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Proposed toilet paper tax would pay for new sewers
Today is Day 3 of the 60-day session.
By Times staff writers, Associated Press
Published March 10, 2005
A tax on toilet paper? A Florida legislator isn't kidding.
Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, has filed a bill to tax toilet paper at 2 cents a roll. The tax would raise about $30-million a year for new sewer systems.
"It's a funny bill," Lawson admitted. "But it's serious." Lawson says he wants to protect Florida's underground water supply and help small towns pay for sewers.
He has already received a roll of toilet paper from an anonymous jokester who drew a smiley face on the paper.
The Legislature is controlled by Republicans who shun taxes, even when they are called fees, as Lawson does. "Sounds like a pretty crappy bill to me," joked House Speaker Allan Bense.
Underwear measure would enforce modesty
Is your underwear showing?
Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, wants to make it a crime to expose below-the-waist underwear.
Siplin's bill forbids anyone from exposing underwear "in a manner that exposes or exhibits one's covered or uncovered sexual organs." It is apparently aimed at teen fashion.
Violators would face up to 10 days in jail and a fine of $50.
A similar bill was voted down last month in Virginia after it became known as the "droopy drawers bill" and drew dozens of students to Capitol committee rooms.
Virginia lawmakers said the publicity the bill attracted implied they were preoccupied with droopy pants.
-LUCY MORGAN
Man to try again to double property tax exemption
A Vero Beach millionaire said Wednesday he is renewing his campaign to double the homestead exemption.
Jeffrey Saull said his group, Families for Lower Property Taxes, plans to draft a new initiative for the 2006 election that would amend the state Constitution to double Florida's $25,000 homestead exemption to $50,000 to save homeowners as much as $500 in property taxes annually.
The Florida Supreme Court rejected his first initiative last year because it concluded the ballot language was misleading.
Local governments and school districts opposed thes measure because they said it could cost them up to $2-billion in lost revenue.
-JONI JAMES
Mandated insurance plan for cystic fibrosis stalls
The families of cystic fibrosis patients asked for legislation that would require group health plans and health maintenance organizations to cover any needed treatment for the disease.
But their bill (SB 318) stalled Wednesday in a Senate committee. Several legislators said they didn't have enough information about its effect on insurance costs.
The panel heard about the need to help families, many of whom have insurance but with limits on how much home health care it will cover, for example.
"One of the greatest stresses in this disease is fighting with your insurance company to get your benefits," said Brian Levy, who founded the Reach for the Stars Foundation after his daughter was diagnosed with the disease.
Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler, another representative of the group, also urged the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee to give families help.
The insurance industry opposes coverage mandates and said it might cause premiums to go up.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
For information about legislation, call 1-800-342-1827 toll-free or (850) 488-4371 during business hours.
The Legislature's official Web site: www.leg.state.fl.us
Capitol Update, a half-hour TV program on the day's legislative highlights, airs weeknights on public stations.Check TV schedules for times.
[Last modified March 10, 2005, 01:13:09]
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