UpdatedThu, May 6, 2021 at 3:40 pm ET
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he plans to sign the Transparency in Technology Act into law. (Governor s Office)
FLORIDA When Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the Transparency in Technology Act, Florida will become the first state in the nation to penalize social media companies for banning political candidates.
In one of its final acts before ending the 2021 legislative session April 30, the Florida House voted 77-38 and the Senate 23-17 to approve and forward a bill to DeSantis that would prohibit social media companies such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube from deplatforming, or banning, posts by political candidates.
[co-author: Jessica Griswold]
Senate passes budget
On Friday, the Senate gave final approval to the $7.17 billion FY 2022 budget, H.439. Senate Appropriations Chair Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, called it “as complicated a budget as I’ve ever had to put together in my time in the Senate” due to the flood of federal aid to Vermont for coronavirus relief and an unexpected $211 million revenue surplus.
The bill spends $478.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, while incorporating only a portion of Gov. Scott’s ARPA spending proposal. Kitchel said the governor’s plan did not focus enough on the legislature’s funding priorities, including service delivery structure, court re-opening and higher education needs. Scott had asked the legislature to place all of the ARPA expenditures in a separate bill. Kitchel rejected that request, instead placing all ARPA spending in one designated section of the budget bill.
Weekly Wrap
While the Senate wasn t in session until Tuesday this week,
there were a few hearings held on Monday at the Capitol.
First, the House Education Committee held an informational
meeting with the Department of Education on academic
accountability. Second, the Senate Health and Human Services
Committee held a public hearing on the use of Lyme disease funding
by the Department of Health and Department of Environmental
Protection.
Also, the Performance-Based Budget Board began their multi-day
public hearings to review the Department of Transportation,
Department of Human Services, Department of Military and Veterans
Affairs, and the State Police. In addition, the Board examined the
BATON ROUGE The petrochemical industry has long battled with the river pilots who help steer ships up and down the Mississippi River, mostly over the large fees the pilots charge industrial firms for their services.
Most of the skirmishing has played out in obscure regulatory meetings, with occasional faceoffs in court. Now, for the first time in years, the battle will move to the Louisiana Legislature.
House Bill 650 pushed by the chemical and energy industries and sponsored by Rep. Thomas Pressly, R- Shreveport, would make sweeping changes to the regulatory boards and rules for pilots. It would add industry members to their oversight panel and require the notoriously nepotistic groups to make an annual report of pilots, including a list of how many are related to other pilots or public officials. The bill was scheduled for a committee hearing Monday.
Winners and losers emerging from the 2021 Legislative Session
They all can t be winners. Here is the definitive list of who s up and who took a fall.
The ending of a Session is never a surprise. It’s like harvest season. What you get at the end is the result of months, maybe even years of tilling, planting, watering, tending, and shepherding.
Against the odds and despite many challenges, the 2021 Legislative Session ended on time. The House Speaker and the Senate President were together for the iconic dropping of the hankie. There weren’t any strained smiles or forced compliments. They stood side by side, thanking each other as much as they talked about themselves.