A Florida Senate bill has been filed that would create a “Swimming Lesson Voucher Program” for lowincome families. The “Swimming Lesson Voucher Program” would offer swimming lessons at zero cost to families with an income of no more than 200% of the federal poverty level, who have one or more children ages 4 or younger.

If the legislation becomes law, The Florida Department of Health would create a network of swim lesson providers that would accept the vouchers.

SB 544 also provides that any vendor that offers swimming lessons at a public pool that is owned or maintained by a county or municipality must participate in the program if requested by the department.

The bill was introduced by Senator Travis Hutson, who is a strong proponent of drowning prevention.

Florida has among the highest rates of drowning in the country (the state has seen 89 child drownings this year), and Hutson believes that this is due, in part, with lower income families not having access to swim lessons.

“Most of the homeowners that have pools, I think they take it a little bit more serious when they have kids around them and a lot of them can afford to do some of these classes, Hutson said. “I’ve done these classes with my kids as well, but there’s a population out there that are kind of most needy, don’t really have the water around them to train their children to survive if they fall in, and those are the ones we want to focus on,” said Hutson.

Hutson said that lessons can cost between $100 to $750.

He’s working on determining how much money will be needed to fund the program, but he’s hopeful that no matter how much is allocated to the program, it will save lives.

“I think it’s a good thing to have that sense of wellbeing knowing your child, if they fall in, you can have more than a couple seconds to get to them,” Hutson said.

If the law passes, it would take effect on July 1, 2024.