspension and removal of the 242 president of the association following the conviction of a 243 felony. 244 3. Procedures for a president of the association who has 245 been disciplined, suspended, or removed from his or her position 246 to directly appeal such decision to the Vice Chancellor for 247 Academic and Student Affairs for the Board of Governors.
The 248 bylaws may not place any condition precedent on the exercise of 249 such right granted by this paragraph, and the association may 250 not elect a new president until the exhaustion of the appeals 251 process or any other due process rights afforded by this 252 section. 253