>>This week on NewsNight potential changes to Florida's condo market as lawmakers prepare to discuss a new bill born out of the 2021 Surfside collapse.

Plus, what's next for BrightLine's Tampa extension after missing out on a new tranche of federal money.

NewsNight starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mort and welcome to NewsNight where we take a look at the top stories and issues in central Florida and how they affect all of us.

First tonight, the 2024 legislative session got underway in Tallahassee this week.

Governor DeSantis delivered his state of the state on Tuesday.

>>We have chosen facts over fear.

We have chosen education over indoctrination.

We have chosen law and order over rioting and disorder.

We have chosen fiscal responsibility over debt and profligacy.

Our choices have produced results that are second to none in this country.

>>Well, we'll be spending some time over the coming weeks examining what lawmakers are debating and passing in the session.

We'll start this evening with regulations designed to make condos in Florida safer and the boards and associations that run them more transparent and accountable.

Since the Champlain Towers collapse in 2021, Florida lawmakers have passed several changes, including a mandate for more structural inspections and additional state authority to investigate wrongdoing by condo associations.

98 people died after the 12 story Surfside condo tower partially collapsed.

Now lawmakers are debating a raft of new bills filed for the current legislative session.

And Krystel Knowles has been covering the issue.

Krystel.

>>Thanks Steve.

In December, House Bill 1021 was filed and currently it's sitting in committee.

I spoke with Florida politics reporter Jesse Scheckner about the bill.

He says it's an expansion of condo safety and oversight.

>>It'll create more transparency with greater transparency, greater accountability.

It'll both keep those condo boards much more answerable to the to the people whom they're serving.

But also, you make better decisions typically when you have more and better information.

So that's all part of it as well.

Regular inspections are a big part of it.

Reserves to make those necessary repairs is certainly a big part of it.

For the last several legislative sessions in the aftermath of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse, lawmakers have been really trying to shore up safety issues, accountability issues, particularly when it comes to condo boards who are responsible for steering the funds that maintain the building.

It also crucially empowers the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Condo Ombudsman's office within that to really hold these people accountable.

>>Jesse Scheckner there.

I also caught up with South Florida attorney Robert Pelier who says HB 1021 is a financial burden for people on a fixed income because it would require a structural integrity study every ten years.

He also says this is creating a feeding frenzy for developers.

>>Anything that exceeds your budgetary considerations for upkeep and maintenance of your condominium are unsettled when when you receive notices of an emergency assessment or a special assessment or what have you.

So that's causing some heartburn in the community.

And then that, I guess, bleeds into what would be very desirable real estate and developers that are exploiting or taking advantage of those financial conditions and the market conditions to be able to try to either buy or perhaps more emphatically create conditions that cause people to sell their units at lower than what would be the fair market value or what would otherwise be the value based on the location.

And I'll be honest with you, I thought that after those Champlain Towers tragedy that the state legislature and the legislators would have more sensitivity or sensibility to the condominium dwellers and it seems like they been less than responsive or sensitive to that dynamic.

>>Robert Pelier.

Well, let's bring in our panel now to break it all down.

Joining us in the studio this week, Curtis McCloud from Spectrum News 13.

Thanks so much for being here, Curtis.

Really appreciate it.

Alexa Lorenzo from WFTV Channel 9 morning host over there.

Thanks for coming in.

Alexa, good to see you.

And Talia Blake, morning host as well, over at 90.7 WMFE News.

Thanks for being here as well Talia.

Talia let me start with you on this one and the reforms so far since the Champlain Towers collapse.

I mean, tell us about some of the changes we've seen to date before we get to the new legislation in terms of sort of insurance supervision and oversight, that kind of thing.

>>Yeah.

So we saw a lot of changes, especially to inspections.

So any condo that's over three stories needs to be inspected 30 years after and then regularly after that.

The inspection process before was kind of wonky and kind of all over the place.

So that was one of the first things that kind of came about was the inspection.

And then there was also changes to flood coverage because some people were arguing, you know, if I'm on the fourth, fifth, 10th floor, why do I need flood insurance?

So now if the building has flood insurance, the person in that unit is also covered as well.

>>That insurance will suffice.

>>That insurance will suffice.

So we saw a lot of changes there and also changes with how insurers are telling people about their insurance.

So they have to like, verify the policy.

Otherwise, if a person makes, say, a wind claim in the future, they can't deny it, saying, well, you didn't have that.

They have to make sure that they're verifying it.

>>All part of the ongoing insurance puzzle that we have in this state.

I mean, Curtis, what more do proponents of condo management reform say needs to be done and sort of what's proposed for this site?

>>So for them and so it's all about trying to fine tune all of this and see what they can get for, you know, basically those people that run those condo for for lack of a better term HOAs or those those those-- >>Condo associations.

>>Associations.

Right.

So what they're saying is they want to be able to they want accountability and they want assurances in place to ensure that they can do the job that they need to function.

They're also calling on more power for DBPR so that they can have some of those oversights in there when it comes to, you know, having, you know, contractors or people come in, they want a little bit more power so that they can have some say over some of these things.

So what they're looking for here is some things that that last bill, the last things that we saw happen, they didn't kind of cover that.

So they're saying, hey, we need some things that we're going to make sure should something else happen, you know, God forbid, that we are protected.

>>Filling in some of those gaps.

And it is a pretty chunky bill from my-- >>It's pretty pretty extensive, looking at all of it.

>>Which brings me on, Alexa, to sort of some of the impacts, intentional or not, from these new roles that have been implemented so far.

I mean, what is what have we seen in the market?

>>So those associations, as Curtis was talking about for years, they've put off needed maintenance because of the price tag.

And someone's got to pay for this, right?

They can front a percentage of it, but they're expensive fixes.

So they need to go to those units, to those residents, those owners, renters, whatever they may be, to get some of that money.

So we're starting to see some of these condo owners have increases in their maintenance fees.

Some people have reported as much as 30%.

They were paying $400 one month, 430 to 600 another month.

And that's a tremendous increase.

And the bill also allows some of these associations to do special assessments.

So some people are saying, look, now we need a new roof.

So now that's another cost that people have to pay out of pocket.

And some of these people who live in these condos have a fixed income that they're living off of a low income, and it may make this condo living unaffordable for them.

>>And you guys at Channel 9 have done some specific reporting about this.

>>Yeah, they maybe priced out when you put this with the increases we're seeing in HOA fees because of insurance.

>>And I was just about to say-- >>It's just adding on where someone who gets X amount for however many years they've been receiving X amount they're not going to get Y all of a sudden.

So they don't have that bucket to pull from to pay for these additional fees and they may be forced to sell.

>>And I know that there was one guy that I had spoken with with a story we did out there, and this was like his retirement dream.

This is when I say out there, I'm talking about Daytona Beach.

And he's like, okay, we're living in right here.

This is everything I've done.

I've sunk my entire life savings into this place and everything.

And now, you know, he's on a fixed income like you mentioned, and then you've got fees because they're trying to build seawalls and they're racing against the clock.

And then it's like, okay, you've got to you've got those fees from the condo associations.

Then you tack on insurance fees, which you just reached out to us two weeks ago and said, hey, look, I remember I told you a few months ago, back in April, hey, we may have to see some of those fees come up.

We're back in May.

And now he's experiencing that and they're having to adjust what little budget in they can in their budget to make a make amends for it.

>>And you've really done some real world examples in your reporting of how this kind of affects people.

>>Yeah.

Yeah, we did.

And then we were with that gentleman.

One of the things that they met with were issues after issues, and it happens with people and it's almost kind of a little bit disproportionate for people who live on the coast then.

I mean, it's a risk that they take to live that far, to live that close to the coastline.

But one of the things that they deal with are those issues and, you know, fighting the state, the department, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, just to try to get the access to get seawalls built following the storms that came through.

>>Well, what about the broader economic impacts, Talia?

I mean, you've done some reporting on the on the issue of sort of the cost of living, the cost of housing and that effect on on the on the market.

This is another of them, those crippling costs and fees that we've been talking about.

What could be the effect on the broader economy?

>>Well, I mean, if you think about it, it kind of just trickles down into how people spend on everything else.

You know, if you have high housing costs now, maybe I'm taking away from my grocery or maybe I'm taking away for leisure or anything else.

And one economist I spoke with, he said that, you know this, if wages don't catch up with where costs are, this could really, you know, make that split between the haves and the have nots so much bigger.

You know, some people are going to be living just fine in Florida and the drop off on the other side is going to be so extreme and comparisons.

>>One of the concerns I've seen, Alexa, about some of these changes is that they make some of these older buildings where where people call home ripe for redevelopment, i.e., knocked down a new building's built.

That's a concern, correct?

>>And we're starting to see some of that coming from the live local act that was passed recently.

The intention was good, but we're starting to see some repercussions.

The idea behind the live local act was to increase the ability of affordable housing.

So with some of this, these issues that we're seeing, we're seeing these areas that are ripe for development.

And the live local act essentially encourages developers to get the job done.

But it kind of limits the impact that city and local state leaders can have on the essentially the rezoning and the housing kind of developments.

So we're starting to see the city of Tampa, city of St Petersburg, city of Winter Park, try to figure out how they can implement this live local act legally to still keep the essence of that area alive.

>>Well, certainly when the legislature tackles anything to do with housing, it affects everybody throughout our region.

No doubt about that.

You can find a link to the proposed new legislation on condo associations on our website.

And over the coming weeks you'll find much more of the legislative session that started on Tuesday, including links to all the bills we discuss.

To read for yourself, it's all at wucf.org/newsnight.

Well another issue in front of lawmakers, the confusion over the voting rights of former felons in Florida.

In 2018, Florida voters approved Amendment four, allowing most people convicted of a felony to vote after completing their sentences.

But legislation passed the following year implemented restrictions, including a requirement for returning voters to pay all fees and fines.

Critics say that has led to widespread confusion, and they claim the state has not provided the necessary tools for people to determine their eligibility.

20 former felons were arrested in 2022 for voting despite having been issued voter registration cards.

NewsNight spoke recently with Desmond Meade, executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which last year filed a lawsuit against the state over its implementation of Amendment four.

>>Well, this job that we're asking the state to do is to take ownership over verifying, you know, whether or not the person is eligible to vote.

You know, there's a lot of talk over the years about election integrity.

And we believe that election integrity starts and stops with the state or with the local government.

And it's their responsibility is to make a determination as to who is eligible to vote, who is not eligible to vote, and when once that determination is made, then they should be able to issue voter ID cards or properly notify an individual if they're eligible to vote.

We know that we had to file a lawsuit because we were tied of citizens having their liberty in jeopardy for the failure of the state to do its job.

People were getting arrested for registering illegally or voting illegally.

Right.

The one thing that everyone had in common was that they were all issued a voter ID card by the state of Florida.

The current process is this a person registers to vote.

That voter registration application is submitted to the state of Florida.

They do their checks, cross their T's and dot their eyes to see if the person is indeed eligible.

And if that person is eligible to vote, they issue them a voter ID card.

But what we've seen is that people were being issued voter ID cards who should have never been issued that.

And so what we're asking is that the state actually fix this broken system.

It's a system that's been broken for decades.

>>Desmond Meade from the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

Okay, Alexa, let me start with you on this.

And let's just clarify, first of all, drill down on this a little bit what the main complaint is about how Amendment four was implemented.

I mean, is this just not enough information available to voters?

>>It's a mix of everything.

Supporters of Amendment four say this is not what we voted for.

And to remind everyone in 2018, 65% of Florida voters supported Amendment four.

Fast forward a year and they created this pay to vote system.

That's what it's kind of been dubbed by critics.

So they're saying Amendment four, what was put on the ballot, what people voted for would have given an estimated 1.4 million people the right to vote back.

And this confusion that we've created now is leading to people not knowing whether they're eligible.

And confusion for voters who say this is not what was proposed, this is not what I voted for.

>>Curtis there are a couple of pieces of proposed legislation to try to clear up this confusion.

What do we know about them?

>>Yeah, I know one with us, Senator Geraldine Thompson, and we're talking about Senate Bill No.

944 That's the database that's been talked about for some time now.

And they're saying that basically we want this database in place so that it would be easy for those up who's have who have had their rights restored to then go in and say, okay, it's easy for me to check to look and see whether I'm eligible to vote again.

Exactly right.

So you can actually go in and say, Hey, and I know exactly what I'm up against right here, right now.

Some people, of course, there's pushback on this and there are questions about, you know, that information being so readily available.

But this making it easier for those to know whether or not they're eligible not to vote in this Senate Bill 904, which is more on the Division of elections to provide an advisory opinion, it should say within 90 days to ex-felons, letting them know whether or not they are eligible to take part in an upcoming election.

So, you know, I think when we look at all of this, it's kind of like, okay, back to what Alexa was saying.

You know, voters, 64% saying, hey, this is what we wanted and here's what we've got now with these other laws and these other things that have been put into place.

And so now others are trying to say, we wanted to see if we can correct that or turn the tide a little bit with these proposed pieces of legislation.

>>Alexa you mentioned that that referendum amendment passed by 65%.

And I'm wondering, Talia, how we know public opinion comes down on this issue at this point.

>>I mean, at this point, people are still in favor of the measure that has not changed that 65%.

The public sentiment is people don't think that felons should have to jump through hoops to be able to vote if they serve their time and it's time for them to vote.

They want people want that to happen.

And just to Curtis's point as well, they're also talking about that database like, why isn't it clear for them, this is not what we voted for, you know, all those those years ago.

So the sentiment is still there.

They're still very much in favor of felons being able to vote if, you know, everything is cleared and they're ready to go.

>>You know, when I was reading in on this issue, one of the things that I noticed was a Washington Post analysis that showed that people of color are disproportionately impacted by a lot of these sort of what are called election integrity efforts in many states.

In Florida, for example, the establishment of the Office of Election Crimes and Security.

I mean, what do we know about that analysis?

Does it reveal anything?

>>So it was a first of its kind analysis that the Post did for this topic.

And they looked at those election integrity units that you mentioned that were established or expanded in six states, and they were able to obtain only 47 convictions during a time when millions upon millions of people voted, of course.

And in those convictions they were able to see that 76% of defendants whose race or ethnicity was black or Hispanic, it could be identified.

It was 76% black or Hispanic and then 24% white.

In Florida, they were able to identify the race of everyone.

So it is by far targeting some of those black and Hispanic communities with these convictions.

>>Certainly one of the concerns of critics for sure.

Talia, I mean, voting is just one of the obstacles.

Right.

The people that have criminal convictions or criminal records have to deal with when they come to dealing with the state.

And you've done some reporting on that.

>>Right.

So after someone gets out, if they do have a felony conviction, it's very hard to get an occupational license.

And we know that getting a job after jail or prison is very important in terms of recidivism.

Right.

So right now, the current process, there is a lot of hoops to jump through, a lot of restrictions.

And there was actually a bill in session that died last year that would have kind of expanded some of these restrictions.

So someone would have still been able to get an occupational license if the job that they were getting licensed for wasn't related to their conviction.

But that died in session last year.

So as of right now, they still have a lot of hoops to jump through to get an occupational license.

>>Interesting reminder, be sure to join the conversation on social media.

We're at WUICFTV, on Facebook, X and also on Instagram.

Okay.

Finally tonight, legislative efforts on Brightline.

A bill aims to make sure that the planned extension from Orlando to Tampa can be built along the I-4 median and a number of Bay Area lawmakers have requested state funding for construction infrastructure.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor has said a Tampa terminus will be built in Ybor city.

But the project was left out of $8.2 billion in federal funding for rail projects announced by the White House last month.

I spoke recently with Brightline President Patrick Goddard about the extension to Tampa.

He told me federal money will likely depend on plans for the route through the Orlando area, known as the Sunshine Corridor, which will see Brightline connect with Sun Rail.

>>These infrastructure projects are unique in that the quantum of cost and the effort in terms of construction is pretty significant.

And because this now involves several stakeholders, the City of Orlando, you've got four counties who are sort of engaged in this process.

The city of Tampa, the counties, you know, you're looking at cities like Lakeland, you're looking at Hillsborough County.

So there's a lot of stakeholders.

And, you know, we obviously have to engage the Florida Department of Transportation, not just from a funding perspective, but also they are undertaking this ultimate I-4 project.

And that project needs to contemplate the possibility of intercity passenger rail as well.

So what we are focused on right now is getting all the stakeholders aligned on a common vision, a common sort of project description, so that we can move it forward.

You know, one of the things that unlocks this funding is getting Sun Rail operating costs covered by the locals.

And they've attempted and failed-- >>It's currently run by the state.

>>it's currently run and funded by the state.

It was meant to be turned over to the locals, but they don't currently have a funding mechanism for it unless and until they are able to bring back a bring in a transportation tax or a penny tax.

There was a referendum on that in the last election.

It failed.

It did not pass.

Therefore, there is no operating funding for Sun Rail as it is today, and therefore they can't really contemplate it.

They can't go out and get federal funding for an expansion to Sun Rail without that.

So the focus is really getting the stakeholders aligned and then figuring out how the O&M transition is to the to the locals in a way that's sustainable not just for the current operation but for a future operation.

>>Patrick Goddard from Brightline.

Okay, Alexa, it's transportation, so we'll come to you first on this one.

I mean, what is in this this bill and the funding request as well?

>>So the Senate Transportation chair filed Senate Bill 1226 and he's asking for the Florida Department of Transportation to preserve a 44 foot corridor along I-4 after it's already said that stretch is reserved for a railway.

It's going to get done.

But there's, of course, the legal proceedings that have to happen to make sure that everything's checked off and that FDOT would pay for that to happen.

And then you also have senators and representatives out of Tampa requesting $50 million in funding requests for that route and for additional improvements to that rail corridor and that I-4 stretch.

So it's going to take a lot to get it done.

But they believe that they are chugging along and they just need the money to get it done and the public buy in right now.

>>I mean, the Brightline Tampa extension wasn't in that White House rail funding plan that got announced in December.

But I mean, is there still an expectation that federal money will eventually come in for this project?

>>It has in the past, so it didn't come in with the 2023 measure, but it did come in in 2022.

They got $16 million in federal funding to help build that Orlando Tampa line, in addition to some of the Sunshine corridor that we've talked about here extensively.

And the idea is that as money comes in from the state, as money comes in from investors, from private companies, that the feds are going to say, okay, yeah, you know, there's interest here is more money.

>>Well, let's talk about political and business leaders Talia I mean, do they think it'll it'll pay for itself in the long run if the sort of state chips in significant amounts of money?

>>Yeah, definitely.

They're excited about it.

They think this is a good thing for the economy.

Now, there are a few lawmakers that or a few leaders that have spoken out saying, you know, this isn't the only way to diversify the economy.

But all in all, it's a positive step and everybody is still excited about it.

If that federal funding comes in now.

>>Yeah.

Curtis, just finally, what does ridership look like so far in terms of the Brightline service that we now see between South Florida and Orlando?

>>So far, pretty good.

I mean, we're talking out of 200,000 passengers in the first three months of this thing here.

So it does have some traction and it does something that people are interested.

And I know I took a trip down with some stakeholders in the community recently and great trip, great experience.

One of the things that a lot of these people were saying is that the cost is something that they would like to see come down.

This is a private company, so, you know, they have that discretion.

But if you want to see ridership increases, especially those people who may be like blue collar workers, people in a little bit low income communities, for them to experience it, you may have to find some lower cost.

But I know during the holidays they did offer some discounts.

>>And I was going to say I was on one of those holiday trains and it was packed.

>>Yeah, see, there you go.

>>So it opens the window-- >>It opens the window for that.

And the people that won more people over in District five of Orlando.

So a lot of people with Onyx magazine and everything.

And they were they put this trip together to give individuals who may not necessarily get a get an opportunity for this, but just to get an opportunity to experience it and see what it's about.

Even taking those questions, the leadership at Brightline saying, hey, look, is there something we can do to open that.

They did say, Hey, we're looking into that to provide those opportunities that given we know that this is more of a I want to say it as a business thing, a business thing here.

We'll just have to see what comes for that.

But I do expect as time goes on, they're looking to see more ridership increase in 2024.

>>I talked to Patrick, got out about the price and a lot more issues and that full interview is up on our website.

A reminder, be sure to check out our recent special episode of NewsNight taking an in-depth look at Central Florida's transportation issues.

You'll find it on our website.

wucf.org/newsnight.

But that is all the time we have for this week.

My thanks to Curtis McCloud Spectrum News 13, Alexa Lorenzo WFTV Channel 9 Talia Blake 90.7 WMFE News.

Good to see you guys today.

Thanks so much for coming in.

We'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF.

From all of us here at NewsNight, take care and have a great week.