FL S0318

Creates a categorical fund for the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program with quarterly fund releases to scholarship-funding organizations based on full-time equivalent student enrollment verification

Establishes an Educational Enrollment Stabilization Program with a minimum $250 million balance to provide supplemental state funds for changes in student enrollment in both public schools and scholarship programs

Renames the Hope Scholarship Program to the Hope Program and consolidates scholarship application processes into a single application with two annual approval windows (fall closing July 15, spring closing November 15)

Requires background screenings for owners, operators, and individuals providing services through scholarship programs, with fingerprint retention by the Department of Law Enforcement

Mandates eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations to verify student eligibility, maintain scholarship accounts, and distribute payments via funds transfer on a monthly basis across 10 installments per school year