Today is the last day of session and good things come to those who wait….
The Florida Legislature has passed a measure which addresses the residency issues for Adult Education programs in Florida.
On Thursday, the Senate passed HB 851, which would allow undocumented immigrants who attend a Florida high school for three years and graduated the chance to receive in-state tuition, and sent it back to the House for final approval. Friday, the House passed the bill on a vote of 84 to 32, and that bill is on its way to the Governor’s desk for signature.
In addition to being referred to as the Dream Act for Postsecondary Students, this bill included Language which relieves the in-state/out-of-state tuition issue which has been attributed to a decline in enrollment of Florida’s Adult Education programs.
The Language in the bill amends s. 1009.22 F.S. and removes any requirement to differentiate between in and out-of-state tuition and leaves only a single block tuition of $45 per half year or $30 per term for Adult Education programs offered in the School Districts and State Colleges.
This issue had a long road through the Legislature over the last couple of years and was helped along by so many different people, we would like to say thank you everyone who has worked so hard on the issue and especially thank the Legislators who sponsored the measure and worked to make this happen.
A special thank you goes out to Representative Jeanette Nunez- sponsor of the bill, Senator Jack Latvala, Senator John Legg, Senator Dwight Bullard, , Representative Ray Rodriguez, and the 34 other House and Senate Co-sponsors who signed onto the bill and helped make it a reality. We look forward to seeing the Governor sign this bill into law in the coming days.
Also thanks to:
Miami-Dade County
Pinellas County
ACE of Florida, and ACE Legislative Chairman, Dave Barnes