The Religious Expression in Public Schools bills, which invite conflicts between creationism and evolution in science classrooms (see our Religious Liberties Act 2017 blog category), are nearing the finish line in the Florida legislature. The Senate version won easy approval through the entire process and the House version passed through all of its committee stops without a hiccup. All that’s left for the House to do is cast the final vote for its version. But that’s the tricky part. The Senate and House have different versions. In order for the bill to be shipped to the governor, the bills have to be reconciled into one. The Tampa Bay Times Gradebook blog outlines what’s happening now: Religious expression in Florida public schools: Which bill will survive?
Now both bills are before the House, in very different forms. To become law, of course, they’d have to be identical.
On Friday, Daniels moved to eliminate the differences — by filing an amendment to the Senate bill in which she’d replace it entirely with the House version. If that gets approved, the House would return the bill to the Senate, which could agree, amend the bill again, or simply let it die.
That next decision will be made in the House on Tuesday. It’s not too late to express your opinion to your representative. Who knows what will happen?
