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Florida lawmakers spent nearly three and a half hours today debating and listening to the public on legislation that has been knick named the don’t say gay bill. It gives parents more rights to be included in discussions about their child’s sexuality and gender identity. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the bill is now one step from the governors’s desk.

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The legislation bans teacher led discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity. GOP State Senator Jeff Brandes offered an amendment to cover all inappropriate ”

“If the intent is not to marginalize anyone, lets make sure we aren’t” Brandes told committee members.

It failed. Two parents  then spoke about secret discussions at school with their children about their sexuality.

Opponents argued they knew they were gay at an early age. 

“Since before kindergarten” said one speaker.

Teacher Tamara Parker of Port Orange called the bill vague.

“I have worked to form relationships with my parents in my classroom, and this is not it” she told the committee.

The Christian Family Coalition Florida was asked if they thought the discussion could

“make someone gay?” Asked Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Miami).

Anthony Verdugo, founder of the Christian Family Coalition Florida responded “Kindergartners should have to hear there are forty seven different sexual preferences, or a hundred different sexual identities.”

Unlike previous hearings, the public got almost an hour and a half to speak today, and that still wasn’t enough time for everyone.

In debate, Sen. Jason Pizzo asked pointedly “why are we picking on people?”

Sponsor Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) responded.

“And I believe its imperative, if we love children, that we put parents in charge.”

Outside Equality Florida supporters regrouped.

The legislation now goes to the full Senate.

By a 69-47 vote, the Florida House has passed over the objection of democrats and some Republicans the so called Don’t Say gay bill that limits the teaching of sexual and gender identity in K through third grade. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the debate was among the most passionate of the session.

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For the openly gay members of the house, including Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) and Rep. Michelle Rayner,  the debate was personal. 

“And for those LBGTQ youth in Florida, and around the country, and around the world who are watching,” said Guillermo Smith, “I want to make sure they know this: You are loved. You are supported.”

“I don’t matter” proclaimed Rayner. “I walk into a building everyday where I am told I don’t matter. If you vote up on this bill, you are homophobic and transphobic.”

But Rep. Michael Grieco (D-Miami Beach) began by proclaiming “I am a straight white male.” He said the bill will hurt people.

“This is an anti gay bill.”

But Republicans argued the bill is actually living up to its real title, Parental Rights in Education.”

“The bill, plain as day, states that you can not have instruction, instruction, meaning a curriculum lead by teachers teaching children ages five through nine, about sexual orientation and gender identity” said Rep. Kaylee Tuck (R-Sebring). “Think about that” she concluded.

Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin (R-Miami) was blunt. “This bill does not out kids. This bill does not prohibit the word gay.”

The final vote was “69 yeas, 47 nays.”

Notable during the debate was the absence of pages and messengers… A devision was made that the debate wasn’t appropriate for the sixth through twelfth graders 

After today’s vote, the bill is halfway through the legislative process. It has a Senate Committee and Full Senate vote before it can go to the Governor.

The House Speaker’s office said in an email the pages were eating lunch during the debate and that it is customary for the House to honor parents’ right to protect their child from what could become sensitive or age inappropriate debate on the Floor.

Representatives in the State Capitol today voted to prohibit the teaching or critical race theory in schools. During the emotional hour and a half debate, state Representative Randy Fine explained what can’t be taught if the bill becomes law.

“The first thing we say is we don’t want taught in school one race, color, sex, or national origin is morally superior to another. Who wants this taught in school?” Said Fine.

Democrats countered that the GOP is trying to prevent history from being taught. Representative Ramon Alexander says influencing what is taught in the classroom is a problem.

“When you use Sytems and structures to determine what is and what’s not, that’s structural racism. Who gets to determine what is a fact and what is not a fact” says Alexander.

The legislation also allows employees who have been made to feel uncomfortable during certain training to sue their employers for trying to impose an ideology,

Nursing homes here in Florida are closing wings and refusing patients because they don’t have enough staff to provide the required number of direct patient care required by state law. Now, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the homes are asking lawmakers to let them count the hours of care provided by specialists who are already seeing patients in the homes.

Nursing home patients are required by state law to receive three point six hours of direct care each day. Two and a half of those hours are to be from certified nursing assistant, another hour by a registered nurse.

”We are in the midst of a staffing crisis” says Steve Bahmer, the CEO of Leading Age Fl nursing homes.

But most are having trouble meeting the staffing requirement because they can’t hire enough people.

“We have members who have taken two hundred of their seven hundred beds offline because they simply can’t staff them today” Bahmer told lawmakers.

The homes want to reduce a nursing assistants time by a half hour each day while counting hours already being spent on a patient by specialists but not now counted.

SEIU 1199, the union that represents CNA’s was out in force against the bill. Christina Chiger is a Tampa based Certified Nursing Assistant

“You want to cut our hours once again. You want to add more patients. How can I take care of twenty patients properly in an eight hour time?”

The legislation was approved by the House Health and Human Services Committee 

”15 yeas, 5 nays.”

A Senate committee was also scheduled to vote on the legislation today, but it was postponed, suggesting that trouble could lie ahead.” 

Kristen Knapp of the FL Heath Care Assn. tells us that they are offering bonuses and higher pay, but with no luck.

“This bill does not change the total direct care hours that a resident will receive each day” says Knapp.

But Roxy Nelson from SEIU says the answer is lower profits and paying more.

“If they really want to attract workers, the worst thing they can do is make working conditions worse” says Nelson.

The House bill is now ready for a vote by the full House. The Senate version will be back up next week, unless whatever kinks exist, aren’t worked out.

The legislation calls the change a modernization of what is considered direct care staffing. The industry says the modernization will allow homes to treat each resident as an individual with attention to their special needs.

Democrats are accusing Governor Ron DeSantis of pushing a 15 week abortion ban, Don’t say gay, and anti woke legislation to rally his base But as Mike Vasilinda tells us Democratic Gubernatorial hopefuls are trying to use the same bills to win favor in their August primary

From abortion protestors, to standing up for the LGBTQ community, to marching crime victims, a thousand or more people came to the Capitol today. For Democratic Gubernatorial hopefuls Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist, it was as target rich environment.

“So if you are a white male racist bigot, you’re doing just fine this session” claims Agriculture Commissioner Nikki fried.

“They’re not representing Florida. You deserve to have candidates for Governor, that understand what you care about” is how Charlie Crist framed the culture wars to a group of mostly women here protesting the 15 week ban on abortions. 

The target of both candidates wrath is the Governor and his agenda, which they say is driven by an expected run for the White House. 

“He doesn’t talk about Florida anymore” Fried told us in an exclusive interview. “He talks about Washington, DC. He talks about everything else except the issues that are actually impacting the state of Florida”

Charlie Crist also spoke with us, saying “The people of Florida want women to have the right to choose. The people of Florida don’t want gays to be condemned in school, and they are doing that right here.”

And protests or not, the House moved forward discussing its anti woke legislation.

Sponsor Brian Avila (R-Miami) told House members “No individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive. Whether consciously or unconsciously, solely be virtue of his or her race or sex.”

Also on the agenda, moving the Don’t say gay bill down the court.

And while the house is pushing forward with this controversial legislation, so far its going virtually nowhere in the session, but there are two and a half weeks left in the session.

And no matter the final fate of these bills, they will remain fodder from now through the August 23rd primary, and likely through the November 8th election.

We reached out to the Governor’s office. Spokesperson Christina Pushaw told us claims Ron deSantis is running for President is nothing more than a narrative Democrats have made up.

More than a hundred people who had family members die in a crime related case marched and protested in the Capitol today.  They want to require employers to provide at least three days paid leave when someone in their family has died as a result of a homicide. Darlene Farrah lost her daughter, who was a clerk in a Jacksonville cell phone store to a murder robbery and says she knows first hand how hard the after math can be.

“People need time off from work to handle funeral arrangements and all that” says Farrah. “After losing a loved one, you shouldn’t have to worry about losing your job. When a tragedy hits your home, unexpectedly like that, you don’t know which way to turn.”

The legislation applies to companies with fifty or more employees, and the employee must have been on the job at least three months before the homicide took a relative. So far, neither the House or Senate bills have gotten a hearing.

The Florida Senate Rules Committee today teed up a new fifteen week abortion ban for a vote by the full Senate, where the measure is almost certainly going be approved and sent to the Governor. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the bill has already faced a bumpy path that is likely to continue.

On January 28th, Public speakers at the House Health Care Appropriations Committee were given just 30 seconds to speak. Tensions boiled. One speaker refused to leave the podium, so she was escorted away by the Sargent at Arms.

”I’m here to say we will not stand for the passing….”

The room was eventually cleared and the 15 week ban was approved.

And  After hours and hours  of debate, as the full House was prepared to vote, sponsor Erin Grall was interrupted. 

“Life remains a life whether…”

Chants broke out in the gallery.

”

We’ll never be defeated.” 

25 were cited for trespassing and banned from the House for a year, but not the Senate, So security at the final committee stop was heavy.

“Good afternoon members of the committee” welcomed Senate Appropriations Chair Kelli Stargel. 

Amendments were offered. One would have made an exception to the 15 weeks for rape or incest.

Kate Thompson, a rape victim from St. Petersburg was raped repeatedly over an eight year period 

“At the age of five, which was when I was just learning to tie my shoes, I was raped for the first time” Thompson told the Committee. She supported the amendment for rape or incest.

Bill Snyder of Monticello, asked the committee to vote no on the exception. 

“Execute the rapist and not the innocent unborn child” he said.

An amendment to provide more conception was defeated as well and the bill remained intact.

Roe v wade currently allows abortions through twenty-four weeks.”

But lawmakers are counting on the US Supreme Court to rule favorably on a Mississippi law that bans abortions after fifteen weeks.

Despite the tensions with Roe, Sponsor Kelli Stargel contends the bill is constitutional.

“Just because one court deemed something awhile back, doesn’t mean it can’t be revisited, and that’s what your are seeing” she told us.

A US Supreme Court ruling in the Mississippi case is expected in May or June. 

After passage today, the legislation heads for the Senate Floor and could be voted on as early as this week. It then goes to the Governor, who has indicated he will sign the 15 week ban.

More than a hundred people came to the state Capitol today to protest proposed new mail ballot requirements. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the new restrictions being proposed come as uncertainty looms over last years changes, which are now tied up in Federal court.

Senate Bill 524 would require more identifying information, such as a partial social security number or drivers license number on mail in ballots. It also creates an office of Election Crimes and Security under the Governor. 

“We want to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat” says Senate Ethics and Elections Chair Dennis Baxley. He tells us lawmakers are only trying to make the good better.

“We just owe it to the voters,” says Baxley “To make sure we maintain the integrity of that system, because we have close elections.”

But more than a hundred people showed up at the Capitol to say don’t mess with my ballot.

Darryl Jones is the chair of the Leon County School Board and works with the NAACP. He told the crowd: “And far too many people sacrificed for us to have the vote, for us to allow anyone to suppress our vote.”

Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls Annette Taddeo and Nikki Fried also came to say no.

“Its goes so far as to limit who can turn in a vote by mail ballot” said Taddeo. “Could it be because Democrats are outvoting Republicans in vote by mail” she asked.

Fried had this warning for the Govenor

“Gov, this ain’t your job. Turn on your blinker and get back int your lane. Let the legislature do this.”

Many of the groups here behind today’s rally filed a lawsuit against last years Senate Bill 90. That trial is in its third week.

The bills have one more committee hearing in each chamber, and we are told there are talks behind the scenes to hammer out some of the differences in the legislation.

Changes being proposed this year to require more identification on mail ballots, if passed, would not kick in until the 2024 election cycle, but other things such as an elections investigations office could be in place by November.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says twenty five people were issued trespass notices early this morning as the Florida House was about to vote on a bill restricting abortions to fifteen weeks, down from 24, when protestors started shouting from the gallery.

As the protestors were lead from the building, Lauren Brenzel of Planned Parenthood refused to provide identification. She was charged with “giving false name or false identification by person arrested or lawfully detained.”

Her attorney is State Representative Michael Grieco of Miami.

“Obviously, someone was arrested last night as a result of the late night protests during the abortion bill debate. I got the night call , I am a criminal defense attorney by trade. So I we went across the street. We went to court and I can tell you right now, I have never had a faster court hearing in my life. I have never seen a judge make a determination that no probably cause existed in a case as quickly as I saw it this morning” said Grieco.

Brenzel spent the night in jail and was released around noon today on her own recognizance. And while the judge found no probably cause, we have been unable to determine why the case remains active.

More people were denied unemployment benefits during the pandemic than actually qualified. Now, Democrats in the state legislature are saying GOP colleagues have reneged on making changes to the system. Legislation that would add two more weeks, from twelve to fourteen, and another hundred dollars, from $275 to $375 have stalled as lawmakers enter the last third of the annual session. Dr. Rich Templin of the AFL-CIO says the changes are modest and need to be adopted.

“It is time to make these changes” says Templin. “And these bills will increase benefits by a moderate amount, will increase the time by a minimal amount, and will fix some of the most glaring eligibility requirements so we can start moving in the right direction.

Many were denied benefits because the system bases eligibility on how much a person made in previous quarters, not the most recent, which advocates say was designed before computers when employers had to mail in their payroll information to the Capital.

Florida lawmakers are putting nearly seventy million dollars in the coming years budget to strengthen fatherhood in Florida through grants and education. The legislation directs DCF and the Dept of Juvenile Justice to coordinate care when a child is involved with both agencies, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, this is the first effort of its kind with any real cash behind it.

One in four children here in Florida and across the country have no father, stepfather, or adoptive father in their household. House Speaker Chris Sprowls calls the lack of guidance the root cause for may of the states problems.

“From poverty to crime, to incarnation, just about every negative outcome that we see that faces boys here and across the country can be linked back to an absent father in the home” says Sprowls.

House Bill 7065 will provide nearly seventy million in grants to help fathers find a job, 

Satisfy child support obligations, transition from being in jail, and getting parenting education. Rep. Thad Altman, (R-Brevard) is the committee chair that developed the bill. 

“With House bill 706, we can change lives” says Altman. “We can make a difference. We have the opportunity to connect fathers with their families.”

State Rep. Ramon Alexander’s day job is finding mentors for kids. 

”This is a game changer” he told the crowd.

The legislation puts more cash into the effort.

“These young people, they don’t have a deficit in talent” says Alexander. “They just have a deficit in opportunity.”    

The staff analysis for this bill says there are studies that show fathers who are involved with their children are happier, and may live longer.

We asked Speaker Sprowls about the expected outcome.

“So, you ask what the outcome is Mike. The outcome is that we move the needle on fatherlessness and therefore we have a great huge benefit to our community as a whole,” says the Speaker

And for Jack Levine, who has fought for kids for more four decades, there is hope.

“I’m  very very optimistic. There are good people driving this bus” Levine told us.

June is Fatherhood month. Expect to see a month long campaign and education effort from the state.

The legislation is the last bill on the House Calendar today and is expected to be sent to the Senate by the end of the night.

An estimated 50 abortion opponents walked to the state Capitol this afternoon and filled a gallery in the House Chamber, waiting for the debate on House Bill five. It limits abortions to no more than 15 weeks since a woman’s lasts menstrual cycle ended. That’s down from 24 under current law. Laura Goodhue lead the crowd. She is from the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood.

“They are telling politicians tahat they want them to respect their right  to bodily autonomy. They don’t think politicians should be interfering in these very private, personal decisions about whether or not a person should be able to continue their pregnancy” says Goodhue.

The legislation is up for a final vote in the Florida House late this afternoon or sometime this evening. It then goes to to the Senate where one more committee meeting is scheduled before a floor vote in the upper chamber.

States across the country have been experiencing a shortage of the drug or drugs used for lethal injections, sometime in part because of a public outcry and a manufacturers desire not to have their products used to carry out an execution. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, today, A Florida Senate Committee voted to keep the name of companies and their drugs out of the public record.

Serial Killer Gary Bowles was the last person executed in Florida. It was August 2019, two and a half years ago.

Now, State lawmakers are moving to keep the name of pharmaceutical companies and the drugs they supply to the state from public records. Sen. Doug Broxson 

(R-Pensacola) is the sponsor.

“It insures DOC will be able to obtain the drugs to carry out their constitutional requirements” Broxson told the Senate Rules Committee. 

But the request was not without opposition. Kristi Arnol spoke for the FL Catholic Conference of Bishops.

“Drug manufacturers widely voice their moral opposition to the use of their life saving drugs for the application of the death penalty, and they have litigated when their contracts are breached by suppliers anyway” Arnold told the committee.

In addition to opposing the death penalty, Pharmacist Michael McQuone said the drug being used to kill is better off left in hospitals. 

“They continue to be at critical levels because they are being used by hospitalized patients, particularly patients on ventilators” says McQuone.

State Senator Jeff Brandes argued the information should remain public

“The place we should be the most public and the most open is when we are taking a human life” Said Brandes.

But the committee didn’t agree

And if Florida resumes executions in the future, the next one will be the one hundredth since the state resumed executing people in 1979.

Afterward Broxson was unhappy the bill became about the death penalty and not the drug being used.

“This is an effective way to do what sorely have to do” said Broxson. “And we want to make sure it is available for the DOC to use in the future.”

And Tuesday began with 314 men and three women on Florida’s death row. 

Opponents say the goal of keeping the information secret is to keep public pressure off the companies who supply the drugs. Of the 317 people on death row, all but one have chosen lethal injection over the electric chair.

Equality Florida today called on lawmakers to abandon the so called “Don’t Say Gay” bill. It argues the legislation is overly broad and will lead to unintended consequences. 

Todd Delmay, one of the first five plaintiffs in the gay marriage law suit that legalized marriage between same sex partners told of having to have his husband adopt because gay couples were prohibited from adopting. Now he says the legislation will hurt not help kids.

“If this bill had been in force, and one of my sons classmates had said, why does Blake have two dads? The teacher would have been forced to say go home and talk to your parents about that. That isn’;t right. It would have shamed my son, and it would have made all the other students think what’s wrong with Blakes family that we can’t even discuss it at school.”

And Equality Florida says if the Don’t Say Gay Legislation becomes law, it will erase every conversation from the classroom about being gay or transgender.

Pastors from around the state were in the Capitol today lobbying against legislation that would penalize transportation companies or providers who care for stop immigrant children brought to the state by the Biden Administration. Pastor Tracy Stallworth says the state is speaking out of both sides of its mouth.

“Would you want to be separated from your loved ones? Can you imagine being separated from your baby? Can you imagine being separated from your parents? But yet we can use  them in the pipeline to pick produce. To pick this.  But yet we won’t allow them to remain here” Stallworth told reporters.