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Florida ranks 43rd in the nation for access to mental health care. It also spends nearly $2.2 million a day to house an estimated 35,000 inmates who suffer from mental health issues.

Nearly 2.8 million Floridians struggle with mental health problems.

61% receive no treatment.

In any given year, more than 130,000 will be arrested and booked into Florida jails.

“We are in this world,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.

Addressing the growing intersection of mental health and corrections was the top of a roundtable discussion led by Attorney General Ashley Moody and judges from Miami-Dade and Sarasota Friday.

The two counties have seen major reductions in recidivism and homelessness with their innovative mental health programs.

Since implementing their mental health programs, Sarasota saw a 50 percent reduction in homelessness.

In Miami-Dade, 11th Circuit Judge Steve Leifman saw the homeless population drop from 8,000 to only 1,000.

“Treatment works and we really have two choices in this state. We can continue to release people from the criminal justice system without treatment or we can release them with treatment,” said Leifman.

Less than half of Florida’s 67 counties have mental health courts.

Currently there are only 27 in the state.

Mental health courts can help divert those suffering towards treatment, instead of prison.

“Recovery rates for people with mental illnesses are actually much better than for people with heart disease and diabetes,” said Leifman.

Moody said another key issue is deciding when to bring someone into the criminal justice system in the first place.

“Are those that are urinating in public, do those need to be arrested… or is it better to get them stabilized within the community,” said Moody.

The ideas discussed in the meeting will not only help other judges implement their own mental health programs, but also help lawmakers craft policy to improve mental health care and funding in the state.

Home fireworks displays around the holidays are common in Florida, but still illegal.

Fireworks are openly sold in the state using a loophole that allows their sale for agricultural purposes, but bills filed in both the House and Senate for the upcoming 2020 legislative session could fully legalize fireworks on three major holidays.

In Florida the only legal way to perform big fireworks displays, like the ones put on by Craig Dennis with Ashley Pyrotechnics, is with ATF clearance.

“We get lots of requests from the public for fireworks,” said Dennis.

But Dennis declines those offers.

“We don’t play this game of having people sign a form that says they’re going to use fireworks for agricultural purposes,” said Dennis.

However, some retailers do, selling fireworks to Floridians using the legal loophole.

But new legislation would make fireworks 100% legal on Memorial Day, Independence Day and New Year’s Eve.

The idea has some in the fire safety field like former Director of the State Fire Marshal’s Office Buddy Dewar concerned.

“The fire service community are concerned about the safety of the public,” said Dewar.

Last year there were an estimated 9,100 fireworks injuries across the US.

To fire safety advocates, more fireworks means more accidents.

“Kids with missing hands and fingers, facial injuries, burns,” said Dewar.

In the rare case the current law is enforced, a person could face a year in prison and a $1,000 fine for home fireworks displays.

A glance at the night sky on the holidays however, makes it clear the existing penalties do little to deter many Floridians.

“I hear that all the time that we’re going to fill the trauma centers up if we legalize this,” said Dennis. “Well folks, those fireworks are being sold under the counter already in this state using this charade of an agricultural exemption.”

Companies like Dennis’, that try not to bend the current rules, believe the holiday exemption would simply put them on a level playing field with those currently exploiting the agricultural exemption.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office says it’s currently reviewing the legislation, but specified its top priority remains fire safety.

The state’s chief economists are required by law to determine how much state and local governments as well as private businesses would gain or lose from a proposed assault weapons ban.

How big or little the impact it may have seems to have come down to a single word.

The AR-15 is what comes to mind when an assault weapons ban is discussed, but gun dealer Alex Folmar believes the proposed constitutional ban working to get on the 2020 ballot would go much farther.

“This proposed legislation would include most of the guns you see up on the wall up-here,” said Folmar. “Anything that is semiautomatic and accepts a magazine or has a tube feed capacity.”

The amendment does not ban high capacity pistols.

However, some shot guns, while designed to hold five rounds, can cary many more by extending their tube feeder.

That would make them banned under the proposal.

Because the ban is so encompassing, state economists charged with putting a dollar figure on the ban, said it all comes down to the amendment’s use of the word capable at a meeting Thursday.

“That hinges on what sales you are prohibiting, what sales will no longer be allowed in Florida,” said Amy Baker with the Office of Economic and Demographic Research.

Supporters of the ban from Moms Demand Action sat on one side of the room.

Opponents like NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer on the other.

“If you professions can’t agree on what capable means in this context, how on earth do you expect average citizens to understand it,” Hammer asked the panel of economists.

Only one proponent of the amendment, retired Dr. Tom Enoch, spoke briefly.

“We can regulate guns for hunting but we can’t regulate guns for saving people’s lives? That’s all I have to say,” said Enoch.

Economists expect to put a dollar figure on the ban right after labor day.

Then it will be up to the Florida Supreme Court to decide if the amendment misleads voters.

Florida Democrats are calling for a Special Session on gun issues in response to the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.

This isn’t the first time Democrats have attempted to bring the Legislature back to Tallahassee to discuss guns, but the move will require all of Florida’s legislators to go on record, which could be used in the 2020 campaign.

For the third time in six years Florida Democrats are calling for a special session on gun control.

The first attempt in 2013 came after George Zimmerman was acquitted for shooting Trayvon Martin.

“Specifically to call for a special session around stand your ground,” said then-State Representative Alan Williams, who participated in a sit-in at the Governor’s Office demanding the session in 2013.

The effort failed to gather the necessary three-fifths support to trigger the session.

So too did a call for a special session in response to the Pulse Night Club shooting back three years later.

“Suspected and known terrorists should not be able to possess firearms in the state of Florida,” said then-State Senator Darren Soto at a 2016 press conference calling for the session.

This time Democrats want to discuss multiple gun proposals including private sale background checks and banning high capacity magazines.

However, both the Senate President and House Speaker have come out against the renewed calls, making the prospect of a 2019 special session unlikely.

On Twitter, Speaker Jose Oliva highlighted the fact committee meetings begin in only a month.

During those meetings he said he expects, “Robust discussions about our Second Amendment rights, mental health, and their importance in our society.”

Still, Florida law requires the state to poll all 160 members of the Legislature on whether to hold the special session.

In the wake of both El Paso and Dayton, Democrats may hope to use that vote in 2020 campaigns.

“We care a lot about the safety of our communities and our children and we’re watching our legislators and what they’re doing and how they’re responding,” said Kate Kile with Moms Demand Action. “We are responding to the violence we’re seeing in our society. We would hope that our elected officials would also respond in kind.”

Legislators have until next Tuesday to respond, but in the past some have chosen not to go on record when the outcome seemed clear.

The Department of State will be providing daily updates on the vote count.

The first total is expected to be released around 5 pm Wednesday.

Forty years ago, on May 25, 1979, Florida ended a 15-year hiatus on executions.

Public protest over executions has quieted considerably since they resumed in 1979.

Gary Ray Bowles has killed at least six people.

All were violent.

He clearly fits the criteria set by Governor Ron DeSantis for using the ultimate penalty.

“I’m supportive of it for the most serious offenses,” said DeSantis in March.

Unless stopped, Bowles death Thursday evening will be the state’s 99th execution since the death penalty was reinstated.

“There are specific concerns with this case,” said Ingrid Delgado with the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Catholic Conference has called on the Governor to stop the execution, arguing Florida is safe with Bowles behind bars.

Testimony also shows the 57 year old was abused.

“He suffered extreme violence at the hands of his step fathers,” said Delgado. “When he escaped that violence, he was a victim of homelessness and child prostitution, and we know that through neural scientific research that adverse traumatic experiences do affect future behavior.”

While it has taken 40 years for the state to get to its 99th execution, it did execute nearly twice as many, 196, between 1924 and 1964 when it went on a hiatus.

In 1979, the Capitol was awash in protests for over a week pending the first execution in a decade and a half.

But unlike 40 years ago, fewer than a dozen are expected to protest the execution and pay their respects to the victims when they gather in the Capitol rotunda Friday.

First Lady Casey DeSantis has cancelled a Thursday appearance at a Women for Trump Rally in Tampa.

The Governor’s office said the appearance was cancelled out of respect for the victims.

Florida continues to see record breaking tourism numbers, but with all that travel comes the potential for carbon emissions and damage to the environment.

The state’s tourism agency is trying a new approach, targeting eco-tourists.

At the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab about 30 miles southwest of the state’s capital, co-founder Jack Rudloe told us the whole operation would be in serious trouble without a key element.

“Volunteers are critical to Gulf Specimen,” said Rudloe.

Some volunteers are local.

Others travel as far as Canada.

“It’s a vactation for them and also in the winter time the snow birds get out of the freeze,” said Rudloe.

With a record 68.9 million visitors coming to the Sunshine State in the first half of this year alone, VisitFlorida, the state’s primary tourism agency, has launched a new initiative that could help organizations like the marine lab.

Its new online portal aims to attract eco-tourists, steering them towards volunteer opportunities like the ones at the Marine Lab

“VisitFlorida is finally moving a little bit off the center of Disney and all of the other great big attractions and Mickey Mouse, to what we really have here in Florida,” said Rudloe.

For those who aren’t ready to commit their vacation time to volunteering, VisitFlorida’s online portal also highlights eco-tourism destinations and tips for reducing your vacation’s carbon footprint.

Conservationists like Aliki Moncrief with the Florida Conservation Voters point out when the environment is healthy, so too is Florida tourism.

“Most people come to Florida with an expectation of spending some time outside, spending some time in nature,” said Moncrief.

And teaching green lessons to Florida visitors spreads the ideas across the world when vacationers return home.

To learn more about eco-tourism destinations in Florida, click this link.

The state is investigating its own Office of Public and Private Guardianships following the opening of two criminal investigations into the conduct of an Orlando area court appointed guardian, but some believe the alleged misconduct is an ongoing statewide problem.

FreeEanestine.com is Doug Franks’ ode to his mother.

Franks fought the guardianship system four and a half years trying to free his mother.

She died in 2016.

The same year Franks convinced lawmakers guardians need to be regulated.

“There is nothing that can make up for the time that I was deprived from my mom,” said Franks. “Nothing!”

Since the legislation took effect, the state has investigated 764 allegations.

Both the Attorney General and FDLE say they are investigating an Orlando guardian

“We currently have an active investigation into Rebecca Fierle and her business and how she conducted her business,” said Jeremy Burns with FDLE.

Fierle resigned and withdrew from a hundred cases after she filed a do not resuscitate order against a client’s wishes.

“And that’s just one of thousands I’m sure in the state of Florida that are doing the same thing,” said Franks.

Kathleen Zargaros of Tampa told us a similar story about her mother shortly after the law passed.

“She was forced into guardianship based on lies, then she was forced into hospice,” said Zargaros.

The Governor has also ordered a probe of the state office regulating guardians.

“And I told them to pursue it vigorously,” said Franks.

Doug’s mother Earnestine died 45 days after he won her freedom.

“We had a fantastic 45 days,” said Franks. “The day my mom passed was…is the best day of our lives.”

The Governor has told his agencies they have six months to come up with legislation and administrative actions to fix the problems with guardians.

Florida’s primary election for state offices is just over a year away, but Florida Democrats are already asking voters to call a new hotline they claim is designed to combat voter suppression.

Florida Democratic Chair, Terri Rizzos said they want to hear from anyone caught up by new restrictions on felons voting as well as other problems.

“Also they have attempted to restrict voting on college campuses. So these are the kind of things we need and those kinds of things plus restricting the number of days for supervisors of elections to mail vote by mail ballots,” said Rizzos. “These are the kind of things we want to be working on.”

If you know of problems, no matter which party in which you are registered, the number Democrats want you to call is: 1-833-VOTE-FLA (1-833-868-3352).

While most people haven’t even started to focus on the 2020 election, a new poll tested how supportive Floridians are of a 2024 Presidential race involving either the Governor or Florida’s two US Senators.

Many believe all three could vie for the Presidency.

Famed pollster Tony Fabrizio was polling for a business client.

He and decided to tag on one question: Who is Floridians favorite son for President in 2024? Governor Ron DeSantis, US Senator Marco Rubio, or US Senator Rick Scott?

With his approval ratings soaring, DeSantis won hands down.

“And I think the positions he’s taken have established him as a national leader,” said Morton Kline with the Zionist Organization Of America.

And the Presidency was clearly on a lot of minds during the Governor’s trade mission to Israel.

”And I really hope and pray that he seeks national office sometime in the future,” said Kline.

At a luncheon, the Governor sat next to big time GOP donor Sheldon Adelson.

His wife Miriam Adelson praised DeSantis profusely.

“Ron is a warrior,” said Miriam.

After meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli media asked DeSantis is he would consider a bid for President.
“Ah, Certainly not in 2020. You can guarantee that,” said DeSantis.

2024’s election is still more than five years away.

Both DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio will face voters in 2022, and would have to win to be viable for the Presidency.

Long time GOP strategist Mac Stipanovich says a lot can happen in five years.

“And as the poll numbers for Senator Scott and Senator Rubio tell you, the better people know you, the less they’re gonna like you,” said Stipanovich.

Rubio has already run once, and insiders in both DeSantis and Scott camps aren’t ruling it out.

An advantage for Governor DeSantis is that he can be in a Florida media market every day as the campaign heats up.

Scott and Rubio won’t have that luxury.

The first hearing in a Federal case challenging the law that requires felons to pay all fines, fees and restitution before being eligible to vote has been set for October.

The decision that comes out of that hearing could have a major impact on who is eligible to vote in the 2020 presidential election.

1.4 million felons were initially expected to have their voting rights restored under Amendment 4, but those hopes were diminished when the Legislature passed the law tying financial obligations to restoration.

Lawsuits were filed almost immediately.

“Let’s just hope all of that is expedited so people have some clear direction before the 2020 election,” said Clemency attorney Reggie Garcia.

A Federal Judge will consider two key issues in the case in a hearing set for October 7th.

First, if the financial requirements should be temporarily blocked while the case makes its way through the courts as requested by the plaintiffs.

Second, possibly dismissing the case altogether, which was requested by the Governor and Secretary of State, who have argued the issue should be decided by the State Supreme Court.

Despite roughly 400,000 felons voting rights hanging in the balance of the case, political analysts are split on whether a decision would impact the 2020 election.

“It would certainty have an impact,” said GOP strategist Mac Stipanovich.

Stipanovich said Florida’s tight elections can be easily swung one way or another.

“Statewide elections whether for Governor or for President are decided by tens of thousands of votes not hundreds of thousands of votes,” said Stipanovich.

Democratic strategist Steve Schale said he believes partisan concerns are overblown.

“When you look at the demographics of people who fall into this universe of people they’re as diverse ideologically, racially, gender-wise as Florida is,” said Schale. “So I think some of the politics of who this benefits has been overplayed. I’m not sure that there’s a real 2020 impact politically.”

Depending on the outcome of October’s hearing an official trial could come as early as Spring of 2020.

Whichever side loses will likely appeal, pushing a final resolution even closer to the General election.

In the meantime, the Governor has asked the Florida Supreme Court to determine if fines, fees and restitution are required by the amendment approved by 64 percent of voters.

Social Security is celebrated its 84th birthday Wednesday.

Implemented in 1935, the program distributes hundreds of billions of dollars to seniors and people with disabilities throughout the nation each year.

Seniors throughout the state held birthday celebrations for the program that more than half a million Floridians benefit from.

Their motto: Cut the cake not social security.

“This is the kind of legislation that makes America great,” said Terry Joe Chapman with the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans.

For retirees like Barbara DeVane, Social Security is a lifeline.

“It’s all that stands between me and poverty and I’m not alone,” said DeVane.

Advocates for retirees said one of their greatest challenges is dispelling the myth that today’s youth will never see the benefits of the program.

FSU student Sasha Moore told us she was unsure if the program would survive until her retirement.

“I haven’t been taught anything about it. It’s just like hearsay,” said Moore.

Another student, Justin Baldwin, said he was preparing for the worst case scenario.

“That’s just kind of how I live my life you know? I’m not really relying on it,” said Baldwin.

Bill Sauers with the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans said the program is self sustaining.

“The more people you have involved the lower the cost and the risk for everyone involved,” said Sauers.

Baby boomers are projected to see smaller payments by 2035, but Sauers said even that could be avoided by raising the current cap.

Annual earnings above $132,900 aren’t subject to the 6.2 percent social security tax.

“Raise that to $250,000 we would have enough money to pay 100 percent benefits for ever and ever. Amen! Plus have money to expand it,” said Sauers.

As of 2019 retiring at age 66 comes with a maximum payout of $2,861 a month.

More than 578,000 Floridians received nearly $325 million through Social Security in 2017 alone.