Welcome to

The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union has launched a new campaign urging lawmakers to properly fund tradition public schools.

The move comes in response to Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Senate’s plan to expanded vouchers for private schools.

“State funding for public school students ranks near the bottom,” FEA’s new ad for its Fund Our Future campaign begins.

The six figure television ad buy warns the state could face a teacher shortage of 10,200 by next year, if lawmakers fail to properly fund traditional public schools.

The campaign comes in response to Governor Ron DeSantis’ focus on pushing school choice

“Particularly for low income families,” said DeSantis. “You know, I would like them to be able to have the same opportunities that folks who are wealthier have.”

To the dismay of FEA, DeSantis has asked lawmakers to allocate tax dollars to help clear a waiting list for a private school scholarship program, known as the Tax Credit Scholarship.

“If they continue to take money out of the public schools track then they continue to hurt kids,” said FEA President Fedrick Ingram. “They continue to hurt classrooms.”

Despite an estimated $100 million price tag, the Governor pushed back when asked if it greatly expand vouchers.

“I would not term it as saying greatly expand. I mean we’re talking about 14,000 kids on a wait list,” said DeSantis.

Currently 100,000 students receive the scholarship.

A similar proposal to clear the wait list will be included in the Senate’s Education Package, but Senate President Bill Galvano says the legislation will be balanced.

“[A bill] That empowers families, but at the same time does not do so in spite of or in lieu of traditional public education,” said Galvano.

The Senate is expected to unveil it’s Education Package in its entirety sometime this week.

FEA’s ad campaign will run until March 11th Tampa, Orlando and Tallahassee, which means there’s a good chance lawmakers will see it during the first week of session.

922,000 households in the state are considered very low income, meaning they spend more than half of their salaries on housing.

That’s just one of many issues the Sadowski Housing Coalition says could be addressed by fully funding the state’s affordable housing trust fund.

Over the past four years lawmakers have swept more than $640,000 from the trust fund, but Governor Ron DeSantis has recommended a budget that leaves the funds untouched.

By allowing the $328 million for the fund to go towards housing Christopher Emmanuel with the Florida Chamber of Commerce says the state could generate 30,000 jobs and create $4 billion in economic output.

“This is a competitiveness issue, this is a business issue and this is important for not just the workers, but drawing in talent from across the country. Florida’s growing at over 900 people a day. We expect to have another 4.5 to 5 million people by 2030,” said Emmanuel. “We need programs like this. “

The Senate President has said he intends to work to fully fund the affordable housing trust fund, but the House has not yet made such a commitment.

Governor Ron DeSantis is reshaping state government at a pace unseen in decades in the State Capitol.

He’s rebuilding relationships with lawmakers and pulling back more than 200 appointments made by the previous governor.

In January, DeSantis axed 45 appointments.

Now he’s retracting 169 more.

“I think it’s important for us to be able to take afresh look at all this and make sure we have folks who are working hard to put things in the right direction,” said DeSantis.

All retracted appointments were subject to Senate Confirmation.

Nearly half of all the appointments being pulled were from college of state university boards.

DeSantis admits the reversal is creating some confusion.

“Some will say that when you have been put in, but not confirmed by the Senate, if the Governor pulls you back, you’re still there until someone new gets appointed. Others say you’re off,” said DeSantis.

That leaves the former appointees in limbo.

“So we want to send a signal that look, this is open, we want good people to apply,” said DeSantis.

With the appointment of a new top financial regulator Tuesday, the Governor and Cabinet have replaced all of the agency heads under their shared governance with the exception of the head of the Department of Law Enforcement.

DeSantis has also returned the Governor and Cabinet meetings to short no nonsense state business, like land purchases instead of ceremonial events.

Senate President Bill Galvano says there’s also a new leadership style.

“It feels much more collaborative than it did under the last administration,” said Galvano.

Two months into his administration, the new Governor is still on a honeymoon.

The legislative session, which starts March 5th will challenge the harmony, as policy and the budget clash.

A ten year old Winter Springs boy was honored by the Governor and Cabinet Tuesday for his efforts supporting police officers.

Zechariah Cartledge has vowed to run a mile for every police officer who dies in the line of duty.

He is the first recipient of the Attorney Generals “Back the Blue Award.”

So far he has run 26 miles this year and has invited Attorney General Ashley Moody to run with him.

“I wanted to do this because I just love what police officers do,” said Cartledge. “They sacrifice their lives protecting people they don’t even know, and the bravery they have is beyond level and lots of people could not do what they do, so this is the least I can do because they giveback so much to us and the community.”

“And I just told him I’m going to run with him one of these days and he told me I’m not allowed to run in this outfit,” said Moody.

Zechariah says he’s considering being a police officer, but doesn’t know if he’s brave enough to risk his life for people he doesn’t know.

He’s set his sights on being either a professional soccer player or an olympic runner.

When lawmakers start their annual session a week from Tuesday, they’ll be meeting under the watchful eye of a St. Petersburg man who for the last 12 years has been taking civics seriously.

The longtime capitol regular often makes waves holding lawmakers feet to the fire.

Brain Pitts has been called a gadfly.

It fits.

He’s one who upsets the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions.

He’s often a thorn in lawmakers side.

“If nobody else does’t know what you’re doing, I do, and here it is,” said Pitts. “So if the public didn’t know, now you do know.”

Pitts took most of last session off, disgusted by sexual scandals, but this year he’s back.
“It was riff-raff,” said Pitts.

The Senate President says Pitts can bring value, then he parroted one of Pitts’ statements.

“And I do adhere by the rule that if the bill is long you know something’s wrong,” said Galvano.

“The best way to hide something is to put it in a long bill because most of the time they don’t read it,” said Pitts.

Lobbyists have tried to buy Pitts off either to speak for or against some bills, his answer: always no.

“You talk about ethics and morals sometimes, they actually want you to cross that line. So I says no,” said Pitts.

His efforts appear to be paying off.

“You’d be surprised how many bills are not agenda-ed because they know something is wrong with the bill,” said Pitts.

Pitts says he operates solely on donations to a 501(c)(3) named Justice-2-Jesus.

One man, taking civic involvement to a higher level.

Governor Ron DeSantis believes the state could lower healthcare costs by importing prescription drugs from Canada, but the proposal is drawing concerns from some top lawmakers and industry insiders.

Getting a handle on the state’s increasing healthcare costs is the top Legislative priority for House Speaker Jose Oliva.

“48% of our budget this year will be health care,” said Oliva. “The current trajectory is such, that it will take over half our budget in just two years.”

DeSantis says the lower price of Canadian drugs could reduce Medicaid and prison healthcare costs for the state.

A law passed by Congress in 2003 allows states to import medications from our Northern neighbor if they can prove it would lower costs, but any importing plan needs approval from the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

DeSantis’ plan would also allow wholesalers and pharmacists in the state to import prescriptions to lower costs for average Floridians.

But Senate President Bill Galvano worries that aspect wont sit well with the feds.

“Once you’re moving across from state to state or from other countries to our state it’s interstate commerce and that’s the province of the US Congress,” said Galvano.

Michael Jackson, Executive Vice President of the Florida Pharmacy Association says he worries about the quality of imported drugs.

“Have they undergone scrutiny by the food and drug administration? Are they safe? Do they meet all the standards for quality and effectiveness,” said Jackson.

In the 14 years the Federal law has been on the books not a single state has been given the green light to import Canadian drugs, though DeSantis says he has the backing of President Donald Trump.

A bill to enact the Governor’s proposal has been filed in the House. It would direct the Agency for Health Care Administration to submit a proposal to the Federal Government by July of 2020.

Human trafficking reportedly generates $32 billion dollars a year worldwide.

The crime is particularly prevalent in Florida.

Earlier this year, Tallahassee mother Celeste Chambers was found guilty and faces life in prison for trafficking her now 18-year-old daughter since she was only two years old.

In the first 6 months of 2018, there were 367 reported cases of human trafficking, giving Florida the third highest number in the nation.

A Legislative push led by Senator Lauren Book to address trafficking in the state is moving, but also faces opposition from some victim advocates.

“We can and we must do more,” said Book.

Book’s bill would create a registry for people who solicit prostitution and those who profit from selling others for sex.

Corporal Alan Wilkett is part of the Tampa Bay Regional Human Trafficking Task Force.

He says registries in other states have reduced the demand for prostitution.

“And reducing demand is critical in order to bring down human trafficking,” said Wilkett.

However, a group representing consensual sex workers says the punishment is too harsh.

“Creating another tool that puts people’s names on a list, just creates another barrier for them once they pay their debt to society,” said Jill McCracken with the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP).

Christine Hanavan, also with SWOP, argues the Legislation doesn’t allow victims to decide when they’re ready to come forward.

That’s because the bill requires law enforcement and hotel workers undergo training to identify and report trafficking victims.

“A victim could be placed in greater danger by making a report against their will,” said Hanavan.

The hotel industry says the goal isn’t to take power away from victims.

Samantha Padgett with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association argues it’s a way for the industry to fight back against traffickers.

“We look at this as prevention rather than just helping something after it’s already happened,” said Padgett.

The Legislation would require all hotel workers to receive training within six months of being hired, or by the start of 2021, which ever comes first.

Senator Book was receptive to the concerns brought up in the bill’s most recent committee stop, suggesting the Legislation might see some changes moving forward.

State senators got an earful today on the business of medical marijuana.

There are significant concerns over a lack of research, licenses and in-state growers.

It’s been nearly two year’s since lawmakers passed the law implementing medical marijuana.

Of the 185,000 active patients four out of ten are prescribed medical marijuana for chronic pain.

One out of five prescriptions are written for patients suffering from PTSD.

21 growers licenses should have been issued by now, but only 14 actually have.

Cannabis advocates say that’s hurting patients.

“Is the patient getting access to the best possible products for the best possible price? And until this program is fully evolved the answer to that is no,” said Jodi James with the Florida Cannabis Action Network.

Only four of the licenses are still held by Florida companies, most have been sold.

Growers licenses have sold for as much as $80 million, yet three license holders haven’t dispensed a single product.

“It’s largely out of state companies that are doing this,” said Senator Jeff Brandes. “There’s product shortages, there’s problems, there’s companies that aren’t growing, they’re hoarding their licenses. It’s not about patients. We need to make this about patients and wee need to make it about research.”

However there are problems on the research end as well.

No funding has reached Moffitt cancer center for eight proposed studies and Federal laws make any clinical trials nearly impossible.

“This board will not and is not able to do any sort of studies on any sort of product that is grown here in the state of Florida,” said Jamie Wilson Moffitt Cancer Center.

It’s not clear what if any legislative fixes may be proposed.

Some think the department of health could address the problems through rule making, but doh has mostly dragged its feet throughout implementation.

Balancing the rights of victims and their families involved in mass shootings and the public’s right to know proved a difficult task for lawmakers Thursday afternoon in the state Capitol.

Photos, video, and audio leading up to, during, or after a mass killing of three or more would be exempt from public records under new legislation.

“First of all, the potential commercialization of it getting into the wrong hands, but there is also some concern about this video and photographic evidence being used to train people to do similar acts,” said Senator Tom Lee.

The Southern Poverty Law says four words in the bill, all acts or events, would have kept video of cops hiding, not engaging, at Parkland from public view.

“It might show the perpetrator entering and how they got in. It might show the footage afterwards which would show how he or she got out. It shows what law enforcement response was,” said Scott McCoy with the SPLC.

“It was the ability to access those records, and then the reporting on them, that made a difference,” said Barbara Petersen with the First Amendment Foundation.

As it’s written, the legislation wouldn’t protect the victims from a shooting at a yoga studio in the State’s Capital City, because only two died.

“I say why not two? Why not one? My State Attorney in Jacksonville has brought a case where there’s this one person that was killed and bad people want pictures of a little girl who was murdered. And that’s wrong,” said Senator Aaron Bean.

So far, compromise has proved elusive, yet both sides say they are sympathetic to the other.

The legislation does allow a court to order records be made public, but in the Parkland case, media outlets spent a hundred thousand dollars in legal fees, something experts say could not be sustained for multiple cases.

Lawmakers appear to be on track to pass Legislation that would allow smokable medical marijuana by the Governor’s mid-March deadline.

After clearing a House Committee Thursday, both the House and Senate bills are on their way to the chamber floors.

The House version prohibits smoking for anyone under the age of 18, while the Senate bill allows for the option if the patient is terminal and smoking is recommended by two doctors as the most effective treatment.

Senate Sponsor Jeff Brandes threatened to withdraw his bill early on because of an amendment that would have severely restricted access, but now says the bill closer reflects the will of the voters.

“I think it’s roughly where I’m comfortable with the bill as it stands today. I mean I’d like to add some more flexibility for those under 18 to have a pathway to access, but for the most part I’m comfortable and would be willing to stand in front of the Senate and represent that this is a good product,” said Senator Jeff Brandes.

The House bill also requires smokable medical marijuana only be dispensed in the form of pre-rolled cigarettes.

The Senate version doesn’t include that restriction.

A proposal to put term limits on local school boards is moving forward in the state Capitol, but not without controversy and concern.

Momentum is building to give local residents a say on whether they want term limits in their individual counties.

State lawmakers have been limited to 8 years in office since term limits took effect after the 1992 election.

Now some say what’s good enough for them, is good for school board members as well.

“I’m not even sure Florida’s beautiful beaches wold poll as high as term limits do,” said House Sponsor Rep. Anthony Sabatini.

A new poll released in the committee shows term limits widely popular with the general public, with 70 plus percent approval even in rural counties.

Even with those numbers, a rift started developing in the committee.

“Shouldn’t local citizens should decide for themselves, at that county by county level if they
Want to establish localized place based term limits,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani.

One by one, a half dozen members said they wanted to let local communities decide if their school boards members should face 8 year limits.

“I don’t believe voters in one part of the state should be able to change the basic structure of local government in another part of the state,” said Rich Templin with the Florida AFLCIO.

The legislation cleared its second committee with no changes, at least for the time being.

The first year term limits kicked in, there were 63 new members elected to the Florida House.

That’s more than half the membership.

Senate President Bill Galvano was first elected after term limits kicked in.

He says they are a mixed bag for lawmakers.

“I don’t believe that because of term limits, our system here in Tallahassee is by any means broken,” said Galvano.

If term limits eventually apply to school boards, either statewide or county by county, they would be the only local officials with such a limit.

While statewide term limits for school board members moved forward, a big fight over the county by county vote is expected at its next committee meeting.

Governor Ron DeSantis gave a keynote speech to the Florida Economics Club in the State Capitol Wednesday.

He promised Florida would remain a low tax state while he’s Governor, and criticized New York for losing Amazon, not over taxes, but what he called a hostile political climate.

“I think that this hostility to companies like Amazon, a-lot of the financial institutions are consistently demagogue. And I just think they are paying a price for doing that companies,” said DeSantis. “What I can say on behalf of Florida for companies like Amazon, we welcome you to come to Florida.”

DeSantis didn’t take questions afterward, so it is unclear if he is actively seeking to bring Amazon to the state after they decided not to build a new headquarters in New York.

Planned parenthood says it expects lawmakers to introduce legislation requiring minors to have parental consent for an abortion.

Right now, only parental notification is required.

The group says lawmakers want to test whether or not a new Supreme Court would approve the requirement.

Kimberly Scott with Planned Parenthood says seven out of ten teens would go to their parents, but she says there are strong reasons why the other three can’t.

“Unfortunately for those three, there is a very, very particular reason,” said Scott. “Whether it is a sexual assault, whether it is incense, reasons why they do not approach their parents in this situation. So, and as a minor , you are already limited with resources, right. You don’t have transportation.lack of financial support.”

Courts have previously ruled the state’s encompassing privacy amendment protects minors’ right to seek abortions.

Florida’s top law enforcement officers were honored Wednesday morning for their bravery and courage.

Nine officers from eight agencies were recognized.

Nominees for the 2018 Florida Law Enforcement Officer of the Year broke major cases, took down mass shooters, were shot and one was even killed in the line of duty.

“It’s important for us as a community, as a state to remember how dangerous this job is,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.

The top award went to Miami Deputy Manuel Gonzalez, who was shot six times during an encounter with a dangerous criminal, but still managed to apprehend his attacker.

“Overall with my recovery process, I feel great. It’s been a little over a year already since my incident and I’m happy to be here,” said Gonzalez.

Among seven other nominees was Highway Patrol trooper Nicholas Dolan, who in February of 2017, stopped a potential mass shooter in Citrus County.

The encounter was captured on dash cam.

Also Deputy Jesus Madrigal, who arrested the Fort Lauderdale airport shooter with a lightening fast response.

“It was a total of only 86 seconds,” said Moody.

Nominee, Lieutenant Debra Clayton was killed in the line of duty.

Her son and husband accepted the award on her behalf.

“You know when they walk out the door you never know if they’re going to come back or not. So you know you just gotta stay prayed up and keep your faith,” said Debra’s husband, Seth Clayton.

Lt. Clayton is one of nearly 1,600 law enforcement officers who’ve died in the line of duty nationwide in the past decade.

A moment of silence was held at the ceremony in honor of 11 Florida law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2018.

Nationwide, 150 officers lost their lives last year.

Criminal Justice advocates are pushing a sweeping reform package aimed at reducing criminal sentences and helping rehabilitate prisoners instead of simply punishing them.

The Florida First Step act is modeled after a recently passed Federal law.

Florida prisons house nearly 100,000 inmates, costing taxpayers $2.6 billion a year.

Most inmates will be released within 5 years.

“That’s 85,000 people back out on the streets,” said Senator Keith Perry. “Are they going to be good citizens or are they going to recidivate?”

The problem, criminal justice reformers say, is that Florida’s system focuses more on punishment, not rehabilitation.

To shift the focus, some lawmakers are pushing the Florida First Step Act.

Among many changes, it would give judges discretion to divert from mandatory minimum sentences in non violent drug offenses and offer up to 60 days off sentences if they learn a trade of get an education.

“These are best practices from around the country that Florida would now be implementing and I think that’s all very positive,” said bill sponsor Senator Jeff Brandes.

A similar reform for federal prisons passed at the end of last year.

It’s the reason Matthew Charles, who was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 35 years for possession crack cocaine, is a free man today.

The Federal First step act  allowed judges to consider Charles’ behavior and efforts to change when deciding whether to release him early.

“Something was done on my behalf, but there’s thousands or hundreds of thousands of others, that nothing is being done on their behalf because they don’t have that voice,” said Charles.

However, Governor Ron DeSantis, who voted for the Federal law as a Congressman, is hesitant to support the initiative on the state level.

“The character of the crimes are a lot different. I mean, the Federal tends to be drug trafficking, there’s a lot of white collar [crimes],” said DeSantis. “The state you have a lot more just violent crimes.”

Similar reforms have failed in year’s past, but supporters hope the passage of the National First Step Act will give the legislation the push it needs.

The Florida First Step Act hasn’t been put on the agenda for any committees as of now.