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A Senate appropriations committee has created the first every categorical program to fund teacher raises.

Previously, lawmakers could appropriate money intended for pay raises, but there was no guarantee it would go to teachers or others.

The new legislation will make sure the money gets to teachers.

“What we’ve done is set a number in the categorical of $500 million. And we’ve stated within the categorical, 80 percent of the funds must go toward minimum teachers salary. And the other 20 percent is flexible within the districts to use for veteran teachers or other instructional personnel. That is not enough by itself to rise all of the districts to the $47,500,” said Sen. Kelli Stargel.

$500 million would raise salaries to $46,500, a thousand less than that sought by the Governor.

It is likely to be one of the hottest debates in the final six weeks of the legislative session.

Florida’s prison system is in crisis and lawmakers are proposing lower sentences for drug users, early release for elderly inmates and allowing judges to deviate from mandatory minimum sentences.

93,823 inmates woke up in a Florida Prison Cell Tuesday morning.

Staffing is short, contraband is up and attacks on officers and other inmates are also up.

“We think there are massive problems inside the Department of Corrections,” said State Senator Jeff Brandes.

Brandes is proposing inmates who learn a trade get their sentence reduced from 85 to 65 percent.

“How do we motivate them to be prepared to leave the prison system with a skill, a job, an education,” said Brandes.

But Florida Sheriff’s are pushing back with a report called Truth in Sentencing.

“You about have to beg your way into state prison,” said Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. “The policies and laws that keep felons off the streets and out of our neighborhoods work. Crime is at a near 50 year low.”

Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson, who directed the study, said the numbers don’t lie.

“And I’m afraid that this idea to just do away blanket with these sentences can have a really unintended consequences,” said Adkinson.

Florida Sheriffs argue that 95 percent of the prison population is made up of repeat offenders, but advocates assert that prisons have become nothing more than warehouses.

But Brandes believes the Sheriffs’ claim supports his case for reform.

“If we know that 95 percent are going to come right back out, shouldn’t we look to fix the existing system so it isn ’t 95 percent? That’s what our legislation does,” said Brandes.

Florida’s 20 State Attorneys also oppose any changes to the state’s sentencing laws that would shorten prison sentences.

This year, the prison system is costing taxpayers just over $2.4 billion.

The lone statewide elected Democrat, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is accusing the Governor of a partisan power grab.

GOP-filed legislation would move the state’s energy office from Fried’s control to the Department of Environmental Protection.

Fried said such legislation would never have happened if the GOP still controlled her office.

“It’s partisan punishment and another power grab. We know that for decades, Republicans have had no problem with this office being where it is as long as it was run by a republican. But now that there is a Democrat in this office, the first woman ever elected to this office, it suddenly needs to be moved,” said Fried.

The legislation was approved by a House committee on a ten to two vote Tuesday morning and included some yes votes from Democrats.

Nearly 200 Advanced Registered Nurses, many with Phd’s, crowded the Capitol’s fourth floor Tuesday.

They’re pushing for fewer restrictions on their scope of practice.

Florida is one of only two states that requires doctors to supervise ARNP’s.

30 other states have given them the right to practice basic medicine with supervision.

Bill sponsor and Emergency Room Physician Rep. Cary Pigman is one of the few doctors backing the change.

“I would say that when you look at what their experience is on paper, what their training is, it’s quite extensive and exhausting. And when you look at studies that compare outcomes between those two categories, Nurse Practioners, CNRA’s and physicians, out outcomes are equivalent. That doesn’t ’t mean that we don’t have more to offer each other, but on the average study, the outcomes are great,” said Pigman.

The measure is a top priority for the House Speaker, but faces tough opposition from the Florida Medical Association in the Senate.

More than a year after Hurricane Michael tore through the Florida Panhandle, nearly 16,000 claims remain outstanding.

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer is pushing legislation that would require companies to settle most claims in 90 days or less, but a handful of Michael survivors have said companies only settled after pressure from regulators.

Melanie Hardwick said her company refused to settle because they said her damage was from flood not wind.

“They took my money, and they didn’t uphold their end of the contract. Here we are fourteen months later, and what is even worse is the inconsistencies of the insurance companies. Because I had neighbors to the right, I had neighbors to the left, had neighbors behind me and across the street that were paid up in full for wind damage,” said Hardwick. “How can my home not have wind damage?”

The legislation being proposed still lacks some specifics and the CFO concedes it is not a silver bullet, but a step in the right direction before another storm.

A new report from a Texas think tank has found Florida ranks in the top half of the states in some area’s of foster care such as finding forever families fast and in not shuffling kids from one home to another, but the report also suggests too many kids are being kept in dorms instead of having their own bedroom.

The Right for Kids Ranking judges state foster care programs on seven criteria, ranging from funding to the number of kids in care.

“Many of those data points are quite frankly related to inputs. Things like case loads, funding levels, and foster parent recruitment levels,” said Andrew Brown with Texas Public Policy.

But it also a tale of two foster care systems.

The state is 32nd nationally in finding safe permeant homes.

“There are instances and there are parts of Florida that are struggling,” said Florida DCF Secretary Chad Poppel.

Poppel said part of the state’s problem is that there is no relationship between case loads and funding.

“There’s no lever to pull to say, oh my goodness, the number of children is up thirty percent; you need more money. That’s not how it works today. That’s the way we’d like to make it work,” said Poppel.

Legislation filed by the incoming Senate President would change the funding formula.

It also would extend the timeline from investigating child abuse reports from 24 to 72 hours.

The reports found Florida ranks forty-second nationally when it comes to finding bedrooms over dorm rooms.

Advocates believe it’s because the state has a no eject, no reject policy.

“That means if we do not have enough placements, we still take them anyhow. We have to find them. We have to find places to put children,” said Kurt Kelly with the Florida Coalition for Children.

Not having enough foster placements has led some community based care agencies to drive kids around or house them in office buildings when no beds are available.

DCF has asked for $100 million more over the next four years.

The money would be used to hire more people and upgrade technology.

A bill aimed at increasing safety for high school athletes has cleared its first Senate committee.

The legislation would require all high schools to make cooling stations available at all practices and games to help prevent heat stroke.

The cooling stations would also be required to have cold-water immersion tubs capable of rapidly cooling athletes if they become overheated.

“We rank 14th as a state nationally for sport safety standards, but yet we rank first in high school sports related deaths and that’s specifically due to heat stroke,” said Robert Sefcik with the Florida Alliance for Sports Medicine.

The bill sponsor says funding for the additional safety features would likely come from both public and private dollars.

LGBTQ advocates are condemning a handful of bills filed for the 2020 session they say will harm their community.

Two bills would preempt local governments in various ways.

Equality advocates say they could repeal local ordinances that currently prohibit employment discrimination for gender identity and sexual orientation and local bans on conversion therapy.

They say sponsors of both bills have been willing to work with the LGBTQ community to address some of their concerns, but another bill that would ban transgender affirming medical practices on children they are calling to be immediately withdrawn.

“The anti-transgender bills that were brought forward by Representative Sabatini and Senator Baxley. These are ugly bills, they are mean bills and they are unacceptable and they should simply be withdrawn from consideration immediately,” said Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith.

LGBTQ advocates are hoping the Competitive Workforce Act is approved by the Legislature this year.

It would establish equal protections for gender identity and sexual orientation for housing, public accommodations and employment.

Two Polk County lawmakers are arguing a changing social climate makes their homes more vulnerable to those who intend harm.

They are working to take the information out of the public record, but the idea is getting a lukewarm reception from the Governor and public records advocates.

State Representative Daisy Baez was forced to resign in 2017 after reports showed she didn’t live in her district.

But learning who lives where could get more difficult.

State Senator Kelli Stargel wants to remove lawmakers home addresses from public records.

“I’m accessible. They can They can reach me in my office. We have cell phones, we have Twitter, we have Facebook and all that so someone doesn’t need to meet me at my front door,” said Stargel.

Stargel’s address is already supposed to be secret because she is married to a judge, but she says many already know it.

“I have two people wrote me and say too bad, I already know where you live. And then somebody else wrote me and said, don’t forget, I already know where you live. And because of this context, so, it’s just a different day and the hostility is just worse than it was,” said Stargel.

First Amendment Foundation President Pamela Marsh said those comments prove the change in public records isn’t needed.

“There has to be someway that we have evidence that they actually live in their districts where they are serving their constituents,” said Marsh.

One potential compromise in the works would be to allow lawmakers to opt-in to make make their addresses private, creating public scrutiny.

“If you have a young family with young kids and there have been threats made, I’d think I’d want my address withheld,” said Sen. Kathleen Passidomo.

But even if something passes, convincing the Governor could be a tough sell.
“You elect someone you kinda need to know where they live if they are going to represent your community,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

Another hurdle is that passing the legislation would take a two thirds vote.

Opponents of the change also argue removing the home addresses could lead to a false sense of safety, since most attacks on public figures are a result of them being stalked or attacked at public events.

Cracking down on bear poaching is the focus of a bill passed through its final House Committee Thursday morning.

Lawmakers say the problem is more prevalent than they previously thought.

A bear hunt hasn’t been authorized since 2015.

It took just two days for hunters to kill more than 300, prompting regulators to end the hunt early.

But bears are still being illegally hunted and lawmakers seeking to tackle the issue have found penalties are surprisingly low.

“It’s less of a criminal penalty to kill a bear than to take a turkey one day out of season,” said Representative David Smith.

A bill moving quickly through the House would bring the penalties for poaching black bears in line with other game.

“It’s a common sense bill that just bear poaching up to the level of deer and turkey out of season,” said Kate MacFall with the Human Society.

If the bill becomes law, killing a bear out of season would come with a minimum $750 fine and a three year suspension of any FWC license or permit.

Rep. Smith is sponsoring the bill.

He said there have been at least 18 bear poaching cases in recent years, and possibly more.

“Some of the poaching goes on, on federal property, the Ocala National Forrest or on some of the military bases that aren’t really state property. So it was a much more prevalent issue than I thought it was,” said Smith.

While the bill is already teed up for the House floor, it hasn’t moved in the Senate, where it’s expected be more controversial.

Senator Bill Montford chairs the bill’s first committee stop.

He said it will be heard, but some senators have hesitations.

“There’s a disagreement on the number of bears and a disagreement on how you deal with them if there are too many bears,” said Montford.

There are more than 4,000 bears roaming the state.

It will be up to lawmakers to decide if they need the additional protections.

Legislation blocking life, disability and long term insurers from using your DNA against you when it comes to how much you pay or even whether you get insurance coverage passed its second committee in the state Capitol Thursday.

For the second time, lobbyists for the insurers chose not to oppose the ban publicly.

Sponsor Chris Sprowls of Pinellas County said more than 26 million people didn’t know the full risk of providing their DNA to a public site.

“Many of us are vulnerable to this and most people don’t know they are vulnerable to it, and it would be wildly inappropriate for an industry that’s supposed to be about spreading rise to then try to guarantee the outcome. That not what insurance is and that’s what this bill prevents,” said Sprowls.

Because the sponsor is in line to be House Speaker after November, the industry is concentrating on modifying or killing the legislation in the Senate.

Lawmakers are hoping to crack down on individuals who lie about serving in the military.

A bill passed through its final House committee Thursday morning would make it illegal to falsify or misrepresent military service in order to obtain employment or political office.

Sponsor Representative Anthony Sabatini said the issue is more common than is often reported and even occurred in his own district.

“We had a gentleman who won a seat for mayor in one of the towns in south Lake County completely totally misrepresenting his military record, saying he was a Purple Heart recipient like I mentioned earlier. So this bill really takes care of that situation,” said Sabatini.

Violators would face a third degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

It’s been more than a month since the deadly terrorist attack at NAS Pensacola.

The US Secretary of Defense visited the air station Wednesday and met with Governor Ron DeSantis.

The three American servicemen killed and the eight who were injured during the December terrorist attack at NAS Pensacola were honored by the Florida Senate at the start of the 2020 Legislative Session.

The attack was carried out by a Saudi National receiving trained at the base.

“You know the people of Pensacola, it’s a great military town, they’ve welcomed a lot of these foreign folks there. They’re kind of part of the community and I think a lot of them felt like they really got stabbed in the back,” said DeSantis.

So far 21 Saudis have been expelled from the country.

DeSantis got his first chance to get a full update on how the Federal Government plans to respond Wednesday.

He told reporters he had tough questions for US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper prior to their meeting at the Pensacola base.

“Clearly if you look at this guy, I mean this is a big problem that you would have someone like that in our country, training them. So I’m going to be asking some hard questions… Now the Secretary has been very responsive. The day it happened we’re on the phone, he kept in contact and I think he understands that this was a really significant incident,” said DeSantis.

We spoke with State Senator Doug Broxson who represents Pensacola.

He said he’s confident the Federal Government will take the appropriate actions.

“I know it’s a very complicated issue because we’re selling equipment to them that they have to know how to use and so I’m totally dependent on the Governor and the President and the Congress in trying to resolve that issue to make sure that the rest of us are safe,” said Broxson.

Later in the day, Secretary Esper said the Government has increased screenings for foreigners training at US military bases.

Governor DeSantis seemed to approve, though he has previously called on the Saudi Government to compensate victims and their families.

He’s also asked for legislation at the state or federal level that could ban non citizens from legally buying a gun.

DeSantis will be meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Thursday.

He’s been working with the Secretary to try an secure compensation from Saudi Arabia for the victims.