SPEED LIMIT BILL PASSES FIRST COMMITTEE STOP
A bill that could increase speed limits on some Florida roads got rolling Thursday. The measure (SB 392) was easily approved by the Senate Transportation Committee on a 6-1 vote. The proposal — by Sens. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth — would allow 75 mph speed limits on limited-access highways, along with a boost in speeds on other roads. The measure would direct the state Department of Transportation to determine the safe minimum and maximum speed limits on all divided highways that have least four lanes. Supporters of the bill say it’s safe and that many drivers are already going faster than the current top rate of 70 mph. But critics say it could lead to more accidents. “The highways of Florida are not the German Autobahn,” said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, the only lawmaker on the panel to vote against the bill. The legislation still has to pass the Community Affairs and Appropriations committees before pulling onto the Senate floor. For now, there’s no House companion to merge with the Senate’s bill.
MIAMI-DADE HIGHER ED TAX APPROVED
A measure that would allow Miami-Dade County to increase its sales tax by half a percentage point to help fund higher-education projects was approved by a House committee Thursday despite concerns among some conservative lawmakers about a tax hike. The proposal (HB 113), which passed the House Finance and Tax Subcommittee on a 13-4 vote, would require Miami-Dade voters to approve any increase in the sales tax before it took effect. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, would raise $224 million a year. Opponents questioned both the increase and the fact that colleges in the county — Miami-Dade College and Florida International University are located there — would be getting special treatment. But supporters stressed that voters would have to give the go-ahead for the tax to take effect. “In fact, I can’t think of a better way to figure out when people should be taxed and not be taxed rather than direct democracy,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs. Members of the Miami-Dade delegation on the panel split their voters, with Democratic Reps. David Richardson and Jose Javier Rodriguez supporting the measure and GOP Reps. Michael Bileca and Carlos Trujillo opposing it. The bill has two more committee stops in the House; a Senate counterpart (SB 66) hasn’t been heard During the 2013 session, the proposal received a 37-1 vote in the Senate, but failed to reach the House floor.
HISTORICAL MONUMENTS BILL FILED IN SENATE
A North Florida senator Thursday filed a bill that would require the state Department of Environmental Protection to get legislative approval before erecting historical monuments. The bill (SB 672), sponsored by Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, is similar to a measure (HB 493) filed this month by Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, after an outcry about a proposed Union Civil War monument at the Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park near Lake City. Last year, the Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees state parks, received a proposal from the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to add a monument for Union officers and soldiers at Olustee, the site of the largest Civil War battle in Florida. But the outcry stemmed, at least in part, on a plan to place the monument on land acquired for the state by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1909. The House and Senate bills would allow the department to erect historical monuments “with express legislative approval.”
SUPREME COURT TO HEAR APD CASE IN APRIL
With a federal appeals court looking for guidance, the Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments in April in a case involving a developmentally disabled man who was involuntarily committed to a residential facility. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August requested that the Florida court provide an opinion about state laws in the case, which was filed against the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The plaintiff in the case, identified by the initials J.R., was charged in 2000 with sexual battery in Lee County, was found to be incompetent to stand trial and was involuntarily committed to what is described as a “non-secure” facility. He has contended in federal court that Florida violated his constitutional due-process rights by not having a system of periodic court reviews to determine whether he should remain involuntarily committed. The Supreme Court issued an order Thursday scheduling oral arguments for April 9.
-source: The News Source of Florida