Latest news with #JasonBrodeur
E&E News
04-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Florida Legislature could claw back reservoir, wildlife corridor funds
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — State House and Senate budget negotiators agreed this week to revert $400 million in spending approved last year for a controversial Central Florida reservoir to appropriations for the coming year. The two sides also got closer on slashing funding from the 2023 state budget for the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a priority of then-Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples). Details: Senate budget conferees agreed Tuesday to a House proposal to revert spending in this year's state budget for the Grove Land Reservoir southwest of Vero Beach to boost water flowing into the St. Johns River. Advertisement 'We had to make a whole bunch of movement as part of negotiations to make sure we are meeting our priorities however we can,' state Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Sanford), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government, told reporters Wednesday.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill shielding Florida elected officials' addresses from public headed to governor
ORLANDO, Fla. — New legislation meant to protect elected officials and their families from harassment worries government watchdogs who say it would also prevent voters from knowing if their lawmakers live in their districts as required. The Florida Legislature in April overwhelmingly approved the bill (SB 268), which would exempt disclosure of phone numbers and the full home addresses of a wide range of public officials, including members of the Legislature. Sponsored by state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, the bill aims to protect public officials and their families from threats, harassment and intimidation. It is now headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval. State Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary, who co-sponsored the bill, said that several years ago, when he was serving in the Florida House, a brick was thrown at his home's living room window. 'Critics need to serve in office for 10 minutes before casting stones,' said Brodeur, whose district includes Seminole County and part of Orange County. 'I don't care what nonpublic officials think about it.' But Bobby Block, executive director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation, said he doubts the bill will prevent officials from being targeted — but is convinced it will hurt government accountability. 'What this law will do is it will make it now impossible … for citizens to know, to be able to check, whether the person that they are voting for or reelecting still lives in the district they purport to represent,' he said. Block said Floridians' First Amendment rights are threatened whenever government information is limited. The bill is just the latest in the Legislature's decade-long effort to carve out exemptions to Florida's public records laws, he said. 'The Sunshine State is being increasingly the Shady State,' he added. State Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando, faced an ethics complaint last year from his opponent in the Democratic Party primary who accused him of not living in his district, despite legal requirements to do so by Election Day. Addresses on multiple official documents — including voter registration forms, property tax records and campaign filings — suggested he did not live in his district, which covers part of Orlando and west Orange County, according to a 2024 report by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida journalism program. The bill — which Antone supported — would make information used in that investigation inaccessible. When asked if that story motivated his vote, Antone said he didn't have 'any particular reason' for supporting the bill. 'Like the overwhelming majority of my house of representatives colleagues, I voted for the bill, and 95% of the bills that passed this session passed unanimously,' he said. The bill would allow someone to see an officials' city and ZIP code but not their street address. The information that would be available may not be enough to confirm residency of lawmakers since many districts include multiple cities and ZIP codes. The bill also shields from the public the names of lawmakers' neighborhoods and GPS coordinates or other data that would identify their home address. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, voted against the bill, one of just two members in the House to do so. She said she sympathizes with other lawmakers' concerns — she has faced harassment at home — but does not want them addressed by limiting public access to information. Eskamani also said lawmakers shouldn't have special privileges. 'I'm uncomfortable giving myself special treatment or special privacy just because of the title next to my name,' she said. 'At the end of the day, there's a lot of individuals that are at risk, that are harassed just like we are, and they don't have that same kind of protection.' If signed into law by DeSantis, the bill will take effect July 1 and apply to members of Congress and the Florida Legislature, the governor and Cabinet, mayors, county property appraisers and supervisors of elections, school superintendents, school board members and city and county commissioners. The spouses and adult children of those officials would have the same information exempted, and minor children would have additional information kept private, including their names, birth dates and names and locations of schools or day care facilities they attend. State law already blocks from the public that information for law enforcement personnel and active or former civilian personnel employed by law enforcement; current or former Supreme Court justices; judges in county, circuit and appeals courts; state attorneys; public defenders; county tax collectors; and clerks of circuit court. Former state Sen. Randy Fine, elected to Congress in April, said during a committee hearing on the bill in February that the legislation would protect lawmakers, recounting the death threats he said he'd received. 'I may be the only member of the Legislature who has had two people arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for making death threats,' Fine said. 'The last guy is sitting in jail right now because he said he knew where I lived, and he was coming to my house right then and there to kill me and my family, and we had to have law enforcement pull up to our house with sirens blaring and everything else.' Block, though opposed to the bill, said he worries the sense of fear in American politics contributed to the bill's passage, noting the April arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had to flee the governor's mansion with his family in the middle of the night. 'Lawmakers, public officials, are afraid,' Block said. 'They're afraid of their rivals, they're afraid of trolls online, they're afraid of their base, they're afraid of their opponent's base. It is a sad indictment of the times in which we live now.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill shielding elected officials' addresses from public headed to governor
New legislation meant to protect elected officials and their families from harassment worries government watchdogs who say it would also prevent voters from knowing if their lawmakers live in their districts as required. The Florida Legislature in April overwhelmingly approved the bill (SB 268), which would exempt disclosure of phone numbers and the full home addresses of a wide range of public officials, including members of the Legislature. Sponsored by state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, the bill aims to protect public officials and their families from threats, harassment and intimidation. It is now headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval. State Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary, who co-sponsored the bill, said that several years ago, when he was serving in the Florida House, a brick was thrown at his home's living room window. 'Critics need to serve in office for 10 minutes before casting stones,' said Brodeur, whose district includes Seminole County and part of Orange County. 'I don't care what nonpublic officials think about it.' But Bobby Block, executive director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation, said he doubts the bill will prevent officials from being targeted — but is convinced it will hurt government accountability. 'What this law will do is it will make it now impossible … for citizens to know, to be able to check, whether the person that they are voting for or reelecting still lives in the district they purport to represent,' he said. Block said Floridians' First Amendment rights are threatened whenever government information is limited. The bill is just the latest in the Legislature's decade-long effort to carve out exemptions to Florida's public records laws, he said. 'The Sunshine State is being increasingly the Shady State,' he added. State Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando, faced an ethics complaint last year from his opponent in the Democratic Party primary who accused him of not living in his district, despite legal requirements to do so by Election Day. Addresses on multiple official documents — including voter registration forms, property tax records and campaign filings — suggested he did not live in his district, which covers part of Orlando and west Orange County, according to a 2024 report by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida journalism program. The bill — which Antone supported — would make information used in that investigation inaccessible. When asked if that story motivated his vote, Antone said he didn't have 'any particular reason' for supporting the bill. 'Like the overwhelming majority of my house of representatives colleagues, I voted for the bill, and 95 percent of the bills that passed this session passed unanimously,' he said. The bill would allow someone to see an officials' city and zip code but not their street address. The information that would be available may not be enough to confirm residency of lawmakers since many districts include multiple cities and ZIP codes. The bill also shields from the public the names of lawmakers' neighborhoods and GPS coordinates or other data that would identify their home address. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, voted against the bill, one of just two members in the House to do so. She said she sympathizes with other lawmakers' concerns — she has faced harassment at home — but does not want them addressed by limiting public access to information. Eskamani also said lawmakers shouldn't have special privileges. 'I'm uncomfortable giving myself special treatment or special privacy just because of the title next to my name,' she said. 'At the end of the day, there's a lot of individuals that are at risk, that are harassed just like we are, and they don't have that same kind of protection.' If signed into law by DeSantis, the bill will take effect July 1 and apply to members of Congress and the Florida Legislature, the governor and Cabinet, mayors, county property appraisers and supervisors of elections, school superintendents, school board members and city and county commissioners. The spouses and adult children of those officials would have the same information exempted, and minor children would have additional information kept private, including their names, birth dates and names and locations of schools or day care facilities they attend. State law already blocks from the public that information for law enforcement personnel and active or former civilian personnel employed by law enforcement; current or former Supreme Court justices; judges in county, circuit and appeals courts; state attorneys; public defenders; county tax collectors; and clerks of circuit court. Former state Sen. Randy Fine, elected to Congress in April, said during a committee hearing on the bill in February that the legislation would protect lawmakers, recounting the death threats he said he'd received. 'I may be the only member of the Legislature who has had two people arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for making death threats,' Fine said. 'The last guy is sitting in jail right now because he said he knew where I lived, and he was coming to my house right then and there to kill me and my family, and we had to have law enforcement pull up to our house with sirens blaring and everything else.' Block, though opposed to the bill, said he worries the sense of fear in American politics contributed to the bill's passage, noting the April arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had to flee the governor's mansion with his family in the middle of the night. 'Lawmakers, public officials, are afraid,' Block said. 'They're afraid of their rivals, they're afraid of trolls online, they're afraid of their base, they're afraid of their opponent's base. It is a sad indictment of the times in which we live now.'
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amid AHCA scandal, Medicaid accountability bill heads to Senate floor
(iStock/Getty Images Plus) Members of a Senate spending panel on Tuesday agreed that there should be more oversight over the state program that pays health care costs for the poor, elderly, and disabled and passed SB 1060. The bill, which heads to the full Senate next, establishes a Joint Legislative Committee on Medicaid Oversight to ensure transparency in the state's Medicaid program, mostly administered through contracts with managed care plans. It would require the Agency for Health Care Administration (AFCA) , which houses the Medicaid program and is charged with oversight, to by July 1 enter into a contract with the the state auditor general to maintain a data-sharing agreement. The auditor general is directed to assist the committee in its work. With time ticking on the 2025 regular session, it's not clear whether the bill will make it through the process, though. That's because the House counterpart, HB 935, has yet to be heard in a committee. Sen. Jason Brodeur said he filed the bill because AHCA increased Medicaid reimbursement rates by $100 million over the amount that the Legislature appropriated in state fiscal year 23-24 to pay the plans. The agency, he said, held authority to increase the rates because Florida law authorizes agencies to make adjustments within 5%. 'So, this bill simply says we're creating a joint committee with our own actuary. So that should we get those kinds of bills presented to us, we have our own folks we can ask to say, 'Is this right?' It may be. Probably is. But if we're going to be spending that kind of money on a program this big, I'd like to have somebody who works for us tell us that's the right number.' The bill comes amid a whirlwind of controversy surrounding AHCA, its role in a Medicaid settlement with health care giant Centene that directed $10 million to Hope Florida Foundation, and the foundation's contributions to political committees fighting a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana. Health care giant Centene writes a $10M check to Hope Florida Foundation Hope Florida Foundation meeting includes warning on tax status The growing controversy, first reported by The Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald, has dominated the 2025 session and played a role in the Senate's decision this week to not confirm two of Gov. Ron DeSantis's choices to run large state agencies: Shevaun Harris as secretary of AHCA and Taylor Hatch as secretary of the Department of Children and Families. Touching on the Hope Florida controversy, Sen. Jason Pizzo asked Brodeur whether the new joint committee would have authority over pre-suit settlements. 'I do not know,' Brodeur replied. Pizzo followed, 'Would you be amenable to taking a look as to whether or not the oversight board would be able to monitor pre-suit settlements of Medicaid overpayments?' Brodeur said he would. 'It sounds reasonable to me, because the entire point of this is oversight to begin with. So whatever oversight that looks like, it should be comprehensive,' Brodeur said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Miami Herald
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Here's why we must protect Florida elected officials by sealing home addresses
Government transparency is good for democracy. But it shouldn't extend to the addresses of elected officials. Public access to home addresses of those who are elected to represent constituents may seem harmless, but in today's hyper-partisan times, elected officials are becoming targets of real-world threats and violence. Providing easy access to personal addresses and phone numbers in an era when doxxing and political extremism are commonplace is not a virtue of democracy — it's a security risk. In an effort to protect elected officials and their families, Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat from Miami and Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Republican from Lake Mary, have introduced Senate Bill 268. The bill would keep personal information of elected officials such as home addresses and phone numbers out of public records. The bill, which passed the Florida Senate with broad bipartisan support (34-2), shows a recognition by lawmakers that public service should not come at the cost of personal safety. This is not theoretical. During the committee meeting, both Democratic and Republican senators shared stories of being targeted. Then-Sen. Randy Fine, a Republican from Melbourne Beach who has since been elected to Congress, told the Miami Herald last month that two people have been arrested and imprisoned for threatening him and his family. 'We had to have law enforcement pull up to our house with sirens blaring and everything else,' said Fine. 'I got the joy of understanding what it's like to be important for a few days, as I couldn't go anywhere without a ton of security with me.' Sen. Barbara Sharief, who is a former Broward County mayor, said she had her home address published on a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated site. 'I was on three months' worth of security protection,' she told the Miami Herald. These experiences are chilling. Elected officials shouldn't have to go through things like that simply to serve the community. Some critics argue that there's a risk to transparency and accountability and if the bill becomes law, it could hamper public oversight. For example, if elected officials are allowed to keep their addresses secret, would they be able to run for office in a new district where they don't reside? Those concerns are not unreasonable. But that overlooks a fundamental principle of government. The government's duty is to protect its citizens and their rights — and that includes elected officials. SB 268 does not remove elected officials from public accountability. Rather, it shields them from intimidation. Elected officials will still be accountable if this bill is approved. Those who demand unlimited transparency in the name of accountability fail to recognize that privacy is not in opposition to accountability. Transparency has limits, and those limits should be drawn where they protect the basic safety and security of individuals who choose to serve. The threats against officials aren't just anecdotal but represent a dangerous trend in our increasingly divided society. When elected officials face intimidation, especially in their homes, we undermine the representative democracy we claim to cherish. Conservative principles have always long supported law and order, but when public servants live in fear, there can be no order. Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home was invaded and her husband bludgeoned, President Donald Trump was the subject of two apparent attempted assassinations, and, recently, there was the arson of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence. The sealing of public records in SB268 is not permanent. It would only apply while the individual holds office, and it wouldn't shield officials from questions about residency or redistricting. It would still list the city in which the elected official lives. The safety of our elected officials isn't about whether they are Republicans or Democrats. It's a commitment to ensuring public service doesn't come at the cost of safety. Mary Anna Mancuso is a member of the Miami Herald Editorial Board. Her email: mmancuso@
