New Bills To Focus on Hurricane Issues

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, lawmakers are stepping up with measures that are intended to square away issues and vulnerabilities exposed by the storm.

State Representative Tracie Davis of Jacksonville, for example, has filed a bill that says you can't be fired for evacuating when the governor declares a state of emergency.

"No one, especially an hourly worker doing all they can to pay bills, should be worried about their job security because they make the smart choice to listen to their elected officials and evacuate," she said.

That's just one of the bills on a long wish list compiled by Democrats in the state legislature. 

They also want tougher regulation of nursing homes.

Senator Gary Farmer of Parkland says the 14 deaths at the Rehabilitation Center of Hollywood Hills demonstrate the need for better regulation.

"They did nothing, and they literally allowed 14 patients to basically bake to death," he said. "Because of their malfeasance, because of their lack of preparation, and because of gaping holes in our regulatory and compliance systems."

Farmer says it's easy to blame the nursing home, but he adds that the legislature spent the past 20 years emasculating the rules and regulations that are supposed to protect the people in those homes.


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