A Florida lawmakers says for her last legislative session, there were some highs as well as some lows.
Rep. Janet Adkins (R-Fernandina Beach) says she’s very proud that her bill helping to address Florida’s untested rape kits backlog passed the House and Senate and was sent to Governor Rick Scott.
There are more than 13,000 untested rape kits in Florida—9,400 of which are recommended for testing. Adkins’ bill sets guidelines for crime labs, requiring the evidence be submitted within 30 days, and tested within 120 days.
During the Legislative Session, she expressed the importance of the legislation.
“It is important that we create statewide standards for the submission and testing of these kits,” she said, about two weeks ago. “By doing so, we will ensure justice for these survivors and potentially prevent future crimes from occurring.”
But, she says she is disappointed and heartbroken another of her priorities never made it.
It’s a bill aimed at improving reading performance among students who have problems reading because of conditions, like dyslexia. The focus would be on teacher training and early intervention
Adkins says it’s estimated that 15-20 percent of Florida students have dyslexia—a reading disorder that does not reflect the student’s intelligence.
“It’s a pretty large number, and what I’m hearing from our experts are the earlier the intervention, the better, and that makes sense to us,” she said, speaking to WFSU.
But, Adkins says what she often hears from mothers is there are so many delays in getting help for their kids.
“So, the very thing that experts say we need to be doing, early intervention in kindergarten, first, and second grade, many of these moms are told, ‘no, you need to wait. Your child…it’s just a maturity issue. You just need to wait it out. We need to wait for them to fail before we can get them help.’ And, if you’re a parent, that’s the last thing you want to hear that your child has to fail before you’re going to be able to get any help for your child. That really is just not an acceptable answer,” she added.
Her bill had originally passed the House, but the Senate never officially took up the bill. The language of her bill was later amended onto another Senate bill, but she says it was stripped out.
Still, in a weekly newsletter, she says this won’t deter her from helping struggling readers in her local district level.
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