[Nfbf-l] {Disarmed} Fw: [BattingTheBreeze] Fw: Article: Florida's 2011 session: What passed, what didn't

[Kirk]

Hello all, I thought you might enjoy this information from a good friend of 
all of ours, Paul Kaminsky! Kirk


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Paul Kaminsky
To: Batting The Breeze
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 11:19 AM
Subject: [BattingTheBreeze] Fw: Article: Florida's 2011 session: What 
passed, what didn't





----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "Brodie, James (Jim)"
Sent: Thu, May 12, 2011 8:49:51 AM
Subject: FW: Article: Florida's 2011 session: What passed, what didn't

Dear Veterans Leader,

Please see the article below from the St. Pete Times as an information item
related to the recently ended legislative session.


Jim Brodie
Director of Legislative and Cabinet Affairs
Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs
Suite 705-The Capitol
PH: 850-487-1533


Florida's 2011 session: What passed, what didn't

We do the work so you don't have to. Here's a look at the major bills that
passed and failed during the memorable 2011 session.

St. Petersburg Times
May 7, 2011

Some bills that passed and failed in the 2011 session. All passed bills 
await
Gov. Rick Scott's approval.

Consumers

BIKE SAFETY (Failed): Bicycle helmets worn by riders younger than 16 must 
meet
federal safety requirements. (SB 118/HB 981)

BOOSTER SEATS (Failed): Requires booster seats for children 4 to 7 years old 
who
are shorter than 4 feet 9 inches. (SB 238/HB 11)

Criminal, civil justice

BATH SALTS (Passed): Bans methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or "bath salts." (SB
1886/HB 1039)

BESTIALITY (Passed): Bans abuse involving sexual contact with an animal. (SB
344/HB 125)

CIVIL CITATIONS (Passed): Requires program to issue civil citations to
first-time juvenile offenders. (HB 997)

CIVIL RIGHTS (Passed): Allows some released felons to apply for an 
occupational
license and public employment before having rights restored. (SB 146/HB 449)

CONCEALED WEAPONS (Passed): A concealed weapon permit holder who 
accidentally
shows a gun would no longer be subject to penalty. (SB 234)

DOCTORS AND GUNS (Passed): Limits instances when doctors can ask patients
whether they own firearms. (SB 155)

JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION (Failed): Ends terms of all current members 
of
judicial nominating commissions, which recommend judicial appointments to 
the
governor. Allows Gov. Rick Scott to appoint new members, with input on some
positions from the Florida Bar. (SB 2170/HB 7101)

MANDATORY SENTENCES (Failed): Eliminates minimum mandatory sentences for
nonviolent offenders convicted of drug offenses. (SB 1334/HB 917)

PILL MILLS (Passed): Limits ability of doctors to dispense prescription 
drugs.
Establishes stiff penalties for illegal dispensing. (SB 818/HB 7095)

POLICE LINEUPS (Failed): Sets new guidelines for police lineups to try to 
reduce
wrongful convictions. (SB 1206/HB 0821)

PRETRIAL RELEASE PROGRAMS (Failed): Limits pretrial release programs to 
indigent
defendants represented by public defenders. (SB 372/HB 1379)

RED-LIGHT CAMERAS (Failed): Outlaws traffic infraction cameras at 
intersections,
repealing legislation adopted last year. (SB 672/ HB 4087)

SEXTING (Passed): Decriminalizes sending sexually explicit text messages, 
photos
or videos via cell phone or other devices by minors. (SB 888/HB 75)

SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA (Passed): Outlaws synthetic marijuana. (SB 204/HB 39)

TREATMENT BASED-DRUG COURTS (Signed into law): Expands court programs as a
sentencing option in eight counties, including Pinellas and Hillsborough. 
(SB
400)

Education

CHARTER SCHOOLS (Passed): Lifts barriers for charter schools to expand, in 
part
by designating certain schools as "high performing." (SB 1546/HB 7195)

CLASS SIZE (Passed): Changes definition of core curriculum, reducing the 
number
of courses that must meet class-size caps. (SB 2120/HB 5101)

EDUCATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY (Passed): Catch-all bill that, among other 
things,
limits gifts to school board members and their relatives to $50. (SB 1696/HB
1255)

SAGGY PANTS (Passed): Requires school boards to prohibit students from 
wearing
clothes that show their underwear or body parts, and imposes punishment up 
to
in-school suspension. (HB 61/SB 228)

SCHOOL BUS ADS (Failed): Allows restricted use of commercial advertisements 
on
school buses. (SB 1124/HB 109)

SCHOOL LUNCH (Passed): Transfers school food and nutrition programs to the
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. (SB 1312/HB 7219)

SCHOOL VOUCHERS — FLORIDA TAX CREDIT SCHOLARSHIPS (Passed): Removes 
limitation
on tax credits for companies that fund vouchers for low-income students. (SB
1388/HB 965)

SCHOOL VOUCHERS — MCKAY SCHOLARSHIPS (Passed): Allows more children to 
qualify
under the McKay Scholarship program for students with disabilities. (SB 
1656/HB
1329)

SCHOOL VOUCHERS — OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS (Passed): Allows more students to
qualify to move to other public schools by expanding the definition of a
"failing" school. (SB 1822/HB 1331)

TEACHER TENURE (Signed into law): Teacher evaluations will be based in part 
on
student test scores, and administrators will be able to more easily fire
teachers with weak evaluations. (SB 736/HB 7019)

VIRTUAL SCHOOLS (Passed): Expands online school offerings and requires 
incoming
high school students to take at least one online course before graduating. 
(SB
1620/HB 7197)

Energy, environment

BILLBOARDS (Failed): Lets billboard companies decide whether to pay into a 
fund
for planting trees — instead of requiring them to — when they get permits to
chop down trees that belong to taxpayers. (SB 1570)

CITIZEN CHALLENGES (Passed): Reverses state's "burden of proof" requirement 
that
potential polluters show that their projects won't contaminate air or water.
Replaces it with a requirement that citizens and other challengers provide 
proof
that the project will harm air or water. (SB 1382/HB 993)

CLIMATE (Failed): Repeals the Florida Climate Protection Act, which 
authorizes
the state to create a cap-and-trade regulatory program to reduce greenhouse 
gas
emissions. (SB 762)

FERTILIZER (Passed): Prohibits local governments from passing ordinances 
that
ban sales of fertilizer, but grandfathers in existing laws, such as 
Pinellas'
ban. (HB 7215)

GOLF COURSES (Failed): Requires the Division of Recreation and Parks to hire
Jack Nicklaus Design to build courses in state parks in every region of the
state, creating a Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail. (SB 1846/HB 1239)

GROWTH MANAGEMENT (Passed): Shifts review and regulation for development 
from
the state to local governments with repeal of the 1985 Growth Management 
Act.
(HB 7207)

RENEWABLE ENERGY (Failed): Allows utilities to raise rates $377 million 
every
year for the next five years to build solar or biomass renewable energy 
plants.
(SB 7082)

SEAPORTS (Passed): Eliminates state security regulations, which duplicated
federal efforts. Gives Citrus County until July 2014 to apply for funding to
study feasibility of a "Port Citrus" on the old barge canal. (SB 524/HB 283)

SEPTIC TANKS (Failed): Repeals 2010 policy requiring homeowners with septic
tanks to have them inspected by Health Department-certified regulators every
five years. (HB 13/SB 1698)

SEWAGE AS FERTILIZER (Failed): Lifts a not-yet-implemented ban on spraying
treated waste from septic tanks as fertilizer on farmers' fields. (HB 1479)

Ethics and elections

BLIND TRUSTS (Failed): Requires the governor, lieutenant governor and three
Cabinet members to place their personal assets into blind trusts. (SB 86)

CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS (Failed): Increases the $500 maximum campaign
contribution to $10,000 for gubernatorial candidates, $5,000 for Cabinet 
races
and $2,500 for state legislative candidates. (SB 1690)

ELECTIONS (Passed): Reduces days of early voting from 14 to eight, requires 
some
voters who have moved to cast provisional ballots, tightens the time for
third-party groups to submit voter registration forms and reduces the time 
that
signatures on citizen-led ballot initiatives are valid. (SB 2086/HB 1355)

ETHICS (Failed): Bars a lawmaker from voting on legislation that would 
"inure to
his or her special private gain or loss" or to an employer, relative, 
business
associate or board upon which the official sits. (SB 2088/HB 1071)

FALSEHOODS (Passed): Makes it illegal for a candidate to falsely claim 
military
service. (SB 330)

GIFT BAN (Failed): Allows lobbyists to provide $25 worth of food and drink 
or
gifts to lawmakers. Items worth more than $25 up to $100 would be reported, 
and
anything over $100 would require approval of Senate president or House 
speaker.
(SB 1322)

Gambling

CASINO RESORTS (Failed): Allows for development of resort casinos in up to 
five
areas of the state. (SB 2050/HB 1415)

GREYHOUND RACING (Failed): Frees dog track owners from a requirement that 
they
hold a certain number of live races to maintain licenses for a casino or 
card
room. (SB 1594/HB 1145)

ONLINE POKER (Failed): Regulates online poker games by allowing Floridians 
to
play with other Floridians through an Intranet system operated out of 
parimutuel
card rooms. (SB 812)

SWEEPSTAKES CAFES (Failed): Prohibits use of simulated gaming for 
promotional
purposes. (HB 217)

Government

PENSIONS (Passed): Local government employees face new limits on sick leave 
and
overtime under a compromise plan. (SB 1128/HB 7241)

GUN CONTROL (Passed): Prohibits local governments from regulating firearms. 
(HB
45)

PENSION REFORM (Passed): Employees in the Florida Retirement System will pay 
3
percent of their salaries into their retirement accounts, face higher 
retirement
ages, and their retirement accounts will no longer collect
cost-of-living-adjustment starting July 1. (SB 2100, HB 1405)

PINELLAS AGENCIES' MERGER (Failed): Consolidates the Pinellas Planning 
Council
and the Metropolitan Planning Organization into one agency to handle both
land-use and transportation issues. (SB 1446/HB 1041)

CABINET RULES REPEALS (Failed): Provision in rulemaking bill would have 
allowed
Cabinet members during their first six months in office to repeal rules if 
they
are obsolete or if they conflict with policies members are trying to 
implement
was removed from bill that passed. (HB 993)

Health care

ABORTION — CHOOSE LIFE (Passed): Proceeds from Choose Life license plates 
will
go to Choose Life Inc. for assisting pregnant women, instead of counties. 
(SB
196/HB 501)

ABORTION — HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES (Passed): Health care plans created through 
the
federal health care law cannot offer coverage for abortions. (SB 1414/HB 97)

ABORTION — PARENTAL NOTIFICATION (Passed): Requires minors seeking a 
judicial
waiver for parental notification of an abortion to get the waiver in 
district
court rather than a wider-reaching appeals court. (SB 1770/HB 1247)

ABORTION — THIRD-TRIMESTER BAN (Failed): Expands ban on third-trimester
abortions to include viability of the fetus. Doctors who perform abortions 
would
be required to receive ethics training. (SB 1748/HB 1397)

ABORTION — ULTRASOUND (Passed): Women preparing to undergo an abortion must 
be
offered the opportunity to have the results and images of an ultrasound
explained to them. Woman can decline to see the image. (SB 1744/HB 1127)

MEDICAID (Passed): Reforms place the program's 3 million recipients into 
managed
care. HMOs and other large, managed-care networks will bid with the state on
managing any number of 11 regions in Florida. Also makes it more difficult 
for
recipients to sue Medicaid doctors and hospitals. (SB 1972/HB 7107, 7109)

SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY (Passed): Extends state lawsuit protection to university
doctors teaching at public hospitals. (SB 1676/HB 1393)

Insurance

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE (Failed): Among other things, bill gives insurers 90 
days
to investigate auto accident claims for possible fraud before paying claims. 
(SB
1930/HB 1411)

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE (Failed): Limits attorney's fees in personal injury
protection lawsuits. (SB 1694/HB 967)

CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE (Failed): Allows state-run insurer to raise 
rates by
up to 25 percent. The current maximum: 10 percent. (SB 1714/HB 1243)

PROPERTY INSURANCE (Passed): Allows insurance companies to offer 
comprehensive
sinkhole coverage for primary structures only. Sets a three-year window for
filing claims for damage caused by hurricanes and windstorms. (SB 408/HB 
803)

Military affairs

COLLEGE CHOICE (Failed): Allows veterans who lived in Florida four years 
before
entering armed forces to be admitted to any state bachelor's program of 
their
choice. (SB 894/HB 693)

DRIVER'S LICENSE FEES (Failed): Reduces driver's license fees for certain
disabled veterans. (SB 368/HB 123)

PROPERTY TAXES (Passed): Extends certain property tax breaks to disabled
veterans 65 years or older who have a service-connected disability but were 
not
Florida residents before entering service. (SB 592/HB 439)

STATE PARKS (Passed): Gives parents of deceased veterans lifetime annual 
passes
to state parks. (SB 236/HB 95)

TUITION (Failed): Gives any veteran in the country the in-state tuition rate 
to
attend one of Florida's colleges or universities. (SB 826/683)

VETERANS COURT (Failed): Allows counties to develop jail-diversion programs 
for
veterans charged with certain crimes as a result of traumatic brain injury,
post-traumatic stress disorder or substance use stemming from military 
combat.
(SB 138)

VETERANS DAY (Failed): Requires schools to observe Veterans Day as a holiday 
and
not hold classes. (SB 1062/HB 375)

WOUNDED WARRIOR HUNTS (Passed): Requires Department of Agriculture and 
Consumer
Services to develop more hunting areas for disabled veterans. (SB 850/HB 
663)

Miscellaneous

ADVERSE POSSESSION (Passed): Requires that property appraisers notify 
rightful
homeowners when someone files for adverse possession. Anyone who seeks 
adverse
possession must disclose, under penalty of perjury, the intended use of the
property. (SB 1142/HB 927)

BARKING TREEFROG (Failed): Makes barking treefrog the state amphibian. (SB
502/HB 645)

CLAIMS — ERIC BRODY (Failed): Allows Eric Brody, a Broward man paralyzed 
after a
Broward Sheriff's Office cruiser crashed into him, to collect $12 million. 
(SB
42/HB 1151)

CLAIMS — DANIEL AND AMARA ESTRADA (Failed): Compensates the Estradas in a
"wrongful birth" case against University of South Florida. (SB 18/HB 545)

COMMERCIAL PARASAILING (Failed): Establishes state oversight of the 
commercial
parasailing industry. Named for Alejandra White, a tourist killed while
parasailing in Clearwater in September. (SB 392/HB 451)

DANGEROUS DOGS (Passed): Dogs found as part of an animal-fighting ring won't 
be
automatically classified as dangerous. (SB 722/HB 4075)

FARM PHOTOGRAPHY (Failed): Bans photography on farms without owner's written
consent, with exceptions for state investigators, law enforcement and 
property
appraisers. (SB 1246)

OPEN HOUSE PARTIES (Passed): Imposes harsher penalties on adults who violate
house party laws. (SB 746/HB 105)

PHOTOS, VIDEOS OF DEATH (Passed): Exempts photos, videos and recordings
depicting deaths from public records. Introduced for families of two Tampa
police officers whose deaths were captured on a dashboard camera. (SB 416/HB
411)

SBA PUBLIC RECORDS EXEMPTION (Passed): Renews law letting State Board of
Administration keep private certain "proprietary confidential business
information" related to alternative investments. (SB 2174/HB 7225)

ANTI-SHARIA LAW (Failed): Says foreign laws and doctrines should stay out of
Florida courts. (SB 1294/HB 1273)

UNION DUES (Failed): Bans public employee unions from using automatic 
payroll
deduction to collect union dues and using dues for political activity. (SB 
830,
HB 1021)

VACATION RENTALS (Passed): Forbids local governments from treating "vacation
rentals" differently than other homes. (SB 476/HB 883)

WINE SHIPMENTS (Failed): Prohibits large wineries from continuing to ship
bottles directly to Florida consumers. (SB 854/HB 837)

YOUTH ATHLETE CONCUSSIONS (Failed): Requires Florida High School Athletic
Association to remove athletes showing signs of a concussion during a game 
or
practice until they receive clearance from a certain physician. (SB 730/HB 
301)

Gov. Scott's priorities

DRUG TESTS FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS (Passed): Requires drug screening for 
adult
welfare recipients. (HB 353)

DAUBERT STANDARD OF EXPERT TESTIMONY (Failed): Changes standards by which 
judges
admit expert testimony. (SB 822/HB 391)

GOOD SAMARITAN PROTECTIONS (Passed): Protects from civil litigation people 
who
offer temporary housing, food, water or electricity to an emergency first
responder or immediate family members of an emergency first responder. (SB
450/HB 215)

IMMIGRATION (Failed): Requires some public or private employers to use the
federal government's E-Verify system, and changes rules for law enforcement 
to
check the immigration status of suspects or inmates. (SB 2040/HB 7089)

Taxes and budget

BUDGET (Passed): The $69.7 billion plan funds state government for the 
2011-2012
year. (SB 2000)

CORPORATE INCOME TAX (Passed): A tax break of $1,100 a year on average for
15,000 small businesses as first step in effort to cut the state's annual $2
billion corporate tax. (HB 7185)

ONLINE TRAVEL TAX (Failed): Shields online travel companies from paying 
taxes on
retail price of hotel rooms they sell and allows them to pay based on 
wholesale
cost. (SB 376 /HB 493)

PROPERTY TAXES (Passed): Requires property owners to pay 75 percent of their
taxes while they appeal their property appraisals. (HB 281)

UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION (Passed): Pays for a tax cut for businesses by 
cutting
state benefits for unemployed Floridians. Instead of making the maximum $275
weekly benefit available for 26 weeks, the state would use a sliding scale 
based
on the unemployment rate. Benefits would be available for no more than 23 
weeks
and no less than 12 weeks. (HB 7005)

Transportation

BILLBOARD PERMITS (Failed): Provision sets more restrictive guidelines for
billboard permit fees charged by counties and cities. (HB 1363)

ENDING SUNPASS DISCOUNT (Failed): Eliminates discount on prepaid tolls for 
those
who buy SunPass Cards (SB 1252)

FALLEN OFFICER ROAD DESIGNATIONS (Signed into law): Names stretches of 
roadways
in Tampa Bay for five St. Petersburg and Tampa police officers killed in the
line of duty since June. (SB 782/HB 601)

PANHANDLING (Failed): Provision within sprawling transportation bill imposes
statewide restrictions on roadside solicitations. Designed with Tampa's
panhandling problems in mind. (SB 1180)

TAMPA HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY EXPRESSWAY AUTHORITY (Failed): Provision in 
omnibus
budget folds assets of the Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority 
into
the Florida Turnpike Enterprise. (SB 2152)

Veto override

LEADERSHIP FUNDS: Allows leaders in the House and Senate to operate campaign
accounts that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of cash. (HB 1207)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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