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The Florida Supreme Court today ruled voters can not authorize slot machines except in two south Florida counties. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the ruling means that votes authorizing slots in eight counties are invalid.

In 2012 Gasden County became the first county to authorize a vote to legalize slots. Organizers promised more jobs.

“Vote yes” said paid sign wavers in front of the Courthouse in Quincy.

Seven other counties followed suit. Each was denied a permit by the state.

Last June, the case went to the State Supreme Court.

The state held firm.

“The legislature did not intend to legalize slot machines statewide when  it changed the eligible facility definition” Justices were told by State Solicitor General Jonathan Williams.

But slots backers said lawmakers intentionally created a loophole.

“First you have to get a county commission to authorize a referendum, that’s what that language means. Second, you have to pass the referendum” saidLawyer Marc Dunbar.

After nearly a year. The Supreme Court has said the votes were not legally binding and said the law “limits licenses to Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.”

Before the ruling, the prospect of more slots was one of the reasons anti gambling advocates began circulating petitions to ban all future gambling expansion without voter approval.  That petition is still something lawmakers will have to deal with.

No Casino’s John Sowinski calls the ruling a partial victory. but says he will continue their push for a constitutional amendment.

“We’ve got almost two hundred thousand signatures of the million plus we need in order to put it on the ballot. we’re well on track so voters can decide this issue once and for all” says Sowinski.

If the initiative gets on the 2018 ballot, unlike this time, voters will have the final say one way or the other.

Organizers issued a statement saying they were disappointed and were considering their next move.

The Department of Corrections today added two names to a memorial honoring fallen correctional officers. Neither of the two died at the hands of an inmate, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, how many more names are added in the future may depend on how quickly the department can hire and retain officers.

Every time a correctional officer walks through secure gates and into work, l they don’t know if they’ll be coming out alive. And, while police officers face the same risk, they are armed. Correctional officers are not, even though many inmates have weapons.

At a ceremony at Wakulla Correctional Institute, Correctional Officer Jerry Waters recognized those who lost their lives in the last year.

“We will forever honor their legacy, commitment, dedication and service” Waters told the crowd.

Two officers died on duty in 2016. Neither at the hands of an inmate, but from the stress of the job says Secretary Julie Jones.

“Having a heart attack is no different than being taken out by an inmate, in my estimation” said Jones after the ceremony.

Names not on this are the names of officers, beaten, punched and perhaps stabbed on an almost daily basis.

Since 2010, inmate on inmate assaults are up over 68 percent. Inmate on officer assaults are up 56 Percent. part of the problem is a vacancy rate over 20 percent in some prisons, requiring 16 hour shifts.

Lawmakers responded with 56 million for pay raises and hiring bonuses.

“It does open the employment pool to individuals who would not have envy considered us because of the pay. Um, but then this pay plan also rewards the ones who have stayed with us” says the Secretary.

The dead were honored with a 21 gun salute.

With the additions two names this year, 49 names are listed on the correctional officer memorial. How many more are aded in the future may well  depend on how quickly the DOC can find qualified staff and increase safety for everyone.

Since 2010, turnover among officers has been 95 percent. To stem the flow, Officers under the rank of Captain will see a twenty five hundred dollar raise come July first. New hires will see a thousand dollar hiring bonus, and officers who see promotions will also see a raise.

Pressure is building for the Governor or legislative leaders to call a special session of the legislature to finish implementing the voter approved medical marijuana legislation. If they don’t, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the job will fall to bureaucrats at the Department of Health.

In a video posted on Twitter, John Morgan, the man who bankrolled the medical marijuana referendum wants lawmakers to finish implementing medical marijuana.

“Florida knew what they wanted. They know why they wanted it. so I am calling on Governor Scott to call a special session” says Morgan in the video.

Lawmakers got stuck over how many dispensaries would be allowed. John Morgan calls anti capitalistic.

“There’s no caps on gas stations. Free market enterprise allows competition.”

Appearing on the Preston Scott talk radio show, House Speaker Richard Corcoran believes the voters need to be respected.

“You know, when 71% of the voters say that we want legalized medical marijuana,

and the fact we couldn’t get it done, and to just leave it to bureaucrats over at the Dept.

of Health would be a gross injustice.I do believe and support the notion we should come back” said the House Speaker.

Thursday, Senate President Joe Negron sent this memo to fellow Senators asking for their input. On Monday he made is position clear.

“I think the legislature has a responsibility to be involved in that implementation, so I think that’s an option we will look at” Negron told reporters after the session ended.

Special sessions can be called by the Governor, or the call be called jointly by Senate President and House Speaker.

In the video, Morgan says its time to put people before profits.

“And let’s go out and do this for the people of Florida.”

John Morgan is a trial lawyer who is considering a race for Governor. Special sessions cost anywhere from 50 to 75 thousand dollars a day according to figures released by the House this week.

Governor Rick Scott has signed legislation speeding up the construction of a major reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee. the plan is still five years in the making, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the fact that it is law is one of the miracles of the 2017 legislative session.

For 242 days last summer, Florida was under an emergency order. Water discharges from Lake Okeechobee had resulted in toxic algae which sponsor Rob Bradley called:

“A call to action”

It fouled waterways on both the east and west coasts.

“we can’t wait any longer” Bradley told colleagues.

The fix is a massive reservoir, south of lake Okeechobee. The plan has been around for 20 years.

But It took the muscle and political capital of the Senate President to make the one point five billion dollar plan happen.

“And history will record that this legislature not only acted but we funded souther storage” said Negron after the session ended.

“What Joe Negron did was kick this in the pants” says Everglades Foundation C.E.O. Eric Eikenberg.

The effort to build the reservoir also had to overcome the efforts of three dozen lobbyists hired by big sugar.

To combat their numbers, environmentalists bussed in hundreds of everyday people to tell their stories.

“We rallied the troops. We outmanned special interests, and the god guys won on this. The Everglades won” says Eikenberg.

The reservoir is still 5 years away. When done, it will hold 78 billion gallons of water.

78 billion gallons of water is enough to fill nearly 12 thousand olympic sized swimming pools.

Florida’s drought will likely prevent the need for discharges, and that should avoid more algae blooms this year. Next year remains a big question.

Governor Rick Scott had called for an additional two hundred million dollars from lawmakers to fund dike repairs around Lake Okeechobee. They refused, in part, because the dike repair is a federal responsibility.

The ink is barely dry on the vote sheets from the end of yesterday’s extended legislative session and calls for the Governor to veto a massive education bill cobbled together in secret in the final hours of the session are already being made. As Mike Vasilinda tell us, even lawmakers who voted for the bill say legislation should never be handled that way again.

The education package, crafted in secret, eliminates one end of year algebra test, adds 20 minutes of recess for public schools and eliminates a complicated teacher evaluation system. There are also 12 hundred dollar bonuses for highly effective teachers

Then there is 140 million for Schools of Hope. They are Charter schools who offer wrap around services such as health care and meals. House Speaker Richard Corcoran made Schools of Hope a condition for any budget agreement.

“I think it’s the greatest education K-12 policy that we’ve passed in the history of this state. It does more to transform kids lives, free up teachers, free up administration” said the House Speaker after the session ended.

The measure only passed the Senate after this warning from Appropriations Chair Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater).

“If we don’t to proceed to adopt all of those bills, then we basically have nothing.”

“The Governor needs to veto it. That’s the bottom line” says Luke Flynt, Secretary-treasurer of the Florida Education Association. “It is no good for parents. It is no good for teachers. It is no good for our bus drivers or anybody who works in public education.”

More veto requests are coming from the League of Women Voters and the First Amendment Foundation.  Both object to the secret nature in which the bill was crafted.

And more veto requests may be coming from the Superintendents.

Sen. Bill Montford is the only former School Superintendent serving in the Legislature.

“Twenty of our districts get less money than they did in the current year. And expenses are going up” says Montford.

The House says a Rick Scott veto would be overridden. The vote in the Senate was 20-18, making an override more difficult.