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Gov. DeSantis announces millions in grants to improve water quality, supply across Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Tuesday morning in Palm Bay to announce millions of dollars in grants to improve water quality and supply across the state.

During the news conference, DeSantis announced he is awarding $389 million in grants, including $189 million in water quality improvement grants.

“These efforts will help communities upgrade wastewater treatment, improve stormwater systems and connect septic systems to sewer lines, all to keep our water cleaner and healthier,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis also awarded $55 million to expand alternative water supply projects.

“We’ve got a lot of water issues in Florida that we deal with. Making sure we have adequate water supply is sometimes overlooked,” DeSantis said.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Alexis Lambert said in addition to the water quality improvement grants, they are focusing on targeted restoration efforts in key waterways such as the Indian River Lagoon.

House Panel Advances Bill Requiring Cameras in Classrooms

A measure requiring video and audio surveillance in certain public school classrooms serving students with disabilities passed its first committee stop with unanimous support.

The bill, HB 257, would mandate that all Florida school districts and charter schools install video cameras in self-contained classrooms where at least one nonverbal student with a disability receives special education services for more than half of the school day.

If enacted into law, cameras would be required to record both video and audio and must cover all areas of the classroom, including any attached rooms used for instruction. Recordings must be retained for at least three months or longer if they are part of an investigation or legal proceeding. Schools would be prohibited from using the recordings for teacher evaluations or routine monitoring and must redact the identities of uninvolved students and staff before allowing footage to be viewed. However, the faces of school employees involved in an alleged incident may not be blurred.

Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Chambliss and co-sponsored by Rep. Chase Tramont, the legislation aims to provide a clear record of incidents involving alleged abuse or neglect of vulnerable students who may be unable to report them, according to the bill’s legislative analysis.

Randy Fine’s bill to allow guns on college campuses shot down in first Senate stop

Republican Ileana Garcia cast the pivotal ‘no’ vote.

Legislation to allow guns on college campuses died in its first committee hearing after too few GOP lawmakers were in the room to keep it alive.

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted 4-3 against the legislation (SB 814), which would have enabled lawful gun owners to carry their weapons onto any college or university campus, including dormitories and resident halls.

Brevard County Republican Sen. Randy Fine said the change is needed after Jewish college students faced threats of “on-campus Muslim terror” following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

“An 18-, a 19-, a 20-year-old deserves to be able to walk through campus, deserves to be able to fight their way out of a building if people hold them there, deserves when a mob surrounds them and attacks them — it’s happened at my alma mater — that they can do something about it,” he said.

“You have the right to defend yourself, and that right doesn’t go away because you walked onto a college campus.”

Florida senators divided on legislation that would roll back some child labor protection laws

A state Senate bill that would loosen state child labor protection laws narrowly moved forward in committee Tuesday.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Jay Collins (R-Tampa), would remove restrictions on work hours for minors aged 16 and 17 and eliminate a provision that grants a mandatory meal break. Fourteen- and 15-year-olds who have graduated high school, are home-schooled, attend virtual school or who have been granted an exemption from a school superintendent would also be subject to these changes.

Collins said his legislation would be in line with federal child labor law, allowing parents to decide what is best for their child if that child chooses to work and providing minors with the opportunity to learn “soft skills” such as time and money management.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed support for employers hiring minors over “dirt cheap labor” consisting largely of migrant workers.

“And what's wrong with expecting, like our young people to be working part time now? I mean, like, that's how it used to be when I was growing up,” he said last week during an immigration roundtable at New College.