Latest news with #HouseBill1535
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida bill aimed requiring local governments to establish hurricane plans for storm response
The Brief A bill is moving through Florida's House that would require local governments to have better hurricane plans in place. This comes after local governments found themselves ill-prepared to respond to last year's storm season. The bill would require local governments to have more defined pre- and post-hurricane plans in place. SHORE ACRES, Fla. - As many across the area are still recovering from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, a bill moving through the Florida House aims to require local governments to have more established pre- and post-hurricane plans in place to respond to storms. "It's no secret to any of us that we had a really terrible hurricane season, and many of our communities are still reeling from the impacts," Representative Fiona McFarland (R-Sarasota), who's sponsoring the bill, told the House Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee earlier this month. "It has ideas and best practices that bubbled up from the very local level and are all compiled in this bill," McFarland said. READ: Bell tolls in St. Peter's square after pope's death The backstory Many homes in Shore Acres are still being rebuilt, are boarded up, or are for sale and ideas have poured in from locals like Kevin Batdorf, the president of the Shore Acres Civic Association. "We in Shore Acres had many conversations with our legislators and offered some suggestions," Batdorf said. House Bill 1535 requires local governments to set up at least one debris management site before the storm, open a permitting office as soon as possible after the storm that will be open 40 hours a week and set up mutual aid agreements to bring in more help after the storm to expedite the permit and inspection processes. It would also require local governments to have an online option for substantial damage and improvement letters. What they're saying "My hope is that, God forbid, another storm does come our way, that it's managed better," Batdorf said. "That you don't wait seven months to get a permit, that you don't wait 90 days to have your trash picked up off of the street." "Hopefully, this bill moves the needle a little bit," said Batdorf. The bill also states that all hoisting equipment at construction sites must be secured to comply with manufacturer recommendations 24 hours before a hurricane's impact after a crane fell into an office building in St. Pete during Hurricane Milton. Thankfully, no one was injured. RELATED: St. Petersburg construction crane falls from high rise during Hurricane Milton Since election season overlaps with Florida's hurricane season, the bill would allow election supervisors to request that the Secretary of State make specific changes. "Here are some of the actions the local supervisors may request: change the location of early voting sites, allow early voting on the day before the election, allow election day voting to occur at early voting sites, designate additional secure ballot intake stations, and vote by mail ballots to voters who request a ballot at a new address and then waive some restrictions on who can be poll workers," McFarland said. Big picture view It's a potential plan that no one wants to use, but they fear they may have to. CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The bill is still working its way through the House. If passed, the governor would then have to sign it into law. A similar bill in the senate, sponsored by Senator Nick DiCeglie of Indian Rocks Beach, recently passed unanimously. The Source FOX 13's Kailey Tracy collected the information in this story. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Four takeaways from the sixth week of the Arkansas 95th General Assembly
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – It was another busy week for the Arkansas legislature despite the icy roads and bitter cold. More bills have reached the governor's desk for signature, and bills continue to be filed to address various issues in the state, both great and small. NEW LAWS Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation into law during the week, including a ceremony Thursday marking the signing of free school breakfast legislation and the Bell to Bell, No Cell Act. Both of these were part of her January speech that opened the general session. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs free school breakfast and phone-free classroom bills into law Additional legislation signed into law was a bill ending affirmative action in state operations. Senate Bill 3 prohibits discrimination by considering a person's race or gender. GULF OF AMERICA One bill that will not become law was House Resolution 1010, requiring Arkansas to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The bill had made it through its committee hearing but failed in the House on its final vote. CHEMICAL CASTRATION House Bill 1535 was filed Wednesday and would add chemical castration to the sentence of anyone accused of rape of a person 12 years of age or younger. The castration will take place using medroxyprogesterone acetate after review by a medical expert. Medroxyprogesterone acetate is a synthetic female hormone that would bring testosterone to pre-puberty levels. It is already used in several states for chemical castration. According to the bill's language, an accused can opt for surgical castration if they want to avoid using medroxyprogesterone acetate. PETITION PROCESS Back and forth continues on legislation that would tighten the signature gathering for voter ballot initiatives. AG Tim Griffin among 25 attorney generals urging US Senate to pass 'HALT Fentanyl Act' Secretary of State Cole Jester came out with an Election Security Report Card that faulted the petition process and coincided with a batch of legislation, Senate bills 207 through 211, to place greater controls on the process. The issue is citizen access to the law-making process versus its security. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
