Latest news with #SB118
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House passes Aniah's Law expansion
Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road (center) applauds for a group in the Alabama Senate gallery on April 22, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House on Tuesday passed Barfoot's constitutional amendment that expands Aniah's Law. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would expand the number of crimes where a judge may deny bond under Aniah's Law. SB 118, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, expands the list of crimes that will not be eligible for bond to solicitation, attempt and conspiracy to commit murder; and discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling. Alabama voters approved the original law in 2022. 'This is up to the judge to make the determination, it is not automatic,' said Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, who carried the legislation in the House. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Prior to approval of Aniah's Law, judges could only deny bond to individuals charged with capital murder. The amendment expanded that to include other serious crimes such as murder, kidnapping and rape. The amendment was named after Aniah Blanchard, a Southern Union Community College student who went missing in October 2019 and whose body was found a month later. Ibraheem Yazeed, who was charged with capital murder in Blanchard's death, had been charged with several violent crimes but released on bail months before Blanchard was killed. Yazeed is still awaiting trial. Aniah's Law allows prosecutors to request a hearing to determine if a defendant should be denied bond for committing a violent Class A felony such as rape and murder. But judges may still grant bond after hearing prosecution's claims. The bill passed 87-0 with 16 abstentions. The constitutional amendment must be approved by Alabama voters. The House also passed SB 119, also sponsored by Barfoot, that makes discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling a Class A felony, up from a Class B felony. That is punishable by 10-99 years in prison and fines up to $60,000. Simpson said that most of those crimes come from people using a firearm modified with a Glock switch, which the Legislature banned earlier this session. 'You can't control what it does. You can maybe have a grasp over the first bullet that comes out, but the gun just goes off,' Simpson said. The bill passed 66-0 with 37 abstentions. It will go to voters for approval. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill that will help Trump build his presidential library in Florida goes to the governor's desk
President Donald Trump signed an executive order March 14, 2025, imposing dramatic cuts on seven federal agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services. () The Florida House has passed a measure (SB 118) that bans local governments in the state from interfering with any plans to construct a presidential library in Florida. The motivation for the legislation comes from Florida Republicans who want to ease the pathway for a library for Donald Trump to be built in the Sunshine State. 'As the home to the 45th and 47th president of the United States, there is a high likelihood that President Trump will select Florida to be the site of his presidential library,' Central Florida Republican Jason Brodeur told the Senate Committee on Community Affairs back in February when he first introduced the measure. 'In anticipation of Florida's first presidential library, we should roll out the welcome mat and offer the president maximum flexibility to construct this historic landmark here in Florida.' In the House vote on Tuesday, two Democrats were dismissive. 'Please just vote on this bill. That is my debate,' said Orlando Democrat Anna Eskamani succinctly. The other Democrat who spoke out, Jacksonville Rep. Angie Nixon, blasted the entire notion, saying that there was 'irony' in what the GOP-controlled chamber was doing. 'If we are going to support bringing this library here, we should support returning citizens all across the board, and not attack returning citizens, especially when they want to do things like vote, because we have one of the biggest returning citizens a/k/a felons in the administration right now,' she said referring to Trump being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments in May 2024 in a New York courtroom. Nixon's comment about returning citizens was a reference to the 2018 constitutional amendment which legalized felons in Florida who had completed their sentence to be able to vote. However, an implementing bill in the following legislative session significantly narrowed the number of felons who can actually vote. Not all Democrats were that critical, as five of them joined all Republicans in supporting the measure (the final vote was 89-20). Associates of Trump have been looking at several South Florida universities as possible locations for a presidential library, including Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University, the Associated Press reported last month.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House committee approves expansion of Aniah's Law
Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, speaks to the Alabama Senate on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. He introduces legislation to expand scope of Aniah's Law for pretrial detention. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House Judiciary Committee Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment increasing the number of offenses where a judge may deny bail. SB 118, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, would expand the scope of Aniah's Law, a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2022. 'It updates Aniah's Law, keeps the same standard in place of an evidentiary hearing,' said Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollingers Island, who introduced the measure to committee members in Barfoot's place. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Prior to approval of Aniah's Law, judges could only deny bond to individuals charged with capital murder. The amendment expanded that to include other serious crimes such as murder, kidnapping and rape. That bill was named after Aniah Blanchard, a Southern Union Community College student who went missing in October 2019 and whose body was found a month later. Ibraheem Yazeed, who was charged with capital murder in Blanchard's death, had been charged with several violent crimes but released on bail months before Blanchard was killed. Yazeed is still awaiting trial. Aniah's Law allows prosecutors to request a hearing to determine if a defendant should be denied bond for committing a violent Class A felony such as rape and murder. Judges may still grant bond after hearing prosecution's claims however. SB 118 would make other charges subject to bond denial, including having a firearm or firing a gun into places with people, or soliciting, attempting or engaging in a conspiracy to commit murder. There was little discussion before the committee approved the legislation to move forward onto the House floor. The legislation is among the list of bills that Gov. Kay Ivey included as part of the public safety package she and leaders of the Republican conference made a priority for the session. Ivey last week signed legislation making it a state crime to use a Glock switch to convert a semiautomatic pistol into a fully automatic weapon. Other bills are working their way through the legislative process, which includes granting law enforcement additional immunity protections. If SB 118 passes the Legislature, it will be placed on the 2026 primary ballot. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida Senate approves bill to facilitate Trump presidential library
A proposal aimed at helping bring President Donald Trump's presidential library to Florida was approved Wednesday by the state Senate. The bill (SB 118), which passed in a 36-3 vote, would prohibit local governments from imposing restrictions on presidential libraries. 'As the home state to the 45th and 47th president of the United States, there is a high likelihood that President Trump will select Florida to be the site of his presidential library,' bill sponsor Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, said. 'In anticipation of Florida's first presidential library, we should roll out the welcome mat and offer the president maximum flexibility to construct this historic landmark in Florida.' NBC News reported March 8 that the president's team has scouted locations, including Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, south of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, and Florida International University in Miami-Dade County. A House version of the bill (HB 69), filed by Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, is ready to go to the full House. The dissenting votes Thursday were cast by Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton, Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, and Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate advances crime bills targeting ‘Glock switches,' bail
Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, speaks to the Alabama Senate on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Barfoot's bills banning "Glock switches" and expanding bail restrictions now moves to the Alabama House. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate passed a series of crime bills Tuesday targeting 'Glock switch' devices and expanding bail restrictions under Aniah's Law. The bills' passage comes after Gov. Kay Ivey urged support for a public safety package in a press conference with mayors, legislators and law enforcement soon after the session started. Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike, sponsored two crime-related measures approved by the Senate, including legislation banning machine gun conversion devices, often referred to as Glock switches. 'Members, you may recall that the governor in her State of the State speech discussed this very bill,' he said. 'I want to give credit where credit is due. There are lots of people who had a hand in trying to craft this piece of legislation to get it to the point that it is now.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, sponsored a similar bill in the past two legislative sessions. The bill cleared the House in 2024 but failed to reach the Senate. Ensler, who was present on the Senate floor Tuesday, said in a statement after the vote that he was grateful for the bill's passage. 'After not coming up for a vote in the Senate last year, I worked hard in between sessions to secure the necessary support for it to pass in the Senate. It was important that we had a strategy to pass it relatively early on in the upper chamber this year,' Ensler said. SB 116, sponsored by Barfoot, criminalizes the possession of Glock switches, which are already illegal under federal law. But Barfoot said the measure allows local and state law enforcement officers to make arrests under state law. It passed 28-0. The bill does not expand federal law but provides additional enforcement tools at the state level, he said. 'This gives them that tool so that during a detainment or a stop, if they're in possession of that, they can confiscate that item, hold it until the case is over,' Barfoot said. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said 'this isn't a partisan issue — it's about public safety.' 'If it's somebody standing right there, that [someone is] trying to shoot at, I guarantee you, with that [Glock] switch on there, everybody that's standing over there is going to get shot. Everybody. Because the bullet is going to go everywhere,' he said. The Senate also passed SB 118, a proposed constitutional amendment expanding Aniah's Law, which allows judges to deny bail in certain cases. The bill, also sponsored by Barfoot, adds shooting at an occupied building, and conspiracy and solicitation to murder to the list of offenses eligible for bail denial. The bill passed 29-0. 'I do think that this is an important piece of the puzzle, that procedurally, those judges have two more different charges that they can look at and determine based on the evidence presented to them whether or not somebody should be afforded bail,' Barfoot said. Another bill in the package was delayed for further discussion: SB 119 would provide procedural guidelines for expanded bail restrictions and penalties for those who violate bond conditions by possessing firearms. Smitherman, who asked for further review, said they should be thorough when writing legislation so they don't generate unintentional consequences. 'I think that is good what we're trying to do. But at the same time, there are some other elements that I think we have to consider,' he said. The bill would also change the timeframe for hearings under Aniah's Law and allow courts to determine bail eligibility. 'It's important to balance the rights of the accused with the need to protect the public,' Barfoot said. Despite concerns over legislative procedures, the bills received bipartisan backing and moved to the House. 'It's been a collaborative effort — law enforcement, the governor's office, both the House and Senate and across the aisle, Republicans and Democrats,' Barfoot said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
