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As the House and Senate remain divided over how and whether to expand health care using Federal money, two dozen young adults told reports they were being forced to choose between education or careers and health care. Charlotte Cassell is a young lawyer for Florida Legal Services who has a client in dire need of care.

“We have a client who has a brain tumor. She has not been able to get the surgeries she needs because she doesn’t have insurance.”

Q:”what happens to her?”

“We wait and see. We are working with her  for the safety net in Florida, but even in the best case scenario, she’ll still get huge medical bills which terrify her.”

Tampa Doctor Dennis Deruelle told reporters it is the people who need health care most who are being denied.

“So were actually hurting the poorest of the poor in our state. What does that mean? That means they can’t afford medications/ That means they are delaying seeking care for things that could really impact their lives” says Deruelle.

Under the Medicaid expansion, the Federal government will pay 100% of the cost of increased care for three years,and 90% after that.

Blue and white seersucker suits, a trademark of times gone by were revived at the state capitol today by two dozen or so state House members. The annual day is a nod to when times were more simple. Wikipedia says seersucker weave was introduced to the American south, probably through British colonial trade, sometime in the second half of the 19th century. The wearing of seersucker suits declined with the advent of air conditioning.

Rain didn’t dampen the spirits of a thousand senior citizens at the state Capitol today. Some came to make their voices heard on health care, others, like Donnell Crews of Jacksonville came to make his wish for the future known.

“What I’d really like to see is mass rail system in Florida. A mass rail system and I understand there has been some talk, but I don’t know if it will happen in my lifetime. I’m 77” says the retired appliance repairman.

In 2011, one of Governor Rick Scott’s first actions was to refuse two billion dollars for a high speed rail connection between Orlando and Tampa.

It could soon be open season on bears in Florida, but as Matt Galka tells us, animal rights advocates say killing the animal isn’t the way to go about cutting down dangerous interactions with humans.

Protestors took to the state’s Fish and Wildlife meeting Wednesday. Bryan Wilson put on a bear costume before it began but took it off when he went inside.

“There are people here who want to hunt bear, and I don’t want to be in a room full of people who want to hunt bear wearing a bear costume,” said Wilson with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida.

Wilson and others pleaded with the FWC to not allow a bear hunting season. It would be Florida’s first in 20 years.

“All of the scientific studies that have been done show no correlation between a bear hunt and the reduction of human bear conflicts. What does show reduction In human bear conflicts, are bear proof garbage cans, bear proof dumpsters, and bear education,” said Wilson.

But an uptick in bear and human interactions – including showing up on the front porches of houses and even attacking people – swayed the commission. Even though 75% of the feedback they’ve received was against the proposal.

“Most people that are commenting don’t understand enough about the wild. These bears are dangerous. Do you want blood on your hands? We don’t,” said FWC Chairman Richard Corbett.

The commission received guidance from New Jersey’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. The state authorized bear hunting in 2010. More than 1,800 bears have been killed in the garden state in 5 years.

“For the first three years of our hunt there was a statistical drop in incidents,” said Director David Chanda.

The Florida season would last for 7 days. The Florida black bear was just taken off the threatened species list in 2012.

The FWC approved the proposal in the first of two required votes to authorize a black bear hunting season. The statewide limit on bears killed during that time would be 175. They’re expecting to get updated population numbers in the summer.

Legislation giving police almost total control over who can see video from body cameras was watered down today at the state Capitol, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, open government advocates say the legislation is almost self defeating.

The video of a man fleeing and being shot by a police officer in South Carolina.

If it had been shot on a police worn body camera, not a citizens cell phone, it might never have seen the light of day under legislation Florida lawmakers are considering…but then..

“We’re taking that portion out of the bill”  Sponsor Chris Smith told fellow Senators.

Lawmakers then removed exemptions from showing video taken by police at accident scenes or medical emergencies including officer involved shootings.

“That would have been overly broad, because technically, a lot of circumstances where we need to see the video um, sometimes involves injury” said Smith.

The legislation still keeps private video that is shot by police in your home of hospital room, although you would have a right to see and release the video. Other members of the public would have to go to court. “and if there is some great public purpose that I’m not a part of and I don’t release it, you go in front of a judge and show the judge that public purpose.”

But while the changes were enough to win some supporters in the Senate, Public Rights Advocates, including Michelle Richardson of the ACLU Florida,  remain opposed,

“We’re concerned that its too far weighted in l;aw enforcements favor. They’ll be able to release the video when ever they want, regardless of the privacy implications. The public, however, will have to get a lawyer, go to court, and meet a very strict test to see the video” Richardson said after the bill got tenative approval from the Senate.

Because this legislation creates a new exemption to public records, it will require a two thirds vote…not just a simple majority.

Advocates say they will keep working to make as much video open to the public as possible until a final vote on the bill next week.

And while open government advocates made progress today, they are not claiming victory. The legislation keeping the exemption of video at medical emergencies, which could include officer involved shootings, remains the House version of the legislation.

Former State Senate President Don Gaetz is considering running for the US Senate seat being vacated by Marco Rubio. Gaetz says he never considered such a run until people started reaching out to him this weekend.

“Ah, but when you get calls from people you respected admire, as I have. People here and elsewhere around the state, I have to think about it. All I’ve been asked to do is not say no until I think about it” Gaetz told reporters.

This past weekend, Florida CFO Jeff Atwater, who was considered a top contender for the GOP nomination, said he would not get in the race.

It’s been five years since courts said Florida’s ban on gay adoptions was unconstitutional, but it took until today for state lawmakers to take the ban off the books.

The repeal of the ban was included in legislation giving bonuses to state employees who adopt children, including autistic and others behaviorally challenged. The legislation was championed by Senate President Andy Gardiner.

“There a lot of us who feel the court has already ruled on that. It’s been the law of the land for four or five years. Um. To me it was looking at the overall policy of providing incentives for individuals to be adopted. So I was very comfortable with it. Very proud of President Gaetz and it’s on its way to the Governor” said Gardiner.

The legislation also allows people who plan to homeschool children to adopt. It does not include the controversial “conscious exemption” that allows private agencies to deny gay adoptions.

The Florida Senate was set to debate legislation setting ground rules for ride sharing apps today, but delayed the discussion over differences in policy. Hillsborough County Public Transit Commission Executive Director Kyle Cockream says there are three sticking points to any agreement on legislation.

“Those have been the sticking points: the vehicle inspections, the background checks, get good commercial insurance to cover people. We can’t get past that. I’d love to see them operate here in Florida, I’d love to see them operate here in Florida under the guise of good solid public safety.”

The Senate doesn’t meet again until next week.

Red light tickets won’t be going away just yet, but as Matt Galka tells us, a proposal from lawmakers would force cities to spend that ticket money a certain way…something local governments aren’t on board with.

68 jurisdictions around Florida have red light cameras.  It’s debatable whether or not the program is helping to improve road safety.  But a proposal in the Florida House would make sure that the money from tickets was going towards public safety issues.

“If a program was instituted for the purpose of enhancing public safety we want to make sure that the funds retained for that program go into just that: into public safety,” said bill sponsor Rep. Bryan Avila (R-Hialeah).

A red light camera ticket costs drivers $158 bucks but not everybody was on board with the idea of that money going towards public safety.

Representative Joe Geller (D-Dania Beach) was one of four “no” votes for the bill.

“We’re passing the buck for localities and that’s a repeated claim that I hear,” said Rep. Geller.

The Florida League of Cities also didn’t think it was fair that local governments would be mandated to put the money toward something specific while the state collected general revenue money.

“Cities should have a right to determine what is the best need for that money, it’s important to note that cities pay for the red light camera programs where as the state just receives 70 dollars from each ticket,” said Casey Cook with the League.

The sponsor says he’s not trying to tie city’s hands.

“We left that at the discretion of the local governments to determine what they felt was public safety. We did not narrow that definition so we left that as vague as possible in order for them to make that determination by themselves,” said Rep. Avila.

The money would be allowed to pay for the cameras themselves. They typically cost a around $4500 dollars per camera, per month.

The bill passed its final committee and awaits a full House vote. Some on the panel, including the bill’s sponsor, suggested they’d like to see the red light camera program go away.

Is Florida ready if the lights go out? As Matt Galka tells us, lawmakers say the state needs to start paying attention to potential threats to our power system.

20 million Floridians rely on electricity to perform basic tasks every day. But what would happen if that was all taken away?

That should be a concern according to a panel of experts who met at the Capitol Monday.  Former CIA officer and current security adviser Dr. Peter Pry says an electromagnetic pulse attack on the power grid could be catastrophic.

“American people can’t survive from a blackout that lasts even a year. The Congressional EMP commission which I served estimated that 9 out of 10 Americans would perish from a blackout that lasted that long,” he said.

The warnings have received the attention of lawmakers. Representative Ray Pilon (R-Sarasota) says if private companies don’t make security a priority, then the legislature could step in.

“We protect our nuclear plants very well, I think utilities need to take a lot of that to heart,” said Rep. Pilon.

Bryan Koon, the state’s emergency management director, says preparing for an EMP attack is lumped in with other drills the state performs, but there are still plenty of questions.

“How do you measure the preparedness for the types of events that are certainly going to have significant impacts but happen so infrequently so that you don’t necessarily have the infrastructure in place to measure the readiness for them?” said Koon.

Part of preparing the grid also comes in the form of cybersecurity. The state already dealt with a cyber attack earlier this year when the Florida Standard’s Asessment was rolled out

That attack caused headaches in public schools. But the panel warned that the state, and Floridians, would be dealing with more than just the inability to take a test if a major attack were to occur.

Experts on the panel suggested that Florida lawmakers spearhead a state plan instead of waiting around for a federal plan to be implemented.

Sipping your favorite cocktail usually requires a bartender or a bottle of liquor, but a new product is claiming that you just need some water and a powder packet.  As Matt Galka tells us, some lawmakers are scrambling to ban it, but the creator says concerns are unfounded.

A little bit of powder, a little bit of water, mix – and you have yourself a shot of vodka.  That’s the thinking behind the new product Palcohol, powdered alcohol not yet available in stores.  But lawmakers are concerned.

“It’s so easy to carry around, it’s so easy for kids to take this alcohol and shake it up in some water and drink it, and you don’t really know you don’t see it. It’s just alcohol, It’s just powder,” said Sen. Gwen Margolis (D-Miami).

Margolis is proposing an outright ban.  Palcohol Creator Mark Phillips has addressed some of the concerns – like spiking drinks and snorting the concotion – on the products website.

“Clearly, Palcohol will not make it easier to spike a drink thanks to the size of the packet and how long it takes to dissolve,” he says in the video posted on the website.

Some lawmakers have indicated an outright ban may not be the way to go.

“We can’t stop techonology, we need to responsibly regulate it,” said Naples Republican Sen. Garrett Richter.

The bill’s sponsor says that if the state does ban the product, tourists who might have the substance legal in their homestate and accidentally bring it in shouldn’t be worried.

“If somebody happens to not know, and come through and have it in their pocket, there’s nothing that you can do about it, it certainly has an exemption for people who come through, because it’s a tourist area,” said Sen. Margolis.

The Senate proposal to ban powdered alcohol awaits a floor vote. The house version has one more committee to clear.

More than half of state legislatures around the country are considering a ban or some sort of regulation on powdered alcohol this year.  Palcohol creator Mark Phillips responded to Florida’s proposals in a statement, part of it reading “Whether you are conservative or liberal, no one wants a nanny state telling its citizens what they can and cannot drink.”

A controversial bill in the Florida House has critics saying Florida would be legalizing discrimination when it comes to adoptions. As Matt Galka tells us, the issue over gay adoption rights is taking two different paths in the Florida House and Senate.

The Florida House voted Thursday to allow private adoption agencies to discriminate against gay couples if they feel their faith or morals are being compromised.

House members went back and forth for an hour.

Rep. Ross Spano/(R) Riverview

“On the one hand violating their deeply and genuinely held consciounscious beliefs. Or on the other hand closing the doors. Please don’t put them in that position,” said Rep. Ross Spano (R-Riverview).

Democrats were strongly opposed.

“To say that we’re going to allow someone to receive state dollars to perform these services and still to discriminate in the performance of the job that we the people of the state are hiring these people to do, I think that’s wrong,” said Dania Beach Democrat Joe Geller.

The bill passed 75-38.  Bill sponsor Rep. Jason Brodeur continually cited out of state examples of adoption agencies being forced to shut down rather than allow adoptions to same sex couples.  LGBT opponent John Stemberger with the Florida Family Policy Council backed up the claims.

“Well Catholic charities has closed down in Massachusetts, we know that adoption agencies have closed in Illinois. So we’re not going to sit around and wait until we’re attacked, we need protection now,” said Stemberger.

Democrats repeatedly tried to gut the bill during the process but they’re confident it won’t land on the Governor’s desk.

“I would say it’s Government condoned discrimination, I think the arguments were made pretty well yesterday. The good news is, there’s no Senate companion,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Mark Pafford.

Last month, the House voted to get rid of a mostly defunct ban on gay adoption in the state.  The Senate shot down an amendment to the bill that would have kept the ban in place.

The gay adoption ban in Florida hasn’t been enforced for about 5 years, when then Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum stopped fighting against a ruling that allowed same sex parents to adopt.

Efforts to expand gambling in the Sunshine state have picked up steam this week. Committees in both the House and Senate have approved bills dealing with dog tracks and slot machines. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the deal with the Seminole Tribe remains a wildcard.

The gaming deal with the Seminoles didn’t come easy. In the end the Tribe got 20 years exclusivity for slot machines except in Miami Dade and Broward Counties. They also got black jack and other banked card games for just five years. The card deal ends July first.

Senator Bill Galvano negotiated the first deal. He says a renewal is in limbo. “And we could never really get an answer in terms of what’s its worth to the Seminole tribe of Florida to maintain those baked card games for the balance of the compact for an additional fifteen years.”

On Thursday, a House committee approved a gaming bill calling for a vote in Miami Dade and Broward counties on resort casinos. Lawmakers would still have to act in the end. Rep. Dana Young (R-Tampa) sponosred the original legislation that was amended to call for the vote.  “It just kinda tells Miami Dade and Broward that if they’d like to do a referendum before we approve destination resorts, than make you will known to the legislature that we welcome it” says Young.

Q:”So you sound confident they’ll get approved?”

“Ah, I am not confident on anything dealing with gaming.”

The destination casinos and slot machines for dog tracks in Palm Beach and Lee counties that are in the house bill are both potential violations of the compact with the tribe…some say they are leverage.

Lawmakers did shoot down the idea of dispensing lottery tickets at gas pumps.

While the seminole tribe is spending thousands running TV spots seeking a deal renewal, talks are virtually no existent in what is shaping up as a game of chicken at the legisaltive sessions end.

If the State and the Seminole Tribe do not reach a deal by July first, the tribe would have 90 days to stop dealing black jack and other card games.

Legislators are worried that there may not be enough safeguards in place if a victim of domestic violence gets a protective order against an attacker.  As Matt Galka tells us, a new bill aims to tighten the screws on those people violating the orders.

A domestic violence victim can get a protective order against a significant other that lasts a maximum of 15 days. But Leisa Wiseman with Florida’s Coalition Against Domestic Violence says the penalties for violating that order need to get tougher.

“Basically when there’s a violation of an injunction for protection, it’s a misdemeanor, and no matter how many times there’s a violation, it’s a misdemeanor,” said Wiseman.

Domestic violence in Florida isn’t a small problem. The coalition answered more than 127,000 hotline calls last year.

Representative Jose Rodriguez’ (D-Miami) bill would escalate the penalties on repeat offenders.  If someone violates an injunction for a third time, they’d be hit with a felony.

“Although most people basically are scared straight after the first violation and the court order and they don’t re-violate because they take the order seriously, there are a handful of dangerous repeat violators and because there is no increased penalty, they keep seeing the same individuals for the same problem and it’s a public safety issue,” said Rep. Rodriguez.

House judiciary committee members say the bill is another tool to protect victims.

“I’m all in favor of it, and if that tool happens to be a hammer, and we use it, so be it,” said Naples Republican Rep. Matt Hudson.

The bill would apply to dating and sexual violence as well as stalking and cyber stalking. If the bill makes it to the Governor’s desk and is signed, it would go into effect in October.

Divorcing parents would be presumed to have a 50/50 split of child custody under the legislation, It also limits Alimony and child support payments, combined,  to no more than 55 percent of the payers income.

Two years ago, the bill made it here to the Governor’s Desk. He vetoed it because it allowed retroactivity.

Whether the legislation allows retroactivity was a major concern at the committee.

Sen. Anitere Flores (R-Miami) asked the question: “I want to make sure that there is nothing in this bill that makes it retroactive?”

Sponsor Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) assured her it was not retoractive.

“Yes there is nothing in this bill, Senator Soto asked the question. There is nothing in this bill that makes it retroactive.”

Tarie MacMillan was the only woman to speak for the legislation.

“I work every day and he does not. And he receives 65 percent of what I earn and I must live on the remaining 35 percent This goes on until he dies, or I die” the 64 year old woman told the committee.

Opponents, though, brought three women who say they are being harassed on social media for their opposition.

Cathy Jones of Lakeland told the committee the legislation is anti woman.

“There is no need for it. We have a mechanism for modifying alimony based on circumstances changing on either side. This is an unnecessary bill that’s punitive toward women.”

Under the bill, alimony would last for a minimum of 25 percent of the length of the marriage, but no more than 75 percent of the time in wedlock. The amount would be determined by a formula based on the couples incomes.