Legislative session winners and losers in Tallahassee

Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald

By Herald/Times Staff

Published June 28, 2015

  

Bills that passed and failed in the 2015 legislative session. To become law, bills must not be vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott. Bills that passed are in BOLD.

Criminal justice

CAPITAL FELONIES (FAILED): Requires unanimous verdict of all 12 jurors in capital felony cases to recommend death sentence. (SB 664/HB 139)

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS (FAILED): Requires police to tell confidential informants their legal rights and makes negligence of informants a felony. (SB 372/HB 267)

CIVIL CITATIONS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Allows police officers to issue civil citations to young people who have already committed a nonviolent offense. (SB 378)

DEATH PENALTY (FAILED): Abolishes capital punishment in Florida. (SB 1322/HB 4003)

‘GROVELAND FOUR’ (FAILED): Apologizes to families of four unarmed black men and boys killed by white sheriffs’ deputies in Groveland in 1949. (SB 1332)

PRISONS (FAILED): Increases oversight of state prisons and creates penalties for guards who abuse inmates. (SB 7020)

TICKET QUOTAS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Prohibits police departments from using ticket quotas to generate revenue. (SB 264)

SEXUAL OFFENSES (SIGNED INTO LAW): Extends statute of limitations for rape cases. (HB 133)

BODY CAMERAS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Shields video taken by police body cameras on private property from disclosure under public record laws. (SB 248)

Economy

ECONOMIC INCENTIVES (FAILED): Limits use of state money for incentives to attract jobs and prohibits incentive payments until goals are met. (SB 1214/HB 5401)

AMERICAN FLAGS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Requires state, counties and cities to buy only American-made U.S. flags by 2016. (HB 225)

BEER GROWLERS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Allows Florida craft breweries to sell beer in 64-ounce “growlers.” (SB 186)

EQUAL PAY (FAILED): Requires that women get equal pay with men on state contracts. (SB 98/HB 25)

ENTERPRISE ZONES (FAILED): Extends program of tax incentives to businesses that create jobs in areas with high unemployment, poverty and crime. (HB 903/SB 392)

FILM INCENTIVES (FAILED): Restructures tax credits for movie and TV productions and eliminates the first-come, first-served system in place now. (HB 451/SB 1046)

Education

CAMPUS GUNS (FAILED): Repeals an existing law banning concealed weapons from college campuses. (HB 4005/SB 176)

CHARTER SCHOOLS (FAILED): Requires school districts to share construction and maintenance money with charter schools. (HB 7037)

CHOICE (FAILED): Allows students to attend any school in the state that has space. (HB 1145/SB 1552)

CLASS SIZE (FAILED): Gives school districts flexibility to meet the constitutionally mandated limits on class size. (HB 665/SB 818)

COLLEGE PRESIDENTS (FAILED): Creates public records exemption for state college and university presidential searches. (SB 182/HB 223)

COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY (FAILED): Eliminates the sales tax on textbooks; requires colleges and universities to publish the price of each class before the semester begins. (HB 7125/SB 938)

COACHES (FAILED): Requires the immediate termination of any coach who is ejected from an organized athletic event involving children 12 or under. (HB 479/SB 238)

CONSERVATIVE MOVIE (FAILED): Requiring all middle schools and high schools to show students the film "America: Imagine the World Without Her." (HB 77/SB 96)

DIGITAL CLASSROOMS (FAILED): Requires the development of a five-year plan to address technology needs in public schools. (HB 1264/SB 7050)

K-12 GUNS (FAILED): Allows designated schools employees to carry concealed weapons on school grounds. (HB 19/SB 180)

PRINCIPAL AUTONOMY (FAILED): Creates a pilot program giving certain principals more freedom over budget and hiring decisions. (HB 357/SB 1552)

TESTING (SIGNED INTO LAW): Scales back testing in public schools, puts school grades on hold until the new Florida Standards Assessments are deemed valid, enables districts to start school as early as Aug. 10. (HB 7069)

UNIFORMS (FAILED): Encourages school districts to adopt mandatory school uniform policies for grades K-8 by providing a cash incentive. (HB 7043/SB 1474)

TEACHER SALARIES (FAILED): Sets $50,000 minimum salary for new teachers. (SB 280/HB 261)

COLLEGE NAMES (FAILED): Changes names of some Florida colleges by dropping the word “state” from their titles. (SB 1252)

Elections

ONLINE REGISTRATION (SIGNED INTO LAW): Requires state to create online voter registration system by October 2017. (SB 228)

MAIL BALLOTS (FAILED): Allows cities to hold elections in which all ballots are cast by mail. (SB 7064/HB 1161)

CIVIL RIGHTS (FAILED): Allows constitutional amendment so that convicted felons can automatically regain the right to vote. (SB 208)

PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY (SIGNED INTO LAW): Sets March 15, 2016 as date of next presidential preference primary in Florida. (HB 7035)

WRITE-IN CANDIDATES (FAILED): Repeals requirement that write-in candidate reside within the district represented by office sought at time of qualification. (SB 840/HB 4043)

General government

IMMIGRANT DRIVERS (FAILED): Allows undocumented immigrants to obtain Florida driver licenses. (SB 300)

SEXUAL ORIENTATION (FAILED): Prohibits state-licensed counselors from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation. (SB 204/HB 83)

PLANNING COUNCILS (FAILED): Reduces regional planning councils from 11 to 10 and abolishes Withlacoochee council in Ocala. (SB 484/HB 873)

MELON HAULERS (FAILED): Exempts operators of melon hauling vehicles from having to obtain commercial driver licenses. (SB 1072/HB 831)

TUPELO HONEY (FAILED): Designates tupelo honey as official state honey. (SB 556)

PUBLIC UTILITIES (SIGNED INTO LAW): Reforms Public Service Commission, including setting term limits. (HB 7109)

TAX CUTS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Cuts about $400 million in taxes, including through sales tax holidays. (HB 33A)

TAXPAYERS’ EMAILS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Keeps confidential the email addresses of taxpayers who receive electronic tax notices from county tax collectors. (SB 200)

INSPECTORS GENERAL (SIGNED INTO LAW): Requires national searches to replace vacant inspector general positions in agencies under control of governor. (HB 371)

Guns

BACKYARD GUNS (FAILED): Prohibits backyard recreational gun use. (HB 623)

EVACUATIONS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Allows people to carry concealed weapons without a license during emergency evacuations. (SB 290)

Health

ABORTIONS (SIGNED INTO LAW): Requires 24-hour waiting period and at least one in-person doctor appointment before an abortion. (HB 633)

KIDCARE (FAILED): Eliminates five-year waiting period for lawfully residing immigrant children seeking to enroll in Florida's subsidized health insurance program. (SB 294/HB 829)

MEDICAID EXPANSION (FAILED): Creates a state-run marketplace for private health insurance available to low-income Floridians who work and pay small monthly premiums. (SB 2A)

NEEDLE EXCHANGES (FAILED): Allows the University of Miami to run a needle exchange pilot program in Miami-Dade County. (SB 1040/HB 475)

NURSES (FAILED): Allows advanced registered nurse practitioners to prescribe and dispense medications. (HB 27A)

RIGHT MEDICINE (FAILED): Creates a commission to review insurance plans that limit therapies and pharmaceuticals. (SB 784/HB 863)

RIGHT TO TRY (SIGNED INTO LAW): Allows terminally ill patients to try experimental treatments. (HB 269)

TELEMEDICINE (FAILED): Creates standards for telemedicine and using web and videoconferencing technology to treat patients. (HB 545/SB 478)

TRANSGENDER BATHROOMS (FAILED): Prohibits transgender people from using restrooms aligned with their gender identity. (SB 1464 /HB 583)

Miami-Dade

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT (SIGNED INTO LAW): Clarifies that the Miami Downtown Development Authority can collect property taxes. (SB 278)

EXPRESSWAY AUTHORITIES (FAILED): Reshapes the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority. (HB 989/SB 1276)

VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARDS (FAILED): Eliminates a loophole in state law allowing third-party companies to challenge property values. (HB 695/SB 972)

Other

CUBA (PASSED): Memorial to rebuke President Barack Obama’s decision to open diplomatic relations with Cuba, opposes the potential opening of a Cuban consulate in Florida. (SM 866)

DRONES (SIGNED INTO LAW): Bans surveillance of private property using unmanned flying drones. (SB 766)

GUARDIAN ROTATION (SIGNED INTO LAW): Encourages courts to use a rotation system to appoint guardians to manage the affairs of incapacitated senior citizens. (SB 318)

GUARDIAN RULES (FAILED): Establishes a new Office of Public & Professional Guardians to review allegations of fraud and abuse involving guardians who manage the affairs of incapacitated senior citizens. (HB 1225/SB 1226)

PLASTIC BAGS (FAILED): Allows coastal communities with fewer than 100,000 residents to develop pilot programs to limit the use of plastic bags. (HB 661/SB 966)

POOL SAFETY (FAILED): Establishes a commission to study potential electrical hazards around swimming pools. (HB 795/SB 926)

TEXTING (FAILED): Makes texting while driving a primary offense, allowing officers to pull people over for doing so. (HB 1/SB 192)

RENTAL CARS (FAILED): Requires non-residents who rent cars in Florida to buy liability insurance. (SB 976/HB 819)

ADOPTION (SIGNED INTO LAW): Allows gay people to adopt children. (HB 7013)

RELIGIOUS PROTECTIONS (FAILED): Allows adoption agencies to refuse service based on religious convictions. (HB 7111)

WATER (FAILED): Changes regulations for water pollution and springs. (HB 7003)


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LEGISLATIVE SESSION 2015