Florida Senate - 2021 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 264 Ì7936063Î793606 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 01/26/2021 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Education (Rodrigues) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete everything after the enacting clause 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Subsection (19) is added to section 1001.03, 6 Florida Statutes, to read: 7 1001.03 Specific powers of State Board of Education.— 8 (19) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 9 ASSESSMENT.— 10 (a) For the purposes of this subsection, the term: 11 1. “Intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” means the 12 exposure of students to, and the encouragement of students’ 13 exploration of, a variety of ideological and political 14 perspectives. 15 2. “Shield” means to limit students’ access to or 16 observation of ideas and opinions they may find uncomfortable, 17 unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive. 18 (b) The State Board of Education shall require each Florida 19 College System institution to conduct an annual assessment of 20 the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at that 21 institution. The state board shall select or create an 22 objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid survey to be 23 used by each institution which considers the extent to which 24 competing ideas and perspectives are presented and members of 25 the college community feel free to express their beliefs and 26 viewpoints on campus and in the classroom. The state board shall 27 annually compile and publish the assessments by September 1 of 28 each year, beginning on September 1, 2022. 29 (c) The state board may not shield students at Florida 30 College System institutions from free speech protected under the 31 First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. I of 32 the State Constitution. 33 Section 2. Subsection (13) is added to section 1001.706, 34 Florida Statutes, to read: 35 1001.706 Powers and duties of the Board of Governors.— 36 (13) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY 37 ASSESSMENT.— 38 (a) For the purposes of this subsection, the term: 39 1. “Intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” means the 40 exposure of students to, and the encouragement of students’ 41 exploration of, a variety of ideological and political 42 perspectives. 43 2. “Shield” means to limit students’ access to or 44 observation of ideas and opinions they may find uncomfortable, 45 unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive. 46 (b) The Board of Governors shall require each state 47 university to conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual 48 freedom and viewpoint diversity at that institution. The Board 49 of Governors shall select or create an objective, nonpartisan, 50 and statistically valid survey to be used by each state 51 university which considers the extent to which competing ideas 52 and perspectives are presented and members of the university 53 community feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on 54 campus and in the classroom. The Board of Governors shall 55 annually compile and publish the assessments by September 1 of 56 each year, beginning on September 1, 2022. 57 (c) The Board of Governors may not shield students at state 58 universities from free speech protected under the First 59 Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. I of the 60 State Constitution. 61 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 62 1004.097, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (f) of 63 subsection (2) and paragraph (f) of subsection (3) are added to 64 that section, to read: 65 1004.097 Free expression on campus.— 66 (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 67 (f) “Shield” means to limit students’ access to or 68 observation of ideas and opinions they may find uncomfortable, 69 unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive. 70 (3) RIGHT TO FREE-SPEECH ACTIVITIES.— 71 (a) Expressive activities protected under the First 72 Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. I of the 73 State Constitution include, but are not limited to, any lawful 74 oral or written communication of ideas, including all forms of 75 peaceful assembly, protests, and speeches; distributing 76 literature; carrying signs; circulating petitions; and, not 77 withstanding s. 934.03(1), the recording and publication, 78 including the Internet publication, of video or audio recorded 79 in outdoor areas of campus and in classrooms. Expressive 80 activities protected by this section do not include commercial 81 speech. 82 (f) A Florida College System institution or a state 83 university may not shield students from expressive activities. 84 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021. 85 86 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 87 And the title is amended as follows: 88 Delete everything before the enacting clause 89 and insert: 90 A bill to be entitled 91 An act relating to higher education; amending s. 92 1001.03, F.S.; defining terms; requiring the State 93 Board of Education to require each Florida College 94 System institution to conduct an annual assessment 95 related to intellectual freedom and viewpoint 96 diversity; providing criteria relating to such 97 assessment; requiring the State Board of Education to 98 annually publish such assessments by a specified date; 99 prohibiting the State Board of Education from 100 shielding Florida College System institution students 101 from certain speech; amending s. 1001.706, F.S.; 102 defining terms; requiring the Board of Governors to 103 require each state university to conduct an annual 104 assessment related to intellectual freedom and 105 viewpoint diversity; providing criteria relating to 106 such assessment; requiring the Board of Governors to 107 annually publish such assessments by a specified date; 108 prohibiting the Board of Governors from shielding 109 state university students from certain speech; 110 amending s. 1004.097, F.S.; defining the term 111 “shield”; allowing students at public postsecondary 112 institutions to record certain audio and video in 113 classrooms; prohibiting Florida College System 114 institutions or state universities from shielding 115 students from expressive activities; providing an 116 effective date.