Rise and shine.

The Senate has passed the committee version of legislation (SB 296) that would overturn a 2023 law requiring high schools and middle schools to start later.

The 2023 law didn’t take effect immediately and gave schools until 2026 to comply. With the deadline closing in, school leaders realized the mandate meant elementary students might wait for the bus in the dark, while districts faced bus and bus driver shortages, plus more problems.

The 2023 law mandated that middle schools could not start before 8 a.m. and high schools could start at 8:30 a.m. at the earliest.

“This very well-intentioned law sought to ensure that our students were rested,” said Sen. Jennifer Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who sponsored this year’s measure. “School districts have begun their analysis of the impact on these required start times for the 2026 school year, and the feedback is overwhelming. The mandate would present incredible challenges, financially and otherwise.”

To comply with the new legislation, schools would be required to remind the public about the importance of sleep and at least consider starting later. The schools must document their efforts in a report to the Florida Department of Education.

“Everybody’s wondering, how does the guy that sponsored this bill originally, two years ago, feel about its untimely repeal?” said Sen. Danny Burgess, the Republican who sponsored the 2023 bill.

“Without more resources, without maybe even more time to figure out how we actually implement this in real time, with bus driver shortages and the like, we are possibly walking into a minefield that we shouldn’t venture into. I think this is responsible (to repeal). It’s bittersweet. It was one heck of a pain in the butt that bill was. And so this makes me wonder what it was really all for.”

Lawmakers, including Burgess, found some lighthearted moments during the debate.

“Uncle J thinks that you should be able to start school later, but all these adults are saying, ‘No,’” joked Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat, adding that he would still vote for it.

In closing, Bradley said, “Uncle J says you can sleep in late. Well, mean Aunt Jen says, ‘Put your phone down. Go to bed at night. Get your sleep.’”

The House companion bill (HB 261) is also ready for the floor.

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Lawmakers in Tallahassee are considering legislation that would provide much-needed regulatory clarity for local convenience stores and retailers.

If passed, House Bill 785 – sponsored by Rep. Chase Tramont – would designate heated tobacco products (HTPs) as a distinct category from traditional cigarettes. This legislation is needed and would proactively address this important issue.

Too often, policymakers are reacting once the marketplace is overrun by unlawful, unregulated products.

Lawmakers spent much of the 2024 Legislative Session focused on trying to clean up the vapor category which has become swamped with illegal Chinese vapes. The state should not drag its feet and proactively provide clarity in the heat-not-burn category.

Heat-not-burn products have become increasingly popular around the globe in recent years, and as HTPs make their way to the U.S. market, they are likely to be an in-demand product for consumers in Florida. That’s why convenience stores and other retailers need more clarity as HTPs and a range of new, innovative, smoke-free tobacco products enter the marketplace.

Under existing Florida statute, HTPs are not categorized as cigarettes or “Other Tobacco Products” (OTPs), which makes sense considering they are neither.

HB 785 would clarify the definition of this emergent product category and explicitly reaffirm what is already implicit in this statute: that HTPs do not fit the definition of cigarettes and should, therefore, not be taxed at the same rate as cigarettes.

Not only would passing this legislation help provide much-needed regulatory certainty for retailers, consumers, and manufacturers, but it would also help increase the financial incentives for adult consumers to choose less harmful, smoke-free products, such as HTPs at convenience stores or wherever they get their tobacco and nicotine products.

Like vapor and other nicotine products, HTPs must undergo a comprehensive review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before being authorized for retailers to sell.

Backed by extensive research, the FDA and scientists consider some of these products less harmful than traditional cigarettes. By heating a much smaller amount of tobacco to just below the point of combustion, HTPs do not deliver the mix of chemicals in cigarette smoke that leads to health risks, such as lung cancer and thus are desirable alternatives to some existing smokers that are struggling to kick their habit.

Taxing HTPs and other innovative, smoke-free tobacco products at a lower rate would provide people with the extra boost they need to make less harmful decisions at the checkout line.

As the voice of Florida’s petroleum marketing and convenience store industries, the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association is asking lawmakers in the Florida Legislature to help advance and pass HB 785 as swiftly as possible.

Doing so would help support a more stable marketplace that promotes innovation and consumer choice, as well as healthier communities throughout the Sunshine State.

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Ned Bowman is CEO of the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association.

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