03/15/2026
📚 Book removals in schools: House Bill 1119 & Senate Bill 1692 would shift control over school library books away from parents and local communities and give it to the state.
The "Materials Harmful to Minors” bills add a definition of harmful to minors into the statute; revise the reasons any material used in a classroom, made available in a school or classroom library, or included on a reading list may be challenged, providing that a board 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 consider potential literary, artistic, political, or scientific value as a basis for retaining the material if it contains material harmful to minors; and allow the State Board of Education to withhold funds until the school district complies.
📕 According to Florida Freedom to Read’s analysis, consequences would include:
- Districts remain legally exposed, facing lawsuits from both parents and the state
- Taxpayers pay the price as litigation drains funds from classrooms
- Educators over-remove out of fear, reducing academic rigor
- Parents lose choice, and students lose access to college-level reading
- Public schools become less competitive with private options that face fewer restrictions
📗 Manatee School Board Member Heather Felton recently spoke with Sarasota’s Dear Bubbie on Substack about HB 1119 / SB 1692 being unnecessary, saying, "We already have rigorous laws in place to protect students from inappropriate materials and each district should have a committee to review texts that are called into question. The guardrails are already in place."
As Felton shared:
"The Miller Test is the recognized tool in identifying if a text can be considered obscene. Not including the “literary value” component will eliminate both classics and modern texts. As I stated before, how to determine if something is of prurient interest is so objective, there’s really not a way to judge that part. That leaves the last component of a description of something that is offensive. Anyone who wants to object to a text - be it fiction or nonfiction - will be able to find something that has a line or two that they feel is sexual conduct and is offensive to them.
It broadens the field far too much and will allow objections to everything from general science books not used in health classes, to the Bible. It throws the doors wide open and there will be unintended consequences as a result.
Students have a difficult enough time getting access to literary material with historical or social merit as they can’t always afford to buy the book and have difficulty in getting a public library if there isn’t one down the street. Schools should be able to teach these texts to ensure that our students have a wide and well-rounded understanding of fiction and nonfiction literature so they can be competitive in if they plan to continue on to college or university."
Felton also assures parents that, "Any parent can, at any time, request that their student not have access to any books at school. Teachers can and will assign alternative texts at the request of the parent/guardian. Parents should have the choice to pick what is best for their students, not the state."
📘 ACLU Florida issued a press release about the bills, saying: “A free state does not ban books or censor materials based on viewpoint. Freedom of speech is guaranteed by both the United States Constitution and Florida’s Constitution, and those protections prohibit the government from dictating what people may read, view, or share. HB 1119 is an overly broad censorship bill that raises serious First Amendment concerns.”
➡️ The House passed this on February 11th with a vote of 84 to 28; the Senate bill has been introduced and voters can still make their views known to legislators.
☀️ Read the bill itself and the analysis thereof here: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/1119
☀️ Read more from the Dear Bubbie article here: https://dearbubbie.substack.com/p/florida-book-ban-bills-are-nothing?open=false #%C2%A7explanation-of-fl-hb-1119-sb-1692
☀️ Read Florida Freedom to Read’s analysis of the bill here: https://www.fftrp.org/bills_to_watch
☀️ Read ACLU Florida’s press release condemning HB 1119 as unconstitutional here: https://www.aclufl.org/press-releases/aclu-of-florida-condemns-hb-1119-as-unconstitutional-expansion-of-book-bans-in-florida-schools/
☀️ Read FIRE’s warning about the bill here: https://floridapolitics.com/archives/781572-fire-warns-hb-1119-will-increase-florida-school-book-banning/
☀️ Read more about the Miller test here: https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-ceos/citizens-guide-us-federal-law-obscenity
