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The Florida Senate has passed legislation carrying hefty fines for companies and governments that don’t timely report hazardous spills to the state. The legislation is a direct result of a giant sinkhole in Polk County and a sewage spill by the City of St. Petersburg.

The Mosaic sinkhole, which dumped more than 200 million gallons of radioactive sludge into the acquirer, was first noticed on August 27th. A day later, it was reported to the Department of Environmental Protection. But the Public, and even Jon Steverson, the DEP Secretary at the time, remained in the dark for weeks.

“I knew at the time and learned in late August there was a water loss incident. I was not aware of the sink hole until a much later point in time” Steverson told us on November 25, 2016.

That same day, the state started rule making authority to require a 24 hour notice, but the effort was cancelled by an administrative law judge.

Now, legislation that has cleared the State Senate. Sponsor Bill Galvano requires companies to report a spill within 24 hours.

“The onus then falls on the Department to notify all impacted interested parties within the next 24 hours” galvano told the Senate.

Afterwards he said “People have a right to wake up in the morning and go about their business and not have to worry they are somehow ingesting or being exposed to harmful contaminants.”

The bill requires DEP to create a sign up sheet on its website and allow people to sign up for statewide or geographic alerts.

“We certainly can send out a notice to property owners by internet, television, robo calls within 24 hours” says Galvano.

Companies, or even governments that don’t report, could face a ten thousand dollar a day fine.

The House bill has yet to be heard, making the legislation part of the end of session horse trading about to begin.

The House bill has yet to be heard, making the legislation part of the end of session horse trading about to begin.

The Florida House has approved legislation formally apologizing to the families of four African American men wrongfully convicted in 1949 of raping a white woman. Know as the Groveland Four, three of the men were sent to prison. A fourth was shot by a posse. After the US Supreme Court threw out the convictions, two of the men were shot, one of them fatally, by the Sheriff in Lake County.  Carol Greenlee is the daughter of the longest surviving man. She thanked lawmakers.

“For releasing my family from prison. From releasing my nieces. My son. My brothers from the dark cloud, the shame and the stigma” says the 67 year old, who was four when her father went to prison.

Author Gilbert King won a Pulitzer for his book “Devil in the Grove” about the crime and the murders.

Uber, Lyft,  and other ride sharing drivers will soon have standardized amounts of insurance coverage. The Florida Senate will send legislation four years in the making to the Governor the next time it meets. the legislation requires drivers to carry at least 50 thousand dollars in bodily injury coverage when their cars are empty, and a million dollar policy when riders are present. Sponsor Jeff Brandes says the legislation also standardized background checks.

“Its going to create a standardized system throughout the state. whether you a rein the Keys, or Tampa Bay, or Jacksonville, you’ll know you’ll have the same level of background checks, same level of insurance an this will be standardized going forward” says Brandes.

The bill requires the ride sharing companies to conduct a local and national criminal background check on its drivers every 3 years, and a driving record check just once when the person applies ate be a driver.

Nearly three out of four Florida voters agreed to give businesses that install solar a tax break, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, turning those wishes into reality is hitting a road block at the state Capitol.

The idea seems simple enough. Give businesses a tax break for installing solar. 72 percent said yes to the idea last August.  But language in the amendment says the tax break is subject limitations provided by general law. that’s where it gets sticky.

Lawmakers are at odds over what limitations might apply. Susan Glickman is with the Souther Alliance for Clean Energy.

“On the House side, Rep. Ray Rodriguez has filed HB 1351 and unfortunately , it creates duplicative and needless barriers. Really, regulations on small businesses in the state of Florida” says Glickman.

Senate sponsor Jeff Brandes likes the idea of letting cities and counties earn some revenue from solar but other wise he prefers a bill free of regulation.

“I think ultimately, consumers and their solar contractors are adults. They can decide if they want to enter into contracts . they don’t need the state getting involved in their contracts” argues Brandes.

House Sponsor Ray Rodrigues did not respond to our request for an interview.

And If lawmakers don’t agree, voters wishes will be stymied for at least a year.

In 2008, voters passed the same language for homeowners. It took lawmakers 5 years to implement.

Susan Glickman thinks 2016 will be different than eight years ago.

“I think support for solar and interest in solar is at much higher levels. So I don’t think were going to have to wait” says Glickman.

The legislation is expected to reduce local tax revenues by as much as 54 million a year.

Items being negotiated include:

• Not allowing a break for solar installed before the end of this year.
• Only allowing 80 percent of the value to be eligible for a tax break
• Setting up a new regulatory scheme for installers

The exemption for solar would expire at the end of 2037.

After months of silence, Governor Rick Scott today called on legislative leaders to spend an unanticipated two hundred million dollars to fix the Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee. Scott also said he would support new water storage south of the Lake as long as it does not involve taking private lands or cost people their jobs. Scott believes

“I want to get this done. I don’t want to go through.  I want to do everything I can so we don’t get through another year where we have excess water and we have to see discharges out of Lake O. Lake O. we have the ability in our budget to do this, and I’m calling on both the House and Senate to be a partner  to get this done” Scott told reporters.

The Governor’s support is key to the plan supported by the Senate President. The Governor says he has asked for nothing in return from legislative leaders.

The people who guard our state prisons are among the few who are likely to get raises from state lawmakers this year, but , even the ten percent being sought may not stem staff turnover that has lead to dangerous conditions for both officers and inmates.

Statewide, only one in four officers has more than two years experience. in February the vacancy rate at Franklin Correctional was 24 percent.

Inmate Jeffrey Flynn has paid the price for low staffing levels. He was stabbed by another inmate.

“I went into shock. I lost most of my blood, and they ended up having to bag me on both arms just to stabilize me” Flynn said of the attack.

Flynn is a non violent offender doing four years for kidnapping his own son. In addition to being nearly killed, he’s seen what not having enough staff is doing to the prison system.

“Everywhere you go, there are groups. Well just call them groups” says Flynn.

“Gangs?”

“Yeah, and they target people and they have cell phones.”

“why are cell phones so important?:

“Contact the outside world to run their business.”

“Drug Business?”

“I don’t know” he concluded.

The budget being negotiated by state lawmakers would give the prison system about 40 million more than last year.

“Help is on the way”  lawmakers said In March, when the Department got a thumbs up from lawmakers after being told violence inside against staff and inmates was up over 50 percent.

The Department is asking lawmakers for enough to give everyone a ten percent raise, and to included a ten thousand dollar hiring bonus in some prisons.

But ten percent raises aren’t likely to stem the bleeding. After a year on the job, officers can get a job at a local jail and earn ten thousand a year more, and be safer .

Gang activity, according to the Department of Corrections, is up by over forty percent in the last six years.

Committees of the Florida House and Senate each voted to abolish the state’s no fault auto insurance law today. The system has resulted in many fraudulent claims, and no one is sure if the reform will end the fraud.

Adrian Groham was T-Boned by an uninsured driver with two kids in the car. She quickly exhausted the ten thousand dollars in Personal Injury Protect insurance that she carried.

“My daughter was airlifted and we were brought to the hospital. All that was gone.

It was nothing else to pay for that” says Groham.

Adrian was brought to the Capitol by lawyers favoring legislation ending Personal Injury Protection. It would be replaced with a requirement for two and a half times more bodily injury coverage. Sponsor Erin Grall says even with more BI, rates should still go down.

“Decrease of about eight percent or 81 dollars per policy” Grall told the committee.

But advocate Mark Cederberg says higher coverage limits will cause more to go without insurance,

“And who’s going to get hit the hardest with having to pay for that increased BI coverage? It’s gonna be the people who can least afford it” said the Orlando Attorney.

A skeptical Jared Moskowitz voted yes…but had this surprisingly candid remark.

“I just cant think of an example where government has sone something with the intention of lowering insurance rates and its had that intended purpose” quipped Moskowitz.

While the trial lawyers and the insurance companies seem to be pointing fingers at each other, a third group says what’s really needed is a deadline for insurance companies to pay claims.

Legal reform groups say little will change with the bill.

William Large is the CEO of the Florida Justice Reform Institute.

“You’re gonna have a litigation system that has a pot of silver under it be replaced by a litigation system that has a pot of gold underneath it” says Large.

The legislation easily passed.

A timetable would force lawyers to settle weak cases quickly lowering legal fees.

Fracking opponents at the Capitol are angry bi-partisan legislation to ban fracking is not moving They blame campaign contributions from big energy companies, ,and are calling on lawmakers to hear the bill. Dr. Ron Saff likened pro racking arguments to those of the cigarette industry.

“Just as there is no safe cigarette, there is no such thing as safe fracking using acids or other dangerous chemical. Communities that have fracking nearby are outraged at the massive amounts of air pollution and contamination of their drink water, which threatens the health of anyone living nearby” Saff told reporters at a news conference.

More than 70 local governments have banned fracking.

The Florida Senate has approved a massive water bill by a vote of 36 to 3. The legislation allows a reservoir to be built to avoid discharges that fouled waterways on both coasts last summer. The fix is not cheap.

Algae fouled water on both the lower east and west coasts let summer, caused by discharges from Lake Okeechobee, gave Florida a black eye world wide. The legislature’s response: A one point five billion dollar plan to deepen existing reservoirs to hold billions more gallons of water. Sponsor Rob Bradley says it can’t be allowed to happen again.

“If you’re the vacation Capital of the world and you’re selling beaches and rivers and springs, and toxic discharges are happening in those waterways, that’s not a good calling card” says Bradley.

The water would be treated before being released to the south, to flow into Florida bay.

“So, the reason it hasn’t happen so far is because this is a really hard thing to do” added Bradley.

The plan has the blessing of the Sierra Club.

“It will rehydrate the Everglades, reduce the discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie. Help recharge the acquirer for the eight million people in South Florida, and get clean fresh water to Florida Bay to help address the sea grass die off” says Sierra Club lobbyists Dave Cullen.

One provision of the bill has Democrats concerned there’s a hidden agenda. Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez says it would violate a long held believe in Florida when it comes to water.

“There’s a concern it might take us in the direction of privatizing water, which is a huge concern. Um. You know Florida has a long tradition of water being a public utility” says Rodriguez.

While supported by environmentalists, they are are objecting to the use of 200 million dollars in Amendment one money for phase one of the project. Voters dedicated that money to land and water conservation.

The plan is the brainchild of the Senate President. There is no House companion, but sponsor Bradly says miracles can happen when pushed by the right people.