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Florida lawmakers weigh rules on union dues, ballot measures

The Florida Legislature enters the second week of its 60-day session Monday as it dives deeper into the process of winnowing the thousands of bills before it.

Among the bills before lawmakers in the next week is a measure unionists consider a union buster. The Legislature will also move to close a loophole that exempts some sexual offenders from having to register with authorities. And they will revisit the threshold for ballot measures to win passage.

The union bill is coming before the House Government Operations Subcommittee, its first committee stop in the House. The Senate version has to get through one more committee before it heads to the full floor.

Republican Effort Cracking Down On Protest Violence Gets Closer To House Floor Vote

Civil rights advocates are angry at Republican efforts to crack down on protests. Frustrations boiled over recently during a hearing on House Bill 1. Pushback against the bill is growing but Republicans are determined to get the bill through the legislative process.

Gov. Ron DeSantis promotes it as one of the strongest anti-rioting bills in the country. House Bill 1 increases the penalties for illegal activity during a protest. It cleared on a party line vote in the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee. The proposal arrived amid the summer’s social justice and Black Lives Matter protests, and DeSantis characterized it as an effort to curb violence, and property damage during protests. William Killgor, who joined some of those marches, believes the timing is not a coincidence.

“Anybody who votes to advance this measure today cares more about their sadistic law and order agenda than they do about black people poor people and oppressed people anybody who votes for this measure does not value freedom and not just freedom of speech but freedom of every resident to live a dignified and meaningful life here in the sunshine state invest in the people not in power, police and prisons,” Killgor said tersely.

Florida City Vaccine Site Overrun After False Rumors Said All Could Come

A Florida vaccination site had so few eligible takers Saturday that it started inoculating any adult who wanted a shot rather than let the vaccine on hand go to waste.

Word spread and on Sunday the Florida City site was overwhelmed, particularly after local state Sen. Annette Taddeo incorrectly tweeted that the federally run site would again take all comers. The Democrat, who was the party's lieutenant governor candidate in 2014, later deleted that tweet and corrected herself.

Police had to calm the crowd Sunday when the site again enforced the state's eligibility rules: 65 and older; frontline medical workers and police officers, teachers and firefighters over 50; and younger people with a physician's note saying they would be endangered if they caught the virus.

Advocates Say Bill Protecting Farmers From Lawsuits Disenfranchises Those Hurt By Sugarcane Burning

Lawmakers put Florida's 'Right to Farm Act' into statute decades ago to protect farmers from conflicts created by new neighbors. Whether that conflict result from the smell of cow manure or the clucking of chickens, neighbors can't say the farm is a nuisance if it's been operating for a year or more and wasn't considered a nuisance when it started. There are exceptions, but those are limited.

Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) wants to make it even harder for people to sue farms under the state's 'Right To Farm Act.' His bill adds "particle emissions" to the list of protected farm operations. Florida Conservation Voter's Aliki Moncrief is concerned "particle emissions" refers to the black snow that comes from sugarcane burning.

"We see it as a direct response to communities standing up trying to seek legal relief for the sugar cane burning and the legislature coming in and saying, 'oh, no, actually we want to make sure that the farming operations that burn are protected,'" Moncrief says.