TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As the Florida state legislative session draws to a close on Friday, lawmakers are finalizing several measures that could impact Floridians for years to come. And several of those involve what happens in the classroom.

On Thursday, Democrats pushed for proposed amendments regarding measures that currently allow anyone to challenge books they claim are inappropriate in Florida schools. Critics say the law, passed last year, allows school books to be politicized outside of the communities affected.

“We know there’s a small number of folks who are out of state, who are taking up resources with all of these book bans," State Rep. Fentrice Driskell said. "And frankly, members, they have no standing, they don’t live here, they don’t have kids in the school system."

But that and another proposed book ban amendment failed to pass on Thursday.

Lawmakers advanced a bill that would require union workers across several workforces, including education, to fill out financial disclosures — a move critics say could discourage union participation. Under the proposal, unions would have to have 60% of their members sign the forms.

“The irony is that some unions are getting carve outs from these burdensome restrictions, while other unions, like teachers unions, are not,” said State Rep. Anna Eskamani. “So this legislation continues to punish teachers for just being the educators they are.”

But the House Republican sponsor of the measure claimed it will empower teachers.

“So that teachers and other government workers know how much money they’re spending to belong to a union, and then on one hand how that money is being spent,” State Rep. Dean Black argued. “It’s about transparency, it’s about accountability.”

Democrats say making things more difficult for teacher unions could make it harder for those unions to negotiate higher teacher pay.

Florida lawmakers are promising more money for teachers in their new budget.

“We’re trying to make sure our teachers get better pay, better working conditions, and make sure they’re getting to keep more of their pay,” said Black.

But Democrats say the increases aren’t enough.

“Legislation to increase teacher starting salaries never got a hearing this session, so the funding going towards education may provide small boosts, but it’s nothing transformational for what we need to address the teacher retention and recruitment challenges that Florida is facing,” said Eskamani.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed on one thing: Regulations and red tape for public schools make it difficult for public education to compete with charter schools. The measure passed the Senate unanimously and was expected to make it to the governor’s desk.