Senate passes CS/SB 318, overhauls oversight of scholarship funding organizations and creates stabilization fund
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Summary
The Senate passed a committee substitute of SB 318 (38-0), creating a separate FEFP categorical for family empowerment scholarships, requiring student IDs, reducing SFO administrative fees, authorizing a $250 million stabilization fund and mandating annual Auditor General audits and a DOE business plan for SFO selection.
The Florida Senate passed the committee substitute for Senate Bill 318 on the floor by a recorded vote of 38 yeas and 0 nays. Sponsors described the bill as an overhaul to strengthen accountability, transparency, and fiscal controls in the state's universal school choice program.
Senator Gaetz (as recorded on the floor) told senators that the bill responds to an Auditor General review and seeks to separate family empowerment scholarship funding from the general FEFP appropriation so dollars intended for districts are not commingled with scholarship funds. The bill requires the Department of Education to assign a unique student identifier for scholarship recipients, ties scholarship payments to verified enrollment, and reduces scholarship funding organizations' (SFOs) administrative fees from 3% to 2% to preserve more money for scholarships.
Senators adopted multiple amendments on the floor. One amendment removed a declining‑enrollment district provision while keeping the stabilization fund purpose; another delayed private‑school documentation requirements until after application; a third required that withdrawal forms be provided prior to scholarship payments and clarified that private schools may attest on parents' behalf to reduce paperwork.
Senators pressed sponsors on program integrity: how the bill addresses overpayments, double counting, and unverified enrollments. The sponsor said the combination of unique student IDs, changes to payment timing, annual audits by the Auditor General, and a Department of Education business plan to competitively select and set performance requirements for SFOs are intended to tighten controls and oversight. The bill also creates an expanded education stabilization fund of $250 million to ensure scholarship funding if demand exceeds expectations.
The Senate voted to pass the bill; rules were waived and the committee substitute was certified to the House.
