In an op-ed defending Florida’s new school prayer bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott a week ago, state Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Palatka, blamed the absence of prayer in schools for numerous social ills, after insisting his bill was not actually about school prayer.
A bill that would allow “inspirational messages,” including prayers, to be given during any school event, was passed on the House floor today with an 88-27 vote. The bill is now headed to the governor’s desk.
Mat Staver, the founder of a Christian legal group known as the Liberty Counsel, has switched his position on a bill currently making its way to the governor’s desk. The bill, which is sponsored by state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, would allow state school boards to adopt policies allowing K-12 students to give “inspirational messages,” including prayers, at any school event.
A bill that would allow K-12 students to deliver “inspirational messages,” including prayers, during mandatory and non-mandatory school events was approved by a Florida House judiciary committee today.
A bill that would allow K-12 students to pray during all school events is currently being opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the Liberty Counsel. Both groups warn that such legislation would cost the state money in litigation.
A Florida Senate bill that would allow students in public schools to pray during all school events passed during a House education committee today. In the middle of debate over the repercussions of the measure, legislators argued over whether the bill would expose students to “messages of hate,” specifically racist comments, during school events.
A Florida House subcommittee this morning advanced House Bill 421, a measure that would allow those who have obtained a “limited certification for urban landscape commercial fertilizer application” to be exempt from local fertilizer regulations. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Lecanto, has come under fire for taking power away from local communities.
Three bills that would restrict access to legal abortions in the state passed a state House health committee yesterday.
The same Florida legislator who is seeking an all-out ban on abortion in the state has sponsored a bill in the Legislature that would recommend the HPV vaccine for young girls entering the sixth grade.
Last week, state Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Palatka, followed through on his announcement that he would bring back a bill that bans abortion in the state of Florida, providing only an exception to save the life of the mother. Van Zant’s bill would make performing an abortion a felony.
rss