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REGULAR SESSION OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE
March 7 - May 5, 2017 -
2017 Public Policy Issues
Priority issues expected to be considered by lawmakers during the Regular Session of the Florida Legislature
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Life Priorities
The true moral test of society is how the weakest and most vulnerable members are treated. If we do not protect the inalienable right to life of the unborn, the human family will make little progress dealing with the death penalty, poverty, euthanasia and other attacks on human life and dignity.- Expanding services and funding for crisis pregnancy centers serving pregnant women and their children
- Ending the use of the death penalty in Florida
- Clarifying Florida's privacy clause to ensure that Florida's constitution does not provide greater rights to an abortion than the U.S. Constitution
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Health Care Priorities
As a basic human right necessary for a healthy and just society, we support ensuring accessible, quality health care for all. Our health delivery system must be rooted in values that respect life, acknowledge human dignity and respond to the needs of the poor and vulnerable.- Providing health coverage for the uninsured especially those who are most economically and socially vulnerable
- Promoting ethical and appropriate palliative and end-of-life health care policies
- Opposing euthanasia and all forms of assisted suicide
- Promoting expansion of community-based mental health and substance abuse services
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Education Priorities
The Church supports the rights of parents to select the schools they deem best suited for their children, especially the poor and disabled, to receive federal and state services necessary to achieve academically and socially.- Expanding eligibility for Gardiner Learning Scholarship Accounts by allowing students to participate until age 26 and including dyslexia and dysgraphia
- Restoring per-student scholarships in the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program to 2007-2008 school year levels
- Removing the requirement for attendance in public school the year prior (for kindergarten to 5th grade) under the McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities
- Upholding reasonable accountability by recognition of established state, regional and national accrediting agencies
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Family and Social Concerns Priorities
As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live. Human dignity is first recognized and understood within the context of the family. All persons have certain basic rights, and society has a moral obligation to ensure no one is denied that which is necessary to live with dignity.- Ensuring the freedom to serve the public in accord with moral or religious beliefs concerning the sanctity of life and marriage
- Improving juvenile justice policies by treating minors according to their cognitive abilities and making the most of their capacity to reform their lives
- Increasing protections of poor and vulnerable families and individuals by capping the APR for payday lenders and supporting a living wage
- Directing affordable housing trust fund dollars as intended for state and local housing programs and partnerships
- Supporting policies that enhance stewardship of the environment
- Defeating human trafficking by protecting survivors of forced commercial sex or labor and punishing those who benefit from the exploitation of vulnerable human beings
- Supporting efforts for comprehensive, positive immigration reforms at the federal level
- Opposing expansion of casino gambling in Florida