Florida Legislature 2005 (click for ongoing coverage)

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Pilot or driver harassment by laser to point to prison

Today is the last day of the 60-day session of the Florida Legislature.

By Times staff writers, Associated Press
Published May 6, 2005

Aiming laser beams at operators of airplanes, automobiles, boats or other transportation would be a felony in Florida under a bill passed Thursday and sent to Gov. Jeb Bush.

The measure was inspired by reports from pilots in other states of lasers being aimed into cockpits, said Senate bill sponsor Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg. Leslie Waters, a Republican from Seminole, was the House sponsor.

Pointing a laser at a vehicle operator would be a third-degree felony, carrying a penalty of as long as five years in prison. It would be a second-degree felony if someone is injured and a first-degree felony if someone is killed.

-ALISA ULFERTS

Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday he would start talks with the Seminole and Miccosukee Indian tribes after the legislative session ends, regardless of whether lawmakers pass legislation to regulate and tax slot machines in Broward County.

"At some point we are obliged whether a bill passes or not because there is a good-faith element required ... or the federales will take over," Bush said, referring to a federal law that requires states to enter into compact negotiations with Indian nations once they allow any form of gambling where players bet against the house.

The tribes requested talks shortly after Florida voters in November approved a state constitutional amendment allowing slot machines at existing parimutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties if local voters agreed.

In March, Broward County voters approved slot machines, and lawmakers have spent the past two months debating how to implement the vote.

The House has pushed to limit the machines to bingo-style machines where players bet against each other. The Senate wants to allow Las Vegas-style machines, which the parimutuel industry and the Indian tribes both want.

Florida's violent sexual predators would get a new 600-bed, privately built facility in De Soto County under a bill the Senate sent Gov. Jeb Bush Thursday.

The state Department of Children and Families has said it needs the new facility to increase security and treatment. It would replace the Florida Civil Commitment Facility, an eight-building complex near Arcadia run by Liberty Behavioral Health Corp. of Pennsylvania.

Seven months ago state officials discovered rampant lawlessness at the facility. A February report by DCF's inspector general said residents drank homemade alcohol and that fights between them were common.

Liberty's contract expires June 30. DCF plans to seek bids for a contract to build a facility with a centralized design. The Senate initially rejected the plan, but agreed Thursday after the House attached a contract oversight bill for DCF pushed by Democrats.

Besides DCF, the plan has been heavily lobbied by Atlantic Shores, a division of the politically influential GEO Group, a Boca Raton-based private prison company. Atlantic Shores has said it will bid for the contract as long as a new facility is included.

Nearly 500 convicted rapists, child molesters and other sexually violent predators are housed at the Arcadia facility under Florida's Jimmy Ryce Act. The law allows Florida to house such offenders indefinitely for treatment.

-JONI JAMES

Lawmakers passed a bill to increase regulation of abortion clinics that perform second-trimester abortions and got ready to pass one to make doctors notify parents when their dependent daughters under 18 seek abortions.

The House voted 97-19 for the clinic bill (HB 1041) a day after the Senate passed it 30-9.

The measure would impose stricter state oversight on clinics that perform second-trimester abortions. It mandates an array of safety and training regulations.

Supporters say it will improve the treatment of abortion patients; opponents say it erodes the constitutional right to abortion.

Also, the Senate voted 36-3 for the parental notice bill (HB 1659) and returned it to the House for concurrence with changes.

Voters next November will face a proposed constitutional amendment that could set up new rules for state budget writing. The Senate gave final approval to the ballot measure Thursday.

The chief feature: a cap, equal to 3 percent of the state's all-purpose general revenue account, on how much one-time money can be spent on continuing needs.

-ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Last modified May 6, 2005, 00:37:10]