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Representative Gerwig touts school‑supply tax holiday, school funding wins and Fentanyl Day of Awareness
Summary
State Representative Gerwig briefed the council on this year’s legislative outcomes including an annual August tax holiday for school supplies, year‑round tax exemptions for specified hurricane prep items, restored funding for specialized school programs and a new Fentanyl Day of Awareness on Aug. 21.
Representative Gerwig updated the City of Greenacres on several bills and budget items she said were enacted this session, and invited questions from the council.
Gerwig said the state established an annual tax exemption covering school supplies during the month of August and that certain hurricane preparedness items — including generators, gas cans and specified batteries — are tax‑exempt year‑round. “No tax on school supplies,” she said, adding that clothing under $75 is also exempt and that “this might be a good time for people to stock up.”
On K‑12 funding, Gerwig said per‑student spending increased and that specialized programs often identified by letters (IB, AP, AICE) were restored after proposals to cut them. She framed the change as a response to concerns about maintaining rigor in classrooms: “We kept saying we want rigor. We want our children to be challenged,” she said.
Gerwig also highlighted public‑safety and judicial pay increases for law enforcement, firefighters, county judges, public defenders and state attorneys. She cited a continuing state insurance and reinsurance cost problem driving premiums higher and said the Legislature did not adopt some proposals that, in her view, would have worsened the insurance crisis.
On opioid prevention, Gerwig said the Legislature created an annual Fentanyl Day of Awareness and Education on Aug. 21 and urged local governments to observe it: “I’d ask you also if you talk about that at your… fentanyl day of awareness. Narcan is available,” she said, adding that Narcan distribution can be done “and we are absolved of any medical liability of doing that.”
Gerwig described the session as difficult but defended the results as beneficial to working families and local services. She introduced her district aide, Cathy Adler, and offered newsletters with additional details on enacted bills and selective condominium law changes.
The council had no questions during the public Q&A that followed. The representative’s remarks closed with an invitation to contact her office at the local storefront office on Jog and Forest Hill.
