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After the lone Democrat elected statewide took office last year, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried’s face started showing up on stickers affixed to gas pumps across the state.

House lawmakers say those stickers are illegal because of a law passed last year and are threatening to withhold funding for the department if the stickers aren’t replaced.

Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried said including her picture on the inspection stickers was intended to help raise awareness for the Division of Consumer Services.

“We knew that trying to have more attention to the stickers at the gas stations was part of that responsibility,” said Fried.

A law passed last year forbids the photo on the stickers, yet many still remain.

Now the Florida House is threatening to withhold $19.7 million from the department if they aren’t all replaced by September.

“The legislature made it clear last session that the placing of a likeness of oneself on official inspection materials was unseemly, self promoting and contrary to taxpayer interests. Commissioner chose to ignore that directive. The House in 2020 is reiterating last year’s requirement and exercising our constitutional prerogative to decide what is and is not funded,” said Spokesman for House Speaker Jose Oliva, Fred Piccolo.

“It’s absolutely outrageous, you know we are doing our jobs,” said Fried.

Fried said the money is critical for many of the department’s oversight and inspection duties.

Without the funds 284 jobs could be at risk.

“And to play partisan politics with something that is so vital to the health and wellness of our state, I’m just so disappointed,” said Fried.

We asked some people at the pump what they thought about the stickers, surprisingly we didn’t find a single person who’d ever even noticed them before.

But many people clearly have.

There have been multiple cases of graffiti, but Fried said she doesn’t mind.

In fact, she said it’s a good sign.
“I wasn’t insulted by it. It just means that it’s working,” said Fried.

Effective or not, the Department of Ag has already begun rolling out new stickers, but it could take as long as nine months to replace them all.

The Senate did not include the funding hold in its budget proposal, but as the legislative session moves forward that could change.

A House committee held a workshop Monday on legislation that would prohibit doctors from performing transgender operations on minors.

Several dozen people, including one transgender youth and two mothers were at the Capitol ahead of the meeting.

They said criminalizing the operations will result in more suicides among teens.

Asher Hogshead was born a female, but both he and his mother said he is better off as a male.

“I didn’t transition because I wanted to. I transitioned because I had to, to survive.After I came out I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” said Asher.

“This wasn’t a transition. This was a transformation. The moment, literally, literally the day that Asher came out as my son it was like the light came back on in his eyes. I had my child back,” said Asher’s mother Sally Hogshead.

The legislation would make it a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, for a doctor to change a an underage child’s gender.

State Senators are scheduled to vote on legislation Tuesday that would require girls under 18 years old get their parent’s consent before having an abortion.

Hundreds of protesters and supporters are expected to be in the Capitol for the vote, but anti-abortion groups got a head start Monday.

They’re celebrating ‘Life Day’ and taking the opportunity to speak with lawmakers about their number one priority, the parental consent bill.

“Even people on the so called ‘pro abortion’ side, they even think well I’m a parent, I should have a right to know before my daughter gets a surgical procedure or undergoes something as traumatic as an abortion and so we feel like it’s so important to put the parent back involved in the equation,” said Florida Right to Life President Lynda Bell.

If the bill is passed by the Senate Tuesday it is expected the House will bring the Legislation to the chamber floor shortly after.