Latest news with #Passidomo
Miami Herald
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
For now, common sense speaks louder in debate to undo post-Parkland gun laws
We're not quite ready yet to say good riddance to an effort to undo historic, bipartisan gun-control regulation Florida passed after the 2018 Parkland school shooting. But it seems that a bill that aimed to lower the minimum age for purchasing rifles and other long guns from 21 to 18 is dead this year. That's good news, though anything could change before the legislative session wraps up in May. On Monday, Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said she will not allow the bill to be heard in her powerful Senate Rules Committee, meaning the legislation likely will stall and die. The Florida House has already passed House Bill 759 with a 78-34 vote. This might be the third year in a row that the House has tried — only to be blocked by the Senate — to repeal the post-Parkland law that increased the minimum age for long-gun purchases to 21. Passidomo's timing couldn't be more opportune. Last Thursday, a suspected gunman killed two people at the Florida State University campus, not too far from where lawmakers are meeting in Tallahassee. Passidomo said the decision to block the bill was made before the shooting, CBS News reported. The optics of lawmakers undoing gun restrictions in the wake of another campus shooting would have been terrible. Some former students from Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High were on the FSU campus as the shooting took place last week. Luckily, this does not appear to be a case of the Florida Senate trying to avoid bad press. Passidomo has been steadfast in her support for the gun-control law she helped pass in the aftermath of the 2018 school massacre, which left people 17 dead. When she was the Senate president in 2023, she told reporters she would not support repealing that law and letting people aged 18 to 20 purchase a rifle. Federal law already sets a minimum age of 21 for handgun purchases. To be clear, it appears the state law would not have prevented FSU shooting suspect Phoenix Ikner, 20, from having access to a weapon. Ikner, a student at the university, is the stepson of a Leon County Sheriff's deputy. He used his stepmom's personal handgun, which she previously used for work, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said at a news conference last week, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. A shotgun was found at the scene but it is unclear if it was used. Arguments that a particular gun law would not have stopped a particular shooting miss the point because each of these horrific incidents is different. Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz, for example, used an AR-15-style rifle he bought from a Broward County dealer when he was 18. He's the reason lawmakers and then-Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, raised the purchase age minimum. The law makes exceptions for people aged 18 to 20 who serve in the military, corrections and law enforcement. The challenge with mass and campus shootings is that they involve multiple factors, from mental health issues to, yes, easy access to weapons. It's impossible to know how many incidents the post-Parkland law might have prevented, but we should be making it harder, not easier, for unstable young people to access guns. Asking them to wait until the same age they can drink alcohol is not an extreme measure. Instead of repealing sensible gun-control measures, lawmakers should be passing new, reasonable restrictions on the types of weapons and the amount of ammunition people are allowed to buy. They should be looking at closing loopholes that, for example, allow people to buy guns without a background check through private transactions. While the stalling of House Bill 759 is a good sign, lawmakers are still pushing to provide incentives for people to buy guns. The Senate has advanced another bill that would exempt the purchase of firearms and ammunition from sales taxes for about three and a half months in 2025. Lawmakers in 2023 passed a law that allows people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. This is the history of Florida and gun control. A little progress always comes with big setbacks. Click here to send the letter.
CBS News
22-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Florida Senate set to block proposal lowering long-gun purchase age
Days after a mass shooting at nearby Florida State University , the state Senate appears poised to scuttle a controversial proposal that would allow people under age 21 to buy rifles and other long guns. Senate Rules Chairwoman Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said Monday her committee won't take up a House measure (HB 759) that would lower the minimum age to 18. Passidomo said the decision against taking up the House bill was made before the shooting Thursday at Florida State University that killed two people and injured six others. The alleged gunman, the stepson of a Leon County Sheriff's deputy, was also shot as police officers quickly responded to the scene. After a 2018 mass shooting at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people, the legislature and then-Gov. Rick Scott approved a number of changes, including increasing the minimum age for long-gun purchases to 21. Federal law has long set the minimum age at 21 for handgun purchases. "I haven't changed my position in how many years," Passidomo, a former Senate president, said. "I've been clear from day one that I'm not going to replace Parkland. I was there." The Rules Committee plays a key role in determining which bills make it to the Senate floor. The legislative session is scheduled to end May 2. The House on March 26 voted 78-34 to repeal the law that increased the minimum age for long-gun purchases to 21. If the Senate does not take up the bill, this would be the third year in a row that the House has approved such measures with the Senate not passing them. Passidomo was the Senate president during the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions. Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, a Democrat who was the mayor of Parkland at the time of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, said she was cautiously optimistic that the repeal measure wouldn't advance. "I hope that it's done for this session," Hunschofsky told reporters on Monday. "But as we know, nothing is done until we sine die (an expression for adjourning the session)." Bills filed in the Senate as counterparts to the House measure have not been heard in committees. Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, has not taken a clear public position when asked about whether he supports repealing the gun-age law. After the law passed in 2018, the National Rifle Association quickly launched a constitutional challenge. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March ruled 8-4 against the NRA. But the issue is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who took office in February, has said he would not defend the law.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fetuses could have the same legal protections as children under bill the House has passed
Abortion and IVF access dominated the April 9, 2025, House floor debate on the proposal allowing for wrongful death suits of fetuses. (Photo by) After stalling last year, a bill allowing parents to claim damages in the wrongful death of a fetus received approval in the House on Wednesday, with Democrats raising opposition over reproductive rights. Under the bill, HB 1517, parents could claim damages for mental pain and loss of support from the fetus at any stage of development, meaning jurors could determine the salary the fetus could have earned over its life as part of the money parents could be entitled to in wrongful-death suits. It cleared the chamber along party lines. The proposal clarifies that suits couldn't be brought against mothers or medical providers abiding by the standard of care, but some Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about abortion and IVF access and pregnant people trying to escape abusive relationships. Weston Democratic Rep. Robin Bartleman said the bill angered her. 'Everyone can get sued now because of this bill. This is not about justice, it's about cruelty,' she said, pointing out that the bill doesn't provide protections for IVF clinics and hospitals. However, Democrats' attempts to allow only the pregnant person to bring suits and to shield people helping someone secure an abortion from the wrongful death suits failed. 'This is about establishing that life begins at conception, so let's clear the air, and let's just say the thing that's what it's about, because if it wasn't, there wouldn't have been so much avoiding the questions or the answers to direct questions,' Miami Democratic Rep. Ashley Gantt said. St. Augustine Republican Rep. Sam Greco, the House sponsor, said the bill was not about abortion. 'This is about a loss that that is is so hard to understand and so hard to believe that money or anything is never going to make one whole,' Greco said. 'But when a terrible tragedy like the loss, the wrongful loss, of an unborn child occurs because of wrongfulness, because of a wrongful act, mothers, parents, should have the ability to seek to be made whole in those circumstances.' The Senate companion, which Vero Beach Republican Sen. Erin Grall is sponsoring, is up for its second of three committee hearings Thursday. But other Republicans' support for the bill is faltering, with former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo also expressing hesitancy about opening medical providers up to lawsuits over the death of a fetus, even at one month of gestation. 'We're losing OBGYNs. Who's gonna wanna come to Florida?' Passidomo said during the April 1 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of SB 1284. Passidomo, who also criticized the proposal last year, is chair of the Rules Committee, which Grall's proposal must go through before reaching the Senate floor. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate Republicans criticize bill establishing wrongful death of fetuses
A bill in the Florida Legislature would let parents claim loss of potential income for fetuses at any stage of development. (Photo credit: Getty Images) Republican senators raised concerns over a bill that would permit parents to claim damages in the wrongful death of a fetus at any stage of development in the womb, with Ormond Beach Republican Sen. Tom Leek voting with Democrats against the proposal Tuesday. Vero Beach Republican Sen. Erin Grall's proposal (SB 1284) could let parents claim damages for the mental pain and loss of support from the fetus, which the sponsor explained means parents could be awarded for the loss of future wages that the fetus could have earned over its life. Although the bill passed its first hearing, its future could be in peril after former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who chairs the powerful Rules Committee, which it must go through before reaching the Senate floor, took issue with the bill's definition of unborn child. She questioned Grall about whether someone could file a wrongful death suit for a fetus at one week of gestation. 'To put dollar figures on something and the damages being so speculative is different than a criminal prosecution,' Passidomo said. 'I'm having trouble wrapping my arms around this whole issue.' Passidomo's doubts are not new. The Naples Republican also expressed skepticism over Grall's bill last year before Grall withdrew it. During Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Democrats also bashed the bill, with Lori Berman, of Boynton Beach, calling the idea of a jury debating the potential salary of a fetus crazy, and Tina Polsky, of Boca Raton, calling it nonsensical. 'This person could be a waiter. This person could be the next Elon Musk. There is just absolutely no way to know, and it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to try to calculate economic damages,' Polsky said. Still, Grall defended treating a fetus the same as a day-old baby, questioning the other senators about what age would be appropriate to determine if the child would grow up to be wealthy. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 'So, at what age do we get to start to ascribe real damages to a person? At two?' Grall said. 'Maybe we know how they're doing; they've taken an IQ test.' Passidomo also worried about OBGYNs leaving the state if they're susceptible to more lawsuits. 'We're losing OBGYNs. Who's gonna wanna come to Florida?' Unlike the proposal last year, SB 1284 doesn't authorize wrongful death suits against a health care provider acting lawfully. But what lawful medical care means is too vague for Polsky, who said doctors are already hesitant to provide medically necessary abortions following the enactment of the law banning most abortions after six weeks' gestation. Florida's six-week ban, which Grall sponsored, includes exceptions to save the life of the mother, fatal fetal abnormalities, and in cases of rape, incest, and human trafficking. However, doctors have spoken about the difficulties of assessing whether a case meets the exceptions, given that they can lose their medical licenses and face jail time if they provide an abortion outside the legal boundaries. Additionally, Leek called out an amendment Grall made, switching language in the bill protecting pregnant people. He worried that the language didn't go far enough to protect women from estranged partners. The original text stated that wrongful death action 'may not be brought against the mother of the unborn child.' The bill now states that it doesn't authorize such suits. 'My concern is more about this bill being weaponized against women who lose a child outside of abortion,' Leek said. The House Judiciary committee is scheduled to hear the bill (HB 1517) on Wednesday in its last stop before the floor. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Randy Fine's controversial bills stall as he leaves Legislature fighting
TALLAHASSEE — Sen. Randy Fine, the bellicose Republican from Melbourne Beach, is wrapping up his last days in the Legislature this week in his own indomitable fashion, trading barbs with the public, clashing with fellow lawmakers and watching several of his more controversial bills stall or die. The former gaming executive told one speaker who was wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Middle Eastern headdress, around his shoulders, to 'enjoy your terrorist rag' as the man stepped away from the podium. Fine, who was running the committee meeting, threatened to clear the room when people in the audience complained about his comment. 'I'm the chairman. I can say what I want. If you don't like it you can leave,' Fine told the crowd. The moment was classic Fine, a politician who may be the Florida legislature's brashest and most combative. He has regularly insulted opponents and threatened spending cuts — once against Special Olympics Florida — during the eight years he served in the House and the four he spent in the Senate. In anger, Fine also memorably suggested shutting down the University of Central Florida, the state's largest university. This is Fine's last week in the Legislature as he is running for Congress and must resign Monday. He is seeking the U.S. House District 6 seat vacated by Michael Waltz, who was appointed as President Donald Trump's head of national security. The special election is Tuesday, with Fine facing Democrat Josh Weil, a public school teacher. This session he filed bills to ban governments from flying rainbow Pride flags, to allow college students to carry concealed weapons on campus and to let people under 21 buy long guns again. The flag bill passed its second hearing by a 5- 3 vote, but with a warning from Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, who chairs the powerful Rules Committee that will next take up the bill. Passidomo opposed language allowing retired military veterans to use 'reasonable force' to stop people from desecrating, destroying or removing the U.S. Flag. 'I don't want a retired military person to feel they have to enforce this bill,' Passidomo said. 'I definitely don't want to see a 90-year-old veteran get into an altercation.' She said she would work with the new sponsor of Fine's bill to amend that, 'otherwise I don't see it going forward.' Opponents, most of them from the LGBTQ community, testified that the bill was unconstitutional because it included flags associated with race, gender and sexual orientation, as well as political parties, candidates, and ideologies. 'This is an unnecessary, dangerous, made-up solution to a culture war issue,' said Jon Harris Maurer, public policy director for Equality Florida, an LGBTQ rights organization. Others said the Pride flag is not political, but a symbol that makes people feel welcome and safe. 'Pride flags are a powerful symbol of love and support especially in areas where queer people may otherwise feel unsafe.' said Mandy Langworthy with Voices of Florida. Fine, a member of the Community Affairs Committee that heard the bill, said their arguments sounded political to him and they just 'need it in the classroom to feel good' about themselves. He also said he 'won't miss' people who have a 'bumper sticker definition of the First Amendment,' and who complain that culture war bills are taking up so much of the Legislature's time but then sign up by the dozens to speak out against them. A few hours later, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted down Fine's bill to allow college students to carry firearms on campus with one of the four no votes coming from a fellow Republican. Fine noted it was the last bill he'd be presenting to the Legislature. He was inspired to file the bill, he said, after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 sparked college campus protests. He said the protests led, in some cases, to Jewish students blockaded inside buildings or unable to walk across campus. 'A child going to a university at 18, 19 and 20 deserves to be able to walk across campus, deserves to be able to fight their way out of a building if people hold them there, deserves that if a mob surrounds them and attacks them they can do something about it,' Fine said. Muahbohn Dahn, a political science major at UCF and an organizer with Florida Students for Power, listed several troubling campus incidents in the last year, including students setting cars on fire and being run over during a hazing event. 'I cannot name a single one of these events that I think would have been made better by our students being able to have firearms on our campuses,' Dahn said. 'My generation already is the most shot at group of children. Don't make matters worse.' Two other Fine bills scheduled for hearings – one that would place restrictions on public unions and another that would prohibit awarding government contracts based on race or ethnicity – were not taken up, increasing the chances they will be not be heard again this session. Also, Fine's bill to lower the age a person can buy a long gun from 21 to 18 — and two others like it — has not even been assigned to a committee for hearing in Senate. A similar House measure on the gun-buying age is moving along, but the Senate is unlikely to pick it up.
