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Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sarasota and Manatee legislators pitch illegal immigration, cannabis access, and AI bills
Bills introduced by Sarasota and Manatee County state lawmakers could soon impose stiff penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, increase public access to cannabis despite additional efforts to curb public smoking, and establish more standardized procedures for hurricane recovery. Three local Sarasota and Manatee area legislators, Sen. Joe Gruters, Rep. Fiona McFarland and Rep. Bill Conerly, have filed filed numerous bills aimed at addressing major political topics of statewide impact if approved during the current 60-day session of the Florida Legislature. Those include bills to further curb illegal immigration, to streamline hurricane recovery, to address public tobacco and cannabis smoking and access, to identify media made with artificial intelligence, to address a high rate of hit-and-runs throughout the state, to facilitate industry solutions to environmental problems, and to implement the "Gulf of America" name throughout all state agencies. More Florida politics: Florida Farm Bill proposals: No more fluoride in drinking water, no more almond 'milk' In case you missed it: 2025 Legislative Session: Bills to watch in Florida Gruters, a Sarasota Republican, introduced a slate of bills related to illegal immigration enforcement as directives to enforce federal policy at the local level continue to trickle down from the Trump Administration. Gruters co-introduced the SB 782 — along with Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Jason W. B. Pizzo, D-Broward, and Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island — to enhance penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. Currently, violations result in a one-year probation period and enhance for repeat violations depending on the number of illegal immigrants employed: up to 30 days for 10 individuals, 60 days for up to 50 individuals, and complete revocation for more than 50 individuals. Did you know? DeSantis: Sheriffs now able to enforce immigration laws under new agreement with feds If the legislation is approved, penalties would result in license suspension or revocation for 1 year, and a fine up to $10,000, for a first-time violation. Penalties increase for a second violation to a five-year suspension or revocation and a fine of up to $50,000. Penalties escalate once again for third-time violations to permanent revocation of all licenses and a fine of up to $250,000. Furthermore, employers of illegal immigrants who injure another person would be subject to a five-year license suspension or revocation and a fine of up to $100,000. Those penalties escalate to permanent revocation and a fine of up to $500,000 if their actions result in a death. Fines would be collected and deposited into the Florida Highway Patrol Safety Operating Trust Fund. Immigration status would be determined using the E-Verify system. The bill has been introduced but has not made it to the committee process. McFarland, R-Sarasota, introduced HB 1535 to address issues related to hurricane recovery and other emergencies. The bill, now in the committee process, would require local governments to undertake Division of Emergency Management training every two years. It requires that the DEP assist with debris removal in fiscally constrained counties, and also requires that the DEM to develop recommended permitting procedures for disaster recovery. The bill also creates a crane safety procedure in the lead-up to hurricane impact and penalties for violations. A crane fell into the Tampa Bay Times headquarters during Hurricane Milton, causing major damage. The bill also prohibits local governments from imposing moratoriums or other restrictions on development following a hurricane, and it updates election procedures if hampered by a natural disaster. Gruters introduced two bills that address common issues related to tobacco and cannabis smoking: public use and the cultivation of cannabis plants for medicinal purposes. If approved, SB 226 would ban smoking and vaping in public places, including streets, sidewalks, highways, public parks, beaches, as well as inside and outside of schools, hospitals, government buildings, apartment buildings, office buildings, lodging establishments, restaurants, transportation facilities and retail shops. The bill has been introduced but has not made it to the committee process. Despite efforts to curb public smoking and vaping, Gruters has also introduced two bills that would increase access to medical cannabis. One bill, SB 334, would allow qualifying medical patients to cultivate up to two cannabis plants at home for personal consumption. It also directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt rules regulating the program, although it does specify that no more than two plants would be allowed per residence regardless of the number of patients residing there. Another bill, SB 552, would establish procedures for nonresidents who are enrolled in medical cannabis programs in other states to register as visiting patients and engage in authorized medical cannabis use upon registry. The bill also waives fees charged to any honorably discharged veteran, and ensures that treatment centers dispensing cannabis cannot be located on the same parcel of land as a retail outlet. The bills have been introduced but have still not made it to the committee process. McFarland introduced a bill that requires that content include "provenance data" as part of efforts to ensure that media made using artificial intelligence is identified. The bill ensures initiatives by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity — formed through an alliance between Adobe, Arm, Intel, Microsoft and Truepic to develop technical standards for certifying the source and history of the content — to attach "provenance data" to media created with the use of AI. It is meant to address concerns about misleading digital media created with the use of AI. The bill requires media created with generative AI tools to include provenance data, and that the provider make a free provenance data reader to the public. It also requires social media platforms to retain all provenance data for content posted to the platform, and make data available to users. The bill also creates a digital content provenance pilot program within the Division of Emergency Management to authenticity of digital content used in emergency management operations. Violations would be considered as an unfair or deceptive act or practice. The bill is in the committee process. Filed in the namesake of a Sarasota teen killed in a hit-and-run accident, the Lilly Glaubach Act aims to curb an alarming amount of hit-and-run fatalities across the state. The act — named after Glaubach, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident while biking from school in 2022 — would require collision repair shops to prepare reports meant to help track runaway drivers. The driver who killed Glaubach, David Chang, 66, left the scene and took his vehicle to an auto repair shop in Tampa, where he claimed the damage was caused by a fallen tree. He did not contest charges in after being arrested at his home in 2022. Learn more: 'Common sense solution': Florida senator seeks to get 'Lilly Glaubach Act' passed in 2025 The Lilly Glaubach Act would require auto repair to request police documentation for collision damage estimated above $5,000 before offering quotes for damage repair. If the customer refuses, the shop would be required to submit an accident or collision repair work transaction form with details about the damage and all relevant identification information related to the vehicle and its owner. The bill is in the committee process. "Lilly was pedaling home, the guy hit her and drove 200 yards, he stopped the car, he pushed her out and he drove Tampa," Gruters, who filed the bill, told the Herald-Tribune. "So what we're trying to do is if you take your car to a body shop, law enforcement should be able to see some type of database with all of the cars coming in to get repaired." First-term District 72 Rep. Bill Conerly, R-Manatee, is flexing his expertise as a professional engineer by pitching two bills that clear the path for industry solutions to environmental problems. He introduced HB 645 to facilitate the permitting of "distributed wastewater treatment systems" meant to replace septic tanks, and another bill, HB 691, to permit the use of reclaimed water for spring recovery projects. The bills are both in the committee process. Conerly said the distributed wastewater treatment systems could be used to replace septic tanks with superior technology that operates in a similar way as wastewater treatment plants. The technology is already in use, but he called permitting procedures onerous and said the bill simplifies the permit process. "It's new technology that is essentially the same process as the waste treatment facility, but it fits within the footprint of a septic system," Conerly said. "There's three chambers, and it removes the nitrogen. They're also monitored by the utility, they use telemetry to actively monitor them very similarly to what they do at waste treatment facilities..." Conerly said the systems could be used to address environmental concerns caused by septic systems, which are known to create nutrient pollution issues for local waters. Septic tanks remain in use, despite ongoing efforts to eliminate them, often because of logistical issues or the high cost of providing sewage treatment in rural areas. "This technology is something that is going to bridge that gap," he said. "They cost more than a septic system, but not significantly more. There's no piping, you don't have to construct the gravity sewer systems or lift stations or wastewater treatment plants for that matter. It's a bridge." Conerly also introduced HB 691 to allow wastewater treatment facilities to use reclaimed water to for Outstanding Florida Springs recovery or prevention strategy projects. Conerly said the proposal is inspired by a project that would pump water from from the Buckman Water Reclamation Facility and Southwest Water Reclamation Facilities over 20 miles to create a wetland that could span 1,500 acres to 1,800 acres west of the facilities in Duval County. The project is meant to comply with minimum water flow levels in the for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers that are expected to be ratified in 2026 but are not currently being met. "After it's treated in the wetland, that water is then pumped another 40 miles to a rapid infiltration basin or a drain well," Conerly said. "The water's held there for infiltration into the aquifer, that specific aquifer, feeds the Ichetucknee springs and Santa Fe springs. So its essentially taking reclaimed water and putting it back in the aquifer after treatment to help mitigate, or offset, the groundwater withdrawals." Gruters introduced a bill that directs all state agencies to rename the "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of America" in official records. The bill also requires that instructional materials acquired by school districts and charter schools after June 1 reflect the name "Gulf of America." The bill previously included a pitch to rename a stretch of U.S. 41 from Hillsborough to Miami-Dade also known as Tamiami Trail to the Gulf of America Trail. However, Gruters withdrew that proposal before the legislative session following vocal opposition from the public to the proposal. The bill still includes the other directives related to the name change, and is in the committee process. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota and Manatee legislative delegation targets range of issues
Miami Herald
27-02-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Miami lawmakers are proposing new laws. Here's how they could affect you in Florida
Florida lawmakers have filed hundreds of bills ahead of the 2025 legislative session for the Florida House and Senate to consider starting on Tuesday, March 4. Among the proposals filed by Miami-Dade lawmakers are new laws concerning immigrants. One would require that Florida companies verify their eligibility to work in this country. Another bill, if passed, would block state colleges from accepting undocumented students. There are also bills filed by local leaders revolving around a Biscayne Bay boating accident that killed a high school girl, condo bills concerning association management and maintenance, and a bill that would prohibit discrimination in the public school system based on hairstyles. KNOW MORE: Florida lawmakers are already proposing new laws for 2025. Take a peek at their plans Here's a look at a handful of bills filed by Miami-Dade lawmakers and proposals focused on South Florida institutions. Immigration laws ▪ E-verify employees. Jason Pizzo, minority Democratic leader in the Florida Senate whose District 37 covers swaths of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, filed a bill, SB 782, in February that would require an E-verify background check of potential hires for all companies. Corporations in violation would face fines that could range from $10,000 to $500,000 and the revocation of employer's licenses, depending on the frequency of violations and outcomes of undocumented workers' actions, effective on July 1. Currently, companies with fewer than 25 employees avoid the state requirement to run employees through E-verify background checks for their immigration status. READ MORE: One group is being spared from Florida's immigration crackdown: companies 'Florida Republicans have insisted that we are in an immigration crisis. We are,' Pizzo said in mid-February in a report published by Florida Politics. 'However, declaring a state of emergency, passing a few messaging bills, creating transport programs, and blowing millions of taxpayer dollars do not make us the 'toughest in the nation' on illegal immigration. Alas, we find ourselves at the end of a third 'Special Session' in three weeks because we just can't seem to get it right.' ▪ Undocumented students. Republican state Sen. Randy Fine of Brevard's District 19 filed SB 244 that would block state colleges and state universities with acceptance rates below 85% from accepting undocumented students. Schools that would fall under this bill include Broward College, Miami Dade College, Florida International University, University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of Central Florida. 'Is it fair to allow an illegal immigrant to take a spot that could be taken by a Floridian or an American? I would argue no,' Fine said in January, the Associated Press reported. Condo bill Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez of District 113, which includes Key Biscayne and Grove Isle, filed a nearly 100-page bill, HB 913, that refines condominium laws passed in the wake of the 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside. Lopez's proposal would bar the state-run property insurer Citizens from providing coverage to condominiums that fail to comply with new safety requirements for condos, and allow associations to take on loans or levy special assessments without the approval of the membership to pay for required building maintenance and repairs. The bill would make it easier for condo boards to comply with the Legislature's new, costly requirements for condo building. 'It is contrary to the public policy of this state to limit the ability of an association to obtain the funds needed to perform necessary maintenance, repair or replacement of the condominium property as required by the milestone inspection report and structural integrity reserve study report in order to protect the health and safety of the unit owners and tenants of the property,' Lopez wrote in the bill. Sometimes unit owners fight back. In November, condo owners in Brickell ousted their association's president after he led their board to approve a $21 million special assessment, the Miami Herald reported. CROWN Act Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat whose District 34 stretches from Miami Gardens to the northern half of Miami Beach, proposed a bill in February aimed at prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyle within Florida's public K-12 schools, colleges and universities. Jones' SB 476, dubbed Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, or CROWN Act, introduces the term 'protected hairstyle.' The term 'means hair characteristics historically associated with race,' including afros, braids, locks or twists. If passed, students could not be excluded from participating in educational programs or activities due to their hairstyle. The bill extends its provisions to private schools participating in the state school choice scholarship program, 'mandating compliance with antidiscrimination requirements that include protected hairstyles.' Boating laws In January, Miami-Dade Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia proposed harsher penalties for a person who flees a boating accident. She was motivated by the Labor Day 2022 Biscayne Bay boat crash that killed a 17-year-old Our Lady of Lourdes student and critically injured another 18-year-old student. Her SB 58 includes a prison sentence of up to 30 years and a fine of $10,000 for someone who leaves a boat crash that results in someone's death, which would come with a first-degree felony charge. If the person is under the influence, they would face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of four years. Her bill adds additional penalties to 2024 Florida Statutes related to 'a collision, accident, or other casualty.' The bill also expands the definition of vessel homicide to include 'the killing of an unborn child by causing injury to the mother,' to align it with a similar law concerning motor vehicles that has been on state books since 2014. Regulating a Trump Presidential Library In January, one of President Donald Trump's lobbyists toured Florida International University as part of a push to land the Miami-Dade school on the list for favored sites for the inevitable Donald Trump Presidential Library. FIU's main campus near Sweetwater is just four miles from the president's golf resort in Doral and about 80 miles from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach — Trump's Florida home away from the White House. Wherever the library is built, if it's in Florida, Rep. Sen. Jason Brodeur of Sanford wants to make sure the government doesn't throw roadblocks in the path of its construction and design. His Senate Bill 118 reminds his colleagues that 'presidential libraries are unique national institutions designated to house, preserve and make accessible the records of former presidents. His bill would preempt all state regulation of the establishment, maintenance, activities and operations of any presidential library within its jurisdiction and defers regulation of such institutions to the Federal Government.' 'I think there's a history in the state of Florida from local municipalities giving President Trump problems with some of the zoning things that he's had, whether it's a helicopter pad or the size of his flag,' Brodeur said in Tallahassee, News Service Florida reported in February. 'With us having the opportunity to actually have the first presidential library ever [in Florida] ... this would really be a landmark thing for Florida. And we wanted to make sure that we had rolled out the welcome mat as best we could.' Garbage plant near the Everglades? As Miami-Dade's leaders debate where, or if, to build a new waste facility to replace the one that burned down in Doral in 2023, Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez has proposed Senate Bill 946 to preempt local approval of waste facilities that would be near the Everglades — within two miles of its protection area — and giving that power to the state. Rodriguez represents District 40, which encompasses parts of Miami-Dade that include attractions like Zoo Miami, Larry and Penny Thompson Park, Tropical Park and Nixon Smiley Pineland Preserve. The district also extends into the Florida Keys. A similar bill filed by state Sen. Bryan Avila, SB 1008, would block local governments and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection from issuing a construction permit for ash-producing incinerators or waste-to-energy facilities for any site within a half-mile radius of a residential property, commercial property or school. KNOW MORE: What happens to your trash bill if Miami-Dade never rebuilds its Doral incinerator?
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dueling efforts to expand E-Verify to all employers emerge ahead of legislative session
Florida Capitol in Tallahassee. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Two bills filed for the impending legislative session would require all employers to verify that their new hires can legally work in the country. Employers hiring immigrants unauthorized to work could face tens of thousands in fines and lose their business licenses under Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo's bill, SB 782, filed last week. Another bill, filed Monday by Pinellas County Rep. Berny Jacques, HB 955, also would require all companies to use the E-Verify system to confirm new employees' eligibility to work in the country but doesn't carry penalties like Pizzo's proposal does. 'We want to close all sorts of loopholes in our employment system to make sure that jobs are going to those who are legally authorized to work in our state and not those who are here illegally,' Jacques said in a phone interview with Florida Phoenix. The bills haven't been assigned to any committees yet and they don't have companions ahead of the March 4 start of the legislative session. However, influential Republican Sens. Jennifer Bradley and Joe Gruters signed on as co-sponsors of Pizzo's proposal. Jacques said he didn't want to replicate anyone else's bill and that's why he didn't file a companion to Pizzo's Senate proposal. Florida requires public agencies, their contractors, and their subcontractors to use E-Verify, but only private companies with more than 25 employees have to use the system. More than 441,000 Florida companies have fewer than 20 employees, according to a 2023 report from the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration. DeSantis signs immigration bills less than an hour after lawmakers passed them Pizzo, a possible gubernatorial candidate, has been one of the loudest critics of the Republicans touting the state as a leader in immigration enforcement. One of the contradictions Pizzo repeatedly has pointed out is that large companies employing immigrants lacking work permits remain largely unscathed. Jacques' bill drew a stamp of approval from Gov. Ron DeSantis on X. However, Pizzo slammed it, pointing out its lack of penalties for employers. 'You're kidding yourself (and public) saying you'll 'hold businesses accountable,' but leave out actual accountability,' Pizzo wrote. Jacques said he hopes Pizzo didn't file the bill to troll DeSantis as a political stunt. 'What I will say is, if this bill looks different, it will not go in the weak direction. It will only go in the strong direction, but we will take all ideas that can make the bill even stronger,' Jacques said. 'But rest assured, we're very serious, at least I am, on making sure that we crack down on illegal hiring.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Under Pizzo's bill, companies would lose their licenses for a year and face a fine of up to $10,000 for the first violation. State law ostensibly already punishes E-Verify violations; the Florida Department of Commerce can fine employers $1,000 per day if they get caught not using E-Verify three times within two years. Companies hiring people unauthorized to work get placed on probation for a year and they have to report to the department quarterly. But the DeSantis administration threatened the first such sanctions only during his recent fight with legislative Republicans over how best to help the Trump administration carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, sending warning letters to 40 employers, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The Florida Immigrant Coalition opposes expanding E-Verify, said Thomas Kennedy, a policy analyst for the group, in a phone interview with Phoenix last week. Pizzo's bill shows how the Legislature thus far has prioritized targeting workers rather than employers and repealing in-state tuition waivers for students lacking legal status, Kennedy said. 'There's a lot of compassion for these multimillion-dollar companies, but there's not a lot of compassion for students that benefit from in-state tuition, for example, that have grown up in Florida and want to finish their university degrees,' he said. 'And there's not a lot of compassion for workers that are putting food on our table or building our homes.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
