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Florida Matters Preview: 2014 Legislative Session

State lawmakers ended this year's 60-day legislative session by passing a record $77.1 billion budget, along with laws that deal with everything from immigrant tuition to medical marijuana.

We take a look at what lawmakers did and did not do on Florida Matters tonight at 6:30 p.m. on WUSF 89.7 FM. 

Our panel includes state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, state Rep. Mark Danish, D-Tampa, and senior political reporter William March of The Tampa Tribune.

Guns are among the many topics the panel discussed. The so-called "warning shot" bill allows someone who feels threatened to fire a warning shot to scare away a would-be attacker and not risk going to prison. It would also wipe the record clean of anyone tried and acquitted of a "stand-your-ground" offense. Danish said lawmakers could have done more regarding "stand-your-ground."

"That was our one, so to speak, shot at it that we were going to get, so we took advantage of that one for the most part, but a lot of people feel it didn't go far enough," Danish said. 

A bill that would have allowed legal gun owners to carry concealed weapons even if they did not have a permit was pulled by its sponsor after Latvala added an amendment that would have put limits on how long a person could carry the firearm. 

"When it was filed, it only applied to an evacuation in a hurricane situation.," Latvala said. "It got changed in the process to also apply to a civil emergency, which is basically a riot."

Lawmakers also passed the so-called "Pop Tart" bill, which addresses school's zero-tolerance policies when it comes to punishing kids who simulate weapons. 

Lottie Watts was our Florida Matters producer from 2012 to 2016. She also covers health and health policy for WUSF's Health News Florida .
Carson Cooper served as host of WUSF’s "Morning Edition" for 18 years. He took the job in 2000, after working in Tampa Bay radio for decades. He was a fan favorite of our listeners, bringing his friendly and familiar voice to listeners as they started their weekday mornings.
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