Warren appeals DeSantis removal
A Federal court has agreed to fast-track former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren’s appeal to be reinstated to office following his removal by Governor Ron DeSantis. According to a new order from the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Warren will face the governor’s legal team in court in May. In his request for the expedited process, Warren said “the public needs resolution at the earliest possible opportunity of whether the governor illegally removed the duly elected prosecutor in the state’s third most populous city.” Warren was suspended and ultimately fired by DeSantis after he signed a pledge stating he would not enforce the state’s 15-week abortion law or prosecute providers of gender transition treatment for young people.
Gender bill mandates in Florida
Florida lawmakers have filed legislation that would ban transgender residents from changing the sex listed on their birth certificate. House Bill 1421, sponsored by republican representatives Randy Fine, Ralph Massullo and Berny Jacques would also prohibit state agencies and public postsecondary institutions from paying for or reimbursing gender reassignment treatments. If passed, the bill would also mandate that gender clinical interventions could only be provided by certain licensed physicians – and never for a patient who is a minor.
Another proposed bill in the Florida Senate would allow for a state court to take custody of a child if it rules that a parent has “subjected” the child to sex-reassignment treatments. The bill comes after a number of top-down statewide determinations regarding sex reassignment care. A portion of the bill extends the lingual definition of “serious physical harm” to include a parent’s support of sex reassignment care. The bill, currently labeled SB 254 is the companion bill to HB 1421.
Urban and wildlife development
There is some good news coming out of Tallahassee….State senators passed measures Wednesday aimed at spurring more affordable housing for workers and boosting a trail network and wildlife corridor. Senators unanimously approved what has been dubbed the “Live Local Act” (SB 102), which includes providing incentives for investment in affordable housing and seeking more mixed-use developments in struggling commercial areas. Senators also unanimously passed Senate Bill 106 (SB 106) designed to help link a statewide hiking and biking trail network to a wildlife corridor planned to stretch from the Florida Keys to the Panhandle.
Electrical rate hikes
The Florida Public Service Commission has approved rate hikes for three Florida power companies beginning in April. Duke Energy customers will pay just under 4% more, TECO customers will be paying about 10 percent more and Florida Power and Light customers will see an 11% increase. The utilities say the rate hikes are needed to cover higher fuel costs and hurricane recovery costs.
Coastal drilling legislation
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan and Kathy Castor have reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would make the current drilling moratorium off the coasts of Florida permanent. The “Florida Coastal Protection Act” would permanently ban oil and gas drilling approximately 235 miles off Florida’s Gulf Coast, 275 miles off Florida’s Atlantic Coast and in the Straits of Florida. Buchanan said the state cannot afford another spill like the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil explosion in 2010.
Red tide in Tampa Bay
Red tide continues to cause problems at Tampa Bay beaches as it creeps up the west coast of Florida. There are high concentrations of karenia brevis, the organism that causes red tide, as far north as the Dunedin Causeway. In Pinellas County, the toxic blooms have prompted the cancellation the popular Indian Rocks BeachFest and officials in Manatee County – where they’ve been dealing with Red Tide since November – say they’ve collected about 7,000 pounds of fish from the beaches and waterways in the last month alone.
