Florida Passes Key Florida Chamber-Backed Legislation to Support Working Families and Improve Kindergarten Readiness

In the eleventh hour on the last day of the 2025 regular legislative session, the School Readiness bill supported by the Florida Chamber was amended onto HB 1255, which passed the Florida House 100-0. The Senate agreed with the amendment, and the bill passed the Senate Floor by a vote of 30-0. Representative Chase Tramont and Senator Alexis Calatayud championed this bill, led by Representative Dana Trabulsy, which is a significant victory for early learning, working families, and Florida’s future workforce!

According to the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Untapped Potential in Florida report, lack of child care is the #1 reason working parents with young children leave their jobs, costing Florida $5.4 billion in lost economic value every year.

HB 1255 preserves access to affordable child care by modernizing Florida’s School Readiness Program eligibility, which provides early learning tuition assistance, helping more hardworking families stay employed while also providing better educational outcomes for Florida’s youngest students.

Why HB 1255 matters:

• Expands affordable child care access for working families by aligning eligibility with a better measure of economic reality in Florida;
• Helps close the kindergarten readiness gap and other student achievements; and
• Improves Florida’s workforce challenges by keeping more parents in the workforce.

This important step forward supports the Florida 2030 Blueprint goals of 100% kindergarten readiness, preparing children from cradle to career, and securing Florida’s global competitiveness.

Learn more about how early learning plays a role in future success! Join us at the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Learners to Earners Workforce Solution Summit on June 24, 2025, at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. Register Her