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There were sweeping changes to the states clemency process approved Wednesday.

Floridians with past felony convictions will now have an easier time getting their rights back.

It reverses a decade long policy of delay.

New clemency rules create an automatic pathway to restore felons right to serve on a jury and hold public office, as long as they qualify for voting rights restoration under Amendment 4.

“It makes sense to also restore the other civil rights,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

As with automatic restoration of voting rights, felons would still need to complete all terms of their sentence, including payment of fines, fees and restitution to qualify for automatic restoration of the right to serve on a jury and hold public office.

They would also still need to go before the clemency board to have the right to own a firearm restored.

The change is expected to help clear a backlog of more than 24,000 seeking clemency, and is being cheered by felons rights advocacy groups.

“When people with felony convictions have their civil rights restored they’re three times less likely to reoffend and we think that that’s not only good for returning citizens. We know that that’s good for the entire state,” said Deputy Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Neil Volz.

The rule changes expand the spirit of the 2018 felon voting rights restoration constitutional amendment, but it was a day of mixed emotions for Desmond Meade, the man who spearheaded that effort.

The Governor declined to issue a full pardon for Meade, who serves as the Executive Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

The Governor took issue with a dishonorable military discharge in Meade’s past.

But after the meeting, it was a celebratory affair for members of FRRC nonetheless.

Meade said the progress made is what matters most.

“Even though I might have a personal disappointment, this thing is bigger than Desmond. Right? This is way bigger than Desmond. It’s about expanding democracy, expanding access to so many people that deserve it,” said Meade.

The Governor did suggest Meade would likely qualify for automatic rights restoration under the new rules, but it would still fall short of the clean slate he seeks.

By all accounts, Florida ran one of the most successful elections in 2020, but now state lawmakers plan to move ahead with changes to prevent future problems.

Florida’s 67 Elections Supervisors are unanimous in their opposition.

Last election, 1.5 million mail ballots were dropped off in person at drop boxes, but so-called reform legislation eliminates them.

“Many of these boxes were actually in places where no one was providing security over them or observing what was going on there,” said Senate sponsor Dennis Baxley.

Supervisors called the drop boxes the Gold Standard and told lawmakers none were unmonitored.

Other opponents believe the legislation will make it harder to vote.

“Less people voting, and that is unacceptable,” said Jonathan Webber.

Under the legislation, only a designated family member will be able to drop off a completed mail ballot at a supervisor of elections office.

The legislation would also require more than four million voters who have pending mail ballot requests to ask again.

“You get a total choice each year to pick how you want to vote this year,” said Baxley.

But supervisors of elections, all 67 of them, are opposed to the $16 million dollar change.

“Nothing in this bill is on our list of suggestions,” said Alan Hayes, Lake County Supervisor of Elections.

They argue it will set the state back.

“All these requests on file, right now, are at the request of voters,” said Mark Earley, Vice President of the association representing Florida’s election supervisors.

The League of Women Voters suggested lawmakers’ intent behind the bill is even more nefarious.

“Taking away safe and secure drop boxes makes absolutely no sense, unless you’re looking for ways to suppress the vote,” said Neely.

Afterwards, the sponsor pushed back on supervisors.

“Thank you for being willing to give us input, but we are the policy makers and they are the implementers,” said Baxley.

Lawmakers told us the legislation is generating significant email from constituents.

It has one more committee stop before a vote by the full Senate.

The clemency board voted to forgive all outstanding COVID-related fines imposed on businesses and Floridians throughout the pandemic Wednesday morning.

Little description of the scope of the move was offered, but the Governor did explain why he felt the hard handed penalties for violating government-mandated public health measures should be revoked.

“Many of these restrictions I think have shown to be ineffective and I think they’ve unfairly penalized people,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

Only one member of the clemency board, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried voted no.

She is the lone statewide elected Democrat.

Electric vehicles are expected to make up a quarter of the new vehicles sold by 2030.

Under a bill approved by a Senate committee Wednesday, the owners of electric vehicles will be paying more for the registrations starting in July.

Fully electric vehicles will see their annual fee go up by $125.

Trucks over 10,000 pounds will see the fee go up by $235 and the owners of plug-in hybrid vehicles will pay $35 more.

Senate Sponsor Jeff Brandes said the money will all be used to provide more charging infrastructure on Florida

“Electric vehicles currently don’t pay the gas tax, so we have to look to a more elegant solution to bring in revenue from this vehicles that use our roads just like internal combustion engines uses the roads. Many States have looked at this question and have decided that the most efficient way in the short term to address this issue is by imposing an additional fee on registration,” said Brandes.

The fees go up slightly in 2025 and expire in 2030.

Limits on the amount of THC in medical marijuana would be imposed under a bill approved by its first House committee Tuesday morning.

The bill aims to prevent medical marijuana from being treated as a recreational drug, but opponents argue there’s no justification for the measure.

Representative Spencer Roach likens what he’s seeing now in the state’s medical marijuana industry, to the practices that preceded the opioid crisis.

“You know, 15 years ago when we look at the opioid crisis this is what we were seeing. This kind of doctor shopping, drug seeking behavior,” said Roach.

He’s sponsoring a bill that would restrict the THC levels in medical marijuana products to 10 percent for whole flower and 60 percent for other products.

It also limits patients to 15,000 milligrams of THC every 35 days.

“We have not only a responsibility to act now, but an opportunity to act before it’s too late,” said Roach.

Some states like New Jersey have set THC prescription limits lower than the one being proposed in Florida, while other states like Hawaii have limits three times as high.

Marijuana activists question the need for the the restrictions.

“No one has ever died from cannabis. This is a safe, effective medicine and when it is used under the medical marijuana program we’re making sure that the doses are pure and precise,” said Jodi James with the Florida Cannabis Action Network.

But Roach said state data shows some doctors have been, in his opinion, far too liberal with their prescriptions.

“I mean we’re talking about 10 million milligrams over a 70-day period. That’s about 780 bottles of 24-count Aspirin,” said Roach.

The bill was passed through its first committee with a party-line vote, but at least two Republicans expressed serious concerns with the THC caps, saying it sounded too close to lawmakers playing doctor.

Cannabis researcher Dr. Sasha Noe agrees.

She argues the dosing decisions should be left to medical professionals.

“The physicians are using the best science we have and our clinical knowledge for patients to be able to help them,” said Dr. Noe.

But Roach said he’s yet to see any research confirming medical benefits of high THC marijuana.

“And if someone watching or listening has such a study, I’m happy to review that,” said Roach.

Last year, similar legislation failed to gain traction in the Senate.

While it has been filed there this session, it’s yet to be slated for a hearing.

Florida lawmakers hate being told what to do, so they are back with their annual effort to make it harder for citizens to amend their constitution.

The good news is that voters have the final say.

Currently, six in ten voters must approve a constitutional amendment.

Now lawmakers in control want to raise the threshold to 66 and 2/3 percent.

“This bill makes sure that a broader group of our citizens must approve changes that are near permanent,” said Senate sponsor Anna Maria Rodriguez.

It didn’t sit well with Democrats on the committee.

“This a such a spit in the face to every member of the voting electorate,” said Senator Randolph Bracy.

Trish Neely with the League of Women Voters said the reason behind the change is obvious.

“Water and land legacy would have failed. 2018, restoration of civil rights would have failed. 2020, the minimum wage increase would have failed,” said Neely.

Governor Jeb Bush was the first to push for higher passage rates.

That was after the class size amendment was approved in 2002.

Since then Republicans have raised the number of signatures for judicial review, cut the life span of petitions in half, restricted signature gatherers and raised the cost of verifying petitions ten fold.

“Frankly, whoever raises the most money gets the vote,” said Senator Doug Broxson.

So dismayed, Senator Bracy left the room for the vote.

“I didn’t even think it was worth my presence,” said Bracy.

The bill passed along party lines.

We asked the sponsor if her motivation was tied to the passage of the of the $15 minimum wage.

“No. This bill was not prompted by any previous bill that passed,” said Rodriguez.

And if the measure reaches voters, it will only take 60 percent of the voters to raise the threshold to 66 and 2/3 percent.

The measure would also make it easier to repeal previously adopted amendments by requiring the removal by the same percentage that was required to approve something at the time.

In the case of the class size amendment, that would be just 50 percent.

Three Miami lawmakers want schools to install speed cameras in school zones.

Similar to red light cameras, the systems would capture your speed and tag number, then mail you a notice of violation which you can contest or pay.

House sponsor Nick Duran said no fines will be issued until at least 30 days after the systems go operational.

“The goal is not to issue tickets or collect fines, but to protect our kids. Counties and cities with these safety systems would have to educate their communities about these systems and issue warnings before any citations are issued. This is only the worst speeders. People going at least ten miles an hour over the limit would be cited. A few miles an hour can make a big difference,” said Rep. Duran.

The current fine for speeding ten to fourteen miles over the limit in a school zone is $200.

Districts would be able to keep 49 percent of the fine, with the majority going to pay for the cameras.

Elections supervisors’ number one complaint from voters is that their email or phone number on file is getting them hit with spam or too many political messages.

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee approved a bill Tuesday, that would remove addresses, emails, and phone numbers of voters from the public record.

Committee Chair Dennis Baxley said voters are surprised when the unwanted contacts start.

“You’re exposing people to things they never really signed up for or intended. And their privacy is of value too. And it looks like we’ve mismanaged their information as they are being contacted by sources,” said Senator Baxley.

The information would still be available to political campaigns and committees, which are the source of most contacts that rub voters the wrong way.

A Democratic Florida Senator is speaking out against changes proposed to the state’s voting laws by Republican lawmakers.

Senator Randolph Bracy said bills aimed at limiting vote by mail and a proposed constitutional amendment that would raise the bar for passing future amendments are attempts at voter suppression.

He noted with Florida coming out of the past election without encountering any major problems, the changes are unnecessary and will restrict access to the ballot box.

“They’re putting fourth every kind of measure to suppress the vote, to limit access to voting, to limit access to vote by mail- a way in which Democrats have voted overwhelmingly this past cycle. And so if I was a Republican, Democrat, Independent, whoever, I would be upset that these games are being played,” said Bracy.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, 253 bills with provisions that restrict voting access had been filed in 43 states as of February 19th.

Florida parents are currently required to keep their children in booster or car seats until they are five.

For a decade, the Federal government has recommended age seven be the cutoff, but even a compromise to raise the age to six has fallen on deaf ears at the Capitol.

Raising the age from five to six for kids to be in car or booster seats is supported by science.

“In an accident, all of the deceleration goes against the strongest parts of the body,” said Dave Cullen with the Advocacy Institute for Children.

The CDC says nearly half of all child auto deaths aged eight to 12 were because they were not restrained.

The rate falls to 36 percent for kids four to seven.

Few oppose the idea. At least publicly.

But for a decade raising the age from five to six has languished, even though six is one year less than federal recommendations.

Cullen explained the argument opponents have used against the legislation.

“Children are their parents’ responsibility. And it is the parents ability to have freedom to do whatever they want with their children,” said Cullen.

The Senate is already moving quickly to pass the legislation down to the more reluctant House, where it has died in years past.

Senate sponsor Keith Perry is optimistic.

“Talk to the trauma surgeons and the trauma doctors and they tell you about how easily this injury could have been prevented,” said Perry.

He said the biggest challenge will be educating parents if the age is raised.

“Its more to inform the parents. Hey, we’ve done the research, we’ve done the studying. This is good for you and good for your kid,” said Perry.

Perry also pointed out child restraints are available from private organizations for parents who face financial constraints.

Violating the state’s current child seat requirements could cost parents a $60 fine plus court costs.

The fine will not change if the bill becomes law.

Florida Republicans are taking aim at public sector labor unions, with two bills passed through a House committee Monday morning.

One specifically targets teachers unions.

It would prohibit teachers from opting to have their union dues taken directly out of their paycheck.

House sponsor Cord Byrd said it’s about getting government out of the way.

“We live in a digital age. It’s much simpler now for someone who derives a benefit from a service, that they pay that service directly,” said Byrd.

But in the bill’s first committee hearing, the state’s largest teachers union said it would do just the opposite.

“This is a bill putting government in between an individual’s right to join a union. Stop interfering in the rights of employees to direct how they get their paycheck and what they do with their paycheck,” said Stephanie Kunkel with the Florida Education Association.

The teachers union bill would also expand a requirement passed last year that unions representing K-12 employees maintain at least 50 percent membership to keep their certification.

Under the bill, unions representing university and college employees would also have to meet the 50 percent threshold.

Democrats like Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith questioned the timing of the legislation, pointing to teachers’ front line role through the pandemic.

“It’s important for us to just call a spade a spade. These are union busting bills targeting our teachers who have been our heroes through this pandemic, who really have sacrificed so much,” said Smith.

We asked Byrd why his bill singles out teachers and leaves out other public sector employees like police, firefighters and state workers.

“That’s something that could be considered moving forward, but once again, the focus of the bill is in the education sector and I wanted to keep mine narrow, knowing that others had bills dealing with unions more broadly,” said Byrd.

One of those other union bills was also approved in the same meeting.

It would require all public sector employees to reauthorize their membership every three years or any time their contract is renegotiated.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried was again critical of how the Governor is rolling out vaccines Monday.

She said he has no plan whatsoever.

On Thursday, Fried had called for an FBI investigation into whether the Governor is favoring some Floridians over other less wealthy people in exchange for campaign contributions.

Fried said she has been having a two way discussion with the FBI, but will say little more about the exchange.

“So we know there is something going on here that is just not kosher. So that’s why we’ve asked for an independent investigation by the FBI. That’s what they do is going into corruption, especially corruption,” said Fried. “We can’t go into specifics because we are still in communications with the FBI.”

The Governor has denied any pay-to-play in vaccine disbursement.

Governor Ron DeSantis today took shots at the American Rescue Plan moving through Congress Monday.

He said because the funding for states is tied to unemployment rates, rather than population, Florida will get $2 billion less.

The Governor noted states receiving a larger share of the package like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois all are deeply blue and imposed heavy-handed executive action like lockdowns during the pandemic.

“I think it’s designed basically to bail out the poorly governed states. Florida is being penalized for having more successful outcomes and that is not fair,” said DeSantis.

The Governor also pointed out Florida’s death rate for seniors 65 and up is lower than New York, New Jersey, Illinois and California.

He also noted at 5.1 percent, Florida’s unemployment rate is also significantly lower than the other four states.

The first two bills of the 2021 legislative session have been cleared through the House Chamber and they’re both COVID-related.

Lawmakers spent most of their time debating liability protections for businesses to shield them from COVID-related lawsuits.

Democrats argued the legislation protecting businesses from COVID lawsuits is a solution in search of a problem.

“We’re not seeing that flood of litigation at all,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani.

Republicans pushed back, arguing it’s only a matter of time.

“It may be 50 lawsuits now, but if we don’t do this it’ll be 50,000 lawsuits soon,” said Rep. Bob Rommel.

Democrats were also critical of the high burden of proof required to hold a business accountable.

The bill says a business would have to be ‘grossly negligent’ in order for a lawsuit to succeed.

The bill also requires a doctor to affirm a person contracted COVID at a specified business for a lawsuit to go forward.

Democrats argued that would be impossible to prove.

“You can file a COVID-related TORT claim. And you have the possibility of succeeding… When pigs fly,” said Rep. Omari Hardy

That argument in particular struck House Speaker Chris Sprowls, who said it essentially proves the point of the bill.

“You’re in a business that has small margins already. You already had to lay off employees. Now you have to go out, hire a lawyer at $300 an hour to go defend a case against something where someone couldn’t possibly know where they’ve gotten it,” said Sprowls.

Debate took nearly two hours, but in the end the vote came down mostly along party lines with 83 voting in favor and 31 voting against.

There could still be a bumpy road ahead for this legislation, as the Senate is considering consolidating healthcare liability protections and those for businesses.

That would send the bill back to the House for another floor vote.

The House also voted to increase penalties on scammers who trick people into paying for fake vaccine appointments.

Unlike the liability bill, that legislation passed with unanimous support.

The Governor is pushing back against a Miami Herald story detailing how his political action committee ‘Friends of Ron DeSantis’ received a quarter million dollar contribution a month after vaccines were made available to a wealthy community in the Keys.

Florida’s lone statewide elected Democrat wants the FBI to investigate.

In late January, the Ocean Reef Community in Key Largo was offered shots by Baptist Hospital.

A month later, Bruce Rauner, a former Illinois Governor and Ocean Reef resident sent the Governor’s Political action committee…a $250,000 check.

The Governor Thursday said his office had nothing to do with setting up the site.

“In the initial three or four weeks, as you remember, the hospitals were getting the lions share of the vaccine,” said DeSantis.

But he added he was glad the hospital stepped up.

“If you are 65 and up, I’m not worried about your income bracket. I’m worried about your age bracket,” said DeSantis.

Hours later, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried called on the FBI to investigate.

“If this isn’t public corruption, I don’t know what is. I know that we will get to the bottom of this. So, I am asking the FBI Public Corruption Unit to be investigating this,” said Fried.

We asked Fried if she had proof of a quid-pro-quo.

She instead offered this answer.

“The fact is this is time and time again. This isn’t just one example. That there has now been a pattern of these examples have been occurring since these vaccines started to roll out,” said Fried.

The Governor called the original Miami Herald story a train wreck.

“That article was just flat wrong. And I don’t know, do you even know if he has been vaccinated? Do you know? Okay so literally they are just trying to indulge in conspiracy theories,” said DeSantis.

Fried is the second Democrat, after Congressman Charlie Crist, to call for an investigation.

Late Thursday afternoon, a third Democrat, State Senate Democratic leader Gary Farmer, wrote prosecutors asking for an investigation.

Both Fried and Crist are considered likely candidates for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2022.