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Last day for Fla. legislative session

2013-05-03T12:59:29Z

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The 60-day legislative session is coming to an end as lawmakers plan to vote on a budget and scramble to get other bills passed before going home.

Friday will be the last day of a session that has already seen several major bills signed into law, including a ban on Internet cafes that offer slot machine-like games, a wide-ranging ethics bill, an increase in campaign contribution limits and more.

But the Legislature still has to pass the budget - the only thing it's required to do each year. And there are many other bills lawmakers hope to get to Gov. Scott's desk - not the least of which is an elections bill that will allow an expansion of early voting days and sites.

Gov. announces funding of early coastal restoration projects

2013-05-02T16:21:15Z

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) — Governor Rick Scott announced that the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees have proposed $58 million in early restoration projects for Florida.

To date, Phases I and II of early restoration projects for Florida have totaled $11.4 million.

Governor Scott said, “We’re committed to restoring the environment and economy that families have relied upon in the Gulf for generations. These $58 million in Florida projects represent a critical step forward in recovering from the natural resource and recreational losses that resulted from the BP oil spill. We will continue to work with our state, federal and local partners toward solutions that ensure impacted areas are revitalized for families.”

Florida’s Proposed NRDA Phase III Projects: Approximately $58 million

Florida Gulf Coast Marine Fisheries Hatchery/ Enhancement Center, Escambia County - Approximately $20 million Florida Artificial Reef Creation and Restoration, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay counties - Approximately $11.4 million Pensacola Bay Living Shoreline, Escambia County - Approximately $11 million Florida Oyster Reef Restoration Escambia, Santa Rosa, Bay and Franklin counties - Approximately $5.4 million Scallop Enhancement for Increased Recreational Fishing Opportunity in the Florida Panhandle, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, and Franklin counties - Approximately $3 million Florida Bay Seagrass Recovery Project, Gulf, Franklin and Bay counties - Approximately $2.7 million Big Lagoon State Park Boat Ramp Improvement, Escambia County - Approximately $1.5 million Bob Sikes Pier Restoration, Escambia County - Approximately $1 million Shell Point Beach Nourishment, Wakulla County - Approximately $880,000 Florida Cat Point Living Shoreline Project, Franklin County - Approximately $800,000 Perdido Key Boardwalk Improvements, Escambia County - Approximately $600,000 Perdido Key Dune Restoration, Escambia County - Approximately $600,000

These projects, if successfully finalized after public review and comment, are in addition to the seven projects, on which Florida has been working, including several boat ramps, a dune restoration project and projects to protect and restore shorebird and sea turtle nesting habitat. With the additional projects, Florida will have allocated nearly $69 million of the $100 million available through the early restoration process defined in the April 2011 Framework Agreement between BP and the Trustees.

The Trustees intend to propose the early restoration projects using a method similar to previous draft restoration plans in order to continue the process of using early restoration funding to restore natural resources, ecological services and human use services injured or lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.

This next set of projects includes many of the proposals that citizens have been suggesting, such as oyster and scallop restoration, seagrass restoration, artificial reefs, living shorelines, recreational beach restoration, state park improvements, and a hatchery project which will help restore the fisheries in north Florida as well as provide much needed research into the area of fisheries management and restoration.
The Trustees have worked to develop and negotiate the 28 proposed projects Gulf-wide, of which 12 are being proposed by Florida.

Budget gives Florida state workers raises

2013-04-28T15:01:45Z

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — State workers are getting a pay raise for the first time in seven years.

House and Senate budget negotiators on Saturday agreed to offer a $1,400 pay raise to all those who currently earn less than $40,000. State employees who earn more than $40,000 will get a $1,000 raise.

Roughly 35 percent of all state workers will also be eligible for a $600 performance bonus.

State employees have not had an across the board raise since 2006. Since that time, state finances have been strained.

House and Senate budget negotiators are working through the weekend to put the finishing touches on a proposed $74 billion budget.

They must wrap up their work by Tuesday in order for the session to end on May 3.

Fla. tuition rates to increase by fall

2013-04-27T19:11:19Z

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida legislators are working through the weekend to reach a final deal on a proposed $74 billion budget.

House and Senate budget negotiators agreed late Friday to raise college and university tuition rates by 3 percent in the fall.

They have not yet decided on other high-profile items such as pay raises for state workers. Top Republicans also have not yet announced how they will hand out a $480 million salary increase for teachers.

Gov. Rick Scott wants a $2,500 pay raise for all teachers. Legislators have consistently said they will not go along with that proposal.

Scott also opposes tuition hikes and could veto the hike approved Friday once it reaches his desk.

Legislators have until Tuesday to finish work on the state budget.

House approves bill to speed up capital punishment

2013-04-25T16:09:34Z

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A bill that would speed up the death penalty in Florida has been passed by the Florida House of Representatives.

The House passed the Timely Justice Act of 2013 (HB 7083) on Thursday by a vote of 84-34. The bill goes to the Senate where a similar bill is being considered later today.

Rep. Matt Gaetz's bill creates tighter timeframes for appeals and post-conviction motions and imposes reporting requirements on case progress.

It also re-establishes a separate agency for north Florida to provide appellate-level legal representation to death-sentenced inmates.

Democrats continued to say the bill favors speed over fairness. Twenty-four men have been exonerated from Florida's death row since 1973. But 28 people now on Death Row have been there longer than 30 years.

Fla. lawmakers budget for $50M trail

2013-04-21T15:30:00Z

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers are setting aside $50 million to pay for a hiking trail that would stretch across the state.

State legislators working over the weekend agreed to spend money on the trail, along with plenty of other hometown projects.

The 275-mile trail would run from St. Petersburg to Titusville. The money would be used to purchase land to connect existing trails already in place.

Gov. Rick Scott could veto the project since he did not recommend it his proposed budget.

House and Senate negotiators are spending the entire weekend trying to resolve final differences in a proposed $74 billion budget. Lawmakers are scheduled to end their session on May 3.

They have still not resolved major issues such as teacher pay raises and whether to hike college tuition.

Fla. AG files suit against BP over Gulf Oil Spill

2013-04-20T19:09:45Z

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Attorney General Pam Bondi has filed a lawsuit against oil company BP and Halliburton over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Bondi filed on Saturday on the three-year anniversary of the tragedy that killed 11 rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico and fouled 1,100 miles of beaches and marsh along the Gulf coast.

The 40-page lawsuit was filed in federal court in Panama City.

The suit includes several counts under federal, state and maritime law and focuses on Florida's economic losses. Bondi argues that the 2010 spill cost the state a variety of tax revenues.

The state also seeks punitive damages.

Senate rejects expanded gun background checks

2013-04-17T20:33:54Z

Senate Republicans backed by a small band of rural-state Democrats scuttled the most far-reaching gun control legislation in two decades Wednesday, rejecting tighter background checks for buyers and a ban on assault weapons as they spurned pleas from families of victims of last winter's school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

"This effort isn't over," President Barack Obama vowed at the White House moments after the defeat on one of his top domestic priorities. Surrounded by Newtown relatives, he said opponents of the legislation in both parties "caved to the pressure" of special interests.

A ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines also fell in a series of showdown votes four months after a gunman killed 20 elementary school children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary.

A bid to loosen restrictions on concealed weapons carried across state lines was rejected, as well.

That last vote marked a rare defeat for the National Rifle Association on a day it generally triumphed over Obama, gun control advocates and many of the individuals whose lives have been affected by mass shootings in Connecticut and elsewhere.

Some of them watched from the spectator galleries above the Senate floor. "Shame on you," shouted one, Patricia Maisch, who was present two years ago when a gunman in Tucson, Ariz., killed six and wounded 13 others, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Vice President Joe Biden gaveled the Senate back into order after the breach of decorum.

Gun control advocates, including Obama, had voiced high hopes for significant action after the Newtown shootings. But the lineup of possible legislation gradually dwindled to a focus on background checks, and in the end even that could not win Senate passage. Chances in the Republican-controlled House had seemed even slimmer.

By agreement of Senate leaders, a 60-vote majority was required for approval of any of the provisions brought to a vote.

The vote on the background check was 54-46, well short of the 60 votes needed to advance. Forty-one Republicans and five Democrats voted to reject the plan.

The proposed ban on assault weapons commanded 40 votes; the bid to block sales of high capacity ammunition clips drew 46.

The NRA-backed proposal on concealed carry permits got 57.

In the hours before the key vote on background checks, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., bluntly accused the National Rifle Association of making false claims about the expansion of background checks that he and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., were backing.

"Where I come from in West Virginia, I don't know how to put the words any plainer than this: That is a lie. That is simply a lie," he said, accusing the organization of telling its supporters that friends, neighbors and some family members would need federal permission to transfer ownership of firearms to one another.

The NRA did not respond immediately to the charge, but issued a statement after the vote that restated the claim. The proposal "would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution," said a statement from Chris Cox, a top lobbyist for the group.

Said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, "Expanded background checks would not have prevented Newtown. Criminals do not submit to background checks."

Even before the votes, the administration signaled the day's events would not be the last word on an issue that Democratic leaders shied away from for nearly two decades until Obama picked up on it after the Newtown shootings.

Biden's presence was a purely symbolic move since each proposal required a 60-vote majority to pass and he would not be called upon to break any ties. Democratic aides said in advance the issue would be brought back to the Senate in the future, giving gun control supporters more time to win over converts to change the outcome.

Obama, standing near Giffords and relatives of other shooting victims, said at the White House public opinion was strongly behind expanded background checks. Despite that, opponents of the legislation were "worried that the gun lobby would spend a lot of money" at the next election, he said.

"So all in all this was a pretty shameful day for Washington," he added.

The day's key test concerned the background checks, designed to prevent criminals and the seriously mentally ill from purchasing firearms. Under current law, checks are required only when guns are purchased from federally licensed firearms dealers. The proposal by Manchin and Toomey called for extending the requirement to other sales at gun shows and on the Internet.

On the vote, Democratic Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska and Max Baucus of Montana joined Pryor and Heitkamp in voting against the proposal. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a supporter of the plan, switched his vote to the prevailing "no" side to permit him to call for a revote in the future.

Begich, Pryor and Baucus are all seeking re-election next year. In an indication of the intensity of the feelings on the issue, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal group, swiftly announced it would seek to defeat them in 2014.

Among Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mark Kirk of Illinois, John McCain of Arizona and Toomey sided with Democrats.

Numerous polls in recent months have shown support for enhanced gun control measures, including background checks, though it may be weakening.

An Associated Press-GfK poll this month showed that 49 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws, down from 58 percent in January. In that recent survey, 38 percent said they want the laws to remain the same and 10 percent want them eased.

Obama has made enactment of greater curbs a priority on his domestic agenda in the months since the massacre at Newtown, making several trips outside Washington to try and build support. Last week, he traveled to Connecticut, and he invited several parents to fly back to Washington with him aboard Air Force One so they could personally lobby lawmakers.

To an unusual degree for professional politicians, some senators said afterward that they had not wanted to meet with the mothers and fathers of the dead, or said it was difficult to look at photographs that the parents carried of their young children, now dead.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said before Wednesday's vote, "I think that in some cases, the president has used them as props, and that disappoints me."

Without referring to Paul by name, Obama rebutted him firmly. "Do we really think that thousands of families whose lives have been shattered by gun violence don't have a right to weigh in on this issue?" he said.

At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney said some of them had met earlier in the day with lawmakers, who he said should "consider who they're representing.

"Ninety percent of the American people support expanded background checks," he said.

The NRA told lawmakers it intended to keep track of how the votes were cast, and consider them in making decisions about its efforts in the midterm elections for Congress next year.

An opposing group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, funded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said it would do likewise.

The NRA has a long track record in electoral politics, and is viewed by lawmakers in both political parties as unusually effective. Bloomberg's organization has yet to be tested.

In the AP-GfK poll, among independents, support for stricter gun laws dipped from 60 percent in January to 40 percent now. About three-fourths of Democrats supported them then and now, while backing among Republicans for looser laws about doubled to 19 percent.

The survey was conducted from April 11-15 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,004 randomly chosen adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

___

Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman, AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and news survey specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this story.

Florida legislature to speed up executions

2013-04-14T20:15:00Z

TALLAHASSE, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers are tired of delays in carrying out death sentences and have decided to speed up the process.

Bills now in the House and Senate would create quicker timeframes for appeals. They would also make it harder for inmates to dismiss their lawyers and would increase the requirements for making certain legal arguments.

It takes an average of 13 years in Florida to get from sentencing to execution. Florida has 403 inmates on death row. That's more than any other state except California, which has 724.

But legislators will have to walk a fine line between speed and fairness. Twenty-four men sentenced to die in Florida have been exonerated since 1973.

Florida remains tough on felons' suffrage

2013-04-13T23:30:00Z

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Changes under Republican Gov. Rick Scott are making it more difficult for Florida's former felons to get their voting rights restored.

Hundreds of thousands of ex-felons can't vote in Florida because their rights haven't been restored although they've completed their sentences, often many years ago.

Civil liberties activists say Florida's rights restoration rules are the most restrictive in the nation and suppress the Democratic-leaning minority vote.

The percentage of blacks in Florida's prison system is nearly double the overall percentage of blacks who are Floridians, meaning a higher percentage of African-Americans are unable to vote.

Critics say Republicans have political motivations for making it more difficult for ex-felons to vote.