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The Florida Senate Finance and Tax Committee approved a bill requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax on internet purchases Thursday.

Economists estimate it will bring in more than $1 billion a year, but a new twist being added means the extra cash won’t go toward solving the pandemic created budget shortfall.

Florida is one of only two states that don’t require out of state retailers to collect the sales tax due from on line purchases.

“We’re down to Missouri and Florida,” said Grace Lovett with the Florida Retain Federation.

Instead, Floridians are supposed to fill out a form four times a year and pay what they owe.

A Senate committee was told that’s not happening.

“We only have about three percent compliance right now, and really what we are doing is putting consumers in a position where they are not following the law,” said Senate sponsor Joe Gruters.

Under the bill most retailers selling more than a $100,000 a year online will have to start collecting Florida’s six percent sales tax at the point of sale, starting July first.

“We are voting here to force people what they owe us, and that is it. This is not an increase,” said Senator Janet Cruz.

But the Governor has shaken things up.

He wants any added revenue from the collection of internet sales tax to be offset back tax cuts elsewhere.

The Governor didn’t include that money in his budget announcement last month.

“Well, look. If they want to do internet sales, what’s the revenue increase? Just reduce the overall sales tax and make it revenue neutral if they think that’s something that will help mom and pop stores. I just don’t want them to use that as a way to try and raise taxes on Floridians,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

The likely recipient, businesses who rent space, but Democrats on the committee questioned the logic of a tax break during a pandemic.

“We have a lot of social services that we’re talking about having to make cuts to,” said Senator Lori Berman.

But without an offsetting tax break, the idea could die on the Governor’s desk.

Florida is the only state that collects a sales tax on commercial rent payments.

Tenants currently pay 5.5 percent.

Floridians have enjoyed alcohol to go and delivery from restaurants for the past year.

It’s a result of executive action taken by the Governor at the start of the pandemic, and lawmakers are now looking to make the change permanent.

The Governor first allowed restaurants to deliver and sell alcohol to go on March 20th, 2020.

It appears the policy will likely stay around for good.

“Due to government-mandated closures they have had to adapt to serve the needs of their customers. The Governor’s executive order has helped restaurants accomplish this goal, while also providing a convenience to customers,” said Rep. Josie Tomkow, who is sponsoring a bill that would make the change permanent.

The legislation came up in it’s first House committee Thursday.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association told lawmakers extra sales have been a life line for many eateries.

“Some restaurants have closed and will never come back and for those that are hanging on and hanging in there, this is one of the things that’s helping them do that,” said Samantha Padgett, General Counsel for the association.

Rep. Scott Plakon expressed some hesitancy, questioning whether liquor should be included.

“I’ve always kind of put those in separate piles, the hard liquor versus beer and wine so I’m voting yes today, but that could change,” said Plakon.

Previous efforts to permit liquor to go have fallen short, but this year making the case against the bill will be more difficult, since it’s been allowed for almost a year now.

“We’ve proven that it can be done, that it can be done safely,” said Carol Dover, President of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Dover believes the continuation of liquor to go will help restaurants as they face the long recovery ahead.

“It’s helped people stay alive. It has helped people have a job. Don’t take it away. No sense in going backwards,” said Dover.

The bill received unanimous approval in its first House and Senate committees.

It has two more stops in the Senate and one more in the House before it’s ready for a floor vote.

Pending legislative approval, alcohol to go will continue in Florida, so long as the Governor’s state of emergency for COVID-19 remains in effect.

The Florida Legislature wants to look into curbing some of the Governor’s powers when it comes to issuing emergency orders that can override state law.

Senate President Wilton Simpson said it has nothing to do with the current chief executive, but he worries about the future.

“Nothing’s perfect, but this Governor’s done an above average job, an excellent job, of handling the executive orders that he has put out. But you have no idea what other Governors may do in the future, right? And there are many examples around this country of lockdowns having less, having worse outcomes,” said Simpson.

One idea being debated would create an easier path for legislative review of future executive orders.

The CDC has released new guidance for reopening schools amid the pandemic, but with its schools already open, Florida doesn’t intend to follow it.

The Governor called the new guidance a disgrace and said it is based on politics not science.

New CDC guidance establishes four designations for school reopening based on case rates over the past seven days.

Of Florida’s 67 counties, all but Franklin County fall into the red category, which recommends fully virtual middle and high school learning.

“That is a disgrace. That is not science,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis denounced the CDC guidelines saying special interests are being put ahead of science.

“That is putting politics and special interests ahead of what the evidence and observed experience says,” said DeSantis.

Florida’s largest teachers union said the guidance is just that… guidance.

It’s not mandatory.

Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association said in many instances Florida isn’t even implementing the most basic steps recommended by the CDC.

“While most schools have mask mandates, not all of them do. I don’t know of pretty much any school district right now that can socially distance. I don’t know of any school district that’s doing regular testing and contract tracing to stay ahead of it,” said Spar.

The Governor also scoffed at the Biden Administration’s plan to include $100 billion for safely reopening schools in a federal relief package.

FEA suggested Florida should take the money and use it to install ventilation systems, pay for cleaning and close achievement gaps made worse by the pandemic.

But the Governor pointed out, Florida is excelling under the way schools are currently operating.

“33 states have more cases per-capita than Florida for children and many of those don’t have a lot of in-person instruction in school,” said DeSantis. “There is no evidence to suggest that school kids should do anything else other than be in school. This has been clear for months and months and months.”

And the Governor was clear in his message: In Florida, schools will stay the course and continue offering in-person learning so long as he’s in charge.

Statewide, Republicans have regularly outpaced Democrats in mail in voting, until 2020, when Democrats took a 600,000 vote lead.

Now, with the 2022 cycle just beginning some GOP lawmakers are trying to cancel out ongoing mail ballot requests in place for the upcoming cycle.

Governor Ron DeSantis won by fewer than 33,000 votes in 2018, when the GOP had a 54,000 mail in ballot advantage.

But in 2020, Democrats returned 680,000 more mail ballots than Republicans.

“A lot of these don’t get address changes. They are still getting delivered. They are out there, they are like blank checks,” said State Senator Dennis Baxley.

Voters who checked the box when they returned their ballot believed they were making a continuing request, but legislation now moving through committee would throw out all those requests.

“I think to hear from them year to year; how they want to vote this year, is the way to do it,” said Baxley, who is sponsoring the bill.

Tina Polsky voted no in the bill’s first committee.

“There’s not other way to interpret it. It’s a partisan attempt to restrict or make more difficult for Democrats to sign up for mail in ballots,” said Polsky.

If someone were to make a request for a mail ballot in Florida today, current law would allow them to automatically receive a ballot up through the 2024 election.

Elections Supervisors Association Vice President Mark Earley believes the change isn’t needed

“I think we’ve got great safeguards in place, so I don’t think we need any change to the vote by mail requests process,” said Earley.

Under the bill, Supervisors would have to eat the cost of educating voters.

It’s always difficult to educate the public on changes,” said Earley.

But Baxley said the legislation will ensure issues seen in other states in the 2020 election don’t happen here.

“Let’s make sure we have the right precautions,” said Baxley.

One part of the proposed bill is liked by elections supervisors.

It allows them to start counting mail ballots up to forty days before an election.

The Governor gave them that power in an emergency order last year and it’s credited with avoiding counting delays.

The bill has two more Senate Committee stops.

Florida is second in the nation in new cancer cases and Moffitt Cancer Center, now considered on of the premier treatment centers in the county, has outgrown its current location on the USF Campus.

Moffitt currently gets four percent of the State’s cigarette tax receipts, but a bill approved Wednesday would bump the total to first seven, then ten percent, providing Moffitt with an extra $23 million a year.

Sponsor Ed Hooper said Moffitt has a plan.

“They want to build a campus similar to MD Anderson in Texas, where everyone that is offered in their arsenal against cancer is at one location. Every speciality that a patient may need today, instead of traveling all over the Tampa Bay Area to that specialist, they can get it with one stop,” said Hooper.

Moffitt has already acquired 800 acres for the Campus.

The legislation failed last year, but has the backing of Senate leadership this year.

Firefighters in the state capital were treated to some ‘good eats’ Wednesday, thanks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ victory over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

The barbecue lunch was part of a wager between Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick.

With the Bucs’ 31-9 victory over the Chiefs, Fitzpatrick delivered on his promise to cater a barbecue lunch for the firefighters at Tallahassee’s Fire Station 1.

“These men and women work on Christmas, they work on birthdays, they even work during the Super Bowl. So today we’re celebrating some of our winnings with them thanks to the winning victory of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” said Patronis.

Patronis said he’s considering sending Fitzpatrick some fresh Florida grouper as a friendly gesture.

A crime against someone simply because of their gender, or the gender to which they identify could soon carry enhanced penalties.

Legislation broadening Florida’s hate crime law took a step toward inclusiveness Tuesday after the testimony of a grieving parent.

21-year-old Maura Binkley was gunned down at a Tallahassee yoga studio in November 2018.

Her father Jeff has been searching for answers ever since.

Jeff Binkley could barely speak to a legislative committee as it considered broadening hate crimes to include gender or gender identity.

Maura and six others were shot by Scott Paul Beierle, a self-described misogynist, who blamed women for his self-imposed celibacy.

“The last two FBI hate crimes reports show a cumulative increase of violent hate crimes of over 30 percent,” said Binkley.

Maura’s dad wasn’t alone.

Others came to share being attacked because of who they are.

“I face discrimination on a daily basis as I walk out of my door,” said victim Janel Diaz.

When it comes to hate crimes, prosecutors first have to prove their was a crime, then they have to prove the hate element as well.

Hate crimes elevate penalties one step up, carrying greater fines or jail time.

Keith Perry was one of two no votes.

He crimes should be treated the same regardless of motive.

“You kind of grieve with these people who have had things happen to them, but I don’t want to have a system where one person gets specialized treatment. I don’t think that’s fair,” said Perry.

But Maura’s father said the designation will help collect data.

“If you are going to address any evil, including hatred, you have to first call it by its name,” said Binkley.

The bill still faces an uphill battle over doubts that adding hate crime designations do much to curb overall crime.

The legislation also includes the disabled, so if someone commits a crime simply because someone is in a wheel chair, penalties would be enhanced.

More than 350,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year in the United States.

Of those, more than 7,000 are children.

The difference between life and death often comes down to how quickly a person receives CPR.

A bill approved by its first Senate committee in the State Capitol Tuesday would require all Florida’s student learn the life saving procedure.

Ed Kosiec suffered sudden cardiac arrest in 2019 at a Boynton Beach fast food restaurant.

“There was only one person in the whole entire restaurant that knew CPR. It was a young high school girl cooking french fries in the kitchen,” said Kosiec.

He told lawmakers if it weren’t for her training and quick action, he’d likely not be here today.

“I was given a gift, a second chance in life,” said Kosiec.

Ed’s story is’t unique.

Heart disease is the number one killer in the US and sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death for student athletes.

“The doctor said he has a 50 percent chance of making it,” said Joe Cobb.

Cobb’s son also survived cardiac arrest thanks to CPR given by a friend.

“Every doctor and medical staff, when we walked in that room when we got there that morning, said he must have had good CPR. And thank goodness he did,” said Cobb.

Kosiec and Cobb joined other advocates in support of the legislation that would require CPR training be taught to Florida students.

Currently CPR training is encouraged, but not mandatory.

The bill requires one hour of CPR training in grades 9 and 11.

It would largely be up to schools to decide how to incorporate the training in the school year.

“So we tried to give them as much room. As long as somebody gets an hour of training in how to do CPR and administer it they will be a lifesaver coming out of their school,” said Senate Sponsor Dennis Baxley.

If passed, The bill would take effect July first, in time for the first round of training to start in Fall of 2021.

Florida would join 38 other states that already require hands on CPR training for high school graduation.

Legislation before a Senate committee at the State Capitol would gut local regulations at Florida’s 15 ports.

Those regulations might include wastewater discharge or limit the size of cruise ships the ports can serve.

Arlo Haskell of the Committee for Safer, Cleaner Ships said the legislation would leave a void at ports.

“The truth is, nobody knows what will happen with this bill. The ramifications of removing local control from the ports in the state of Florida are unknown. There would be major unintended consequences. In Key west, we’ve had local control of our ports and this would pull that away,” said Haskell.

The bill is believed to be a response to a local ordinance that limits cruise ship sizes in Key West.

Florida lawmakers are once again looking to make changes to the Florida High School Athletic Association.

A bill approved by its first Senate committee Tuesday would require FHSAA to allow schools, including charter, home and private schools, to obtain membership on a single sport basis.

Sponsor Senator Danny Burgess said currently, if schools align any of their sports teams with another association, they loose their full membership status, even if they have other teams that participate in FHSAA.

“This isn’t, in my opinion, trying to seek anything more than just the option for choice for schools, for families. You know whether you’re a virtual school, a charter school, a home school or a public school to be able to kind of have that parody both with FHSAA and another conference such as the SSAC,” said Burgess.

The FHSAA waived in opposition to the bill without testifying.

It still has two more committee stops before a final vote by the full Senate.

Florida consumer groups are protesting legislative efforts to give businesses immunity from COVID-lawsuits.

The legislation is on a fast track, but is facing partisan opposition.

Just a handful of COVID-related lawsuits against businesses have been filed so far, but hundreds are being cued up.

“There is an overwhelming concern by consumers,” said Susan McGrath with the Florida Consumer Action Network.

Legislation to protect businesses is on the fast track in the Capitol.

Unions and others have so far been unable to stop it.

“There will be no accountability for them if their employees or if their consumers get sick,” said Dr. Rich Templin with the Florida AFL-CIO.

Michael Levine, an attorney representing the family of a Publix deli worker who died last April said the grocer wasn’t thinking about its workers.

“Publix made that decision to prohibit masks because they were worried that the masks would scare off customers,” said Levine.

But Senate Sponsor Jeff Brandes said as long as businesses followed changing guidelines, they shouldn’t face lawsuits.

“So we’ve seen the standards evolve. I think that’s the key,” said Brandes. “Were business actively participating keeping up with the standards? Were they looking at the CDC guidance when it came out?

So far, just one Republican has voted against the immunity provisions.

Not one Democrat has voted yes.

”There are 22 million Floridians that are suffering,” said House Democratic co-leader Rep. Evan Jenne.

Jenne believes GOP lawmakers are looking out for the wrong Floridians.

“I think we need to pass policy that is going to be best for those 22 million,” said Jenne.

And If the immunity legislation passes as is, workers could have little recourse.

COVID is not covered under workers comp.

The House and Senate are expected to take up the immunity legislation on the chamber floor during the first week of this spring’s session, which starts March 2nd.

When a victim reports a sexual assault, DNA and other evidence are collected and stored in what is commonly referred to as a ‘rape kit’, which is then tested in hopes of identifying the offender.

Florida once had a backlog of more than 13,000 kits, but legislation in 2016 helped clear the backlog.

Now lawmakers are looking to go even further to ensure kits are tested in a timely manner.

The Legislation is named Gail’s Law after Central Florida woman whose rape kit sat untested on a shelf for more than three decades.

“We’re talking about women that spent years and years and years losing sleep literally. Not being able to sleep at night for the fear that their offender would come back,” said Camille Cooper with RAINN.

When it was finally tested DNA evidence identified her offender as a serial rapist who was already in prison.

The bill would ensure victims like Gail could track the status of their rape kits in real time.

“No victims of sexual assault should have to watch their attacker escape justice because evidence was, similar to Gail’s case, just mishandled or not processed timely. Nobody should have their sexual assault kit sitting on a shelf for so many years. This will ensure that victims are not re-victimized,” said bill sponsor Rep. Emily Slosberg.

30 other states have already implemented rape kit tracking programs similar to the one now being proposed in Florida.

The legislation would task the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with establishing the uniform rape kit tracking system for the state.

Victims’ identities would remain protected.

This wouldn’t be the first reform to Florida’s rape kit system.

A backlog of over 13,000 kits was exposed in 2015, prompting legislation and a three year multi-million dollar effort to clear the backlog.

“What I’m concerned about is them staying caught up,” said Senate sponsor Linda Stewart.

Slosberg said Gail’s Law would help identify any kinks remaining in the system.

“If for whatever reason they’re not performing the rape kits in certain communities it will be exposed,” said Slosberg.

The state’s tight budget this year may make for a difficult path ahead.

Bill sponsors are still trying to work out the cost of implementing Gail’s Law.

Any additional cost to the state will be highly scrutinized.

The Governor and House Speaker unveiled legislation today aimed at cracking down on big tech companies use of user data.

The legislation would require companies to explicitly tell users what data they plan to use and what they will use it for.

It would also require Florida residents be offered the option of opting-out of data sharing practices without facing consequences or being prohibited from using platforms.

Governor Ron DeSantis said if the bill becomes law, it will impact every Floridian who uses technology.

“So the heads they win, tails Floridians lose relationship with big tech needs to end. We’re going to shift the balance of power back to consumers and away from big tech because Floridians are no longer going to be dictated to by those big tech companies,” said DeSantis.

The bill is the second piece of legislation in an effort to crack down on big tech.

Like the deplatforming bill announced earlier this year, the Attorney General and users would be allowed to sue big tech companies that fail to comply with the proposed privacy requirements.

Floridians have enjoyed the ability to order for delivery or take alcohol to go from restraints for nearly a year, thanks to executive action by the Governor signed in an effort to help restaurants navigate the pandemic.

Now legislation filed in the State Capitol would make the change permanent.

Carol Dover with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association said the extra sales kept many restaurants afloat in 2020 and the legislation would be another tool in the toolbox for businesses as they look to recover.

“Our industry has now gone almost a year with allowing to have alcohol to go. It’s worked. It’s helped people stay alive. It has helped people have a job. Don’t take it away. No sense in going backwards,” said Dover.

The bill would also allow restaurants to send customers home with opened bottles of wine if they don’t finish the whole thing while dining in.