By Times Staff and Wire Reports
Published March 3, 2004
Byrd narrows scope of amendment
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd said a proposed constitutional amendment giving parents the right to know when a daughter younger than 18 is seeking an abortion will be taken up by the full House this week.
The House is considering a broader amendment guaranteeing more general parental rights, but Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, has said that body would only push for a narrower measure aimed specifically at abortions.
Byrd, R-Plant City, said the broader measure will be put on hold for now in the interest of moving ahead with something that has a chance of passage. "What we want to do is do the doable," he said.
If approved by the Legislature, the amendment still needs voter approval.
Rep. Baker returns, honors Guard
A tribute to state residents serving overseas in the military and welcoming those who have returned home was part of the Legislature's opening session Tuesday.
Members of the House warmly received one of their own, Rep. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, who served in Iraq with the Florida National Guard as a first sergeant.
While other National Guard returnees listened from the gallery, Baker paid tribute to the four Florida National Guardsmen who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan - Cpl. John Travis Rivero, Spc. Robert Allen Wise, Spc. Jeffrey Wersho and Special Forces doctor Roy Alvin Wood.
"They did not die in vain. They are the reason we are here today," said Baker, who presented American flags to House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and Gov. Jeb Bush and also gave Bush an Iraqi battle flag captured by Florida Guardsmen.
Class size issue getting a rest
The likelihood of seeking a repeal of the class size amendment appeared dim when Gov. Jeb Bush failed to mention the measure in his State of the State address.
"There's very little I can do," said Bush, who campaigned fruitlessly against the ballot initiative in 2002, saying it would force tax hikes and divert money from other programs and teacher pay.
The constitutional provision orders the state to give school districts enough money to lower class sizes in all grades. There's been frequent talk in recent months about either asking voters to repeal the measure or limit its scope to early grades.
But it seemed like anything but a hotly contested issue Tuesday.
"Class size drives all the wrong people back to the polls," said Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon. "That's my guess."
A recent poll suggested the majority of Floridians support keeping the reduction project in the state Constitution.
Keeping closer eye on probationers
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee is scheduled to take up a bill today that would require judges to order electronic monitoring of certain sex offenders who are on probation.
The bill (SB 2018) requires that the monitoring system also allow officials to match data about where the probationer is with other data on where crimes are committed.
Lawmakers have heightened interest in the laws affecting probationers because of the abduction and killing of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia of Sarasota, which was a national news story last month. Joseph P. Smith, who was on the street despite having violated terms of his probation at least twice, has been indicted in her kidnapping, rape and murder.
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