Latest on the legislative staffing merry-go-round
With a tip of the hat to LobbyTools, here are the latest movements – both on and off – of the legislative merry-go-round.
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Senate bows to minimum-mandatory sentencing for fentanyl traffickers
The Senate changed its mind Friday and accepted mandatory-minimum prison sentences in a bill cracking down on synthetic opioids, including fentanyl and carfentanil. Senators had stripped the provision earlier in the week, but the House refused to abandon mandatory sentences and sent the bill back. Senate President Joe Negron initially ruled that Sen. Greg Steube’s motion to rescind the amendment had failed on a voice vote. But enough members insisted on a recorded vote, which went 20-18 to back down.…
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Senate sends amended version of opioid crackdown bill back to House
The Senate approved legislation Wednesday increasing penalties for trafficking in synthetic opioids including fentanyl and carfentanil, The vote was 37-0 to send the measure back to the House. HB 477 targets fentanyl and related substances that, when administered by themselves or in combination with other drugs, can prove deadly, for tougher sentencing. For example, it would add fentanyl and derivatives to the list of Schedule I drugs and provides that trafficking in them resulting in death constitutes murder. An amendment the…
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Opioid-crackdown bill picks up potentially deadly amendment in Senate
The Senate adopted an amendment Tuesday easing mandatory-minimum prison sentences in a bill cracking down on trafficking in synthetic opioids, including fentanyl and carfentanil. Senate President Joe Negron ruled that Sen. Randolph Bracy’s amendment had passed on a voice vote, following an impassioned debate touching on the drugs’ dangers and the damage minimum-mandatory sentencing has done to communities. The amended legislation awaits a final vote. “Man, this was one of my noncontroversial bills that I filed this session,” Senate sponsor…
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Public-records exemption for murder witnesses heading to Governor
The Senate met the two-thirds requirement Thursday to send Gov. Rick Scott a bill creating a public-records exemption for information that could identify murder witnesses. The vote was 34-3 to accept CS/CS/HB 111, the House version of legislation sponsored in the Senate by Ocoee Democrat Randolph Bracy. Exemptions to Florida’s stringent public-records laws require two-thirds votes in both Houses. The House overwhelmingly approved the measure on March 30. Voting “No” in the Senate were Rob Bradley, Jeff Brandes, and Jeff Clemens. Bracy…
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Randolph Bracy comes to Aramis Ayala’s defense with NY Times op-ed
Democratic state Senator Randolph Bracy has published a national defense of Orlando’s State Attorney Aramis Ayala Tuesday with an op-ed column in the New York Times contending Gov. Rick Scott has overreached in removing cases from her. In the column headlined “Florida’s Vengeful Governor,” Bracy argues that Scott’s reassignment of 22 death penalty cases from Florida’s 9th Judicial Circuit, prosecuted by Ayala, to Florida’s 5th Judicial Circuit, prosecuted by State Attorney Brad King, is without precedent or any legal foundation.…
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Judiciary Committee tackles gun-rights measures, along with Palm Beach claims bill
The Senate Committee on Judiciary overwhelmingly passed a claims bill Tuesday, compensating a man seriously injured as a teen when the van he was riding in was smashed from behind by a school bus belonging to the district. The claims bill — SB 24 — was sponsored by Sen. Anitere Flores, who wanted the district to stick with a portion of a future compensation awarded by a jury. The district admitted liability in the 2006 incident, in which Altavious Carter, then 14, was inside van of…
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