Latest news with #HB1225
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Teens need parental consent to get STI treatment, but not to work full-time, House votes
High school and college students participating in Planned Parenthood programs testified against a bill in the Senate on March 25, 2025, that would require parental consent to access birth control and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix) Although older teens could work unlimited hours, they wouldn't be able to get treatment for sexually transmitted infections on their own under two bills the Florida House approved Friday. House lawmakers voted on party lines both to require parental consent for health care providers to treat minors with STIs and to let 16- and 17-year-olds work full-time hours during the school year without their parents' permission. The passage of the bills rolling back child labor laws (HB 1225) and exceptions entitling minors to privacy with doctors (HB 1505) prompted ardent debate from Democrats, who raised concerns about children who may be too afraid to report abuse. Orlando Democratic Rep. Rita Harris put forward a failed amendment allowing minors 16 and older to get treatment for STIs without parental consent. 'There is definitely space for people who are 16 or 17 to be able to make decisions on their own, as it was stated,' Harris said. 'They drive a car. We trust them to get behind a car, which could literally kill people and kill themselves.' It didn't come up during Friday's debate, but the legislation co-sponsored by Lake Mary Republican Rep. Rachel Plakon also would remove a 'loophole' in Florida law that allows physicians to prescribe birth control to a minor if their medical opinion is that the patient would suffer health hazards otherwise. Plakon said she wants parents to have greater involvement over their kids' health decisions than institutions. 'The overwhelming majority of parents want to do the right thing for their children, and we believe that the passing of this legislation is a restoration of parental rights with health care and will foster better communication between parents and their children,' Plakon said. Parental consent doesn't apply to minors whose parents are being investigated for a crime against them. The Senate version, SB 1288, has not been scheduled for a floor vote. Additionally, the change could come at a time when Florida teens are contracting chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis at the highest rates since 2008, according to 2023 data from the Florida Department of Health. Those infections can be cured with antibiotics, but worsen if left untreated. Seventeen-year-old Adriana Rodas views the bills in juxtaposition to each other. The South Floridian traveled to Tallahassee in March to testify against HB 1505. 'I think saying that [teens] are only old enough to do one thing, and that one thing also happens to benefit the people who want to make this legislation pass, is hypocritical because it just shows to me that they always say they care about children, but then when it comes to having them work longer hours, which deteriorates mental health and can really slow them down academically, they don't care,' Rodas said in an interview with Florida Phoenix. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Lawmakers then approved the bill loosening working laws for young Floridians, which Democrats decried as a chance for employers to exploit minors, by a vote of 78-30. Specifically, the bill would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work shifts longer than eight hours on the day before a school day and more than 30 hours in a week while school is in session. The bill loosens restrictions for 14- and 15-year-old home-school students, online students, and those who've graduated. Employers wouldn't have to give 30-minute breaks to older teens under the bill. 'In Florida, we're requiring parental rights for many other things, like field trips, school presentations, and even, previously, this bill that just moved, kids would need parental rights for STI treatment,' said Jacksonville Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon. Florida now allows waivers signed by parents. guardians, or school superintendents for young people to work beyond restrictions spelled out in state law, but Republicans argued that the ultimate permission is granted by parents, and a waiver should not be required. Rep. Monique Miller, a Republican representing Palm Bay and the bill's sponsor, said that, because of 'a resurgence in apprenticeships and such, we want to reduce barriers to teenagers learning their trade.' Gov. Ron DeSantis' office drafted the legislation, Orlando Weekly reported. The bill makes Florida's minor labor laws stricter in one aspect. It was amended to prohibit students from working past 10 p.m. on school nights. Florida law now allows students to work until 11:00 p.m. The Senate version of the bill, SB 918, has not moved since its first committee stop, when it passed on a 5-4 vote. That bill, and the original version of the House bill, would've let minors work overnight on school nights. During its last committee stop, the bill was amended to speed up a preemption established last year, when lawmakers voted to eliminate local living-wage laws, specifically for government contractors, effective in 2026. The 2025 bill revises that preemption to take effect this year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
All work restrictions would be lifted on 16- and 17-year-olds in Florida under new bill
Only a year after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature loosened Florida's child labor restrictions amid a tight job market, lawmakers now are advancing a measure that would remove all work limits on 16- and 17-year-olds. While these kids could work unlimited hours and days without breaks during the school year, the legislation (SB 918) would even allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work without restrictions if they either graduated high school or are home- or virtual-school students. It also removes prohibitions on kids working on school days earlier than 6:30 a.m. or later than 11 p.m. 'This is a parental rights issue,' Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, told the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Tuesday. Collins dismissed critics who likened his bill as a return to an earlier epoch of child labor exploitation: 'Frankly, we're not talking 'The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair. We're talking about them working at Publix and Piggly Wiggly.' Still, others warned that exploitation of young workers is certain to follow if lawmakers ditch even the relaxed standards approved last year, which allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to work more than 30 hours during school weeks, with parental permission. 'We warned this was just the beginning, that this was a slippery slope, and here we are again,' said Jackson Oberlink, with Florida For All, a justice advocacy organization. 'We're facing another attempt to strip away basic safeguards for Florida's children, all to appease corporate interests looking for cheap labor.' Collins portrayed expanding work opportunities for teens as a chance for them to not only help their families but also build character that will serve them in future academics, work and life experience. DeSantis, though, may have fueled criticism of the legislation last week during a roundtable in Sarasota with President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan. DeSantis acknowledged that efforts the state and White House are engaged in to remove undocumented immigrants may have reduced the workforce for lower-wage jobs. But the governor pointed to young workers as potential replacements. What else at Capitol? Florida's GOP-led Legislature aims to limit the power of city, county governments Last year's first step... Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill to allow Florida teens to work more hours a week 'Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts. College students should be able to do this stuff,' he said. DeSantis said the state requiring larger employers to verify workers' immigration status has reduced available labor. 'Yes, we had people that left because of those rules, but you've also been able to hire other people. And what's wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? I mean, that's how it used to be when I was growing up,' DeSantis said. Collins' bill, however, may face tough odds. A similar House bill (HB 1225) hasn't moved. And while Collins' proposal cleared the Senate committee on a 5-4 vote, at least two of his fellow Republican supporters said they remained uneasy about the approach. Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, a former state GOP chair, voted against the legislation. 'I think this sends a bad message,' Gruters said. 'I think we should allow kids to work the hours they're allowed now with the (parent) waiver system, and that's it.' Collins' bill is like what Florida lawmakers began working with last year, until the compromise measure involving limited hours and parental permission emerged and was eventually approved. It reflects a nationwide push by the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Naples-based conservative research and lobbying organization financed by a constellation of right-wing groups. The Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, led by the billionaire founder of a Wisconsin-based shipping company, is a big donor to FGA and supports the child labor bill along with anti-union and deregulation efforts across the country. Dick Uihlein, who leads the foundation named for his father, was a big donor to DeSantis, particularly during his failed presidential campaign. The Florida Policy Institute, which opposes the legislation, said there are more than 80,000 16- and 17-year-olds already employed in Florida, with most juggling work and school. FPI said that lifting the current limits will force teen-agers to accept hours their bosses schedule them, even if it puts their academics at risk. Citing the most recent U.S. Labor Department statistics, FPI reported that in 2023, there were 209 child labor violations in Florida, the second highest level in 15 years. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@ or on X at @JKennedyReport. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida teens would have work limits lifted under new legislation
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ND House bill would enhance some reckless endangerment charges, change habitual offender requirements
Feb. 4—BISMARCK — By changing how the state classifies habitual offenders and enhancing the potential penalties for reckless endangerment crimes involving firearms, Sen. Jonathan Sickler hopes to give judges more flexibility to sentence the most dangerous offenders to longer prison terms. Sickler, R-Grand Forks, said the bill has two parts. First, it would elevate reckless endangerment-extreme indifference from a Class C felony to a Class B felony in certain circumstances. An amendment later offered by Rep. Lawrence R. Klemin, R-Bismarck, who was the first to get involved with the bill, limited this enhancement to reckless endangerment involving the discharge of a firearm. "They're seeing people in bars (or hotels or apartments) in some parts of the state firing a weapon," Sickler said. "They may not necessarily have the intent element to get it an attempted murder kind of charge, but on the extreme indifference? It would meet that. So that would elevate that to a Class B." The second part of the bill, which he believes will likely be more impactful, would change how the state classifies habitual offenders. As it stands, a defendant can be designated as a habitual offender based on the potential penalties they faced for prior convictions — for example, if they faced up to five years in prison, which would be a Class C felony in North Dakota. Other states have different sentencing lengths for different crimes; it is not a uniform system. There are times when someone would meet the definition of a habitual offender under North Dakota's criminal definitions but doesn't because their state doesn't carry the necessary sentence length for a given crime. "That's where the issue with the other states comes in, that their Class C felonies don't match up potential prison times with our Class C felonies," Sickler said. "So this bill will just make it just felonies. So if you repeatedly commit felonies, whether in North Dakota or other states, that could make you eligible for a judge to determine that you're a habitual offender who could be subject to extra person time." One of the main topics of this legislative session is how to deal with increasing crime rates and overcrowding in correctional facilities, trying to strike a balance between keeping the right people in jail and not incurring unsustainable costs by incarcerating people, he said. HB 1225 was given a "do pass" recommendation — with the firearm discharge amendment — Wednesday, Jan. 29, and has been re-referred to the appropriations committee. The state fiscal effect, according to a fiscal note filed prior to the amendments, was listed as $13,618,039.
