Florida's recap – Highlights from around the state - May 6th
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the notable developments from Florida’s session and news from around the state...
As the state session came to a close over the weekend, several high profile and impactful, decisions did as well. Among the final laws to make it through the state session for 2019 were these...
- Definition of Felony Theft – the new threshold is $750 vs $300 previously
- Restoration of felon voting rights – does include financial restitution but does allow for victims and judges to waive financial considerations or, in certain circumstances, community service to be performed instead of hard repayment
- Charter schools – the expansion for vouchers for charters passed but the ability for charters to share in tax increase revenue passed in 2018 in South Florida districts failed
- Drug database/Opioid Crackdown - Use of the state’s drug database to access info that could be used to prosecute doctors who over prescribe opioids and ID behavior by pharmaceutical companies that could be in violation,passed
- Human trafficking reform – DCF task force created to specifically combat human trafficking – including support for victims. Law enforcement will be specifically trained to ID and address instances of human trafficking. Hotel workers will also be mandated to receive training on human trafficking for the purpose of IDing and aiding law enforcement. Reforms the permit process for massage parlors. If any sex related charges have been prosecuted against an operator – they'll be banned from obtaining additional licenses in Florida in the future
- Lifetime medical coverage for firefighters diagnosed with one of 21 different types of cancers that could be potentially attributed to their work
- Tax policy that includes back-to-school & disaster-preparedness tax holidays
- Per student spending increases by $242 starting with the 2019-2020 school year
This is what Governor DeSantis had to say about his first state session...
“This session marks the beginning of a new day in Florida. From our environment, to education, to public safety and healthcare, we have put people above politics and made a commitment to our future generations that we will leave our state better than we found it. We did not achieve this alone. I thank the Florida Legislature, especially Senate President Bill Galvano and House Speaker Jose Oliva, for their dedication to these important issues. We may now begin implementing these critical policies for Florida families and our children.”
Here’s a link to the Governor’s highlights/recap from the session:https://bit.ly/2WuShME