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There’s always a risk of a firefighter not coming back from a blaze when they’re called out to a scene, but it’s what happens to them after that has lawmakers worried. As Matt Galka tells us, a new bill is designed to protect firefighters who may eventually have to battle cancer when the fire has been put out.

It’s another call at the fire station for Kevin Bellucy.

“It’s what I do 15 times a day,” he says getting into his fire engine.

Five years ago, today was anything but a certainty.

“I got a chest x-ray, they found some masses in my chest,” he said.

A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis put Bellucy’s career on hold, and life in jeopardy.

“A doctor told me “if you get a common cold at this point, there might not be a tomorrow,” said Bellucy.

But he’s a survivor.  Doctor’s caught the cancer in time and Bellucy is back to work doing what he loves. Lawmakers now want to make sure all firefighters suffering from the disease are taken care of.

Legislation introduced Wednesay at the state capitol would protect firefighters who are diagnosed with cancer, it could possibly help them keep their jobs and their benefits.

“The facts are the facts, firefighters right now are twice as likely to get cancer or be diagnosed with cancer from on the job training,” said Rep. Frank Artiles (R-Miami), one of the bill’s sponsors.

The new proposal would presume that any cancer diagnosis for a firefighter was caused by their work in the line of duty.

“Most employers say ‘if you can’t come back to work, we have to let you go…this bill would correct that,” said Jim Tolley, Florida Professional Firefighters president.

Firefighters would be eligible to return to work in a light duty capacity instead of being out of a job.

“We risk our lives every day, on and off duty, and we don’t mind carrying that burden, but we want to know that our family are going to be taken care of,” said Bellucy.

33 other states already have similar firefighter protections. New firefighters would undergo a pre-employment cancer screening and all firemen would be informed within 48 hours if they’ve come in contact with a known carcinogen under the bill.

Legislation allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry on a college campus cleared it’s second Senate Committee today after emotional testimony from a college student has been raped and professors who feel threatened. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, even with today’s vote, the legislation faces an uncertain future.

There were more speakers than time as the Senate Higher Education Committee took up allowing concealed carry on campus. FSU Professor Nancy Rogers told lawmakers:

“I have been threatened by a student who owned a lot of guns, but fortunately couldn’t bring them on to campus for a very tense meeting in my office.”

University of Miami Law professor Mary Ann Franks told the committee students will die.

“Guns are highly effective in committing crimes. They are rarely effective in preventing them” said Franks.

While Eckerd College psychology professor Marjorie Sanfilippo worried about increased suicides.

“By allowing more guns on college campuses, suicidal students will have more access to more lethal means of killing themselves” said Sanfilippo.

On the other side, dozens of students. Rebecca Hargrove spoke for Students for Concealed Carry.

“If you are afraid of law abiding citizens carrying on campus, then you have to be terrified knowing there are criminals on campus carrying right now” said Hargrove.

Rape victim Shayna Lopez-Rivas was adamandt in asking for better protection.

“Don’t make me go through a night like that again. I had pepper spray on me and I don’t need to learn twice how pepper spray does not work. You know, a bullet would have stopped that much more quickly than pepper spray would have.”

The legislation cleared the committee on a five to three vote.

Concealed carry has two more committee stops. The next one, the same committee that  refused to hear the bill last year.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Miguel Diaz de la Portia r told us he doesn’t see where campus carry adds to safety..but then he added that he was still evaluating whether he’ll hear the bill this time around.

The top issue at the state Capitol Tuesday? Guns, and lots of them. As Matt Galka tells us, lawmakers advanced an open carry proposal in the face of stiff opposition.

More than a million floridians with concealed carry permits wouldn’t have to hide their weapons anymore under a new gun proposal. An open carry bill from Sen. Don Gaetz(R-Niceville) cleared its first Senate committee Tuesday.

“We don’t need an outcry in favor of our constitutional rights, we just need our constitutional rights,” he said.

It didn’t come without stiff opposition. The Florida Fraternal Order of Police is concerned.

“Unfortunately some people want to be police officers like George Zimmerman did, we don’t need George Zimmerman’s walking around with firearms exposed,” said Javier Ortiz, the president of the FOP’s Miami chapter.

The mother of Jordan Davis, the Jacksonville teenager killed over loud music, was upset about another expansion of gun laws. She was at the hearing to oppose a Stand Your Ground bill.

“Our communities are not safer. If you’re carrying your gun openly, we’ve found and we know that people are far more intimidated,” said Lucia McBath.

And business owners aren’t on board and have concerns about people toting guns openly in front of their stores

“With the tens of thousands of businesses that we represent around the state, want the freedom on their property to set the standard by which someone can bring an open carry weapon on to those premises,” said Florida Chamber Attorney Gary Hunter.

But the bill had other law enforcement behind it.  Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith called it “crime prevention 101.”

“I’ll tell you this, any crowd I go to, I’d rather know who’s got the gun then guessing who’s got the gun,” he said.

The bill’s passage represents an early trend so far in the leadup to 2016’s legislative session: gun bills moving quickly.

The bill’s sponsor said that he’d work with business groups to come up with protections for store owners. The House version of the bill is sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz’ son, Matt Gaetz.

Florida lawmakers have already spent more than eight million dollars defending what have been ruled unconstitutional Congressional district boundary maps, Florida lawmakers today began a 19 day special session to redraw the state Senate maps, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, sparks are already flying.

On Monday, lawmakers began what could be a 19 day special session to redraw the state Senate maps, after Senators admitted in July the maps were drawn to help incumbents. We asked Sen. Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton) Q:“Was it a confession that you drew them wrong the first time?” “No, I don’t view it as a confession” responded the redistricting Chair.

Nat sot: Map drawing is certainly a complicated process” observed House Speaker Steve Crisafulli. He told his members the House would give deference to the Senate, but.

“Members, the House will not be a rubber stamp for just anything the Senate sends over to us. But I do expect us to be good partners in passing a constitutionally compliant map.”

One of the problems the House faces is that eight of members are already running for the Senate. And anything that helps them would be perceived as illegal.

“Were not here to look out for our political futures, we’re here to pass constitutionally complaint maps and I hope that our members do not make that a factor in their determination in the way they vote on these maps” said Crisafulli when asked about House members running for the Senate.

Across the hallway on the Capitol’s fourth floor, Senators almost immediately gave the House a reason to object to the Senate maps. Sen. Jack Latvala (R-St. Petersburg) asked “what happens to a sitting member who is in the middle of a four year term?”

The Senate is taking the position that only those districts whose number change would have to run for re-election.

“There is a legal argument to be made that the members who have been elected to four year terms have a right to those seats” said Galvano.

And by the time this session is over, the costs for not following the constitution are expected to top eleven million dollars.

The Senate position of not every Senator having to run appears to be at odds with a 1982 Florida Supreme Court decision that said all 40 Senators have to face voters when the maps change.

A motion to remove a Confederate symbol from the State Senate’s seal seemed like it had unanimous approval. But as Matt Galka tells us, the idea almost got derailed.

A week and a half ago, the Senate rules committee unanimously voted to rid the Senate’s seal of the Confederate battle flag and swap it with another.

“The flags on the current rule appear to represent Sovereign nations, however our research established that the Confederacy was never legally a Sovereign nation,” said Sen. David Simmons (R-Altamonte Springs), the chamber’s rules chair.

The proposal would remove the Confederate Battle flag seen here on the Senate Seal and replace it with the current state flag of Florida, but before a full vote could be taken, Senator Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island) questioned the move. He was shocked they were even taking the issue up when they were supposed to be focusing on district maps.

“If you look at all the flags I think you would find that there were things that occurred in the name of some of those flags that history has now looked upon as abhorrent and terrible,” he said.

That’s when things hit a snag. The motion to change the seal was temporarily postponed. A delay that was filled with backroom discussions eventually gave way to a unanimous approval of the rule change.

Tampa Democrat Arthenia Joyner, who originally brought up the proposal, said she was shocked there was even a question about it.

“Removing all the other flags, in my opinion, is not the answer. The issue is to remove this painful symbol of oppression and suppression that black people endured in the era of slavery,” she said.

The rule change only effects the Senate, but a bill has been filed that would remove the confederate flag from all state grounds.

The seal is in various places around the Capitol including in and around the Senate chambers and on stationary. All of the seals will need to be replaced.

Vice President Joe Biden is said to be close to deciding if he is running for President, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, a Florida Democratic operative who once ran President Obama’s Florida campaigns has been an unofficial Biden booster and the go to guy for national TV news networks who want to talk about Biden.

As Joe Biden walked onto the stage at Florida State University in 2012, he stopped briefly to chat with the college students on the riser. It was the same folksiness a few years earlier that put Democratic operative Steve Schale in the Biden camp after he’d taken his nephew to a Biden rally.

“The Vice President walked in the room. He put my nephew into a headlock and gave him a nuggie on his head. I realized very quickly that he’s a real, very genuine guy. Not a lot of people like him” says Schale.

Schale, A Tallahassee resident, ran both of President Obama’s Florida campaigns. His involvement began in August with an off handed remark to a New York Times reporter.

“I was arguing with a New York Times reporter about whether he could put together a real campaign. That lead to them reporting that I was a guy who though he should run.”

Now Shale appears almost daily on national news casts, from CNN to Fox, pitching the Vice President

Without ever having talked to him about it.

“I’m actually looking forward to the first conversation I have with him. I imagine it’ll be pretty interesting.”

And while Schale tells us he hasn’t talked to the Vice President personally, he does tell us that when he’s sitting in this chair…he wonders if the VP or his wife are watching….and if they like what he’s saying or if they want to throw something at the TV.
Shale doesn’t know if there is a place for him in a Biden Campaign. And if there is no campaign, no one can blame Steve Schale for a lack of tenacity.

Schale originally promised his wife he would sit out this campaign cycle…now it appears someone else will be making that decision for him.

The Florida legislature will take a look at a variety of gun bills for 2016 starting next week. As Matt Galka tells us, the proposals set up another high profile gun fight.

It might be too early to call 2016 the year of the gun, but another year of gun debate in the Florida legislature won’t be a stretch.

Three high profile pieces of legislation are expected to be at the forefront of policy making.  One bill being considered would allow open carry for Floridians. The NRA says allowing a person to visibly show their gun protects concealed carry permit holders from getting arrested for accidental exposure of their weapon.

“People who have licenses to carry concealed are being arrested, charged, and prosecuted, because the firearm being carried concealed accidentally and unintentionally becomes exposed to the sight of another person,” said NRA spokeswoman Marion Hammer.

Another proposal would allow permit holders to take their weapons into public meetings including in the Capitol.

There’s also the guns on campus bill which has already cleared one committee. Governor Rick Scott dodged questions about the proposals earlier this week.

“I haven’t seen the proposals,” he repeated before saying he believed in the Second Amendment.

The Senates democratic leader made it clear where she stood.

“Open carry? I understand lots of states have it, but because other states have it doesn’t mean that we need it here,” said Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa).

Two of the gun proposals will be heard again on Tuesday.

The guns on campus proposal failed earlier this year after staunch opposition from schools and campus police departments.

Prosecutors may soon think twice about charging someone with a crime when they are claiming Stand Your Ground. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, Legislation being heard next week shifts the burden of proof in stand your ground cases to prosecutors, making them prove it was not self defense.

A five year old ruling by the State Supreme Court requires people claiming stand your ground immunity to go to court and prove they feared for their life or safety. But Legislation being heard next week would shift that burden…. to prosecutors…making them prove someone is not innocent.

Marion Hammer from Unified Sportsmen of Florida, the states chapter of the NRA says the issue is simple…“You are innocent until proven guilty.”

“They created a special Stand Your Ground hearing, and reversed the burden of proof, making a defendant who exercises self defense guilty until they can prove themselves innocent” says hammer.

Under the legislation, prosecutors can still make you go to court and prove you are innocent, but if you do,  they could be forced to pay your legal fees.

Prosecutors who make the wrong decision could be on the hook for up to two hundred thousand dollars.

Sot: Willie Meggs says no one has ever been prosecuted in his circuit that didn’t deserve it. “I don;t think you can point to a single case, I know in the second circuit where we have charged someone who was legitimately acting in self defense” says Meggs.

Meggs says the legislation gives someone two bites at the apple.

“Which means we have to basically try the case first before a judge which gives them a shot at dismissal of the charge and if we win there, we have to go in and convince a jury in a second trial.”

The bill is expected to survive next weeks hearing, but after that it faces an uncertain future.

The bill’s next stop is the Senate Judiciary…the same committee that stopped concealed  carry on campus earlier this year.

For families around Florida, the time to start saving for college could be today.  As Matt Galka tells us, the Florida Prepaid open enrollment period has begun, with near record low rates available for parents planning for their children’s future.

Florida State Sophomore Hannah Padykula says her life as a student was made much easier thanks to the Florida Prepaid program.

“It’s made a world of a difference, I don’t have the stress anxiety that I see from students out of state or have that responsibility on my shoulders to pay for college,” she said.

Florida prepaid allows families to start saving for university or college tuition starting as early as when a child is first born.

“We know that college savings makes a huge difference in terms of whether you go to college and also whether you finish, because they’re not dealing with the debt and having to work and of course there’s the debt you have afterwards to pay off student loans,” said Prepaid spokeswoman Shannon Colavecchio.

Because 2016 is a leap year, families get one extra day to sign up. Open enrollment runs until February 29^th.

Rates for the college savings program skyrocketed during the recession. Numbers were down to only twelve thousand families investing.  But a tuition cap law slashed prices, and the amount of families who started new programs last year grew to over forty thousand.  Rates have gone up only slightly this year.

“The four year university plan two open enrollments ago was like $350 dollars a month for a newborn, you’re still looking at that versus 185 dollars, it’s still really good,” said Colavecchio.

If a student decides to go to a non-Florida school, the money saved can be put towards the out of state tuition.

Florida Prepaid is also giving away 10 two year state college scholarships. For more information on all the plans, go to www.myfloridaprepaid.com.

State lawmakers suggested that regulations for ride sharing companies will be discussed this upcoming legislative session.

Florida’s Senate president said that the state should be focused on liability and insurance issues to protect Floridians using the ride sharing programs to get around the state.

“Everyone loves AirBNB everyone loves Uber until there’s a problem, until there’s an accident, then everyon is going to love their lawyer. We as a state at least ought to, at least have some blanket protections for the consumer, that here’s what you can expect if you’re in an accident and not stifle the technology, the technology is good,” said Sen. Andy Gardiner (R-Orlando).

Gardiner said that other types of regulations should be left up to individual cities.

Governor Rick Scott got about two thirds of the tax cuts he wanted from lawmakers last year. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the Governor says this year, he’s upping the ante.

Floridians are buying more, drinking more and driving more. That means more cash for state government….an estimated 635 million more than last year.

But if the Governor has his way…all of it and more will be returned to taxpayers.

“My tax cut proposal this year will be bigger than my tax cut proposal last year. So and we should be able to do it. We’re growing revenue, we’re paying down debt” says the Governor.

Here’s one of the problems…the new revenue for the state is less than the total cuts he wanted last year. And if he is asking for even more, some programs will have to be cut. When asked Scott declined specifics.

“I think we’re going to have a good session” responded Scott.

When the tax cuts passed last year…the Governor and everyone in the legislature  claimed victory, even though Scott only got about sixty percent of what he wanted.

This year, the Senate has already said only about 250 million should be available for cuts…that sets up another battle. Senate President Andy Gardiner says the ultimate decision is up to Senators.

“Well, we’ve laid out a starting point and we’ll kind of wait and see what the members want to do. It could go higher or lower. Again, you’ve covered this, once you start building a budget and you meet your priorities, they you are able to determine, could you do more” Gardiner told reporters.

While Scott hasn’t released details yet, the cuts he’s  pushed publicly would all benefit businesses…which Scott says will create jobs for average Floridians.

A quarter million people have moved to Florida in the last year…putting more pressure on schools, roads and everything else, which means there will be plenty of competition for the new money.

State lawmakers are gearing up for 2016’s legislative session where they’ll craft new laws and policy for Florida. But as Matt Galka tell us, there could still be animosity left over from an unceremonious ending this past year.

Florida’s Senate President Andy Gardiner and Speaker of the House Steve Crisafulli both laid out their priorities for 2016’s legislative session and they shared the same top goal: providing economic opportunities for disabled Floridians.

But they did it separately.  The two chamber heads appeared together in the past to lay out a joint work plan. But earlier this year – legislative session came to a divisive end after both sides couldn’t agree on Healthcare funding.  The two state leaders downplayed the separate appearances.

“When you do a joint agenda it takes a long time and certnaily we’ve been busy over the last few months, but I think we’ve got a pretty good idea what the House is interested in and they know what I’m interested in and hopefully we can get some things done,” said Senate President Andy Gardiner.

“The President and I are good friends. We’re close, we communicate, obviously there were differences last  year, but the fact that we’re not doing this together today is something that you don’t need to read much into,” said House Speaker Steve Crisafulli.

Healthcare access and cost is expected to dominate the session again. Crisafulli reiterated his chamber’s opposition to Medicaid expansion and said they’d focus on programs driving down costs. Gardiner said lower costs doesn’t help the person without healthcare coverage to begin with.

“Somebody’s going to have to show us that this is really going to lower the cost of healthcare and if they’re going to claim that this helps with access, if you don’t have insurance it doesn’t matter how many programs you create,” said Sen. Gardiner.

Crisafulli said they’d keep cost and access separate issues.

“Obviously driving down costs helps the rest of us standing here but improving access provides opportunities to those that don’t have it,” he said.

2016’s legislative session begins in January. Earlier than the typical March start time.

Both sides also talked tax cuts, but didn’t get specific on just how big of a break they might propose.

Update: John Mica spokesman Alan Byrd says the Congressman will run from the district in which his home is located, District 7.

The Florida Supreme Court said today it would hear arguments in early November on a new congressional map. Meanwhile, Congressman Ron DeSantis told reporters he is in the US Senate race for the long haul, which could set off a congressional shuffle because of redistricting. One scenario would have John Mica shifting to the DeSantis seat, allowing Dan Webster to run in a safe GOP seat instead of a newly redrawn seat that favors Democrats. DeSantis thinks the switch is a bad idea because it doesn’t build party.

“So I don’t know exactly how the lines are gonna go, but I think if it forces some Republican candidates to get out into some different constituencies, it might make some of the immediate elections a little more difficult, but I think over the long term, you start developing a conversation and start articulating your principles and how, in my case how limited government principles can make a positive difference in peoples lives, I think that’s probably a really good thing over the long term” says the Congressman.

DeSantis’s current seat runs along the coast from south of Jacksonville to New Smyrna Beach.

Congressman David Jolly told reporters at the annual AP meeting of editors and reporters in the state Capitol that Donald Trump is succeeding because he isn’t talking like a politician and that Congress is spooked by the immigration issue and would rather do nothing than risk not being elected.

“I would rather have a Congress that puts legislation on the floor. Spend the next three weeks debating border security and immigration. Let the House will on behalf of the American people and let’s see what happens. I would rather do that and risk my own political fortune and know we got something done,  than go along with the current strategy avoiding the hard issues for the sake of reelection” says Jolly.

Jolly is a candidate for the US Senate after his Pinellas County congressional seat was drawn and is likely to include more Democratic voters.

The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday morning in a case that could have a huge impact in Florida. As Matt Galka tells us, the ruling could alter the state’s death penalty system in a dramatic way.

Timothy Hurst was sentenced to death for a 1998 murder of his manager at a Pensacola Popeyes. Hurst tied the manager up and stabbed her to death in the freezer.  A jury came to a 7-5 recommendation of the death penalty. Hurst is challenging the non-unanimous decision as unconstitutional. Florida is the only state that allows non-unanimous death penalty recommendations from a jury nor does it require an explanation of factors. A judge then makes the ultimate decision.

Michael Sheedy with the Florida Catholic Conference says they’ve been pushing for reform for years.

“We’ve long opposed the use of the death penalty, but in the case the US Supreme Court is going to look at Florida’s death penalty mechanism, which we’ve long seen as needing to be overhauled and improved,” he said.

A bill has already been filed in the state legislature that would mandate future death penalty recommendations be unanimous.

State Representative Jose Rodriguez is one of the bill’s sponsors. He says if a ruling comes down after legislative session ends and no bill has been passed, Florida could be in a tight spot.

“It may very well be, that the legislature is in the position of either having to call a special session or possibly not having a death penalty for some temporary period,” said Rep. Rodriguez (D-Miami).

Clemency attorney Reggie Garcia says the uncertainty puts a lot of people in limbo.

“400 Florida inmates which puts us second in the country on death row, so certainly, lawyers as well as the inmates and their families will be watching these decisions closely,” he said.

The bill on death penalty reform has yet to be scheduled for a legislative hearing.