Utility Companies Solidify Three-Year Hardening Plans, 10-Year Plans on the Horizon
July 9th, 2019 by Jake StofanPosted in State News | No Comments »
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Nearly two dozen local governments in Florida have chosen to either limit or outright ban plastic straws.
If not for the Governor vetoing the proposed legislation, local plastic straw bans would have been put on hold until at least 2024.
Across the street from the Capitol building, Leon County Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley saw the Governor’s veto as an opportunity.
Lindley said the commission will consider a few different options for discouraging the use of plastic straws, but an outright ban isn’t the likely choice.
In the Governor’s veto letter, he said if people want to keep using plastic straws, they can elect local officials who feel the same way.
That could put more pressure on state lawmakers to act on the issue.
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Monday was the first day drivers in the state could be pulled over and ticketed for texting while driving alone, but the Florida Highway Patrol says its officers will focus on educating the public on the new law.
Amy Mercer with the Florida Police Chief’s Association said many local law enforcement agencies are also going to take the first few months to educate the public on the dangers of texting and driving.
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Governor Ron DeSantis has until the end of the day Saturday to either sign, veto or let legislation implementing the felons’ rights amendment become law without his signature.
The most controversial aspect of the Amendment Four implementing bill is that felons must first pay outstanding court fines and fees along with restitution before they become eligible for voting rights restoration, but there’s a problem.
There is currently no unified database documenting who has paid what.
The lack of a database is a concern for Election Supervisors who are responsible for registering newly eligible voters, like Leon County Supervisor Mark Earley.
“Some counties don’t even really even have databases, it seems to be more of a paper trail kind of thing where you have to go back into filing cabinets,” said Earley, who doubles as the Secretary of Florida State Association of Supervisor of Elections. “We’re trying to evaluate and make it very effective and efficient, but it’s certainly difficult.”
After the legislation passed, the Governor said the fines, fees and restitution requirement has his support.
“As a prosecutor, there were times when restitution was more important than incarceration,” said DeSantis.
The Governor has even gone as far as making the payment of outstanding financial obligations a condition when granting pardons through the Board of Executive Clemency.
“I just think that when you pay your debt that includes whatever you were sentenced to so if you’re willing to do that I’ll move to grant you a pardon,” said DeSantis.
Supervisors said those unsure of their status shouldn’t be afraid of registering at this point.
Generally, if an honest mistake was made, the likely repercussion would be removal from the rolls.
“If it’s an uncertainty, they can go ahead and get registered because they think they’re qualified, they’re eligible again, they’re not going to be prosecuted,” said Earley.
Felons who have already registered improperly after the amendment took effect January 8th and before the bill’s effective date of July 1st are immune from prosecution altogether.
After July 1st, ineligible felons who intentionally register could face a 3rd degree felony.
The bill does task the Department of State with creating a database to track fines and fees, but until that’s complete, determining eligibility will be an ongoing issue.
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The company with the contract to bill and collect tolls in Florida has so far been fined millions and more fines could be on the way.
The state said the company, Conduent, is close to being in compliance with its contract.
It has been just over a year since a new toll collection system was put in place by the state’s contractor Conduent.
It was expected to be fully functional by June 11th last year.
It’s still facing problems, but Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin Thibault said the company is closer to living up to its obligations.
“Some of the metrics that they have, even thought the customer response has been a lot better than it has been, it’s still not always up to the metrics,” said Thibault.
Conduent has already been fined $8.3 million and Thibault said more could be on the way.
“When they are sending an invoice, we are asking that we withhold the maximum penalty allowed by the contract, so when they get paid, it is the result of that withholding,” said Thibault.
The maximum the state can withhold is 25 percent, and there’s no limit to how long the state can keep up the pressure.
“As long as they are not meeting their performance expectations,” said Thibault.
The Secretary did say the company is getting very close to meeting all the requirements in its contract, but he wouldn’t put a percentage on their performance.
Thibault said he only spoke to the company once.
“It was very short conversation,” said Thibault. “It was meeting the expectations of the contract and meeting the expectations of our customers. And I made it very clear to the senior leadership of that company that that is out expectation.”
An investigation is ongoing by the state Inspector General to help understand what went wrong and whether there was any wrongdoing by the company or the state.
Prior to June 1st, the state was waiving an administrative fee of $2.50 or more for late fees and penalties, but that waiver has now ended.
At no time were tolls owed ever waived.
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The Amendment Four implementing language is part of a larger elections bill that makes extensive changes to Florida’s election laws.
The changes were recommended by Supervisors of Elections to correct some of the problems seen in the 2018 election.
Voters will have more time to cure mismatched signatures on vote by mail ballots and some election dates have been changed.
Secretary of the Florida State Association of Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley said one big change is that voter will now have to request vote by mail ballots at least 10 days before an election.
“It used to be six days, but for years now the postal service has been advising supervisors that we should not be mailing these ballots out this late, or this close to an election because it’s unrealistic to believe that the voter will have time to receive it,” said Earley.
Voter will also be allowed to take a photograph of their ballot while voting and the non-solicitation zone around polling places will increase from 100 to 150 feet.
The bill has not yet been signed by the Governor, who has until the end of the day Saturday to sign it, veto it or do nothing and allow it to become law automatically.
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