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When the U-S Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the way Florida sentences murderers to death back in January, cases ready for trial were put on hold. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, state lawmakers have an agreement on how many jurors it will take for a sentence of death. It is expected to clear the state House this afternoon.

Before the US Supreme court ruling,  7 out of 12 jurors could recommend a death sentence. That changes dramatically under compromise legislation. Once law, it will tale at least ten jurors to agree to death. Senator Greg Evers originally pushed for a unanimous jury, then changed his mind.

“There were cases in the past , that if we went with the unanimity, that, they would not have been prosecuted and they were some pretty serious cases.”

” My name is Ted Bundy”.

It was criminals like Ted Bundy, who got death on a 10-2 vote that prompted the change, Former Sheriff, now senator Charlie Dean says it will impact who goes to death row.

Q:”What do you think will happen with the higher threshold?”

A:”As intended, it will reduce the number of people who go to the death penalty.”

Indeed, Since the year 2000, 140 of 296 death sentences had votes of 9-3 or lower. Thats 47% who may not have gotten a death sentence.

The Florida Catholic conference had been pushing for a unanimous jury to send someone to death. It views the compromise a a big step forward. Michael Sheedy is the Executive Director.

“These bills will prohibit a judge from overturning a jury recommendation of life without parole and making it a death sentence. that’s a very big improvement.”

Rep. Ross Spano shepherd the bill through the House.

“So all twelve jurors must decide there is one single aggravating factor that satisfied to justify the death penalty.”

Florida never required that before and its why the high court said the death penalty was unconstitutional.

The legislation doesn’t address at all what happens to the nearly four hundred people already on death row. That decision will likely be made by Florida’s Supreme Court.

Under the new legislation, juries will have to find the person guilty by a unanimous verdict, then find at least one aggravating factor that justifies death by a unanimous vote. Finally 10 of the 12 jurors must recommend death or the sentence will be life As of this morning, there were 389 inmates on death row. The legislation could be voted on by the Senate and sent to the Governor as early as next week.

Lawmakers have been angry after learning that there are more than eleven thousand untested rape kits sitting in evidence lockers. Legislation that cleared it’s last House committee today would require police to submit rape kits within 30 days of the evidence being taken and they must be tested within 120 days. Sponsor Janet Adkins of Fernandina Beach says testing backlog kits in other states has lead to the arrest of serial rapists.

“So when you look at the serial nature of this very violent crime, then yes, I do believe that if we can get a more timely testing of these evidence kits, than yes, we can prevent future crimes from occurring” says Adkins.

The legislation does not address testing the 11 thousand backlogged kits. Governor rick Scott has recommended spending at least 8 million for testing kits, lawmakers have suggest as much as eleven million.

By a vote of 112-2, The State House approved legislation this afternoon that would require school districts to spend 100 minutes a week on recess for elementary students. The legislation is supported by the PTA , but it has run into trouble in the state Senate, where it is being stopped. Co sponsor Irv Slosberg called the legislation a no brainer.

“They’re under so much stress they need some recreation, It’s gonna increase their focus in the longterm. It’s gonna reduce stress,and its really important that they develop social skills. Physical activity, it feeds the brain” says Slosberg.

Senate Education ChairmanChairman John Legg of Pasco County is refusing to hear the bill, saying it would take too much time from classroom activities.

The State Senate gave tentative approval to a bill today that presumes that divorcing parents are each entitled to a 50/50 custody split. Sponsor Tom Lee told Senators  the legislation is needed because under the current law, who gets all or partial custody is up to the whim of the presiding judge.

“I believe that we are getting disparate outcomes all over this state, depending on whether you have a liberal judge, or a conservative judge. whether you have an old school judge or a new school judge. Whether you are in an urban area or whether you’re in a rural area” says Lee.

Lee was questioned whether the presumption would preclude kids being kept from violent parents. He said it would not.

Remember Powerball fever? Just about one month ago, everyone was hoping to purchase the winning ticket for a historic $1.5 billion dollar prize. As Matt Galka tells us, one of three winning tickets were sold here in Florida.

It wasn’t an easy month for Melbourne Beach couple David Kaltschmidt and his wife Maureen Smith.

“We lost a lot of sleep. I lost 10 pounds. Pacing at night will do that, I’ll tell you what,” said Kaltschmidt.

The couple cashed in one of three winning Powerball tickets drawn for the historic $1.5 billion dollar prize.  They opted to take the lump sum of just under $328 million dollars.

“We still can’t believe it,’ said Smith. “We kept checking the numbers.”

Smith said they played her numbers.

“It was a three dollar investment,” said Kaltschmidt.

Kaltscmidt plans to retire from his engineer job. Smith doesn’t exactly know what to do next.

“He wants a new car. We really don’t know. I want a massage!” she said.

Planned Parenthood would get no money for non abortion services under legislation that is moving through multiple committees in the State Capitol. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the bill also imposes new restrictions on doctors and clinics.

Under the legislation that brought a standing room only crowd to the Capitol,  Planned parenthood would lose more than quarter million dollars a year. the money currently  provides pregnancy and HIV screenings for mostly low income women. Keli Stargel’s bill says as long as the agency performs abortions, it can’t get any state money.

“Mammogram, HIV, all of those things can still redone. but they can not be an organization that is doing elective abortions” Stargel said.

Retired nurse Evelyn Richards worried out loud about women who would have to do without non abortion health care services.

“It doesn’t stop abortions and it takes away needed health care for the communities” she told the committee.

Debra Mauer, who was at the Capitol for Catholic Days got into a shouting match with the committee chairman and was nearly removed from the room.

“This is about cutting out babies and selling their parts” Mauer said. Chairman Rene Garcia corrected her:

“This bill is about transportation and having transportation protocols in place. This bill is about funding. Whether or not we will chose to fund…”

“Murderers” chimed Mauer before walking away before being escorted away.

In the end, the legislation was easily approved.

It also requires new admitting and transport agreements between doctors and hospitals.

In Texas similar legislation resulted in nearly half the clinics there closing.

Planned parenthood said it was still assessing its impact on its 22 clinics here in Florida,

The legislation has one more committee stop. A similar version is ready for a vote in the state House.

The Seminole Tribe’s push to have lawmakers ratify a new gambling deal is one step closer to reality. The Senate Regulated Industries Committee today approved the compact and added provisions that could allow slots in the six counties that have approved the machines. Sen. Joe Negron orchestrated the amendment that expanded gaming to those counties that have already approved games.

“The State government should reflect and be okay with gaming that has been approved by voter referendum.  I think the bill honors the choices that voters have made about how they want to spend their entertainment dollars while at the same time taking some steps to restrict the gaming footprint” says Negron.

Under Negron’s legislation, the state would get slightly less than the 3 billion over five years from the Seminole Tribe, but he expects to make up the difference from the taxes on new slot machines in Gretna, Washington County, Hamilton, Lee, and Palm Beach counties.

Dozens of teens from across the state were at the Capitol today to learn more about driving and the dangers of texting. They also heard from the families that have lost loved ones. Last September, Bob Boos lost his son Kevin and his two friends when they were hit by a speeding driver.

“He chose drive down Pensacola drive at speeds allegedly up to 100 miles per hour to see how fast that car would go. One hundred miles per hour. He hit the side of a 2004 PT cruiser that had our three children in it” said Boos.

The three teens were FSU Students. Their car erupted in fire on impact.

Continuing threats to the country from ISIS and other terror groups has some lawmakers scrambling to deal with incoming refugees from war-torn Syria. As Matt Galka tells us, one bill could block some people looking to relocate to Florida.

There was plenty of outcry from groups opposed to a House bill targeting Syrian refugees. Many said the same thing: it’s profiling.

Jacksonville Republican Lake Ray sponsors legislation allowing the Governor and Attorney General to block refugees from relocating in Florida if they’re believed to be a threat…or from a country perceived as a threat. He says attacks in Paris and San Bernardino justify the proposal.

“God forbid these kind of attacks happen at Disney world or universal studios,” said Rep. Ray.

Human Rights advocates say if the bill becomes a law, it’s only a matter of time before it ends up in court

“The bill attempts to confer formal authority on the Governor or Attorney General, Mr chair and members of the committee, to be diplomatic, that wont pass constitutional muster,” said Mark Schlakman with the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights.

Laila Abdelaziz with the Council on American Islamic Relations bashed the proposal.

“It’s absolutely discrimination. The bill language includes an amendment that exempts refugees from the Western Hemisphere so it’s very clear what the intent of this bill is,” said Abdelaziz.

But the bill cleared its second House committee 9-3 along party lines.

“The truth of the matter is that there are people in the world who want to kill Americas,” said Rep. Chris Latvala (R-Clearwater) before he voted in favor of it.

The bill requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to screen refugees who come here from outside of the Western Hemisphere. Opponents say FDLE won’t be able to do any better than the three tier federal process refugees already go through.

The bill has yet to be heard by any Senate committees.

People with an autistic disorder often live exceptionally normal lives, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, that can change when they come into contact with law enforcement. Two bills approved today seek to make those encounters more normal.

280 thousand Floridians, one in every 68 of us, shows up on the autism spectrum disorder.

“the boy was very sensitive to lights and sounds” is how Autism Speaks described the disorder in a PSA.

Those with the disorder are seven times more likely to have interactions with police than average citizens.

“how does the officer know?”

Stay Rep. Bill Hager wants to make sure those with the disorder have someone in the room who understands them when they are interacting with police.

“People that quality to be in that interview include parents, or guardian, someone substantially familiar with the individual” says Hager.

Nancy Daniels, Public Defender for the 2nd Judicial Circuit says those with autism are often scared in police encounters.

“There’s a whole body of evidence about people confessing to things they didn’t do. Either because they didn’t understand the question correctly or because they are afraid to standup to authority” says Daniels.

Right now, own police rollup on someone who is acting out, their first thought is likely to be that they are high on drugs, not that they have an autistic disorder.

A second bill mandates police receive annual training on how to recognize someone who is acting out because of autism and not something else. Florida Sherriff’s support the legislation.  Major Bob Ura of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office waived his testimony in support of the legisaltion.

“The issues could be does the person understand what we say to them, and again, if we have markers or indicators that this may be somebody that has something to do with the autism spectrum, additional training will help us” Ura told us.

A third bill would order the Department of Highway safety to include an autistic diagnosis on state identification card.

Legislation approved by a Senate Committee today at the state Capitol makes it illegal for web sites to charge someone for removing a mug shot from their site. State Senator Darren Soto says the bill targets unsavory groups who use virtual intimidation to demand payment for removing the mug shots. Soto says the bill does not affect legitimate sites who publish the pictures.

“This bill wouldn’t effect that because newspapers never demand payment in order to remove those photos. They simply could keep them up forever if they felt like it. and this bill would do nothing about that. It;s simply the unsavory practice of charging for removal for which we have a cottage industry that has affected Florida” says SOTO.

Many who pay to have the mug shots taken down find out weeks later the picture is back up on an affiliated web site and they are asked to pay again to take the shot down.

A group of mothers whose children were killed traveled to the state Capitol today to seek legislation to keep the identities of witnesses to felonies out of public records. The mothers say the identification keeps witnesses from coming forward. Myrna Williams-Cammon says her son was killed because people though he had talked to police.

“Evidently some young man killed somebody. they thought he was a witness to it. He went and talked to police and said he didn’t see anything. \Maybe three or four weeks later, he got killed in his backyards on a Saturday afternoon in broad open daylight.  And people saw this crime, people was telling us what happened, but they would not tell police what happened” says Williams-Cammon,

While witnesses gave testimony, today, a vote on the legislation was postponed. The bill is opposed by the First Amendment Foundation, which says it is overly broad.

Legislation allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry guns into no secure areas of airports narrowly cleared a Senate Committee in the State Capitol today. The legislation removes a ban on guns in airports. Sen. Wilton Simpson says the legislation will make airports safer.

“If you are taking a loved one to the airport to drop them off; any of those activities that you would do before they go past security checkpoint, you would be allowed to carry your gun without committing a crime. and prevent other folks potentially, from committing crimes because of it” Simpson told the committee.

The legislation must still go through two more committees, including Judiciary, where its chairman is refusing to hear two other gun bills this year.

Around $3 million uninsured Floridians struggle to find adequate healthcare in the state. As Matt Galka tells us, mostly volunteer run free clinics are hoping funding from the legislature can help them serve more people.

With county health department care declining, uninsured Floridians have limited options. Theresa White and Meg Lokey work with free clinics in Clearwater and are hoping to change that.

“We see people who don’t have insurance, don’t qualify for government programs, government assistance. We are their safety net. There’s a big gap still even with the Affordable Care Act,” said Lokey.

White and Lokey are helping the Florida Association of Free and Charitable clinics lobby the legislature in hopes of getting state funding for the 90 clinics around the state.

“Most of them don’t have jobs, a lot of them don’t have the ability to go to a dentist, to fix their teeth, to get dental services that they need to get a job. So our services helps increase their chances of being able to get work,” said White.

The legislature approved $9 million for the charity care last year, but it was ultimately vetoed by the Governor.

Palm Beach County Medical Society CEO Tenna Wiles says that more than 125,000 Floridians received free care last year.  She says the vetoed money could have helped even more.

“They find themselves without coverage at all, this could be cases of people needing neurosurgery, we’ve performed open heart surgery on our patients. Our physicians and our volunteers provide this free of cost,” she said.

Wiles says that nearly $160 million dollars worth of health care services were provided free to the uninsured through the clinics last year.

As the state Office of Early Learning starts to figure out how to spend some federal money for child care, parents and workers are saying “we can’t afford it,” and are asking for help.  Matt Galka has the story.

Hillsborough County Mother of two Nadia Morley has  Master’s degree…but barely makes above minimum wage.

“It’s hard at home when you don’t know where you can get your next meal from or when your next light will cut off,” she said.

She has to work and provide for her family and that includes paying for child care.  She’s paying more than $100 bucks a week for daycare.

“I’m struggling weekly just to pay day care, and it’s depressing because I’m stressed at work, I’m stressed at home, I don’t feel like I’m fulfilling the needs of my children,” said Morley.

Morley was part of a group that travelled to Tallahassee Friday urging officials to think about child care affordability.

Child care worker LiAnne Flakes says it’s not just about the affordability, it’s about also paying child care workers a minimum wage. She’s pushing for $15 dollars an hour.

“We have one of the most important jobs, I believe, in the country, our job is important but we are the least paid. Even the person who walks dogs gets more than I do,” said Flakes.

A $15 dollar minimum wage bill has been filed in both the House and the Senate but there are no plans to hear either one.

State Representative Victor Torres has the bill in the House.  He says it’s the least the state can do for child care workers who are molding the future generations.

“They’re 2, 3 years old, this is their development stages, this is when the child is learning their ABCs, when they learn their names,” said Rep. Torres.

About a dozen people from the rally testified before the Department of Education Office of Early Learning late Friday afternoon urging them to consider affordability of child care.