HB0345 • 2026

Funding for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program

Budget Children Education

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Edmonds ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Campbell ; Tendrich
Last action: 2026-03-13
Official status: House - Died in PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee
Effective date: 2026-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

The official status shows conflicting information: 'Passed Legislature' versus 'Died in PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee'. The text provided is from a bill that passed the House, but its final legislative fate may be uncertain based on the subcommittee action date.

HB0345: Funding Rules for Voluntary Prekindergarten

This bill sets a minimum funding amount per student for the state's prekindergarten program starting in 2026-2027, requiring yearly updates based on inflation up to a maximum of 5 percent.

What This Bill Does

Sets a rule that base payments per student cannot be lower than the previous year's amount adjusted for price changes, with a cap of 5 percent increase starting in the 2026-2027 program year.
Requires that public schools and private providers receive equal payment amounts per student for both school-year and summer programs.
Orders the Division of Early Learning to publish funding amounts online and share them with early learning coalitions by May 1 each year.
Allows the Legislature to provide extra money or supplements beyond the calculated minimum in future budgets.

Who It Names or Affects

Private prekindergarten providers
Public schools delivering the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program
The Division of Early Learning
Early learning coalitions

Terms To Know

Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK): A state program that provides pre-kindergarten education to eligible children.
Base student allocation: The amount of money paid for each full-time equivalent student enrolled in VPK.
Consumer Price Index (CPI): A measure published by the U.S. Department of Labor used to adjust funding amounts based on price changes.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill sets a minimum payment floor but does not guarantee specific dollar amounts for future years.
Funding adjustments are capped at 5 percent per year even if the Consumer Price Index rises higher than that amount.
Additional funding beyond the calculated base depends on separate decisions made by the Legislature in budget acts.

Bill History

2026-03-13 House
• Died in PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee
2026-01-13 House
• 1st Reading (Original Filed Version)
2025-11-12 House
• Referred to PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee • Referred to Education Administration Subcommittee • Referred to Budget Committee • Now in PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee
2025-11-05 House
• Filed

Official Summary Text

Funding for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program; Revises calculation of base student allocation for VPK; requires Division of Early Learning to annually publish & provide to early learning coalitions specified information;& authorizes Legislature to provide additional funding for program.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB 345 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb345-00
Page 1 of 2
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to funding for the Voluntary 2
Prekindergarten Education Program; amending s. 3
1002.71, F.S.; revising the calculation of the base 4
student allocation for the Voluntary Prekindergarten 5
Education Program; requiring the Division of Early 6
Learning to annually publish and provide to early 7
learning coalitions specified information; authorizing 8
the Legislature to provide additional funding for the 9
program; providing an effective date. 10
11
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12
13
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 14
1002.71, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 15
1002.71 Funding; financial and attendance reporting.— 16
(3)(a) Each private prekindergarten provider and public 17
school delivering the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education 18
Program shall be paid a separate base student allocation per 19
full-time equivalent student as in the Voluntary Prekindergarten 20
Education Program shall be provided in the General 21
Appropriations Act. 22
1. Beginning with the 2026-2027 program year, the base 23
student allocation for a school-year prekindergarten program and 24
for a summer prekindergarten program may not be less than the 25

HB 345 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb345-00
Page 2 of 2
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

amount appropriated for the previous program year, adjusted 26
annually on July 1 by the percentage change in the Consumer 27
Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the most recent calendar 28
year, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United 29
States Department of Labor, not to exceed 5 percent each year. 30
The base student allocation for a school-year program shall be 31
equal for each student, regardless of whether the student is 32
enrolled in a school-year prekindergarten program delivered by a 33
public school or a private prekindergarten provider. The base 34
student allocation for a summer prekindergarten program shall be 35
equal for each student, regardless of whether the student is 36
enrolled in a summer prekindergarten program delivered by a 37
public school or private prekindergarten provider. 38
2. The Division of Early Learning shall annually publish 39
on its website the adjusted base student allocation and provide 40
the amount of the allocation to each early learning coalition no 41
later than May 1 for use in the following program year. 42
3. The Legislature may provide a greater base student 43
allocation than calculated under subparagraph 1. or additional 44
supplements for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program 45
in the General Appropriations Act. 46
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 47