Category: Legislative

UFF-FIU Calls for FIU’s Withdrawal from ICE 287(g) Program

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UFF-FIU Calls for FIU’s Withdrawal from ICE 287(g) Program United Faculty of Florida–Florida International University (UFF-FIU) is deeply disturbed by the recent reporting that, as of April 10, “Florida International University confirmed on Friday that it has enrolled in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program known as 287(g) that will allow campus police to stop, question and in some cases detain people who they suspect are in the country illegally.” We are equally alarmed to… Continue reading

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Freedom To Teach – Freedom To Learn

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Freedom of speech and inquiry, as well as freedom from censorship and intimidation, are essential for the success of all educational environments. With its vague language and abstract prohibitions on what (or how) faculty can teach topics related to race and gender, HB 7 is designed to create a “chilling effect” by silencing discussion of topics that make people in power uncomfortable. The HB-7 Taskforce is hosting a series of meetings where we’ll offer a… Continue reading

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Take Action Against HB 1197

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In the final days of the session, the legislative assault on your union rights has been renewed. HB 1197, which is currently being fast-tracked through the Florida Senate, would prohibit you from having your union dues deducted via payroll deduction. The legislation requires union chapters with membership below 50% of those eligible to join to petition the Public Employees Relations Commission for recertification.   The Senate Rules Committee will be taking HB 1197 tomorrow, Tuesday… Continue reading

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Legislative Update #4

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April 1, 2019 House and Senate Appropriations Bills Update Senate and House Appropriations Committees have passed out their respective budgets, inclusive of higher education budget proposals for 2019-20. Which is best? The Senate. Which is adequate? Neither. Please send your representative and senator the message that higher education budgets are not adequate. Tell representatives not to punish faculty for administrative misconduct. You might want to thank senators for a good starting point, but their funding… Continue reading

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Legislative Update #3

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March 21, 2019 House and Senate Higher Education Chair Budget Proposals This week Senate Education Appropriations Chair Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) and House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) released the first salvo of budget proposals this week. Highlights gleaned from these proposals are as follows. Florida College System The 2019-20 House budget proposal for colleges is basically flat with no real increase in funding and continues the performance funding of $60 million,… Continue reading

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Legislative Update #2

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Legislative Update #2 March 13, 2019 An Abbreviated Report Due to the NEA Higher Education Conference later this week and a light committee agenda, this will be a brief report on today’s action on CS/HB 839 and more specifically the “objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid survey that enables comparisons among universities on the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at each institution.” The UFF Senate Position As you may recall, the UFF Senate voted unanimously for… Continue reading

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Legislative Update #1

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Legislative Update #1 March 8, 2019 Legislative Session Begins – Fund Our Future On March 4th, the day before session began, FEA and UFF members were involved in many events statewide to support the FEA campaign #FundOurFutureFL. One example was members from the Leon Classroom TeachersAssociation and all five Tallahassee UFF chapters rallying and waving signs in front of the Old Capitol building. They were joined by FEA President Fed Ingram, FEA VP Andrew Spar,… Continue reading