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Governor Ron DeSantis has until the end of the day Saturday to either sign, veto or let legislation implementing the felons’ rights amendment become law without his signature.

The most controversial aspect of the Amendment Four implementing bill is that felons must first pay outstanding court fines and fees along with restitution before they become eligible for voting rights restoration, but there’s a problem.

There is currently no unified database documenting who has paid what.

The lack of a database is a concern for Election Supervisors who are responsible for registering newly eligible voters, like Leon County Supervisor Mark Earley.

“Some counties don’t even really even have databases, it seems to be more of a paper trail kind of thing where you have to go back into filing cabinets,” said Earley, who doubles as the Secretary of Florida State Association of Supervisor of Elections. “We’re trying to evaluate and make it very effective and efficient, but it’s certainly difficult.”

After the legislation passed, the Governor said the fines, fees and restitution requirement has his support.

“As a prosecutor, there were times when restitution was more important than incarceration,” said DeSantis.

The Governor has even gone as far as making the payment of outstanding financial obligations a condition when granting pardons through the Board of Executive Clemency.

“I just think that when you pay your debt that includes whatever you were sentenced to so if you’re willing to do that I’ll move to grant you a pardon,” said DeSantis.

Supervisors said those unsure of their status shouldn’t be afraid of registering at this point.

Generally, if an honest mistake was made, the likely repercussion would be removal from the rolls.

“If it’s an uncertainty, they can go ahead and get registered because they think they’re qualified, they’re eligible again, they’re not going to be prosecuted,” said Earley.

Felons who have already registered improperly after the amendment took effect January 8th and before the bill’s effective date of July 1st are immune from prosecution altogether.

After July 1st, ineligible felons who intentionally register could face a 3rd degree felony.

The bill does task the Department of State with creating a database to track fines and fees, but until that’s complete, determining eligibility will be an ongoing issue.

The company with the contract to bill and collect tolls in Florida has so far been fined millions and more fines could be on the way.

The state said the company, Conduent, is close to being in compliance with its contract.

It has been just over a year since a new toll collection system was put in place by the state’s contractor Conduent.

It was expected to be fully functional by June 11th last year.

It’s still facing problems, but Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin Thibault said the company is closer to living up to its obligations.

“Some of the metrics that they have, even thought the customer response has been a lot better than it has been, it’s still not always up to the metrics,” said Thibault.

Conduent has already been fined $8.3 million and Thibault said more could be on the way.

“When they are sending an invoice, we are asking that we withhold the maximum penalty allowed by the contract, so when they get paid, it is the result of that withholding,” said Thibault.

The maximum the state can withhold is 25 percent, and there’s no limit to how long the state can keep up the pressure.

“As long as they are not meeting their performance expectations,” said Thibault.

The Secretary did say the company is getting very close to meeting all the requirements in its contract, but he wouldn’t put a percentage on their performance.

Thibault said he only spoke to the company once.

“It was very short conversation,” said Thibault. “It was meeting the expectations of the contract and meeting the expectations of our customers. And I made it very clear to the senior leadership of that company that that is out expectation.”

An investigation is ongoing by the state Inspector General to help understand what went wrong and whether there was any wrongdoing by the company or the state.

Prior to June 1st, the state was waiving an administrative fee of $2.50 or more for late fees and penalties, but that waiver has now ended.

At no time were tolls owed ever waived.

The Amendment Four implementing language is part of a larger elections bill that makes extensive changes to Florida’s election laws.

The changes were recommended by Supervisors of Elections to correct some of the problems seen in the 2018 election.

Voters will have more time to cure mismatched signatures on vote by mail ballots and some election dates have been changed.

Secretary of the Florida State Association of Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley said one big change is that voter will now have to request vote by mail ballots at least 10 days before an election.

“It used to be six days, but for years now the postal service has been advising supervisors that we should not be mailing these ballots out this late, or this close to an election because it’s unrealistic to believe that the voter will have time to receive it,” said Earley.

Voter will also be allowed to take a photograph of their ballot while voting and the non-solicitation zone around polling places will increase from 100 to 150 feet.

The bill has not yet been signed by the Governor, who has until the end of the day Saturday to sign it, veto it or do nothing and allow it to become law automatically.

Just a few days after a human trafficking sting in Tampa yielded 85 arrests, Governor Ron DeSantis has approved a law that seeks to crack down on the illicit trade.

Florida ranks third in the nation for the number of reports human trafficking cases, but lawmakers wanted to let traffickers to know that Florida is closed for business this past legislative session.

Senate sponsor Lauren Book fought for the creation of a Soliciting for Prostitution Registry.

It will allow FDLE to track pimps and johns.

“In a 2011 study that interviewed hundreds of sex buyers it was asked, ‘What would deter you from purchasing sex?’ And the highest deterrent at 89 percent was this public database,” said Book.

In addition, the law requires law enforcement, certain healthcare workers and hospitality staff to under go training to better identify and report possible trafficking victims.

“This activity is unfortunately is taking place in hotels and motels in the state of Florida. We don’t want to be part of that industry,” said Samantha Padgett with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

The law will also make it easier for the Department of Health to shut down and revoke licenses of massage parlors and strip clubs that are caught trafficking, or employ people with histories of trafficking.

The changes come as the state gears up to host the 2020 Super Bowl.

Large sporting events are often hotspots for trafficking and Attorney General Ashley Moody is making her own preparations.

Moody’s Office will be partnering with Uber to train drivers in Miami ahead of the game.

“They can help us be the eyes and ears on the ground to prevent human trafficking. One of the things the bill does is it does encourage a private-public partnership,” said Moody.

In the week of last year’s Super Bowl in Atlanta, more than 160 people were arrested on human trafficking charges.

Many of the changes the law makes won’t take effect immediately.

For example, the training requirements for healthcare workers and hospitality staff doesn’t become mandatory until 2021.

Training for all law enforcement isn’t required to be completed until 2022.

Florida’s death penalty could soon be thrown in disarray for the second time in less than three years.

Conservative judges appointed by a new Governor have decided to take another look at a decision that allows nearly 200 death row inmates to have a new sentencing hearing.

In 2016 Florida’s Supreme Court divided death row in two.

Prisoners sentenced before a 2002 US Supreme Court decision stayed on death row, but most of those sentenced after 2002 got a new chance in court to be sentenced to life.

It has upset many in law enforcement.
“The first thing I think about is the victims. I think about their families. They have to live every day, and to put them on trial again, over and over, they are suffering when they have to go through this,” said Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young.

At the time of the decision, the court’s two conservative judges objected strenuously.

Now they are in the majority and are taking another look at the policy.

The case will be three years old in December and it’s highly unusual for cases that fresh to be reversed.

Denying new sentencing hearings has the backing of Attorney General Ashley Moody.

“Many times when we think that court decisions are not founded legally, we try to present that through follow-up cases and briefs, and that’s what we’ve done in this case,” said Moody.

Legal scholar Mark Schlakman says it comes down to fundamental fairness.

“Versus a logical line and judicially manageable standard and the tension between the two,” said Schlakman.

In other words, how many court resources and how much time would be needed to hold more than hundred new sentencing hearings?

On the day the 2016 ruling was made, there were 384 death row inmates.

Now there are 43 fewer, and anyone still on death row will be in limbo as new appeals are filed.

The systematic failure that led to 17 deaths in the Parkland shooting was used as a case study for Florida sheriffs Wednesday.

The Pinellas County Sheriff who headed the task force studying the massacre said unless major changes are made, another tragedy of the same caliber is guaranteed.

The presentation began by breaking down years of missed red flags concerning the accused Parkland shooter Nicholas Cruz.

It finished with a minute by minute breakdown of the shooting itself.

Chair of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission Sheriff Bob Gualtiari recounted how quickly people were shot.

“Thirty-four, in three minutes and fifty-one seconds. The first notice to anybody, the first code red, wasn’t called until three minutes and forty-five seconds because nosy knew what to do or how to do it,” said Gualtiari.

From SRO Scot Peterson failing to enter Building 12, law enforcement waiting minutes to gear up, to a breakdown of communication between multiple agencies, Gualtiari said schools can’t count on law enforcement alone to protect them.

The MSD Commission made the recommendation to expand the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program to school teachers.

Gualtiari said he stands by that decision.

“Who stops these things most often? It’s school personal. Why? Because they’re there,” said Gualtiari.

During the presentation news broke that two law enforcement officers caught on video delaying entry to MSD High School by taking time to put on their bulletproof vests were fired from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

Gualtiari applauded the Broward County Sheriff for holding the officers accountable.

Many other law enforcement agencies have also heeded lessons learned from Parkland.

“We know now that even if you’re alone, you’ve got to go in and encounter a shooter at any time,” said Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young.

Gualtiari said changes in the law made since the 2018 shooting should help prevent or respond to future events, but he expressed frustration with the slow pace at which some districts have implemented the new policies.

“They need to make the school safe and they need to follow best practices and follow the law,” said Gualtiari. “Why do we have to push them? Why do we have to have sanction authority? We shouldn’t have to do that. They need to get right on it.”

Gualtiari said those unwilling to change can expect to see the same results.

Update. The Federal tax credit for solar is reduced at the end of 2019, but does not go away completely for homeowners until the end of 2021.

• 2020: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 26 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.
• 2021: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 22 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.
• 2022 onwards: Owners of new commercial solar energy systems can deduct 10 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes. There is no federal credit for residential solar energy systems.

Florida’s utilities reported a record number of new solar and other renewable hook-ups in 2018.

The reason is a combination of concerns over climate, lower cost panels, and a tax rebate.

Ivan Baggett, an electrical engineer, has had a dream since he was young.

“When I was a kid I was reading science magazines. They had articles that say someday your house may be powered by the sun, and I thought that is so cool. I’m gonna do that one day,” said Baggett.

The dream first came true in 2007.

He added more solar last year, and so did a record setting 37,862 other Floridians.

Baggett added panels to charge his two electric cars.

He posted his near zero electric bill on Facebook.

“I do it to help save the planet we’re on. I do it to save money, and I do it because I had a dream doing it when I was a kid,” said Baggett.

Baggett has calculated that he’ll get his money back on his solar addition in about six years, while the panels will keep generating for several decades.

Solar contractor Al Simpler calls the record setting 57 percent increase in renewable hookups over the year ‘about time’.

“We have a long way to go in Florida. We’re kinda behind a lot of states. So to see that kind of jump in Flordia, the Sunshine State, is very encouraging. That just means more people are educated,” said Simpler.

There is also a growing number of customers for solar battery storage systems not captured in the numbers submitted by Flordia utilities.

A 30 percent federal tax credit has helped fuel the growth.

The tax credit is reduced at the end of 2019.

• 2020: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 26 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.
• 2021: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 22 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.
• 2022 onwards: Owners of new commercial solar energy systems can deduct 10 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes. There is no federal credit for residential solar energy systems.

Solar won’t work if there is too much shade or your roof doesn’t have a south or southeast slope, but there are other options, such as community solar generation and purchasing dedicated solar energy from public utilities.

A poll for Rebuild 850, the area code partially demolished by Hurricane Michael found that 50 percent of those surveyed would do nothing to help still struggling residents, while 75 percent said they would not consider monetary donations.

“In all the months since, it seems like most of Florida has forgotten about Northwest Florida,” said Ron Sachs, the coordinator for Rebuild 850. “We see a huge disconnect among Floridians the further they are from the Panhandle; the less they know about how bad Hurricane Michael was and how great the need still remains.”

Michael was the second most powerful storm to hit the US mainland and many residents are still living in tents, struggling with mental health issues and lack work as a result of the storm.

Florida leaders need to be thinking more long term when it comes to hurricanes.

That’s the message from former FEMA Director Craig Fugate.

The emergency management guru laid out recommendations for how the State Legislature could help mitigate the costs of future storms.

For Florida alone, damage from Hurricane Irma has cost the Federal Government more than $8 billion in disaster relief.

While speaking to the Economic Club of Florida Tuesday, Fugate said part of the reason costs of storms have been on the rise is because local governments are shying away from insurance and instead are relying more on Federal aid to cover costs of rebuilding.

“I like to refer to this as ‘Disaster Socialism’,” said Fugate. “What would Florida look like today if you didn’t have a Federal Government bailouts? Would we have made the same decisions and built the same way?”

He also criticized a 2017 decision to rollback building code reviews in the state.

Previously the state would adopt all new standards every three years.

Now it can pick and choose which updates to adopt.

“It won’t affect us this year or next year, but how many years before we start seeing the code get eroded,” said Fugate.

Fugate said one way to lower costs is to discourage further development in at-risk areas like flood zones and coast lines by no longer subsidizing flood insurance for new construction.

“Theoretically, if you’re building it new, and you’re building it to code, it should be more insurable, not something that the taxpayers should have to underwrite,” said Fugate.

One month into hurricane season the state hasn’t seen a single named storm, but Fugate said it doesn’t matter.

Hurricane Andrew, one of the costliest storms to ever hit the state, was the first named storm of the 1991 season.

It didn’t came ashore until late August.

“The most active part of hurricane season starts when we start playing college football,” said Fugate.

Kickoff is less than two month away.

Fugate said all Floridians should review their insurance policies in preparation for hurricane season to understand where they might lack coverage.

He also recommended all Floridians acquire flood insurance, even if they don’t live in a designated flood zone.

Governor Ron DeSantis said in an exclusive one-on-one interview that he has the best job in the world and feels like he is in a place where he can get things done.

It has been just under six months since DeSantis became the Governor.

During his inauguration, he promised to be an energetic executive and he has delivered, crisscrossing the state almost daily.

DeSantis said so far, he’d take being Governor over being back in Congress.

“Oh, I mean it’s about a hundred times better. In Congress, you are one of 435,” said DeSantis.

And why wouldn’t he?

He controls millions of dollars and appoints who he wants to shape state policy in his own image.
“You know, as Governor you have the ability to put things on the agenda and get things done,” said DeSantis.

Polling by Quinnipiac University shows Florida voters approve of the job he is doing by a 55 to 22 margin.

Among the GOP, it is a whopping 83 percent.

“I think people see that if you are doing things that have kinda have the people’s interests at heart and you’re making good decisions and they appreciate that,” said DeSantis.

The Governor makes just over $130,000, but while in Congress he made $174,000.

Unlike our previous governor, Ron DeSantis is not a rich man.

His net worth was reported at just over $310,000 in July of 2018.

He’s taking a $43,000 pay cut, but he said that has not been a problem.

“You get a house. It’s less about that than about the ability to do more, I think,” said DeSantis. “You can really accomplish a lot more as Governor than you can as just one member, particularly a junior member.”

With the house comes a security detail and the intangible.

The Governor gets to come home at night and spend it with his two kids.

DeSantis appears to be living up to the old adage that if you’ve got a job you really love, it’s not really work.

It will now be easier for police to pursue and bring to justice illegal street racers in the state.

A bill signed Tuesday by Governor Ron DeSantis removes a requirement that police personally witness street racing to make an arrest.

Now, video evidence and witness statements will be sufficient for police to charge those who engage in street racing.

House sponsor Representative Scott Plakon told us in May the change will make the roads safer.

“There are stories around the state, people have been killed, innocent bystanders,” said Plakon. “A lady in Tampa, with a baby in a stroller, being killed by an idiot that thought this would be fun. This gives law enforcement more tools in their toolbox to address this problem.”

The new law will officially go into effect July 1st.

A group calling itself Sensible Florida, has been gathering petitions to force a vote on legalizing recreational marijuana in Florida.

So far the group has collected less than 10 percent of the petitions it needs to make the ballot, but a recent poll may reinvigorate the groups efforts.

Sensible Flordia has submitted almost 63,000 signed, verified petition forms to the state.

The group is still shy nearly 14,000 petitions to trigger a review by the State Supreme Court.

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows 65% of Floridians support recreational marijuana.

That could breathe new life into the amendment.

“Stakeholders are very interested in exploring what they call adult use or recreational marijuana in Florida,” said Jeff Sharkey with the Medical Marijuana Business Association. “I think they are looking very seriously. As early as four months ago, it was polling in the low 50’s.”

While the poll may aid the petition drive, it’s facing a Governor who is adamantly opposed to legalization.

We posed the question during an exclusive one on one with governor Ron DeSantis.

“Not while I’m Governor,” said DeSantis. “I mean look, when that is introduced with teenagers and young people I think it has a really detrimental effect to their wellbeing and their maturity.”

“Other states have looked at this obviously and teen use has kind of gone down in some instances, Colorado for example,” said Sharkey.

What is clear is that his opposition could make big dollar donors think twice about bank rolling a legalization effort.

Eleven states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults.

It completely against the law in 12 other states.

The remaining 27 have either medical marijuana or have decriminalized its use.

Hemp advocates at the third and final rule making workshop in the states capital city are hoping to see the Governor sign the bill legalizing the plants cultivation and sale before the end of the week.

In an exclusive interview Governor Ron DeSantis told us he intends to approve the hemp bill.

“It can be valuable for agriculture so the Legislature obviously felt it was worth a shot so I’m going to sign it,” said DeSantis.

Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried has already had her agency draft rules for how the new industry will be regulated.

The 23 page draft document covers areas like importation, licensing and testing.

“If there are safe products out there we want those promoted and ones that are not tested, not labeled correctly those are going to come off the shelves,” said Fried.

The Department of Agriculture just wrapped up a statewide workshop tour, were it took input from those eyeing the industry.

While the Department hopes hemp will be a viable crop for small farmers up to large cooperations, some farmers expressed concerns the proposed regulations may be overburdensome.

David Avent is a 6th generation Florida farmer hit hard by Hurricane Michael.

“I’m looking for something to make some money to send my children to Maclay School and I can’t do it growing pine trees at the moment,” said Avent. “The least amount of regulations and rules would be much appreciated on the farmers who are suffering greatly under this time.”

He’s worried a proposed requirement that hemp exceeding the 0.3% THC threshold must be destroyed could make the crop a risky option.

“You may lose your money doing everything right,” said Avent.

Fried said special consideration for panhandle farmers, and other concerns raised in the workshops will be addressed as the rules are finalized.

“We’re going through the hypotheticals now. You know, what if this happens or what is the problem here and that we’re able to address those,” said Fried.

The Commissioner said the goal is to finalize the rules sometime in the Fall of 2019.

Once the Department submits its plan to the Federal Government, the USDA will have 60 days to either approve or deny the state’s application.

The hope is to have the first crop in the ground in early 2020.

Governor Ron DeSantis has approved the largest budget in state history.

Most of the major spending for the environment and education made it in the final product, but not everything made the cut.

DeSantis called a late press conference to announce he’d put pen to paper on the state budget Friday afternoon.

“I think it’s a fiscally responsible budget. I think we put taxpayers first, but on the key issues that Floridians care about are things like environment, things like education, things like transportation we were there to really make a difference,” said DeSantis.

The final budget came in at $90.9 billion, just meeting his promise to keep the spending plan under $91 billion.

A total of $131 million was vetoed, but the Governor said it was nothing personal.

“I think we worked well together, so there wasn’t a need for me to exact any type of retribution because the Legislature didn’t work for me,” said DeSantis.

College campus construction projects was one main area where the Governor made cuts.

“We’re building a lot of buildings and that’s okay, but I think that what’s really gonna take us to the next level is spending some of that money on more faculty, increasing salaries for people you’re trying to recruit,” said DeSantis.

While the budget included just $121 million in tax cuts, the Governor upped number to $400 million, by including the reduction in local school taxes to offset rising property values.

“It’s just like if I make more money next year I’ll pay more under the same rates and so I feel that we acted to reduce the taxes that would’ve otherwise been due under the law,” said DeSantis.

As part of the new budget the state will also have $5.4 billion in reserves.

The money will be a safety net incase any storms hit the state this hurricane season.

The Governor now plans to travel the state to tout some of the highlights of the 2019-2020 budget.

The spending plan officially goes into effect on July 1st, the start of the fiscal year.