Issues of Interest

Congressional U.S. Representative Corrine Brown continues her efforts to maintain her current district.  Brown re-filed a federal lawsuit seeking relief from the changes made to District 5.  Rather than a north-south configuration, the new court-approved district runs east-west.  Brown contends the new district violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Florida Senate Circuit Judge George Reynolds approved a Senate redistricting map on December 30th.  The judge selected a map prepared by the League of Women Voters and Common Cause thereby rejecting the legislatively drawn map.  Senate leaders have not yet decided as to whether they will appeal the decision.

PILL MILL SHUTDOWN SUCCESS Since the crackdown on pill mills statewide in 2011, Attorney General Pam Bondi says that overall prescription drug deaths have fallen by 6.37%. There has been pushback from citizens about lack of access to legitimate prescriptions for pain medication. A north Florida senator filed legislation to address those concerns.

DESIGNER DRUG BILL Attorney General Bondi is proposing the passage of the 2016 Designer Drugs Enforcement Act which would ban synthetic cathinones, synthetic opioids and synthetic cannabinoids and potentially could outlaw hundreds, perhaps as many as one thousand, different chemical compounds.

UNIVERSITY DONATIONS The University of Central Florida received two $1.5 million gifts in the past month. CFE Federal Credit Union and the Orlando Magic have pledged the donations for the University’s new downtown campus. UCF is hoping to raise $20 million for the campus, which they plan to open in the fall of 2018. Meanwhile, Florida State University received their largest donation in its history – a staggering $100 million from the Jan and Jim Moran Foundation. The money will fund a school of entrepreneurship. Currently, the Jim Moran Institute is housed in the FSU School of Business.

I-4 CONSTRUCTION APP Motorists need information to help them navigate the construction on Interstate 4 throughout Central Florida. An updated version of an app has been released to help drivers receive alerts in whatever format or frequency best suits them. You may get the app here.