TALLAHASEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida lawmakers filed more than 3,000 bills in 2017 and fewer than 250 passed both chambers of the Legislature before it adjourned its annual session on Monday. The following is a look at some of the bills that succeeded and some of those that died:
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WINNERS:
- An $83 billion state budget.
- Expansion of the “stand your ground” law to give more protection to people using the self-defense claim by placing the burden of proof on prosecutors to show that people charged with assaulting or killing someone else weren’t acting in self-defense.
- A plan to build reservoirs south of Lake Okeechobee to treat polluted water before it flows downstream. It’s an effort to reduce harmful algae blooms.
- A bill that will allow supermarkets and big box stores to sell liquor alongside other items instead of a second location separated by a wall.
- A bill that will triple the number of bottles of alcohol Florida craft distilleries can sell to visitors.
- A measure that could require warnings about the addictiveness of gambling to be placed on Florida Lottery tickets and advertisements.
- A proposed constitutional amendment that if passed by voters would shield an additional $25,000 of the value of their home from property taxes.
- Tougher penalties for possessing or selling fentanyl.
- An apology for decades of abuse at a now-closed north Florida reform school.
- An apology to the families of four now-deceased black men, known as the Groveland Four, accused of raping a white teenager in case now seen as racial injustice.
- A bill that could make it easier for parents to challenge the use of public school textbooks or library books.
- A bill that would restore Bright Futures scholarships to provide free tuition at state universities for Florida’s top performing high school students.
- An education bill that steers more money to charter schools and requires elementary schools provide students with 20 minutes a day of recess.
- A bill that eliminates taxes on feminine hygiene products and create three-day tax holidays for back-to-school items and hurricane supplies.
- A bill that frees up distribution of $300 million in damages Florida received from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and distributes it to eight Panhandle counties most affected by the spill.
-A proposal increasing the amount paid to private schools that enroll students in the state’s tax credit scholarship program.
-A measure that guarantees students, their parents and school employees wider rights to publicly pray and express their religious beliefs in public schools
- New criminal offenses for people who support terrorist groups.
- A bill requiring companies to notify the state within a day of learning about a pollution spill and requiring the state to notify the public within a day after that.
LOSERS:
- A bill to implement the medical marijuana constitutional amendment approved by voters last year.
- A proposal to allow more casinos and gambling in Florida.
- A proposed constitutional amendment to limit the terms of judges to 12 years.
- A bill to repeal Florida’s red light camera law.
- A slavery memorial to be built on the Capitol grounds.
- Replacing a statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith that represented Florida in the U.S. Capitol with one of either educator Mary McLeod Bethune or Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who wrote “The Everglades: River of Grass.”
- Bills that would have allowed concealed weapons permit holders to openly carry their handguns, bring their guns to government meetings and carry them at non-secure areas of airports.
- A bill that would have made clear that fantasy sports games are legal and don’t need to be regulated.
- A proposal to ban legislators and elected officials from lobbying state government for six years after leaving office.
- A bill to repeal a requirement that motorists carry a type of auto insurance known as personal injury protection.
- A fix to the state’s workers’ compensation laws to avoid a 14.5 percent rate hike in insurance premiums.
- A ban on fracking, a practice that pumps huge volumes of chemicals, sand and water underground to split open rock formation to allow oil and gas to flow.
- A bill that would have required law enforcement officers to issue civil citations for first-time juvenile offenders who commit certain misdemeanors.
- A bill that would have established stiffer penalties for crimes committed by immigrants in the country illegally.
- A bill that would have made it easier for women to sue doctors who perform abortions on them.
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