FUSA Council will be meeting, on Friday, February 28, via Zoom at 9:00 a.m. Guests are invited to attend. Please refer to the FUSA President’s email (sent on 2/24) for the Zoom link.
Additionally, you may find this link interesting:
Gallup: Approval of Labor Unions at Highest Point Since 1965
Please see the linked newsletter for last week’s UFF update on the 2022 Florida Legislative session. This week, we’re focusing on stopping HB 7051 / SB 7044, the university and college accreditation bills in the House and Senate. Check out the newsletter to learn more!
This week the bills are in committee in both chambers. While there has been institutional pushback on this bills from around the state — it is that bad — it is still moving. If we can stop it in committee in one of the chambers then it will be dead (at least for this session). Here is the info: (focus on Dems of course to vote NO, but do also contact Repubs)
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Despite the fact that SB 520, the “Secrecy in College and University Presidential Searches” bill, passed on the Senate floor last week, there is still a chance to take action and stop this bad bill from becoming law.
This week the House companion to SB 520, HB 703, still has one more committee stop before reaching the floor for a final vote. Contact members of the Education and Employment Committee today and ask them to vote NO on HB 703. In addition, you can contact members of the Florida House Democrats, and ask them to vote NO on the bill as well. If forty out of forty-one vote NO, the bill will fail on the House floor.
For more information, please see the UFF newsletter for this week’s UFF update on the 2022 Florida Legislative session.
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Whew. We are just about at the halfway point of the legislative session. It has been exhausting so far but our advocacy is having an effect!
The final vote on SB 520, the “Secrecy in College and University Presidential Searches” bill was supposed to happen last week, but that vote was been delayed until Thursday morning 2/10. Your advocacy caused this delay!
Now, we need to capitalize on this energy and keep up the pressure on our allies in the Senate Democratic Caucus by continuing to urge them to vote NO on SB 520.
It is time for all UFF members to flood the offices of all Senate Democrats with calls, emails, and social media posts asking them to vote NO on SB 520! We need to do this before Thursday morning vote on 2/10!
Click these links to find contact information, message templates, and talking points.
And for more information, please see the linked newsletter for this week’s UFF update on the 2022 Florida Legislative session.
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!
From UFF President Andrew Gothard:
Please see the newsletter for this week’s UFF update on the 2022 Florida Legislative session.
“This week, SB 520, the “Secrecy in College and University Presidential Searches” bill passed its final committee before heading to a vote on the Senate floor. Our leaders and members have done a fantastic job of securing NO votes from the Democratic Caucus, but the work is not yet over!
UFF believes that this bill will be on the Senate floor for a vote as early as Thursday, February 3rd. This means we are now in all-hands-on-deck, five-alarm-fire territory. If you have been waiting for a time to take action, do so now or risk permanently losing transparency in presidential searches!
Call, email, and tag on social media Democratic Senator / Minority Leader Lauren Book, asking her to vote NO on SB 520 and asking her to have the Democratic Caucus vote NO.
Click these links to find message templates and talking points.
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!“
FUSA Council will hold the first meeting of the semester, the January monthly meeting, on Friday, January 28, via Zoom at 9:00 a.m. Guests are invited to attend.
Please refer to the FUSA President’s email (sent on 1/19) for the Zoom link.
The 2022 Legislative Session is underway up in Tallahassee. Florida Education Association (FEA) offers a toolbox with information and tools to help you advocate for education and your union.
United Faculty Florida (UFF) is zeroed in on the bills that are harmful as well as helpful to higher education and have organized government relations committee members across chapters to engage with legislators on these issues and specific bills. In addition to email updates from FEA and UFF, FUSA will endeavor to keep you informed on the latest developments. You can do your part, too! The FEA 2022 Legislative Toolbox offers:
From UFF: Action items for Week 2
It is very important that you, UFF’s members, contact the committee members about these bills and ask them to vote NO on SB 520 and HB 703 before their committee hearings next week!
SB 520 will be heard by the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday, 1/19, at 8:30 am.
HB 703 will be heard by the Post-Secondary Education & Lifelong Learning Subcommittee on Tuesday, 1/18, at 2:00 pm.
The good news is that the process for contacting your legislator could not be easier:
You can use these linked talking points to craft your message; however, legislators have repeatedly told UFF that messages are most influential when they are personal and specific. Avoid boilerplate language, speak from the heart, refer to your personal experience and how this bill would affect you as a voter and citizen, and we will see the results we want.
Only by banding together can we make the change we wish to see in Florida. Contacting legislators about key issues regarding higher education is the first step toward enacting that change, so set aside a few minutes and take action today!
Advocacy efforts by United Faculty of Florida and local chapters are working! Through government relations initiatives such as Higher Education Regional Outreach (HERO) teams, members have been contacting legislators to advocate for higher education and faculty issues.
As noted in a recent email to members, UFF has been fighting the “assault taking place on academic freedom and faculty and student rights at Florida’s public institutions of higher education, including the new ‘viewpoint discrimination’ law (HB 233).“
UFF also announced, “Rep. Yvonne Hinson and Sen. Tina Polsky filed HB 6077 and SB 810, known as the ‘Intellectual Freedom’ bills. The United Faculty of Florida unequivocally supports this effort to repeal HB 233, Florida’s “Viewpoint Discrimination” law, passed in the 2021 legislative session.”
UFF is asking members and the public to contact their local legislators and urge them to vote in support of these bills.
Please join us for the last FUSA Council meeting of the Fall term (Note: we will not have a meeting in November due to the holidays).
Guests are invited to attend. Check your email for the Zoom meeting invite from FUSA president, Elizabeth Key-Raimer.
Don’t forget to sign up receive FUSA Informant updates!
Please join us for the first FUSA Council meeting of the 2021-22 term on Friday, August 27, via Zoom at 9:00 a.m. Guests are invited to attend. Check your email for the Zoom meeting invite from FUSA president, Elizabeth Key-Raimer.
Don’t forget to sign up receive FUSA Informant updates!
fusahcc.org 
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