"Pop Tart" Bill Heading To State House Floor
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - The so-called "Pop-Tart bill" is headed to the House floor after the Education Committee unanimously approved the legislation.
The proposal (HB 7029) would prevent children from being disciplined for simulating guns while playing or wearing clothes that depict firearms. It draws its nickname from a widely reported news story about a Maryland 7-year-old who was suspended from school last year for chewing his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun.
The measure has attracted bipartisan support in the House from Democrats who are often critical of "zero tolerance" school discipline policies and from gun-friendly Republicans, but a companion measure (SB 1060) passed the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on a party-line vote.
The legislation still has two committee stops to go in the Senate.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.