The second committee in the Florida House — the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee — will be hearing the anti-Democratic/anti-free speech HB 1 Combating Public Disorder bill today March 3 at 4:15 pm ET. We sent an Action Alert prior to the first House hearing in January, but we need you to mobilize again and let the Representatives on this next committee know…
By Karen Fisk, Charlotte Dems legislation tracker The 2021 Florida Legislative Session started March 1st. Several bills will be heard this week. You are requested to contact by phone or email the senators who chair the committees where the following bills originate. Your letters and phone calls are a very effective way to urge legislators…
Opinion by Lizette Alvarez, Washington Post contributing columnist, March 2, 2021 Something remarkable happened in Florida this past Election Day: A state long lampooned for its ballot bumbling simply added up its votes and secured a winner, Donald Trump, not long after the polls closed. The election efficiency felt like a miracle. “Florida is a model for the rest…
Editor’s note: Charlotte Dems helped blow the whistle on this latest version of DeSantis political favoritism after he scheduled a pop up clinic at Kings Gate, a gated community and Republican stronghold in Port Charlotte. By Zac Anderson, Sarasota Herald-Tribune The Palmer Ranch community in Sarasota County encompasses 9,000 acres in the developed portion west…
By Laurie Ulrop, DWC Legislative Liaison HB 241 is on the Tuesday, March 2nd agenda for the FL House Health & Human Services Committee. This bill needs a NO vote! This bill forces school teachers and counselors to “out” students, putting LGBTQ students is harm’s way. It makes accessing healthcare or counseling more difficult for LGBTQ youth. This…
By Elitsa Bizios | Vanessa Borge HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) – Local immigration advocates sounded off on a reported decision by the Biden administration to consider reopening a detention center in Homestead as a temporary shelter for undocumented children. Speakers at a press conference held outside Homestead City Hall on Thursday expressed disbelief and disappointment after reports surfaced…
By Laurie Ulrop, DWC Legislative Liaison and Charlotte Dems contributor This bill could make a huge difference for about 3000 women inmates at Lowell Correctional Institution. The crimes against women taking place in the facility has been taking place for decades. The facility has been aware of these crimes since 2006. It’s time for a change and accountability! …
By Anna Bryson, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer, Feb 23, 2021 Charlotte County Commissioners want to get COVID-19 vaccines to underserved communities particularly following outrage after Gov. Ron DeSantis gave 3,000 coveted COVID-19 vaccine doses to select groups including the high-end Kings Gate community. “As we see these pop up sites at Kings Gate and these…
By Carl Hiaasen, Miami Herald columnist. Readers may write to him at: The Miami Herald, 3511 NW 91st Ave., Miami, FL 33172. One of many historic footnotes to the tense November election was that Florida didn’t screw everything up for the rest of the country. For once, the ballot-counting here was mostly uneventful, uncontroversial and…
By Betsy Calvert, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer, Feb 23, 2021 State Rep. Michael Grant Tuesday announced changes to his proposed election law that would provide protections for airport commissioners who opposed him in airport privatization. The Charlotte County Republican also said in a Zoom call Tuesday with his fellow legislators, that he will no longer…
Editor’s Note: Read an excellent OpEd on this topic by Carl Hiaasen, Miami Herald columnist, here. On February 19th, Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson had issued the following joint statement on Governor DeSantis’ election integrity proposal: “We join the Governor in his efforts to continue to make Florida the national…
Editor’s note: Between Sunday and Monday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 8,002 (0.5 percent), to 1,579,281; active hospitalizations went up by 29 (nearly 0.4 percent), to 7,448; deaths rose by 137 (nearly 0.6 percent), to 24,274. In Charlotte County, we have had 9,023 cases and 270 deaths attributed to coronavirus. You can…
Editor’s note: Charlotte County’s distribution effort has been stymied by a surging demand from its 65+ population and limited supply. When vaccine is available, residents quickly overwhelm this registration site. By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press, Jan 14, 2021 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s director of emergency management said Thursday that a statewide…
By DANIEL SUTPHIN, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer, Jan 13, 2021 ARCADIA — “Water is life, water is life,” Vicki Steiner pleaded to DeSoto County Commissioners Wednesday during a workshop in Arcadia on water quality and phosphate mining company Mosaic. Steiner, of DeSoto County, was one of a handful of Southwest Florida residents speaking out against…
By Betsy Calvert, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer, Dec 10, 2020 Dozens of ordinary citizens and high-ranking officials made their pitches Thursday to Charlotte County’s three-member legislative delegation, who also represent seven other counties from Polk to a piece of Lee County. Hearing the presentations, and cutting them off if they ran too long, were Rep.…
By Betsy Calvert, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer, Nov 29, 2020 This aerial view of the planned community called West Port under development shows State Road 776/El Jobean Road at the bottom and U.S. 41 at the top. The Charlotte County Centennial Park is the green in the middle. The first model homes may go in…
By RYAN GILLESPIE and STEPHEN HUDAK, published in the ORLANDO SENTINEL, Nov 20, 2020 Across the country, states and counties are ordering residents to hunker down or wear masks as governors brace for another surge of coronavirus cases. But in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has prohibited nearly all shutdown actions that local counties were able to take early…
By Betsy Calvert, Charlotte Sun staff writer, published Nov 22, 2020 Charlotte County commissioners may agree that impact fees on new construction should go up, but they disagree on how much. Commissioners may consider raising assessments next year County staff told the board at a workshop Tuesday that they could have something for the board to…
By Sue Busko, as published in Medium, Oct. 25, 2020 Co-conspirators in the War on Boomers I admit I grew bored with all the declarations of war over the last five decades. There was the War on Poverty (a nice idea, but have you noticed the lines at the food banks?) Then there was the…
President Trump’s loud and repeated claims about lowering drug prices and taking on Big Pharma are helping him in some polls, but his policies aren’t helping patients who need affordable medicines. It’s time to set the record straight. Trump Claim: Thanks to me, insulin is now “as cheap as water.” Insulin is definitely not cheap…