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Scott Signs Teacher Evaluation, Sick Leave Bills

A requirement that classroom teachers only get evaluated based on the students they teach and a controversial measure that blocks local governments from requiring employers to offer paid sick leave to workers were signed into law Friday by Gov. Rick Scott.

Also signed were new benchmarks for building nuclear power plants and an effort aimed at reducing sex trafficking by cutting late-night hours at massage parlors.

After Scott departed for an economic development mission to Paris on Friday, the Governor’s office announced he had signed 60 bills and vetoed two others.

The signing of the anti-mandatory sick leave bill (HB 655) quickly drew the most reaction, with applause from statewide business interests and condemnation from those behind an Orange County ballot initiative that would have required paid sick time.

“This law ensures mandatory leave is decided at the state level and preempts union-backed efforts to have local and county governments adopt policies governing terms of employment and other wage related issues,” Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson said in a news release.

Associated Industries of Florida said the law maintains a single, statewide standard for employment benefits that keeps Florida globally competitive.

“Not only would it destroy economic growth and job creation in their own jurisdiction, it would also have a devastating chilling effect on companies considering expansion in any location in Florida for fear other jurisdictions will follow suit,” AIF President and CEO Tom Feeney said in a release.

But Stephanie Porta, a leader in the Earned Sick Time ballot initiative in Orange County, vowed the fight will continue.

“Today, Gov. Scott sided with corporations like Disney and Darden over Florida families,” Porta said.

She said the law goes against home rule, noting that more than 50,000 people signed petitions to put the issue on the August 2014 ballot.

“We look forward to working with the task force established in this legislation to recommend a statewide earned sick-time policy to the Legislature,” Porta continued. “We will also explore legal remedies to ensure voters in Orange County aren’t denied their right to vote on Earned Sick Time.”

The law creates an Employer-Sponsored Benefits Study Task Force, which is directed to analyze employment benefits.

The teacher-evaluation measure was in part a reaction to criticism, including a lawsuit, about the state’s two-year-old system of assessing teacher performance. Critics said teachers were being held accountable in the system for students they never taught.

The new law (SB 1664) requires that at least 50 percent of a classroom teacher’s or school administrator’s performance evaluation be based on the growth or achievement of the students under their charge. The other half would be based on district-determined plans.

Teachers with less than three years experience would only be judged on 40 percent of their students’ performance.

The Florida Education Association, which has spearheaded a lawsuit against the teacher-evaluation system passed in 2011, will continue to contest it in court. It called the new law a “partial fix.”

“While we’re happy this measure passed the Legislature, there is much work to be done to fix the mess created by SB 736 (the 2011 law),” FEA President Andy Ford said in a release.

The FEA continues to question how teachers will be measured if their students do not take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and is concerned that not all teachers will be evaluated based on the subjects they teach.

Among the other bills signed Friday:

— Low-speed vehicles, (SB 62), allows street-legal, “low-speed vehicles” to be reclassified as golf carts, a move to reduce registration and insurance costs.

— Intellectual disabilities (SB 142), eliminates the term “mental retardation” from various parts of state law and replaces it with “intellectual disability.” The old term is considered offensive and outdated by advocates for people with disabilities.

— Online insurance (HB 223), allows property and casualty insurance policies and endorsements to be available on an insurer’s Internet website rather than being mailed, if agreed to by the customer.

— Aquariums, (SB 336), allows tourist development tax dollars to be used for the benefit of certain not-for-profit run museums or aquariums.

— Northeast Florida Regional Transportation Commission (SB 606), creates a regional transportation commission for Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam, and St. Johns Counties.

— Reusable wine (HB 623), allows the sale of wine in 5.16 gallon canisters, which can be tapped like kegs, allowing easier sales of wine by the glass in restaurants and bars.

— Foster care (SB 1036), allows young adults the option of staying in foster care until age 21.

— Underground natural gas (HB 1083), sets up a permitting process for natural gas to be injected underground and stored until it is needed. Storage projects could be located in areas of southwest Florida and northwest Florida that have produced oil in the past.

— Nuclear construction fees (SB 1472), establishes new benchmarks for electric utilities that want to collect controversial fees while planning nuclear-power plants. The measure alters a 2006 law intended to encourage more nuclear power. Florida Power & Light and the former Progress Energy Florida – now Duke Energy – have used the law to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in pre-construction nuclear fees.

— Late night massages (HB 7005), prohibits the operation of massage establishments between midnight and 5 a.m., although it has exceptions for businesses such as health facilities and hotels that might offer massage services. The intent is to crack down on shady massage establishments that are fronts for sex trafficking.

Of the bills Scott vetoed, one (HB 249) would have created a public records exemption for email addresses obtained as part of voter registration applications and the other (HB 265) would have increased the annual fee on the wildflower license plate from $10 to $25.

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida