While it was kind of anti-climatic and politically defused, nearly 200 legislative bills became Sunshine State law recently after Gov. Rick Scott had signed off.
For the record, nothing headline-grabbing had changed since the legislative session. But now it’s official, starting with the state’s budget–balanced out at $74.1 billion.
So, no, there was no under-the-radar compromise you missed on Medicaid–no matter what the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida, the health care industry, the Florida Senate and a majority of voters thought. Where there’s a will, there’s a Won’t Weatherford. Nor was the ban on texting while driving upgraded from a secondary offense or accelerated (effective Oct. 1) in implementation. And assault weapons are still good to go, “stand your ground” is still standing and owed internet-sales taxes are still uncollected. This is still Florida.
But among the new laws are three that are sobering societal commentary about our times, our values and, of course, our politics. It speaks volumes that a society actually needs to codify such things.
* First, it is now decreed that when a child is conceived during a sexual assault, there will be no paternal rights for the rapist. Obviously, that needed to be stipulated.
* Second, health providers will be required to provide emergency medical care to an infant who survives a failed abortion. Health care professionals must “humanely exercise the same degree of professional skill, care and diligence to preserve the life and health of the infant” as would be the case in a natural birth. Obviously, the Hippocratic Oath wasn’t enough.
* Third, Florida has made it more difficult for the mentally ill to buy firearms. Previously, Florida law prohibited those committed involuntarily under the Baker Act, which applies to people deemed a danger to themselves or others, from buying a gun. Now this prohibition also applies to those who voluntarily seek mental health treatment after being examined under Florida’s Baker Act statutes. Hovering over the new law was a certain quintessentially rhetorical question: Why, even in pistol-packing, Second Amendment-absolutist Florida, would you not keep all Baker Acters away from guns? Obviously, it needed affirming, even in the better-never-than-late state.