Remember how in the last article I said this was a lameduck session?

Well, so far it’s been the lamest of the lameducks.

There are 10 days left in the session. There has been no call for an extension of session that I’m aware of. In those 10 days, the Senate is only scheduled to meet 6 more times.

It’s certainly possible that they get through and vote on all 53 bills. Possible, but I’m not sure that it’s likely. Double so since the bills on second read would still need to go through the House if they get a favorable vote in the Senate.

With that said, what bills from our first article managed to make it past second reading?

Bills in House Messages

First up is SB 54, which was the bill that sought to have medical examiners run a toxicology report for “psychotropic drugs” – drugs like SSRIs, SNRIs, and mood stabilizers – that may be present in deceased violent gun offenders. This information would then be passed off to both law enforcement and the public. In addition, it would provide training to school safety groups on the ways in which these medications can cause people to “suddenly become violent without provocation.”

I wont reiterate my disdain for this bill and its language. You can read about that in the first article. The bill has had two committee substitutes since we last mentioned it.

The first removes the creation of a new section to the FL Statutes and instead adds a new subsection to 456.057(8) that authorizes release of the medical records and toxicology report to local law enforcement, providing that law enforcement asks for those records. It also completely removes the forced public disclosure.

The second substitute largely just removes the need for law enforcement to request the toxicology records.

A companion bill started in the house – HB 1519 – has been stalled in committee since January. That said, this bill has had strong bipartisan support, with the exception of one Democrat senator. Senator Smith from District 17 has been the consistent lone voice of opposition to this bill. It’s not a lot of voices, but I’m glad to see at least one person recognizes how unnecessary and stigmatizing this bill is.

The second bill that has made it into the Houses messages is SB 48. This was the bill that would have given Floridian renters the ability to have a reusable tenant application that they could use when rental hunting. That language was quickly stripped out in favor of the rest of the bill which would allow homeowners to build accessory dwelling spaces/tiny homes on their property “by right.”

Since then, there’s been one other substitute added. New language allows for local governments to not adopt an ordinance where the state has limited the number of new dwellings within that jurisdiction, but they may adopt an ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units in any single-family residential zones. Basically, it means that if the state has limited the number of new dwellings that can be built within a locality, the local government can choose to ignore the state restriction by adopting an ordinance that allows for accessory dwellings to be built in single-family residential zones.

It’s legalese at its finest.

At any rate, the bill has had sweeping bipartisan support. Not a single no vote has been recorded. If any of the bills have the ability to get through before the end, I would bet on this one.

Lastly, we have SB 420. No, it isn’t a marijuana related bill, though I wish it was. This is the bill that would force schools to add both the state motto – “In God We Trust” — and pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to their buildings.

There has been on committee substitute since we last visited it. Instead of requiring the portraits to be hung in each social studies and K through 5^th grade classroom, it only requires that the school display these images in a “conspicuous place.” That’s it.

Once again, this has had largely bipartisan support. The only senators who have consistently voted against it are Senators Davis and Jones. I’m unsure if it will have the same support in the House, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it passed, given this is low-hanging fruit for a lameduck session that has done little more than add a few days of recognition to the calendar.

That’s it for the bills we were looking at that have a chance to pass. Almost everything else has either not moved or are stuck in committee somewhere.

It also isn’t the end of session…yet. As mentioned above, there’s still a little less than a week left in session and there are still some pretty heinous things that have managed to make it this far. Particularly two bills that seek to designated domestic and foreign terrorists groups within Florida, which to no ones surprise is being voted on along party lines.

We’ll come back and visit the bills that do get passed once session is over. For now, stay safe and sane!