Latest news with #Hunschofsky
Miami Herald
30-04-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
Push for USF addiction center creates a war of words between Florida House and Senate
A tribute from Florida's senators made in honor of longtime Tampa Bay politician Sen. Darryl Rouson has morphed into a fight with the Florida House — one that could affect this year's Florida's budget. 'We will make it right,' said Sen. Ed Hooper, the Senate's appropriations chairperson. 'Or else.' Rouson, the Democratic lawmaker who must leave office due to term limits in 2026, has been open about his struggle with substance use disorder and his many years in recovery. This year, Rouson filed a bill to implement several proposals from the Florida Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder, on which he serves. His bill also proposed creating a center at the University of South Florida to study the links between substance use disorder and mental health issues. The Senate proposed allocating $5 million for the center's work, and state senators honored Rouson with a proposal to name the center after him. All of them cosponsored the amendment to name the center after Rouson, and many gave speeches applauding Rouson for his advocacy and long career in the Legislature. But the House stripped the Darryl E. Rouson Center out of the bill when the Senate sent its language over. The language creating the center wasn't in the House legislation, and Rep. Christine Hunschofsky , D-Parkland, told lawmakers that it was 'not one of the recommendations' from the commission. Hunschofsky is also on the commission with Rouson. The House's decision caused an unusual, impassioned display from lawmakers of both parties on the Senate floor. Some senators appeared to be crying. 'It's not right, it's not fair, it's not appropriate and it really isn't acceptable,' said Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, of the House's proposal. Hunschofsky did not immediately responded to a request for comment, but posted on social media saying that 'just because people say something passionately and loudly, doesn't mean it is true.' Rouson said while he was touched by Senators' gesture, and while he thought creating the center was important, he said it was 'more important that the work continue.' He moved to accept the House's proposal. But Senators delayed taking a vote after after multiple lawmakers suggested that they didn't think the House language was acceptable, leaving the issue hanging with just two days left in the session. Senators' frustration with the House proposal seemed to spill beyond Rouson's specific bill. Hooper brought up the ongoing negotiations between the House and Senate over a budget, which will not be completed in time. 'This is what we deal with,' Hooper said. Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, also said she was 'really glad that in a year and a half we're gonna have another speaker who will hopefully support the naming of the program after you.' House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, fired back at the Senate, saying in a statement that while he would be happy to work with the senators to honor Rouson, their idea 'created a backdoor appropriations project,' despite the House's wishes. 'But the action of the Senate today to name a center after Sen. Rouson as a means of emotionally blackmailing the House into doing what they want is unconscionable,' Perez said. 'The comments of 'or else' were a threat to the Florida House and beneath the dignity of the Florida Senate.' Perez said Senators should direct their rightful outrage to their own chamber, who created the 'backdoor' project and 'used the good Senator's legacy to do so.' Senate President Ben Albritton has been diplomatic about the Senate's relationship with the House and his relationship with Perez, even as Perez has more vocally denounced the Senate's spending plan. Albritton has also largely avoided commenting on the House's actions this year under Perez. House members have criticized the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration's spending, grilled executive agency heads and investigated one of his wife's key initiatives, Hope Florida. But the uproar over the Rouson Center shows that the Senate and House relationship may be on more unsteady ground than leaders have let on. DeSantis, who has for weeks denounced the House, took to social media to weigh in on the chamber's fight over the Rouson center, saying it was 'the Florida House of Pettiness in all its glory.' First lady Casey DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, a close ally of DeSantis who has also been targeted by a House member over his role in the Hope Florida Foundation, also commented, commending Rouson. It's unclear what will happen with the bill moving forward. If the House and Senate refuse to agree on language around the center, the bill's other proposals would also be dead for the year.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
USF center named for Sen. Rouson sparks Florida House and Senate battle
TALLAHASSEE — A tribute from Florida's senators made in honor of longtime Tampa Bay politician Sen. Darryl Rouson has morphed into a fight with the Florida House — one that could affect this year's Florida's budget. 'We will make it right,' said Sen. Ed Hooper, the Senate's appropriations chairperson. 'Or else.' Rouson, the Democratic lawmaker who must leave office due to term limits in 2026, has been open about his struggle with substance use disorder and his many years in recovery. This year, Rouson filed a bill to implement several proposals from the Florida Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder, on which he serves. His bill also proposed creating a center at the University of South Florida to study the links between substance use disorder and mental health issues. The Senate proposed allocating $5 million for the center's work, and state senators honored Rouson with a proposal to name the center after him. All of them cosponsored the amendment to name the center after Rouson, and many gave speeches applauding Rouson for his advocacy and long career in the Legislature. But the House stripped the Darryl E. Rouson Center out of the bill when the Senate sent its language over. The language creating the the center wasn't in the House legislation, and Rep. Christine Hunschofsky , D-Parkland, told lawmakers that it was 'not one of the recommendations' from the commission. Hunschofsky is also on the commission with Rouson. The House's decision caused an unusual, impassioned display from lawmakers of both parties on the Senate floor. Some senators appeared to be crying. 'It's not right, it's not fair, it's not appropriate and it really isn't acceptable,' said Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, of the House's proposal. Hunschofsky did not immediately responded to a request for comment, but posted on social media saying that 'just because people say something passionately and loudly, doesn't mean it is true.' Rouson said while he was touched by Senators' gesture, and while he thought creating the center was important, he said it was 'more important that the work continue.' He moved to accept the House's proposal. But Senators delayed taking a vote after after multiple lawmakers suggested that they didn't think the House language was acceptable, leaving the issue hanging with just two days left in the session. Senators' frustration with the House proposal seemed to spill beyond Rouson's specific bill. Hooper brought up the ongoing negotiations between the House and Senate over a budget, which will not be completed in time. 'This is what we deal with,' Hooper said. Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, also said she was 'really glad that in a year and a half we're gonna have another speaker who will hopefully support the naming of the program after you.' House Speaker Daniel Perez fired back at the Senate, saying in a statement that while he would be happy to work with the senators to honor Rouson, their idea 'created a backdoor appropriations project,' despite the House's wishes. 'But the action of the Senate today to name a center after Sen. Rouson as a means of emotionally blackmailing the House into doing what they want- is unconscionable,' Perez said. 'The comments of 'or else' were a threat to the Florida House and beneath the dignity of the Florida Senate.' Perez said Senators should direct their rightful outrage to their own chamber, who created the 'backdoor' project and 'used the good Senator's legacy to do so.' Senate President Ben Albritton has been diplomatic about the Senate's relationship with the House and his relationship with Perez, even as Perez has more vocally denounced the Senate's spending plan. Albritton has also largely avoided commenting on the House's actions this year under Perez. House members have criticized the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration's spending, grilled executive agency heads and investigated one of his wife's key initiatives, Hope Florida. But the uproar over the Rouson Center shows that the Senate and House relationship may be on more unsteady ground than leaders have let on. DeSantis, who has for weeks denounced the House, took to social media to weigh in on the chamber's fight over the Rouson center, saying it was 'the Florida House of Pettiness in all its glory.' First lady Casey DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, a close ally of DeSantis who has also been targeted by a House member over his role in the Hope Florida Foundation, also commented, commending Rouson. It's unclear what will happen with the bill moving forward. If the House and Senate refuse to agree on language around the center, the bill's other proposals would also be dead for the year.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers shaken as FSU shooting echoes Parkland pain
The Florida State University shooting hit state Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, 'like a punch in the gut.' Hunschofsky was mayor of Parkland when the 2018 mass shooting occurred at the city's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and 17 people were killed. While law enforcement recently swarmed the FSU campus, she was about to present a bill to expand a security program initiated after the Parkland shooting. But the committee chair interrupted Hunschofsky to tell the meeting that there was a 'law enforcement incident' at FSU and to avoid the campus. 'I can't believe this is happening again,' Hunschofsky said she thought as she stood at the lectern. Video from Thursday's meeting shows a subdued Hunschofsky softly speaking, straining not to get emotional. She asked lawmakers to support allowing county sheriffs to train school guards for private schools. It passed out of committee unanimously. 'The trauma everybody is going through breaks my heart,' Hunschofsky said in an interview. 'If it is not dealt with, it will become a long-term problem.' The shooting at Florida State was the fifth Florida mass shooting this year, with 9 killed and 18 injuries, according to the Gun Violence Archive. That's despite a series of regulations enacted after Parkland to reduce gun violence. Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, had left the Capitol before police advised lawmakers, staff, reporters and others not to leave the building. Tant headed north a couple of blocks along Tennessee Street and realized the city was in a panic. The major thoroughfare that cuts through the FSU's west side was locked down and 'sirens overtook the entire community." Tant began fielding phone calls: One from a student speaking from under a desk, others from parents began searching for information. "At that point we didn't know what was going on. It was wrenching, just wrenching,' Tant said about the fear expressed and misinformation circulating as law enforcement swarmed the campus. 'The whole thing was the fog of war. You don't know what's going on because you can't see through the smoke to see what's going. It's terrifying,' Tant said. Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, said he could hear, see and feel law enforcement respond to secure the campus. "It was a difficult day for our community. Many lives were changed forever," Shoaf said. Law enforcement quickly swung into action and secured the FSU campus a mile away. More -- FSU shooting timeline: See how the mass shooting unfolded "My prayers are with my FSU community. We bleed garnet, but our hearts are made of gold. I know we'll work together and come back stronger than ever," Shoaf said. Text messages and phone calls shortly before noon alerted Florida Senate interns that the FSU campus was locked down and awash with police. Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo of Miami gathered names of interns and staff known to be on campus and headed to its south gate to help them get out safely. That led to the Senate Democratic Caucus issuing its strongest statement in memory condemning politicians that have repeatedly failed to approve what Democrats call 'common sense' gun safety regulations. One of the interns is a junior from Miami, Jersey Tidwell, who lashed out at politicians who, in the wake of school shootings, respond with 'thoughts and prayers while actively supporting the very policies that make these tragedies possible.' Tidwell criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing a permitless carry bill and pushing to repeal the regulations put in place after the Parkland shooting. 'If you're a public servant who sends condolences after a school shooting, but still refuses to back common-sense gun reform, then your prayers are empty, and your silence is complicity,' Tidwell wrote. Pizzo immediately embraced it as the Senate Democrats' position on gun violence and posted it on X. 'It's raw. I couldn't have said it any better and I am not living it as close as she is,' Pizzo said. Democrats are outnumbered 2 to 1 in the Legislature and for the past five years neither Hunschofsky nor Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, have been able to get a hearing for bills to regulate who can sell firearms, mandate safe storage requirements, and ban "ghost guns," or untraceable firearms. Second Amendment supporters argue people, not guns, commit mass shootings. Pizzo dismisses such arguments from politicians as intellectually dishonest. 'If it's not guns and it's the people, then what are we doing about people? If the underlying issue is not the instrument but the individual, what are we doing about the individual people,' Pizzo said. That's where Tant's and Hunschofsky's focus is at the moment – on the individuals impacted by the FSU shooting. Tallahassee has had two other mass shootings in the past 11 years. Tant had barely missed being part of a yoga class that a gunman attacked in 2018, killing 2 and injuring four. More: Yoga shooting victim's father was at FSU for an anti-hate summit. Now it's a crime scene 'Even when you are not the direct victim of a shooting, the aftermath is very scary. It's very hard. It's like the earth is shaking around you,' Tant said. She fielded reports from faculty who had broken out in hives 'from head to foot,' and former Parkland students suffering panic attacks. She said there are students and faculty who are afraid to be on the FSU campus right now, unable to focus and fearing a return to campus next week. As Hunschofsky said, 'Their trauma is real and will become debilitating if not addressed.' She is a persistent filer of gun control bills but said policy can be debated after people's needs have been met. 'I discuss responsible gun ownership every day of the year whether or not there is a shooting,' she said. 'But people are in pain right now. This sense of loss and trauma can stay with people forever.' James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@ and is on X as @CallTallahassee. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: At the Capitol, sorrow and frustration after FSU shooting
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Renewed debate sparks discussion on ‘My Safe Florida Home' program
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Governor Ron DeSantis wants more Floridians to benefit from the 'My Safe Florida Home' program, which provides storm-hardening home improvements for homeowners. And as the 2025 legislative session kicked off this week in Tallahassee, there's renewed debate over providing funding for the program. 'We recently proposed in the special session for the legislature to fund the folks that are on the waitlist, that did not happen. We still think that needs to be done,' DeSantis said. Man used fake ID to steal gold bars from Tampa UPS driver, deputies say Both the My Safe Florida Home and My Safe Florida Condominium programs are widely popular, so much so, lawmakers in Tampa Bay and beyond are taking a stab at expanding these week one of the legislative session now in the books, 15 bills have been filed surrounding the My Safe Florida Home and Condo programs. State Representative Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg, is taking another attempt at expanding the program to include flood mitigation grants.'I think it's really important that we as a state help to invest in our residents and make sure that they continue to live in homes that are safe. It's been devastating to see people lose their possessions and their memories during these hurricanes,' Cross said. 'We want to make our communities more resilient. This is one step forward to make that happen.' Along with the array of bills, DeSantis proposed $600 million of the state's budget to invest into the home and condo grant initiatives, following a second consecutive year of funding shortages for the My Safe Florida Home program. 'We've got folks that went through the program that the legislature did, they got the inspection or (are) waiting for an inspection, they've qualified, now they need the grant, but the program ran out of money. So we are funding the waitlist as well as having $100 million recuring going forward,' DeSantis as the governor and state lawmakers tout each program's popularity, questions and concerns rise around funding shortages. 'Could we keep up with total demand for it? You know, maybe not because it's probably unlimited demand, but certainly those folks that are on the waitlist now, we want to make sure that we get that done so that they can make the improvements that they need,' DeSantis said. News Channel 8 On Your Side took those questions and concerns to lawmakers at the statehouse who have filed bills around the matter. When asked whether the state was doing enough to fund these programs, State Representative Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, shared that there is always room for more. 'There is always room for more, but we also must be making sure that we're not overextending our budget,' Hunschofsky said. 'Of course we would always want more funding. We have to balance the funding in this program with all the other needs that we have in the state of Florida.' Hunschofsky is sponsoring legislation to make it easier for Floridians to access funding through the My Safe Florida Condo program. With the slew of bills filed so far in the current legislative session, homeowners are one step closer to accessing the My Safe Florida Home grant money, but just like in the past, will that money fade fast? Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
