Miami Herald: Only in Miami-Dade do voters have the power to lower FPL bills. But will they?
Sometime during the next two years, Miami-Dade leaders need to ask voters to renew a fee that adds about 3 percent to hundreds of thousands of electric bills across the county and delivers about $26 million a year to the government.
Florida Power & Light collects a “franchise fee” for cities and counties across the state, and the for-profit utility turns over the money to local governments as a pass-through tax. The money generally goes into the general coffers of local governments, paying for police, parks and other core services. While all of FPL’s other franchise agreements in Florida can be approved by city councils and county commissions, Miami-Dade’s charter contains a unique rule: Voters must approve the agreement by referendum.
The last time that happened was in 1990, and Miami-Dade voters overwhelmingly endorsed keeping the extra fee on electric bills. That 30-year agreement comes up for renewal during heightened public concern over climate change and scrutiny over FPL’s efforts to have customers pay for fracking outside of Florida and impose solar-energy limits in the state.
Sun Sentinel: Lower speed limits coming to some Florida roads
Get your foot off the gas: Florida is thinking about reducing speed limits from an average of 45 mph to 25 mph in some areas.
It’s part of an ambitious plan to make the state’s roads and highways safer for people on foot and bicycles.
Which roads will get slower? It’s too soon to say. The Florida Department of Transportation is considering a number of measures that could show up over several years.
They are part of the “Complete Streets” initiative adopted by FDOT in 2014 and tailored by individual counties, cities and towns.
Other plans include narrowing streets, improving transit connections and adding dedicated bicycle lanes, traffic circles, wider sidewalks and obstacles to deter jaywalking.
Bay News 9: Florida’s medical marijuana registry adds 10,000 patients
More than 10,000 people have joined Florida’s Medical Marijuana Registry in the last month and a half, a period that saw a medical marijuana expansion law passed, signed by Gov. Scott and implemented by the Florida Dept. of Health.
In the latest update by the Office of Medical Marijuana Use on July 27, the patient count for the drug was 26,968.
That’s up over 10,000 from the update on June 7, when the office reported 16,760 patients. June 7 is the day the Florida Legislature convened a special session, which included a bill to expand medical marijuana in Florida.
The June 7 report was also the first time the state made public the number of people registered for medical marijuana use.
The number of patients is important. There are currently seven medical marijuana treatment centers in the state, with a few more to be licensed in the next few months. When the registry hits 100,000 patients, the state will license up to 4 additional MMTCs, with four more allowed every time the state adds another 100,000 patients.
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