Tallahassee, FL - Bills are being filed in the Florida House and Senate ahead of this year's legislative session.
- LAWMAKER TARGETS SMOKING ON BEACHES
A Senate Republican on Wednesday filed a proposal that would make it illegal for people to smoke on public beaches.
Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, filed the measure (SB 218) for consideration during the legislative session that starts March 5.
Under the proposal, law-enforcement officers would be able to issue citations to people who smoke on public beaches. Penalties would be fines up to $25 or 10 hours of community service.
-‘GOOD SAMARITAN’ PROPOSAL FILED IN HOUSE
Failure to provide “reasonable assistance” at the scene of an emergency to a person who is seriously injured could result in a fine of up to $500, under a bill filed Wednesday.
The “Good Samaritan” measure (HB 147), filed by Rep. John Cortes, D-Kissimmee, could lead to a second-degree misdemeanor for failing to offer help, which could be provided by calling law enforcement or medical personnel.
The proposal, which is filed for the 2019 legislative session, wouldn’t require people to put themselves or anyone else in danger.
A stricter Good Samaritan proposal was offered in the 2018 session but was not heard in committees.
The 2018 proposal by Sen. Debbie Mayfield and former Rep. Tom Goodson, both Rockledge Republicans, sought to impose a first-degree misdemeanor for failing to provide reasonable assistance to a person in “imminent danger” of grave physical harm.
Penalties would have increased to a third-degree felony for a person who failed to offer assistance or electronically recorded and posted online the incident.
The measure was crafted in response to a group of teens in Cocoa who in 2017 stood on the side of a pond, commenting and mocking while filming as a 31-year-old disabled man drowned.
- TAX BREAKS PROPOSED TO HELP SENIORS LIVE AT HOME
A freshman House member Wednesday proposed offering sales-tax exemptions on items that can help seniors live independently in their homes.
Rep. Joe Casello, D-Boynton Beach, filed the proposal (HB 159) for consideration during the 2019 legislative session, which starts March 5.
Under the measure, items such as handrails, bed rails, grab bars and shower seats would be exempt from sales taxes.
Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Monday is slated to take up a bill (SB 60), filed by Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, that would provide a sales-tax exemption for incontinence products.
- SENATOR WANTS TO TRACK, INSPECT SEPTIC SYSTEMS
Amid concerns that leaky septic systems are polluting waterways, a Senate Republican on Wednesday filed a proposal that would require the Florida Department of Health to identify all septic systems in the state by Jan. 1, 2021 and provide a map of the systems.
The bill (SB 214), filed by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, also would require inspections of septic systems at least once every five years and require the Department of Health to develop minimum standards and requirements for pumping out or repairing failing systems.
Those requirements would take effect July 1, 2022.
