Latest news with #SenateFiscalPolicyCommittee
USA Today
26-04-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
A new Florida bill would prevent golf courses, pickleball at state parks
A new Florida bill would prevent golf courses, pickleball at state parks Florida's Department of Environmental Protection last year announced a plan that would have allowed developers to turn state parks into more touristy attractions. The 2024-2025 Great Outdoors Initiative outlined plans to construct pickleball courts, golfing and disc golf courses and resort-style lodging in at least eight state parks. Public pushback put a relatively abrupt end to the plans, and now state lawmakers are trying to ensure similar proposals don't happen again. Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, filed SB 80 last year in response the the Great Outdoors Initiative. The bill was backed by the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Tuesday after it rejected a change that would have kept the door open for sports facilities, according to the News Service of Florida. More: After distancing himself from golf course plan, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blames 'left wing' narrative Here's what to know about SB 80, known as the State Park Preservation Act and how it plans to protect Florida's state parks. What is the State Park Preservation Act (SB 80)? The State Park Preservation Act is a bill focused on the management and preservation of state lands. It is aimed specifically at conservation and recreational areas. Under the bill's original proposal, it didn't ban the development but instead sought to put in the necessary curtails to protect each park's natural resources, native habitats and historical sites. The state senate took some umbrage to the proposal, however, rejecting a change by Chairman Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, that some parks supporters and lawmakers said would have kept the door open for sports facilities. 'The (Gruters) amendment, however, makes it muddy, leaving an ambiguous standard for what's allowed and, of course creates loopholes for bad ideas to be exploited,' said Beth Alvi, Audubon Florida's senior director of policy. Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, encouraged Gruters to recraft the proposed change to allow 'soft' maintenance needs at state parks, but to eliminate any 'commercialization.' While the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee passed the bill, it said more work is needed on the parks issue. What will the State Park Preservation Act do? The State Park Preservation Act, in its current form, is a 15-page bill that is aimed at directing state parks and preserves to be managed for conservation-based outdoor recreational uses, public access and scientific research. In its summary, the Senate Fiscal Committee clarifies that 'conservation-based public outdoor recreational uses' do not include sporting facilities like golf courses, ball fields, pickleball and tennis courts or any other sport requiring such facilities. Instead, the goal is to ensure any development for recreational uses minimizing impacts to undisturbed habitat while using disturbed upland regions to the maximum extend practicable. The bill would allow the installation of certain camping cabins but within certain constraints. Advisory groups and public input are a big part of the bill. Individual management plans for parcels over 160 acres and those located within state parks would require input from an advisory group and mandate public hearings and notices within a certain time frame. How many state parks does Florida have? Florida has one of the biggest park services in the country. It currently manages 175 state parks, which includes over 813,000 acres and 100 miles of beach.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Yahoo
Florida House proposes bill to tackle dangerous dog attacks
A proposal to require owners of dangerous dogs to carry liability insurance and implant microchips in the animals is headed to the full Florida House. The House State Affairs Committee approved the proposal (HB 593) on Thursday, which stems from the 2022 death of Pamela Rock, a 61-year-old mail carrier who was mauled by five dogs that escaped from a fenced-in yard after her truck broke down on a dirt road in Putnam County. to require owners of dangerous dogs to carry liability insurance and implant microchips in the animals is headed to the full Florida House who represents Putnam County, said. 'We can do better. And we will.' The bill defines dangerous dogs, based on criteria such as whether they have attacked people. Owners of such dogs would be required to maintain liability insurance of $100,000 and have microchips implanted in the animals. T hese microchips can be used to locate dogs. The bill would make it a third-degree felony to remove the microchips. An identical bill (SB 572) must clear the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee before it can proceed to the full Senate. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
CBS News
09-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Florida Senate advances bill to ban fluoride in water
A wide-ranging agricultural bill that would prohibit local governments from adding fluoride to water supplies is ready for a full Senate vote. The measure (SB 700), approved along party lines by the Republican-controlled Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Tuesday, in part revises the definition of "water quality additive." The bills come amid debates in communities throughout Florida about whether to continue the longstanding practice of adding fluoride to drinking water to help with dental health. A longtime critic of fluoridation in Escambia County, Pueschel Schneier told the committee the issue is about "medical freedom" and claimed there is no excuse for someone to claim they don't have access to a toothbrush. "No government entity has the right to medicate us against our will," Schneier said. "They have no right to medicate an entire population because they believe maybe a small portion of that population will benefit." But Jackson Oberlink, legislative director for Florida For All, maintained that fluoridating water has been one of the nation's most successful public health initiatives. "Are cavities the new culture war? Is the water too woke?" Oberlink said. Calling it "public health malpractice," Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo in November advised local governments to stop adding fluoride to their community water supplies. The American Dental Association responded by claiming Ladapo was "misinformed." Local officials in Port St. Lucie, Naples, and Niceville are among communities that have agreed to remove fluoride from their water. The wide-reaching bill approved Tuesday also would allow the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to create rules to prohibit plant-based products being "mislabeled" as meat and poultry products. The bill also would ban most drone operations over agricultural lands and preempt local governments from regulating construction of housing for "legally verified" agricultural workers. A similar housing preemption was vetoed last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who claimed the 2024 measure lacked enforcement related to illegal workers.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate committee approves measures to tighten ballot-initiative process and increase penalties
The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Tuesday approved a measure aimed at imposing additional hurdles on the ballot-initiative process and heightening penalties for wrongdoing. Lawmakers are pursuing the changes after highly contentious and expensive battles over proposed ballot initiatives last year that sought to put abortion rights in the state Constitution and allow recreational marijuana for adults. Gov. Ron DeSantis helped lead campaigns to defeat the proposals, which fell short of receiving the necessary 60 percent voter approval to pass. DeSantis this year is championing the ensuing effort to crack down on the ballot-initiative process. Senate Ethics and Elections Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, told the Fiscal Policy Committee that the proposed changes seek to address investigations by the state Office of Election Crimes and Security that found wrongdoing related to the 2024 initiatives. 'Bad actors have undermined and corrupted' the ballot-initiative process, Gaetz, a former Senate president, said. 'There's one stain on Florida's election integrity, and it's deep and it's broad and it's ugly,' he added. The Senate plan (SB 7016), which is ready to head to the full Senate, doesn't go as far as a bill (HB 1205) approved by the House last week. As an example, the House plan would require the Office of Elections Crimes and Security to investigate if 10 percent of submitted petitions during any reporting period are deemed invalid. Supporters of proposed constitutional amendments often submit more signatures than are needed to get on the ballot, with the expectation that some will be rejected. The proposed 90 percent validation rate poses a virtually insurmountable hurdle, critics argue. The Senate proposal would require an investigation if 25 percent of submitted petitions are deemed invalid. The Senate bill says that sponsors of initiatives cannot be fined if they discover a violation of signature-gathering laws and report it 'as soon as practicable' to the secretary of state's office, something the House does not include in its plan. Critics of the legislation argued Tuesday that the proposed restrictions could expose sponsors of ballot measures to exorbitant fines and erect unnecessary hurdles to what many said was one of the nation's most onerous signature-gathering processes. The bill 'imposes a minefield of new barriers for citizen-led amendments and essentially criminalizes many aspects of the process,' Brad Ashwell, state director of All Voting is Local Action, told the panel. The Senate bill also would require anyone who gathers signatures to register with the state and undergo training. Currently, unpaid volunteers who circulate petitions do not have to register. The Senate proposal also would cap how many petitions someone who is not registered can possess and make violations of the restriction a felony. Unregistered people would be allowed to possess petitions for themselves, two other people and certain family members. One of the most-controversial changes included in both bills would shorten from 30 days to 10 days the length of time signature gatherers would have to submit petitions to supervisors of elections and would increase penalties for late-filed petitions. Both chambers' plans also would require voters to provide identifying information, such as their driver's license numbers, when signing petitions and require people gathering petitions to be Florida residents. The Senate proposal does not include a part of the House bill that would give the Legislature more power to carry out amendments that pass by allowing lawmakers to define 'terms of art' in initiatives. In addition, the Senate and House plans vary on how felons and people who are not U.S. citizens can participate in the initiative process. The House would prohibit non-citizens or felons from 'collecting or handling' petitions, while the Senate version would prohibit felons or non-citizens only from collecting petitions. The Senate also would not require sponsors to conduct background checks on workers who gather signatures. Both proposals would require county supervisors of elections to notify voters whose signatures have been validated and allow them to revoke their signatures. The Senate bill is 'responsive to very real fraud and deficiencies in the system that have been identified,' Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, said before the committee approved the bill Tuesday with a 19-5 vote along party lines. 'Pick the issue that you would least like to see in the Constitution … and then decide what is your tolerance for fraud and that is why are doing this,' she said. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
CBS News
27-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Florida Senate advances bill impacting high school diplomas, teacher pay
A bill is headed to the full Florida Senate that would make wide-ranging changes in the public education system , including revising graduation requirements for high-school students. The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Thursday unanimously approved the bill (SB 166), sponsored by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee. Among other things, the bill would eliminate a requirement that students pass a 10th-grade Algebra 1 assessment and a 10th-grade English-language arts assessment to earn standard high-school diplomas. The bill would require that a student's performance on the English-language arts assessment make up 30 percent of the student's course grade - similar to an already-existing requirement for Algebra 1. The 107-page bill addresses issues ranging from the graduation requirements to school facilities and teacher compensation. For example, it says collective bargaining could not prevent school districts from providing supplemental pay in academic areas identified as having "critical" needs for teachers. The bill earlier passed two other Senate committees.
