Les Neuhaus, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Les NeuhausMarch 21, 2017

A bill approved by a Florida House committee Tuesday would increase penalties for Floridians receiving food stamps and cash aid that have not met obligations to find work. HB 23 would return those penalties to levels before the 2008 Great Recession. Cape Coral Republican Rep. Dane Eagle, who introduced the same measure in the 2016 […]

Les NeuhausMarch 20, 2017

Three bills dealing with issues of child support, sexual exploitation of minors and the controversial Baker Act were passed favorably by the House Children, Families and Seniors Subcommittee Monday. Rep. Kimberly Daniels introduced HB 313, while Rep. Jeanette Nuñez put forth her legislation on child trafficking in HB 1383 and Rep. David Silvers added his […]

Les NeuhausMarch 20, 2017

A Florida House committee unanimously advanced a first-of-its-kind bill Monday to allow alternative treatments for veterans diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). Treatments to be considered include music, art, horses, dogs, acupuncture, yoga and more. HB 55, sponsored by both Rep. Daniel Burgess and Rep. Frank White, looks to expand […]

Les NeuhausMarch 20, 2017

Roughly 34 years after the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS, Florida’s lawmakers are considering legislation whose maximum sentence would be death to knowingly spread the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, to a sexual partner without their knowledge, according to a committee that voted favorably Monday in regard to the measure. The bill, HB […]

Les NeuhausMarch 18, 2017

It looked suspiciously like a drug deal at a gas station. A woman got out of the passenger seat of a parked car when another pulled up next to the car she was in. A plastic baggie exchanged hands, according to a Boca Raton Police report. When the female suspect got back into her car […]

Les NeuhausMarch 17, 2017

Florida lawmakers are looking to shut down a charitable program funded for decades by state employees. A bill to end the Florida State Employees’ Charitable Campaign comes after a yearslong slump due partly to a drop in participation and controversy surrounding its management, according to a new bill proposed by a House lawmaker and unanimously favored […]

Les NeuhausMarch 17, 2017

The mother of a teen who committed suicide was in her car when she began receiving a trickle of text messages, Then a barrage of texts began streaming in. “Where’s your daughter,” one read. “Please please please check on your daughter,” read another. Gina Alexis, the mother of Naika Venant, the 14-year-old girl who hung […]

Les NeuhausMarch 16, 2017

More than three-quarters of Florida’s corrections officers have less than two years’ experience. In some state prisons, a single CO will be left alone to supervise 150-200 inmates in a jail block. Contraband has become so bad, one random search of (just half) a Dade facility turned up $15,000 in street value of cocaine, seven knives, […]

Les NeuhausMarch 16, 2017

In the decades before tablets and standardized testing wormed their way into primary and secondary schools, school playgrounds were a familiar place for children and adolescents. Up to an hour a day was spent running around, throwing balls to, or at, one another. But with all the technology and pressure to make the academic cut, […]

Les NeuhausMarch 16, 2017

Florida lawmakers advanced two key pieces of legislation through the House Thursday, including one to lengthen the period before elected officials could begin lobbying after their time in office. The other bill would make state attorneys and public defenders in each judicial district eligible for impeachment under the governor’s power. In an overwhelming vote, the […]

Les Neuhaus
Crowds gather to see Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (Gabrielle Russon)

Some lawmakers worry children will suffer under new Florida work-for-welfare bill

House bills move ahead on loss of driver’s licenses, human trafficking, Baker Act

House bill advances to allow alternative treatments for Florida veterans suffering brain injuries, PTSD

Legislation advanced making knowingly spreading HIV through sex without partner’s knowledge a capital crime

During traffic stop, Florida woman tossed needles into backseat near toddler

House seeks to end controversial state employee charity program

Records released by DCF portray different picture of mother in teen’s Facebook Live suicide

Florida prison chief: State losing corrections staff to ‘Wal-Mart,’ creating insecurity in system

School recess, in disarray statewide, to become uniform under Senate bill

House committee advances lobbying ban; impeachment power for attorneys, public defenders