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Updates by Bob Cerra, NEFEC Legislative Consultant, Cerra Consulting Group

Feb. 21, 2025

Senate President Releases Rural Renaissance Initiative: Several Major Education Initiatives Included

On February 19th, Senator Corey Simon filed Senate Bill 110 – Rural Renaissance. Several major education initiatives were included in the bill including: a new $25 million grant program to be administered through the three consortia to their members; a tripling of the regional educational consortia member district allotment from $50,000 per district to $150,000 per district; and, a removal of the requirement for districts receiving Special Facilities funding to pay the state any of their local property taxes back to the state as part of that program. The grant program includes an expansive list of services that districts, and the consortia’s governing boards may consider implementing to provide more efficient and/or effective services for students. These include student transportation; district finance personnel services; property insurance; cybersecurity support; school safety; college, career, and workforce development; academic support; and behavior support within exceptional student education services.

As you know, leadership and lobbying teams from each of the three consortia have been involved in supporting the development of this initiative at the request of the Senate President. We are very excited about the items that President Albritton has determined to include in his initiative, and we are confident that if implemented fully, these will make a measurable difference for the students that you serve.

While there is still much work to be done to get this package passed through the Legislature and funded in the final budget, the release of the bill heralds a huge opportunity for our districts and the three consortia to impact services for the students in our districts. We are extremely excited to engage in that work to get the policy and budget set so that our districts and consortia can deliver upon that opportunity.

Linked below are several documents that can further inform you about the initiative:

• Senate President Albritton’s Memo on Rural Renaissance; and
  
  
• Senate Bill 110 – Rural Renaissance (Simon).

There are many other changes included in the bill that relate to local economic development, improvement in the availability and quality of medical services in rural counties. These improvements, if adopted, could also assist in improving overall student educational outcomes, but for the purposes of this report, we will focus only upon the major educational changes made in the bill.

TThe bill has only two committees of reference in the Senate: Community Affairs and Fiscal Policy.

We anticipate that the first committee will hear this during the first week of Session. A staff analysis will be published at that time, and NEFEC will share that will you at that time.

There is currently no House companion bill, but since this is a priority of the Senate President, it is highly likely that the items in the bill will be addressed by the House in some fashion during the Session.

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NEFEC Legislative Network Services is a cooperative legislative and educational program whereby the 15 member districts of the Consortium are able to influence the legislative process more effectively than on an individual district basis. Through this program the Consortium serves as a liaison with the State Department of Education, the districts, and the Florida Legislature.

Benefits include:

• Forming linkages with state and local agencies, entities, and organizations which impact education related policies, programs and practices in Florida
• Attending and monitoring all meetings of the State Board of Education, Cabinet, Legislature, and various commissions concerned with education
• Keeping member districts informed on actions taken by these entities
• Coordinating the development of the Consortium's annual legislative program/priorities
• Providing quick response to legislators on questions/concerns about proposed legislation and any other relative educational issue
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