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More than 400,000 barbers, cosmetologists, landscapers, interior designers, talent agents and other professionals are regulated by the state of Florida.

New legislation would sunset or abolish the regulations, unless the licensing boards can prove the licensing is needed.

As a new Governor, Ron DeSantis pitched lawmakers on the idea of deregulating more than two dozen professions.

“You can earn jump wings by completing Army jump school in three weeks. Florida law requires twelve hundred hours to become licensed as a barber,” said DeSantis during his 2019 State of the State speech.

The legislation would have cut training for licensed barbers, among others, in half.

It was one of the few things the first-year chief executive didn’t get from lawmakers.

One reason is barbers like Ben Collins.

“I probably needed that twelve hundred,” said Collins. “I had to know what I was doing. I had to be trained to know what I was doing.”

Now new legislation would abolish all regulation over the next two years and require professional boards to prove they should be regulated.

The effort is being saluted by Americans for Prosperity.

“It’s not just about any one license. It’s about the overall idea of taking away occupational licensing to allow hard working Floridians to find meaningful work,” said Phillip Suderman with Americans for Prosperity.

Barber Chuck Richards believes there could be fewer hours, but he believes the classroom work was essential.

“We go into great depth learning how to detect different kinds of skin cancer,” said Richards.

Last year lawmakers underestimated the outcry from thousands of barbers, cosmetologists, and other professionals.

They’re likely to get another earful this year.

The job facing lawmakers is to decide where and when regulation protects consumers and not those doing the work.

The legislation uses nearly six of its 12 pages to list the specific statutes that it abolishes, which amounts to several hundred boards and professions.

There’s a new police chief in the county with the highest crime rate in the state.

Lawrence Revell was named Chief of the Tallahassee Police Department Monday morning after a high ranking St. Petersburg officer was selected and then turned the job down in a contract dispute

Crime in Tallahassee and surrounding Leon County have been the subject of concern for figures like FSU President John Thrasher and even the Governor.

Revell said his focus will be to address violent crime by creating a culture of unity.

“My vision is simple and that is to work tirelessly to unite this community and the police department in a community-led assault on violent crimes and those who would victimize our citizens. As one of the oldest police departments in the country we will modernize our approach and make 21st century policing more than just a catch phrase,” said Revell.

Revell’s selection has been criticized by some social justice groups for his involvement in the shooting of a black teenager in 1996 who had rammed another officer with his car.

He was cleared by a grand jury which found he “bravely performed his sworn duties”.

Next Monday thousands of teachers from across the state will be at the State Capitol, hoping to set the agenda for the annual legislative session that begins Tuesday.

Their message: It’s time for not just a higher minimum salary, but much more.

“We can not continue to do what we do and the magic that happens between a teacher and a student when our lights are being cut off. When we can’t afford mortgages or rent,” said Fedrick Ingram, President of the Florida Education Association.

On top of bonuses, the Governor is proposing raising teacher salaries to a minimum $47,500.

“Which takes Florida from 26th to number two in the nation,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

The Governor’s plan is being called “A start, but it’s not a cure for where we are.”

The union believes everyone from the janitorial staff to cafeteria workers and bus drivers need more money.

“This school year we had three thousand classrooms that did not have a certified teacher. The Governor’s plan will not cure that. We still have over two thousand vacancies that are teacher shortages. We have bus driver shortages,” said Ingram.

Under Florida law it’s illegal for public employees, including teachers, to go on strike, but they point to actions by teachers in other states.

They want to put national pressure on lawmakers.

“And it is up to us to put pressure on lawmakers. To let them know we’re going to nationalize this issue. Because if we want to be at the forefront of what’s right, we’ve got to recognize what’s wrong,” said Ingram.

Many lawmakers are leery of mandating raises from here in the Capitol.

That’s because teacher pay is the cornerstone of collective bargaining with local school boards.

So far, the Governor’s raise plan has gotten a cold shoulder from some top lawmakers because of the cost and because salaries are set by local school boards.

Local governments’ ability to control their own communities is under attack.

That’s the message a new report published by a government watchdog group in the State Capitol, which suggests state lawmakers have become increasingly aggressive when it comes to preempting local governments on issues from plastic straws to gun control.

Over the past three years state lawmakers have proposed 119 bills that would preempt local governments in various ways.

16 have already been filed for the 2020 session.

“It shows you the concerted effort on a yearly basis to limit the power of local governments,” said Ben Wilcox with Integrity Florida.

The new report found preemptions are becoming not only more numerous, but also more punitive.

“Their efforts are not designed to influence local actions, but to prevent any at all,” said Alan Stonecipher with Integrity Florida.

They trace the trend back to a 1987 law that prohibited local governments from passing gun restrictions stronger than the state.

In 2011 lawmakers implemented harsh penalties for local officials who violate the preemption.

“I think that’s a constitutional violation of free speech,” said Wilcox.

The law was struck down by a circuit court, but is now on appeal.

Marion Hammer with the NRA said lawmakers are well within their rights to hold rouge local officials accountable.

“If they refuse to follow the laws of the Legislature, the Legislature can abolish them,” said Hammer.

The outcome of the court battle against punishments for local officials who pass gun regulations will likely set the tone moving forward for how far lawmakers can go with preemption.

Integrity Florida said lawmakers could make it harder to pass preemptions by requiring a 2/3 majority or mandating a single subject rule for preemption legislation, but state lawmakers aren’t known for limiting their own power.

Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would have prevented local governments from banning plastic straws.

Integrity Florida says it was a positive sign, but the Governor has favored preemption in other cases, including the ban on sanctuary cities signed into law last year.

Florida lawmakers have filed a dozen bills dealing with abortion for the 2020 session.

Pro-choice advocate Lauren Brenzel with Planned Parenthood said everything is on the line.

“If 2019 told us anything it’s that attempting to restrict abortion is unfortunately on anti-abortion legislators’ minds,” said Brenzel.

One bill would ban abortions after a fetal heart beat could be detected, which could be as early as six weeks.

It’s likely dead on arrival according to Senate President Bill Galvano.

“That’s a tougher issue to get through,” said Galvano.

But legislation that would require minors to get parental consent before having an abortion is moving full speed ahead.

“This is something to support the family and require the kids to have a conversation about something so weighty with their parents,” said Senate sponsor Kelli Stargel.

It’s already teed up for a floor vote in the House and the Senate President expects it to pass its second Senate committee during the first week of the 2020 session.

While the parental consent bill isn’t the most restrictive abortion bill filed this year, it could act as a test to see how far the newly conservative State Supreme Court is willing to allow lawmakers to go.

Pro Choice advocates fear the court could overturn a previous ruling that found a similar law violated the Privacy Clause in the state constitution.

“We have a higher constitutional protection for access to abortion than actually the United States Constitution and it’s one of the reasons why Florida functions differently than other states in the South. Why we don’t see that massive restriction,” said Brenzel.

That could open the door for even more restrictive abortion laws, including the heart beat bill.

Heart beat laws have been passed in ten states and is expected to pass an eleventh later this month.

Courts have temporarily blocked or struck the laws so far in every state.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a State Senator has put fourth a proposed constitutional amendment, that would prohibit either chamber from passing restrictions on abortion unless half of the members are women.

So far it has not been scheduled for a hearing.

Chances voters will get a chance go legalize recreational marijuana this year are slimming.

The group pushing the citizen initiative has filed suit against the Secretary of State over a new law that put restrictions on petition gathers in a last ditch effort to get more time to collect signatures.

“It looks very challenging to make those numbers work,” said Jeff Sharkey with the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida.

In a last ditched effort the group has filed suit, challenging a law passed last year that requires paid petition gatherers register with the state.

They’re asking for an additional 30 days to gather and submit petitions.

“They’re the first ones to really have to operate under this new petition gathering law and I think it’s certainly demonstrates how challenging it’s going to be going forward,” said Sharkey.

The new law has been fraught with issues.

The website to register petition gatherers was offline for weeks.

The suit alleges it resulted in multiple delays.

It’s a problem the sponsor of the legislation Rep. James Grant called accidental when we spoke with him in October.

“I don’t think anybody had an intent or even an expectation that some of the antiquated servers and challenges would lead to this problem,” said Grant.

If the initiative doesn’t make it on the ballot this year, there is still a chance it could return in the future.

The petitions collected so far are still valid for two years after the date they were signed.

“There’s certainly been some conversations with legislators and others that they would anticipate that in 2022 this will be back,” said Sharkey.

Lawmakers could also take up the issue of legalizing marijuana at any time, but marijuana advocates say it’s a long shot.

A second group seeking to regulate marijuana like alcohol has already decided to wait for the 2022 ballot.