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Legislators touted a new texting while driving ban ahead of a favorable vote by a house committee Thursday morning.

Lawmakers stood alongside law enforcement and victims of distracted driving accidents.

The legislation would make texting while driving a primary offense, meaning officers could pull drivers over for using their phones behind the wheel even if they don’t commit another traffic infraction.

The goal is to cut down on the growing number of fatal accidents caused by distracted drivers in the state. There were more than 50,000 accidents and 200 fatalities in 2016.

Demetrius Branca lost his son Anthony after a texting driver hit him while he was driving his motorcycle to school.

“It is too late for Anthony. It is too late for many many others. Many other stories that I have heard that break my heart. I have to go to sleep at night with images in my head that I do not want,” said Branca. “So I’m here today to advocate for harsher distracted driving laws because that is what is going to save our kids, our friends, our families and our parents.”

Florida is one of only four states where texting while driving is a secondary offense.

Carrying a concealed weapon in a religious institution is illegal if the organization also operates a day care center or school, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, lawmakers say after shootings in South Carolina and Texas, Churches no longer need to be gun free zones.

After two shooters claimed 35 lives in church shootings, Florida lawmakers want to make sure Churches in Florida are not gun free zones. Rep. Ross Spano (R-Tampa) says even his church has faced a dilemma.

“We are faced with the unenviable decision of committing a third degree felony, or allowing allowing our congregants to protect themselves” Spano told committee members.

“The vulnerability of our churches is something this bill is simply seeking to reduce” says Sponsor Lawrence McClure.

But Beth DuMond of Moms Demand Action against gun violence calle the legislation unnecessary.

“It’s trying to solve a problem that does not exist” she told members.

But committee members pushed back.

Rep. Chris Latvala ( R-Clearwater) asked:  “I believe you said this tries to fix a problem that doesn’t exist and then you list a few churches where there have been mass shootings such as Charleston and Texas?”

“Yes”

“I don’t see how  both of those can jive together.”

NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer also pushed back.

“This bill is strictly about restoring the private property rights of churches, synagogue’s and other religious institutions says Hammer”

In the end, the legislation passed overwhelmingly.

“The legislation only applies to churches that have either a day care center or operate a school.

Because churches and synagogue’s have the final say, this legislation is considered one of the few gun bills considered likely to pass before lawmakers go home in March.

The Senate will hear it’s companion legislation tomorrow morning.

In the last two days committees in the House and Senate at the State Capitol have approved legislation that would move the state to daylight saving time all year round and make the western panhandle pat of the eastern time zone. The latest approval came this morning, when Sponsor Heather Fitzenhagen told committee members the change would be good for the tourism industry.

“Committee members, this is the first great step to putting more sunshine in our lives in Florida. We are the sunshine state. I think its going to improve the health and wellness  across the board. If you think it about it a moment, how many times have you gotten home from work in the wintertime and you would live to go throw the football, maybe drop a line in, or go out to dinner with your spouse. This will give people more quality time, the time when its nicest in Florida” says Fitzenhagen.

If lawmakers and the Governor eventually agree, Congress and the US Department of Transportation would still have to approve the change.

Police being able to stop you for texting while driving without first observing another violation is one step closer to becoming the law of Florida tonight. But s Mike Vasilinda tells us, African American lawmakers worry the change could open the door to harassment by police.

State Senator Bobby Powell used to be a police dispatcher. He told a Senate Committee he was 19 the first time police stopped him.

“tag light was out”

And says he’ been on the wrong end of a police stop at night.

“I was verbally abused, yelled at, cursed at” says Powell.

Powell’s opposition to stronger anti texting legislation prompted Demetrius Branca, who’s son Anthony died after being hit by a texting driver,  to argue the good in the bill outweighs the bad.

“If we hesitate now, people are going to die” says the Dad working tirelessly to pass a primary enforcement bill.

Other parents, like Debbit Wanninkhof, shared their stories.

“He was killed in Oklahoma by a cell phone distracted driver” she said of her son Patrick.

Before a vote, lawmakers added a provision requiring the state to keep track of who is being stopped.

Sponsor Keith Perry says in the end, the legislation will send a message.

“We’re not trying to pull people over. We’re trying to change behavior” Perry told fellow Senators.

Sen Audrey Gibson of Jacksonville was the other no vote. She argues requiring hands free driving takes away the incentive for discrimination to play into who gets stopped.

“It’s very obvious someone is using a phone when you have hands free.”

Discrimination is a problem, acknowledged Florida police chiefs. They say they are working to stop it.

“It’s a valid concern, but law enforcement works very hard to implement the appropriate training” says FSU Police Chief David Perry. He came to the committee representing the Police Chiefs Association.

One of the questions asked, Can we text while’s were stopped at a light? The answer is yes.

But not while you are driving, unless you want to risk a thirty dollar ticket.

The legislation has one more committee before being voted on by the full Senate. Last week, Governor Rick Scott said he favors the tougher law.

Female Democrats in the state legislature say the next logical extension of the #me too campaign is to pay women equally for the same job. They argue they earn between 75 and 85 cents for every dollar a man makes for the same duties. State Senator Linda Stewart is the Senate sponsor of the equal pay legislation.

“If you truly value women and the work they do, the rights they have earned, and the respect they are owed, than hear, then pass this bill” says Steward.

House Minority Leader janet Cruz says women want fairness in all aspects of their lives.

“I think it’s part of the movement, you know a movement to treat women with respect, whether it be in fair pay equity, pay equity, or whether it be in respect equity.”

The legislation is yet to get a hearing by mostly Republican men in charge of the state legislature.

When White Supremacist Richard Spencer was shouted down at the University last fall  one state Senator had enough. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, universities, faculty, students or staff who interrupt a scheduled speaker could be liable for up to a hundred thousand dollars in damages under legislation being heard at the Capitol on Tuesday.

Protestors of any kind wouldn’t be stuck in free speech zones on college campuses under legislation pending at the State Capitol.  Sen. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) is the sponsor.

“The very fact that you would be relegated to a free speeches zone tells you you don’t have free speech” says Baxley.

Baxley proposed the “Free Speech on Campus” legislation after white supremacist Richard Spencer was shouted down at the University of Florida last October.

‘We’ve got to get away from this idea that none of us can hear something that we object to.”

In addition to outlawing free speech zones, the legislation allows a court to imposes a minimum five hundred dollar civil fine for university students, faculty or staff for disrupting a previously scheduled activity.

“We’ve got to learn to debate ideas rather than just yelling and screaming” says Baxley.

A Brookings Institute study has found that among college students, 51 percent think its okay to shout down someone with whom they disagree.

“I think most college students, like, actually understand the first amendment. They might just let their emotions get the best of them” says FSU student Sarafina Cruz.

The legislation gets its first hearing in the House on Tuesday. No hearings are scheduled in the Senate.

While passage is a long shot, just hearing the bill is expected to send a message to University administrators that all speech is to be protected.

Bright banners draped the rotunda in the State Capitol this morning. They will be there all week as advocates hope to push children’s issues to center stage for lawmakers. The annual event brings thousands to the Capitol to point out what kids need or are lacking. Josh Talkington of Eckerd Connects says it is a chance for advocates to share success stories.

“So anything we can do to move the needle a little bit, as far making their progress a little bit better, making the world a little better for them, putting them on an even playing field. That’s why we are excited about” says Talkington.

Tomorrow, state officials will read to elementary students during a Storybook Village in the Capitol courtyard. There will also be a teen town hall meeting and a news conference to talk about the heath and well being of all children.