Today in Tallahassee: Redistricting, Citizens, prisons, gaming

TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers begin their second week of session today with redistricting action on the Senate floor and House committees vetting everything from sewage bills and homestead exemptions to murder penalties and the federal health-care reform. The spotlight will be on the Senate, which convenes at 10 a.m. to take up congressional and Senate redistricting maps that would create more Hispanic-leaning districts and solidify surrounding Republican-held ones. Democrats will argue the maps don’t comply with the Fair Districts reforms passed by voters in 2010 because they favor the GOP, while Republicans will say they are protecting minority voting-rights. The House, meanwhile, has a host of bills up. The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee this morning will hear HB 115 by Rep. Brad Drake , R-Eucheeanna, that allows certain types of septic tank waste to be disposed of by spreading it over lands. HB 639 by Rep. Dana Young , R-Tampa, prohibits water management districts from permitting the use of “re-claimed” water by utilities — meaning, it effectively privatizes what has been traditionally considered a public resource under Florida law. The House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee is slated to workshop a gaming regulatory bill (HB 3) sponsored by Rep. Scott Plakon , R-Longwood, that would classify electronic “sweepstakes” games as regular casino games, prohibit non-profits from offering game promotions,

and other regulatory changes meant tyo crack down on so-called Internet casino operations. The House Banking and Insurance Committee is slated to workshop two bills (HB 833 and HB 1127) at 3:30 p.m. shrinking the size of the state’s hurricane catastrophe fund and state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. The Justice Appropriations Subcommittee hears a bill (HB 437) by Rep. Eric Eisnaugle , R-Orlando, that makes people convicted of a second or subsequent act of “video voyeurism” to register as a sex offender. The committee will also hear HB 429 by Rep. Matt Hudson , R-Naples, that clarifies that “robbery by sudden snatching” can include stealing property from someone when it is near them — like next to them on a park bench — and not just “on them.” A Florida appeals court recently threw out a case where a purse had been snatched from a victim because the purse was on a park bench next to them. The panel will also get updates on last year’s failed efforts to privatize South Florida prisons and health-care services throughout the corrections system. The Senate on Wednesday plans to take up a new attempt to privatize the prisons that complies with a recent court ruling tossing out the last try.

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Today in Tallahassee: Redistricting, Citizens, prisons, gaming

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