10 Big Issues At Mid-Point Of Legislative Session
April 6, 2017
Halfway through Florida’s 60-day legislative session, almost all major issues remain unresolved.
That’s not unusual: Lawmakers always leave tough stuff to the end. But the House and Senate will have to resolve key differences if they hope to end the session as scheduled May 5.
Here is an update on 10 big issues:
BUDGET: The House and Senate next week will pass budget proposals that top $80 billion, setting the stage for negotiations on a final spending plan. But with the two chambers at least $2 billion apart on their proposals — and disagreeing about crucial details — even Republican leaders are publicly raising the possibility that a special session will be necessary to pass a budget. The House and Senate need to come to agreement before the new fiscal year starts July 1.
DEATH PENALTY: With Florida’s death penalty on hold since January 2016 because of a thicket of court rulings, the House and Senate quickly passed a bill last month to resolve one of the most-important issues. The bill, signed by Gov. Rick Scott, requires unanimous jury recommendations before defendants can be sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court in October struck down a law that required only 10 of 12 jurors to agree on recommending death sentences.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Scott and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, have been locked in a battle about the economic-development agency Enterprise Florida and tourism-marketer Visit Florida. The Corcoran-led House has voted to abolish Enterprise Florida and to cut funding for Visit Florida. Scott has barnstormed the state to try to build support for the agencies, which he says are important to job creation. Senate leaders have largely sided with Scott, and the dispute could play out in the budget negotiations.
EDUCATION: With Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, making the issue one of his top priorities, the Senate has passed a bill that would lead to wide-ranging changes in the higher-education system, including revamping parts of the Bright Futures scholarship program, tightening performance standards for state colleges and universities and encouraging more students to graduate on time. Meanwhile, Corcoran has targeted low-performing public schools that he calls “failure factories” and is pushing for expanded school choice.
GAMBLING: The House and Senate have taken vastly different positions as they head toward negotiations on a gambling bill. The Senate passed a measure that focuses on changes in the pari-mutuel industry, including allow slot machines in eight counties where voters have approved them and allowing nearly all tracks and jai alai frontons to do away with live racing or jai alai games, a process known as “decoupling.” The House plan, meanwhile, focuses on reaching a new gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and seeks to prevent an expansion of gambling.
GUNS: Lawmakers appear likely to reach agreement on a bill that would shift a key burden of proof in “stand your ground” self-defense cases, a priority of the National Rifle Association. But some other high-profile bills are stuck in the Senate. Those bills include proposals that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry guns on college and university campuses or to openly carrying firearms in public.
HEALTH CARE: House leaders have renewed efforts to reduce regulations in the health-care industry. The House, for example, has passed a bill that would allow patients to stay longer at ambulatory-surgical centers and allow the creation of what are known as “recovery care centers” for additional post-surgical care. The Senate has scuttled such proposals in the past, and it remains unclear whether it will go along this year. Health care also will be key in budget negotiations, with both chambers proposing cuts in hospital funding.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA: After voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in November, lawmakers are grappling with how to move forward with a broad expansion of the state’s medical-marijuana laws. A heavily lobbied issue focuses on the number of businesses that will receive potentially lucrative licenses to grow, process and sell cannabis. Under current law, seven businesses have such licenses, and the House and Senate disagree about issues related to adding more licenses.
WATER: Negron has made a priority of a plan to create a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to alleviate discharges of polluted lake water into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. But the plan has faced heavy opposition from farmers, including the politically powerful sugar industry, and local officials south of the lake. Negron this week took steps to try to make the plan more palatable to opponents and House leaders, and the issue likely will play a part in budget negotiations.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE: After a 14.5 percent rate increase began taking effect in December, business and insurance groups came into the legislative session lobbying for changes to reduce workers’ compensation insurance costs. But those groups, at least at this point, are not happy with House and Senate bills. The most-controversial issue in the debate stems from a Florida Supreme Court ruling last year that rejected strict limits on attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases. Lawmakers are considering allowing fees up to $250 an hour for workers’ attorneys — an idea opposed by business and insurance groups.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
About 40 Tonight
April 6, 2017
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 40. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 71. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 37. North wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 74. North wind around 5 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 44. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 80. Light east wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 82. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 84.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 58.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83.
Softball: Northview Falls To South Walton
April 6, 2017
The Lady Chiefs take a tough loss on the road at South Walton Tuesday night.
Tori Herrington took the loss allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, 11 strikeouts and 2 walks.
Jamia Newton scored the lone run for the Chiefs on an RBI by Kendall Enfinger early in the first inning. The Seahawks answered in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Alyssa Selvy. Neither team would score again till the Seahawks scored the game winning run on a triple in the bottom of the 8th followed by an RBI single.
Kendall Enfinger had the lone hit for the Chiefs going 1-3 with an RBI.
South Walton’s Alyssa Selvy recorded 13 strikeouts against the Chiefs allowing one hit and no walks.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Eunice Seales Clark
April 6, 2017
Eunice Seales Clark was born in 1922 to William Benjamin and Laura Sena Seakes in Pineville, Florida. She passed away on April 1, 2017, at the age of 95. Eunice attended and graduated from Ernest Ward High School. During World War II, she worked at Brookly Field in Mobile, Alabama, where she met her husband, James T. Clark.
Eunice was an avid baker known for her yeast rolls, pound cakes and oatmeal cookies. She loved the time spent in her vegetable and rose gardens and for many years found time to volunteer as a 4-H leader working with children in Escambia County, Florida.
Eunice is preceded in death by her husband, James; sister, Eula Seals Barlow; and 11 half-brothers and sisters, Eva Seales Pean, Bertha Seales Flowers, Elma Seales Gouchooft, Stella Seales Flowers, Clara Seales Roberson, Ida Seales Smith, Walker Seales, Reese Seales, Essie Seales Bartley, Cassue Seales Chappell and Emery Seales.
Survivors include five children, Barbara Rixey, Connie (Gordon) Raines, Carolyn Green, Tyrell (Rose) and Ann (John) Bingham; seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Services will be held Friday, April 7, 2017, at 11 a.m. from Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Ronald Hall officiating.
Interment will follow in Dry Springs Cemetery.
Family will receive friends, Friday April 7, 2017, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home from 10 a.m. until service time.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.
Jack Colbert
April 6, 2017
Jack Colbert, 87, former Alabama resident, entered into his eternal rest at his home in Ocklawaha, Florida on April 2, 2017. Jack was born on June 20, 1929, in Huxford, Alabama to Leroy and Stella Colbert. He married his wife Helen Ward on December 18, 1947, in Andalusia, Alabama. Coming from a family with meager upbringing prepared him for the solider he would become. Jack joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, which became the U.S. Air Force shortly thereafter. He served in three wars. Most of his military career he served as a flight engineer on C124 bombers. After retiring from the United States Air Force he moved and retired from a second career from the city of Orlando Florida in 1990. He spent 22 years serving his Country and he flew all over the world.
Jack is preceded in death by his parents, Leroy and Stella; daughters, Linda Diane and Jackie Elizabeth Colbert; and brother, Eugene Colbert.
Jack is survived by his wife, Helen of 69 years; children, Elaine (Terry) Hoffman of Waco, TX, Sheila (Tommy) Berthelot LaPlace, LA, Danny (Mary) Colbert Ocklawaha, FL, Patricia Colbert Ocala, FL, Jack D (Noreen) Colbert Orlando, FL; his sister, Letty Jane Stalvey Orlando, FL; 20 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, April 11, 2017, at 1 p.m. from the Poplar Springs Baptist Church.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, April 11, 2017, from 11 a.m. until service time at 1 p.m. from the church.
Jack’s final resting place will be in Poplar Springs, Alabama in Poplar Springs Cemetery, next to his mother in the family plot with full military honors.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Dorothy Caraway Henderson
April 6, 2017
Mrs. Dorothy Caraway Henderson, 68, passed away on Sunday, April 2, 2017, in Mobile, Alabama.
Mrs. Henderson was a native and lifelong resident of Atmore, AL area and was a member of the Cross Point Baptist Church. She is preceded in death by her parents, Sam and Maurene Caraway; and her husband, Donald Jay Henderson.
She is survived by her daughter, Connie Harrelson (Mitch) of Atmore, AL; three-brothers, Bob Caraway, Jimmy Ray Caraway (Shona), Johnny Dale Caraway (Tracy), all of Atmore, AL; three sisters, Rebie Lou Blanton (Calvin) of Pensacola, FL, Earnestine Brantley, of Wedowee, AL, and Maureen Searcy of Atmore, AL; three grandchildren, Reagan, Aiden and Rileigh Harrelson of Atmore, AL; best friends, Mary Ridgeway and Eleanor Flowers; numerous nieces and nephews and other relatives and many friends.
Funeral services were held Thursday, April 6, 2017, at 10 a.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. J.T. Guyton officiating.
Burial will follow at the Oak Hill Cemetery.
Anne L. Wells
April 6, 2017
Anne L. Wells, 85 of Atmore, AL, passed away Tuesday, April 4, 2017, in Bay Minette, AL. She was a homemaker. She was born in West Palm Beach, FL on March 6, 1932, to the late Burns and Lola Smoak Lariscy. She is a member of Atmore First Assembly of God.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Wendell Wells, Sr; and eight siblings.
Survivors include two sons, Wendell (Karen) Wells, Jr of Plant City, FL and Kevin (Christine) Wells of Oregon; three daughters, Susan (Melton) Bethea of Atmore, AL, Becky (Terry) Norris of Daphne, AL, Dana Wells of Atmore, AL; one sister, Betty Boyce of Tallahassee, FL and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
Services were held Thursday, April 6, 2017, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Don Davis officiating.
Interment was in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home, Inc., is in charge of all arrangements.
William Riley Smith
April 6, 2017
Mr. William Riley Smith, age 95, of Flomaton, Alabama, passed away Tuesday, April 4, 2017, in a local hospital after a brief illness. He was a native and lifelong resident of Escambia County, Alabama. Mr. Smith attended the Brewton Kingdom Hall. He was a retired crane operator and switch engine operator from T.R. Miller Mill with 37 years of service, and he enjoyed hunting and gardening.
Survivors include his wife, Frances Byrd Smith of Flomaton, Alabama; two sons, James Smith of Brewton, Alabama and David (Leigh) Smith of Flomaton, Alabama; two brothers, Jesse Smith of Bay Minette, Alabama and Edward Smith of Mobile, Alabama; three sisters, Lillie Entrekin of Brewton, Alabama, Edith Watson of Tennessee and Hazel Lacosts of Century; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
He is preceded in death by his parents, B.D. and Ella Laster Smith; two sons, William Smith and Elvin Smith; and daughter-in-law, Doris J. Smith.
Visitation will be held Friday, April 7, 2017, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home in Brewton, Alabama.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 8, 2017, at 11 a.m. at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with Minister Harvey Ellis officiating.
Interment will follow in Catawba Springs Cemetery in Brewton, Alabama.
Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home of Brewton is directing.
Gulf Power Rate Settlement Approved
April 5, 2017
A settlement that will lead to rate increases for customers of Gulf Power was approved by state utility regulators on Tuesday.
The Public Service Commission unanimously supported the settlement agreement, which was initially announced March 20 but continued to be negotiated and was put forward Tuesday without opposition from customer groups.
The proposed settlement would lead to a base-rate increase of $62 million — with a $54.3 million net impact to customers — through the end of 2019.
Due to the settlement, about $7 is expected to be added to the monthly bills of typical residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month.
Starting July 1, the monthly bills for such customers are expected to go from $144 to $151.
The initial request from the utility sought to boost the typical monthly bill to $158 as Gulf Power —a subsidiary of Atlanta-based The Southern Company — first sought to raise overall base rates by $106.8 million.
Jeff Stone, Gulf Power general counsel, called the settlement “a reasonable compromise of the positions held by all parties.”
The utility previously said it would use the increased money to help pay for infrastructure improvements, including work on transmission lines and substations.
The settlement was not signed by the Sierra Club, the Florida League of Women Voters, the Federal Executive Agencies and Walmart. But representatives for each said they do not necessarily oppose the agreement.
Robert Scheffel Wright, an attorney representing the Florida Retail Federation and Walmart, said the Arkansas-based retailer thinks that a potential “return on equity” remains too high. But he added that “on balance we believe it’s a reasonable settlement.”
In the agreement, Gulf Power will have a targeted “return on equity,” a measure of profitability, of 10.25 percent, down from the original proposal of 11 percent. Gulf Power also agreed to take a one-time $32.5 million write down on costs related to a Georgia power plant, known as Plant Scherer.
Gulf Power in the past has sold electricity from the plant on the wholesale market but now uses power from the plant for its retail customers.
The Pensacola-based Gulf Power is one of four major investor-owned utilities in Florida. It serves about 450,000 customers in eight Northwest Florida counties.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Driver Slams Into Loaded Horse Trailer
April 5, 2017
There were no injuries when a driver slammed into a horse trailer and pickup Tuesday afternoon on Highway 29 in McDavid.
The pickup driver with a horse trailer had reportedly stopped in a travel lane of Highway 29 south of Bogia Road for a school bus with stop lights activated. The driver of car then reportedly hit the horse trailer.
Both drivers and a horse were not injured. The horse trailer was not movable following the crash due to damage to the trailer hitch. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office livestock officer responded to the scene to transport to the horse to its destination.
The school bus was not involved in the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
