Senate Appropriations Committee meeting Thursday, 04/18/19
Email or call your Senator and urge that he or she vote NO on SB 7070 and vote YES on SJR 326, SB 332, SB 334, SB 682, SB 816 and SB 1278 at the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting this Thursday, 04/18/19, 9:00 am.
Vote NO - SB 7070 - K-12 Education Funneling general revenue dollars to private and religious schools reduces general revenue for public schools and is clearly unconstitutional based on the 2006 Supreme Court Case.
Vote YES on the bills listed below
SJR 326 Homestead Property Tax Assessments/Increased Portability Period Extends the timeframe during which an owner of homestead property significantly damaged or destroyed by a named tropical storm or hurricane must establish a new homestead to make a certain election.
SB 332 Incarcerated Women Requires correctional facilities to provide incarcerated women with key health care products for free and sets new requirements for male correctional employees to protect the dignity of female prisoners. Removes economic barriers to care which disproportionately affects low income people and people of color.
SB 334 Professional Regulation Prohibits conviction of a crime 5 years before application date from being grounds for denial of certain licenses. Facilitates second chances and reduces barriers to gainful employment for returning citizens. Expands employment opportunities and support for families.
SB 642 Criminal Justice Florida First Step Act. Amend this bill with the following recommendations from the ACLU.
- Require a racial impact assessment six months after the Florida First Step Act goes into effect and mandate a racial impact statement for future criminal justice bills.
- Eliminate carve-outs so people with a previous conviction who have already served their time can be eligible for judicial discretion in sentencing and have the same opportunities to earn gain time toward an earlier release date.
- Increase the current cap of 15 percent on gain time to incentivize good behavior and rehabilitation.
- Fully fund the Department of Corrections, including previously cut mental health and substance abuse treatment funding and an additional $25 million to create opportunities for rehabilitation.
- Ensure that technical violations of probation or parole do not result in returning to jail or prison.
SB 816 Environmental Regulation Requires counties and municipalities to address the contamination of recyclable material in specified contracts to improve the effectiveness of solid waste collection efforts.
SB 982 Human Trafficking Requires DLA to develop and operate a hotline to receive reports of potential humantrafficking activity & report specified reports to law enforcement.
SB 1278 Biosolids Management Requires the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt rules for biosolids management
Include your name and address or Zip Code so your legislator knows you are a constituent.
If you are a constituent of Appropriations Committee Chair, Rob Bradley, ask him to place the following bills on the agenda for the next Appropriations Committee meeting. Otherwise, ask your Senator to urge the Chair to place these bills on his next committee agenda.
SB 338 Extension of Confinement Allows an inmate to participate in supervised community release. Reduces recidivism and facilitates re-entry into society.
SB 346 Conditional Medical Release Expands eligibility for conditional medical release to ease suffering and provide compassionate end of life care.
SB 406 Theft The prison population has exploded and millions of dollars are spent to incarcerate people for nonviolent offenses. Since 2000, at least 37 states have raised their felony theft thresholds above which prosecutors may charge theft offenses as felonies, rather than misdemeanors. Lawmakers have made these changes to prioritize costly prison space for more serious offenders and ensure that value-based penalties take inflation into account. States that increased their thresholds reported roughly the same average decrease in crime as the 22 states that did not change their theft laws.
SB 540 Human Trafficking Requires training for hotel employees to spot victims of trafficking. Establishes a direct support organization for trafficking survivors, a new curriculum for law enforcement to address human trafficking and a registry for those who have solicited prostitutes.
SB 782 Youthful Offenders Allows a court to sentence as a youthful offender a person who is charged with committing a felony before the person turned 21 years of age. Provides facilities, programs and opportunities for rehabilitation.
SB 982 Human Trafficking Requires DLA to develop and operate a hotline to receive reports of potential human trafficking activity & report specified reports to law enforcement.
SB 1030 Mitigating Circumstances in Sentencing The prison population has exploded incarcerating people for nonviolent drug offenses under mandatory minimum sentencing laws that do not deter the use or sale of drugs or make communities safer. Revises the mitigating circumstances under which a departure from the lowest permissible sentence is justified, to include when a defendant is amenable to treatment and he or she requires specialized treatment for a certain substance addiction.
SB 1758 Water Quality Improvements Addresses the three major forms of nutrient pollution impacting Florida waters: wastewater, agriculture, and urban fertilizer.
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