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The Buzz: House approves adoption bill on bipartisan vote

 
Published March 12, 2015

In a show of bipartisanship — although perhaps not unity — the Florida House on Wednesday approved a bill that leaders say is aimed at increasing adoptions in the state through incentives to community-based care agencies and state employees who adopt.

"At the end of the day, a bill passed that will help a lot of kids in this state, I think to the tune of over 600 kids that will find potential homes," House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said after the vote. "I think the more we can do to move the ball down the field on that issue, the better off we are."

HB 7013, which passed 68-50, gains additional notoriety for an amendment approved Tuesday that allows same-sex couples to adopt, a practice long banned by state statute but permitted after a 2010 court ruling.

The bill has drawn ire from such groups as the Florida Family Policy Council, which urged supporters Tuesday night to call their representatives and request they vote down the bill as a result of it striking same-sex adoption language.

But Tiffany Faykus, executive director of the Heart Gallery of Pinellas and Pasco, said that if the bill passes the Senate, it will help children find homes while saving money for taxpayers who spend about $300,000 for each child who ages out of foster care.

"If you have a child who ages out of foster care, they often become homeless or on drugs or in prison," she said. "If you get them out of foster care, they have a second chance."

Student bill moves

Palm Beach County students got a lesson in Florida government Wednesday when a bill they proposed to their local lawmakers made it through its first committees in the House and Senate.

HB 671/SB 548, which would make it illegal to smoke a cigarette while driving with a child younger than 13 in the car, is the brainchild of Natalie Chavez, Ruben Garcia, Deili Gomez and Zindi Rios of Palm Beach Lakes Community High School.

Change on lights

Despite opposition from local governments, a House panel on Wednesday approved a plan by a 12-1 vote that would revamp the state's red-light camera law. The plan, PCB HWSS 15-05, would bar the use of cameras to cite drivers for improperly turning right on red. Also, it would require that local governments use money from red-light camera violations to bolster public safety, rather than other priorities.

Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.