By Christine Sexton | Senior Reporter
“Our fundamental objection to the proposed rule is the deletion of those four vaccinations.” — Jacksonville healthcare attorney and lobbyist Christopher Nuland
Measles begins with a blotchy red rash that typically appears on the face and then spreads to the body of the person infected. (Photo by Natalya Maisheva/Getty Images)
The DeSantis administration is backing off its push to add “sincerely held” moral or ethical beliefs to the list of reasons why parents could refuse to vaccinate their children and still be allowed to send them to school. The proposed rule still eliminates four vaccines from the mandatory list of shots that children are required to have to enter school. The DOH has scheduled a hearing on the proposed rule changes for Oct. 8 in Lake Mary.
Wednesday was the deadline for Florida law enforcement agencies agencies to remove any Flock-style license plate readers on state-owned land and right-of-ways under a directive from the DeSantis administration, this one in the form of memorandum issued by the Florida Department of Transportation. The decision has received pushback from some law enforcement officials and mayors, who say that there’s nothing wrong with the technology and say it’s rogue police who abuse the technology that are the issue.
COMMENTARY
Florida in 2020 became the third state to take over control of issuing wetland permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Environmental groups successfully sued two years later, alleging the state takeover of the permits was an illegal end-run around the Endangered Species Act. The ruling was upheld on appeal two years later. Looking for a way around the caselaw, developers are now pushing Congress to pass HR 9017, the Restore Florida Water Independence Act. Phoenix columnist Craig Pittman reports that if successful developers can “get back to wiping out wetlands.”
MORE FROM THE PHOENIX
Thanks for reading Today on the Phoenix. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.