Brendan Farrington
Florida legislators filed more than 1,700 bills for consideration during their two-month Session that ends in May. Some are routine, some deal with high-profile issues such as abortion and guns, and some are just odd. Here’s a look at a few that fall into the last category:
UNDERWEAR, OVERWEAR
It would be illegal for stores to let customers try on intimate apparel unless they do so over their clothes or with a protective shield. The bill describes intimate apparel as “lower undergarments, including lingerie and swimsuit bottoms.”
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SHAKING UP SHACKING UP
An 1868 law bans shacking up, and a new bill would repeal the outdated restriction. The law allows for a punishment of a $500 fine and 60 days in jail when an unmarried man and woman live together and have sex — but it is no longer enforced.
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SLUNGSHOTS? SURE
A slungshot is a maritime tool — essentially a rope with a weight that’s wrapped in a knot called a monkey fist. Its intended purpose is to help sailors toss lines, but they were outlawed after they became a popular weapon among 19th-century street gangs. The bill would legalize the tool, which is popular with survivalists.
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ANOTHER HOLIDAY
The second Monday in October would become Sir Lancelot Jones Day. Jones was born on the bottom of a small boat off the coast of Miami in 1898. He lived on Porgy Key in Biscayne Bay and was a key lime farmer and fishing guide to several presidents. He is credited with leading the movement to create Biscayne National Park.
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LONG-DISTANCE FRIENDSHIP
A resolution would encourage “the creation of a Turkish-Floridian Friendship Task Force to further the long-standing relationship between this state and the Republic of Turkey, build upon time-honored friendships, and promote the cultural, educational, academic, political, and economic ties between these two great states.”
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TOILET TIME
Retail stores or employees could be fined $50 if they don’t let customers with irritable bowel syndrome and similar diseases use employee bathrooms that otherwise aren’t for public use. The customers would have to present a note from a doctor when asking to use the bathroom.
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APRIL FLOWERS
A resolution would designate April 2015 for honoring landscape architecture because, in part, “it significantly enriches the quality of life enjoyed by Floridians and visitors to this great state by artfully creating safe, functional, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing public and private places.”
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SEAT-BELT EXEMPTION
The bill would exempt rural letter carriers from the state’s mandatory seat-belt law. An analysis of the bill doesn’t address how many letter carriers have been ticketed under current law.
Reprinted with permission of The Associated Press.
