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The legislature was burning the midnight oil as a budget deal came together around the 12 o’clock hour. But as Matt Galka tells us, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars surfaced at the last minute.

There wasn’t much optimism from the Senate President Monday.  The legislature was believed to be strapped in a year when money had to be shuffled to fill a healthcare funding hole.

“When you take over 400 million out of the budget and put it into healthcare there’s going to be impact and I think you’re going to start seeing that,” said Senate President Andy Gardiner on Monday.

A smaller tax cut package which was signed by the Governor Tuesday was an indicator.  But around midnight Monday night into Tuesday morning – $300 million dollars worth of member projects appeared and funding for top priorities of the Senate President, House speaker, Governor and other lawmakers surfaced.

“This has been one of the most remarkable sessions for open transparent debate, additions on both sides, respecting each other, respecting their positions, and having that debate. This is the way Government should work,” said Rep. Richard Corcoran, the House’s Budget Chief.

“We have members that have issues that relate back to their local communities, the community college system, the state university system, economic development,” said Senate Budget Chief Tom Lee.

Democrats weren’t exactly singing the praises of transparency on Tuesday.

Of course they’re going to claim it’s transparent that’s politics 101, it’s unfortunate for the people of the state of Florida that 300 million of their hard earned tax dollars will be going to fund pet projects around the state for key members of the legislature,” said Rep. Evan Jenne (D-Hollywood).

Budget leaders insist the 11^th hour additions were discussed throughout the year.

There is a 72 hour cooling off period before the budget can be voted on Friday. The Governor can use his veto power after the budget is voted on to narrow down the spending plan.

It’s the home stretch for lawmakers hoping to wrap up a special session, pass a budget, and avoid a government shutdown. As Matt Galka tells us, the House and Senate took a big step forward Monday in getting everything squared away – but a few hurdles remain.

It was all smiles Monday after both the Florida Senate and House sent a 430 million dollar tax cut to the Governor’s desk.

The tax cut includes a 10 day back to school sales tax holiday and a cut to a cell phone tax that would save the average Floridian around 20 bucks a year.

State Senator Maria Sachs argued that Floridians care more about health coverage – which the House voted against expanding – than they do about tax cuts. She still voted “yes” for the plan.
“I am not going to hurt other hardworking Floridians just because a few leaders in the House would not give us what we are all here for,” said Sen. Sachs (D-Delray Beach).

The vote was a big step in the right direction for getting a budget passed before the current year’s expires at the end of June.

One of the final hurdles lawmakers will have to clear this week: education spending. State universities have a long and expensive list of requests that probably won’t be granted.

“When you take over 400 million out of the budget and put it into healthcare, there’s going to be impact, and I think you’re going to start seeing that,” said Senate President Andy Gardiner.

The view was shared on the House side.

“Those are big ticket items obviously and we have less resources to deal with big items like that,” said House Speaker Steve Crisafulli.

Both sides say they’ll be ready to vote and pass a budget by Friday. A budget would have to be available by Tuesday in order to meet the 72 hour constitutionally required “cooling off” period before a vote on Friday.

An outdated ban on gay adoptions was officially pulled from the books Thursday evening. As Matt Galka tells us, Florida’s first openly gay legislator helped make it happen, but the fight is most likely not over.

Representative David Richardson – Florida’s first openly gay lawmaker – remembers watching plenty of hate speech growing up.

“I was a teenager, I remember watching on the TV as Anita Bryant railed against the gay community and feeling how difficult life was going to be,” said Rep. Richardson (D-Miami Beach).

He’s celebrating a win this week, though. Richardson helped amend an adoption bill to officially repeal a ban on same sex couple adoption.  The ban hasn’t been enforced since 2010 when a judge found it unconstitutional.

“So it was very personal for me, and no one could have guessed that I would be the one here some 38 years later to repeal a statue that effects me so personally,” said Rep. Richardson.

The Governor – who made a brief appearance outside the House chambers Friday – signed the bill into law. He said in a statement he’d like to see religious freedom protections allowing faith based adoption agencies to refuse service to gay couples to be put into place. The measure failed in 2015.

Florida House leaders said they’d continue to pursue religious freedom protections in the future.

“I’m hopeful that we can bring that back next year and protect some of those religious agencies that do in fact provide that service,” said House Speaker Steve Crisafulli.

Rep. Dennis Baxley supports religious freedom and said the Governor was in a tough position.

“We certainly don’t want to discriminate against anyone, but how do you ask organizations that are faith based to compromise their moral belief?” said Rep. Baxley (R-Ocala).

But equal rights supporters say that any sort of discrimination – faithbased or otherwise – is still unconstitutional.

The repeal was just one part of a bill that looks to promote adoptions by providing incentives for agencies and state employees who choose to adopt.

Florida’s Governor and many state lawmakers have been preaching tax cuts for the better part of 2015. As Matt Galka tells us, the Florida House has already passed their version – and now the Senate made some changes – so the numbers are still being worked out.

The Florida Senate wants a longer back to school sales tax holiday.  The 10 day break on school supplies was part of their nearly $430 million dollar tax cut.  The House’s version had only three days.

“It’s very popular with the public, it’s hard for people to plan just one particular day. We tried to change to accommodate the dates because there are school systems that are starting earlier,” said Sen. Dorothy Hukill (R-Port Orange).

The Senate is also giving cell phone users a 20 dollar break on 100 dollar cell phone bills.  It’s closer to what the Governor had been pushing during regular session – although it falls short of his 43 dollar cell phone tax cut goal.

“We want to try to help the Governor achieve his agenda and his tax cuts so we’re working hard to do that,” said Senate budget chairman Tom Lee.

What the Senate’s plan doesn’t include is a small business Saturday sales tax holiday which could hurt local stores. Senator Thad Altman (R-Cape Canaveral) was disappointed the holiday didn’t make the cut.

“There are a lot of rural areas that may not have the big box stores but there’s a lot of small businesses and they’re sort of under siege already so it at least gives them a little piece of the action,” he said.

But with 9 days left in the scheduled special session – the final amount of tax breaks is still to be determined.

A one year suspension of sales tax on college textbooks is also in the Senate’s plan. The House had been calling for just three days – one at the beginning of the fall, spring, and summer semesters – to give students a break on textbook taxes.

Less than 24 hours after Governor Rick Scott signed a controversial 24 hour waiting period into law, it is being challenged in court by an abortion provider and a group o medical students.  As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the ACLU is hoping to stop the waiting period before it takes effect July first.

On July first, women will be required to first get counseling, then return to the doctor at least 24 hours later before having an abortion. Rick Scott signed the legislation late Wednesday. By Thursday morning the American Civil Liberties was already in court seeking to stop the waiting period before it takes effect. ACLU of Florida Legal Director

Nancy Abudu Florida already has informed consent, so “In terms of informed consent, it’s unnecessary. And number two, the collateral consequences related to imposing this 24 hour waiting period such as the time involved and the cost.”

During debate on the House floor, Rep. Lori Berman argued the bill was unconstitutional because there were more convenient ways for women to receive the counseling in advance. “They could use telemedicine. They needed to make sure if a woman’s health was at state. But they wouldn’t take the amendments, so they didn’t use the least intrusive method.”

Florida voters approved the privacy amendment in 1980.

The Florida Supreme Court has said it provides more protection than the US Constitution.  And voters in 2012 declined to weaken those privacy protections.”

At 23, Sponsor Jennifer Sullivan is the youngest member of the state house. She isn’t a lawyer, but says she is confident the waiting period will be upheld.

“The specific language we used has been used in six other states that have strict privacy in their constitutions as well. It was challenged in five of those six states, but never enjoined” says Sullivan.

Sullivan says she filed the legislation to make sure women weren’t being coerced

into having an abortion by husbands and boyfriends.

During the bills debate, the Republican majority rejected an amendment making it a crime to coerce someone to have an abortion. The challenge has been filed in the state Capital. As of now, no hearing has been set.

Online vendors of cut rate hotel rooms won a big victory in the state Supreme Court today. Florida counties had challenged the way tourist development taxes are being collected. Expedia has been paying tax on the cut rate it pays hotels, not on the higher inflated price it charges hotel guests. House Finance and Tax Chairman Matt Gaetz says the legislature may get involved next year.

“We work best in government when we have mutual deference among the branches and I think many legislators were uncomfortable about speaking on the issue while it was in the purview of the judicial branch. Now that the judicial branch has spoken dispositively, I think there are some legislators who may want to take a look at it, others may not, and we’ll have to answer that question in the coming session” say Gaetz.

Counties say they are losing millions each year by not collecting the taxes due on the final rental of rooms. The court sided with Expedia and others because lawmakers have failed to clarify the law.

Imagine having to pay someone to open your mother or fathers mail, even though they live just down the street. That’s just one of the horror stories state Lawmakers heard from Floridians whose parents have been placed in a guardianship, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, a new law on the books hopes to remedy the problem and others.

Doug Franks has to pay an hourly rate to visit his mother Ernestine.  He’s part of a growing national movement seeking changes in guardianships.

“We, simply, the families are isolated so they don’t know what’s going on. Their wards, the people who have suffered a civil death, who have no rights are then taken advantage of financially” says Franks.

The Franks nightmare is being played out in thousands of families across Florida.

“They charge to open a letter. Eighty dollars” says State Representive Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples), who successully sponsored the legislation signed by the Governor. Her bills takes effect July first and  hopes to put the brakes on questionable guardians.

“If a guardian exploits their ward, there will be criminal penalties. They can go to jail” says Passidomo.

The new law also put restrictions on judges appointing guardians, Franks has tried to get the courts to reopen his mothers case without luck.

“In Mr. Franks case, we are hopeful he can go to the court and say I object to what’s going on here, and the courts, based on the new statute, will hear him out” says the Naples Representative

Even supporters say the legislation signed by the Governor only solves half the problem.

State Senator Nancy Detert had legislation to license public, for profit guardians. It came close but didn’t pass.

“And nobody is regulating what they do. And they can take your mail. Take your money and be in charge of your healthcare. Cut you off from your relatives, and there is nobody who can say they can’t do it says Detert.”

But for the next year, public, for profit guardians will be unregulated. Nancy Detert’s advice: Families beware.

Detert says the Guardianship bill will be the first bill she files for the coming January session. The number of public, for profit guardians has grown from 23 to more than 450 in the last five years.

Florida school districts will see a three percent increase this fall. The increased funding was agreed to at the State Capitol. At over 19 billion, It marks a record increase in education spending, but it falls short of a record per pupil spending plan sought by the Governor. State Sen. Don gaetz says the budget still provides a significant increase.

“It’s a two hundred and seven dollar per student increase. It’s not as much of a per student increase that the Governor might have wanted. But the reason for that is because, since the Governor proposed his budget, we’ve had the addition of over thirty thousand new students, and that’s like adding a medium size school district to the state of Florida” says Gaetz.

The school funding agreement eases tensions in the Capitol. Lawmakers said today they plan to wrap up their special session next Friday, a day earlier than planned.

The Florida Senate took time from budget negotiations today to honor the University of Florida National Champion Women’s softball team. The Gator women won the title two years in a row. State Senator Bob Bradley called the feat remarkable.

“We have a program her that is just 17 years in existence. 17 years ago this program did not exist. And now they are literally on top of the world and champions of their sport. And an inspiration to all of us, so we salute them today. Congratulations’ Bradley told the Senate.

Other senators noted the team began with pick up games played on intramural fields.

Bear population in Florida is on the rise and so are incidents with humans – including some attacks. As Matt Galka tells us, a pending bear hunting season in the state is getting push back from animal rights groups who showed up in the Capital on the same day a bear was caught in a panhandle neighborhood.

Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission caught what they call a nuisance bear in Florida’s panhandle Wednesday night.

“This bear broke into two separate porches,” said FWC Bear Management Coordinator David Telesco.

The bear has been deemed too comfortable with people and a public safety risk. The bad news: that means he has to be euthanized. First he is sedated with a tranquilizer.

“Putting an animal down is hard for us,” said Telesco.

Increased bear-human interactions puts the FWC on the verge of authorizing Florida’s first bear hunt in more than 20 years.

“The idea is if we can have the population not grow, we can stabilize it, and then we can keep up with what’s going on in the neighborhoods,” said Telesco.

But animal rights groups are fighting back. A coalition is calling on the Governor to end the proposed hunt.

“They’re ignoring public outcry and catering to trophy hunters,” said Holly Parker with Sierra Club Florida.

Laura Bevan with the Humane Society of the United States says that allowing hunters to go into areas in the woods and hunt bears does not mean they’ll help neighborhoods dealing with bear problems. Bevan said a hunt wouldn’t have prevented the bear from going on porches in the panhandle Tuesday night.

“No, because that bear is not out in the Apalachicola National Forest or in Tate’s Hell or any of those, it is hanging around those neighborhoods,” she said.

The two sides agree on one thing – humans can cut down on bear interactions by controlling their garbage and investing in other things like bear proof trash cans.

The FWC says they catch about 26 bears per year – but they’ve already caught 50 through 6 months of 2015 due to increased complaints.

There were more than 6,000 bear nuisance complaints in 2014 – but only 61 were euthanized. The FWC will likely give the bear hunting season final approval at the end of June. It’s set for one week in October with a limit of 200 bears to be hunted total – but the animal rights groups say there’s no one to monitor that number.

Legislative friends of the ride sharing app Uber tried to pull a fast one and do in the state budget what they couldn’t do during the regular session…which was to stop the growth of local regulations. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, alert opponents have so far stopped efforts to give the company a free ride.

 Budget language know as proviso surfaced late Monday to study whether ride services like Uber cut down on DUI’s. It also would have prohibit local governments from enacting new regulations for Uber and others. It originated with State Senator Jeff Brandes.

“It simply provides an allocation to a state agency to do a study. And it says until the study is done, lets not regulate this companies out of existence because they are probably saving lives” says Brandes.

But as lawmaker met to horse trade. State Senator Arthenia Joyner got angry, arguing the budget was no place to enact uber policy that failed in the regular session.

“This totally inconsistent with the way we pass public policy and it should not be done in proviso” says Joyner.

Minutes later after a recess and discussion, the Senate withdrew the language, which disappointed state Representative Jamie Grant “It’s disappointing, but I don’t think it’s dead.”

Indeed, nothing’s really dead just yet. There are still two levels of decision makers who can reinsert the uber dui study language at any time.”

And when it comes to DUI’s Uber driver Kimberly says the NBA and Hockey playoffs have been a boom for drivers.”

“They’ve had their beers or had whatever they’ve had to drink. And they are ready to go home and they certainly not getting in the car and putting the keys in the ignition and I think thats a good thing” says Kimberly, who’s been driving for just two months.

And for now anyway, people can keep calling for a ride home while local governments consider will still be able to consider their options.

During the regular session, Lawmakers couldn’t agree on levels of insurance or background checks for Uber drivers.

The Department of Corrections has been the subject of intense scrutiny after several escapes and high profile inmate deaths. Corrections Secretary Julie Jones has been using staff money to repair building, leading to a staff shortage and overworked guards. Today, budget negotiators signed off on a two billion dollar budget that provides money to hire staff and make repairs.The allocation means Jones won’t have to use staff money to fix building.

“What will change, in starting to fill positions,,,not hold vacancies, I’m going to be able to reach out to the respective communities around these facilities and hire the best and the brightest” says Jones.

Since January, Jones has hired 500 guards…she has at least 200 more vacancies.

Healthcare may have been the main reason lawmakers had to hold a special session to craft a state budget, but as Matt Galka tells us, there’s still nearly a one billion dollar environmental spending agreement that needs to be reached as mandated by voters under Amendment 1.

Lawmakers have yet to agree on how to spend the more than 700 million dollars they have to work with under the voter approved Amendment 1. A big difference: whether or not to invest the money in long term bonds. Environmentalists think it’s a smart idea.

“Voters, when they approved amendment 1, they approved using the amendment 1 dollars to pay the service on bonds so that’s the smartest way to get the money for springs and Everglades and the parks that we need,” said Eric Draper with Audubon Florida.

The House is on board but the Senate is opposed. Senate budget chief Tom Lee says it’s hypocritical for the House to reject federal money for healthcare but then want to bond environmental money.

“For whatever reason there’s a preponderance of the members of the legislature that didn’t want to draw down federal money to ameliorate the problems we have in our budget, but they want to whip out a credit card, conveniently and blow a lot of money in the environment,” said Sen. Lee (R-Brandon).

Because the House and Senate can’t seem to come to an agreement, both chamber’s budget chairmen will have the ultimate decision.

The Everglades Trust, which wants to use Amendment 1 money to buy U.S. sugar land around the glades, has launched attack ads on lawmakers they claim aren’t doing enough.

Sen. Joe Negron (R-Stuart) wants to bond around $40 million dollars for everglades purchases.

“I think it’s appropriate given the language in Amendment one that we use financing to make environmental land purchases,” he said.

Whatever the outcome, environmentalists are clear on one thing: lawmakers are only spending a fraction of what they should be to honor the will of voters.

It was a day up ups and downs in the state capitol as lawmakers continued budget negotiations. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, issues like prison funding grew closer to resolution while talks over economic development blew up.

Lawmakers negotiating the prison budget are close to an agreement.

“House moves to the Senate position” chimed the House budget staff director.

Already in the works before the NY prison escape, lawmakers agreed to hire an outside expert to advise the system on security. Ssenate Crimainal Justice Chairman Greg Evers (R-Milton) says its all about money.

“Do I feel the Department of Corrections is secure? Yes! Ah, the reason for the outside expert is to be sure we’re spending our money wisely.”

But that’s where playing nice ended.  Sen. Jack Latvala was unhappy when House negotiators tried to increase funding for enterprise Florida when the semi private agency already has more than 80 million in cash. “To get side swiped like you;ve done this morning, to me, is not a good measure of respect” Latvala said to Rep. Clay Ingram.

Latvala then abruptly ended negotiations. “the Governor just bailed in with the House on the healthcare fight, didn’t he? Ah, maybe this is his reward” speculated Latvala.

Despite the dust up, Senate President Andy Gardiner expected the funding to get worked out. “I have a tremendous amount of confidence that cooler heads will prevail. We’ll see what they come back with” says Gardiner

Eleven days remain for lawmakers to work out the details. If they fail, they’ll have a ten day cushion before the budget runs out on June 30th.

And when we asked Senate Budget Chairman Tom Lee if he saw any pitfalls to a budget deal being worked out, his response was to the point.

“No. No.

Q:”You’re confident?”

“yes” said Lee.

What is clear is that tax cuts and school funding sought by the Governor will be far less than he wants….and with his veto pen, he has the final say.

State Representative Mia Jones of Jacksonville spent two days last week answering questions and debating the merits of expanding health care on the House Floor. Today, Jones felt light headed and went to the Capitol Clinic. Dr. Cary Pigman, an ER physician who serves with Jones called an ambulance. As she left the capitol on a stretcher, Jones says she felt fine. She was transported to Capitol Regional Medical Center. A call to Jone’s Tallahassee office was not answered. Her Jacksonville could not provide information on her condition.