The 2024 legislative session ended Friday with an annual hanky-drop ceremony in the rotunda between the House and Senate chambers. Here are snapshots of 10 big issues from the session:
#1 BUDGET: Lawmakers passed a $117.46 billion budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which will start July 1. The budget includes such things as increased funding for public schools and pay raises for state employees. A related tax package includes a series of sales-tax “holidays.”
#2 DOZIER STUDENTS: Decades after they suffered abuse, former students of the shuttered Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna and another reform school in Okeechobee will receive compensation from the state under a $20 million program approved by lawmakers.
#3 EDUCATION: In a fiercely debated issue, lawmakers passed a measure designed to keep “identity politics” out of teacher preparation programs. They also approved a bill that would allow volunteer chaplains in schools and a plan …