Some out-of-state driver ’s licenses no longer recognized

New state law aimed at undocumented migrants took effect July 1

By MEGHAN BRADBURY news@breezenewspapers com

C e r t a i n c l a s s e s o f d r i v e r l i c e n s e s Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island and Vermont are no longer valid in Florida

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has published a list of out-of-state license classes that are invalid as of July 1 in accordance with Senate Bill 1718

Each of the five states has classes of licenses that are invalid, including “limited purpose driver’s license,” “limited purpose instruction permit,” “limited purpose provisional driver’s license” and “not valid for use for official federal purposes” for Hawaii

The bill specifically prohibits the issuance of a driver’s license to anyone who does not provide proof of lawful presence in the U S

“Someone who is in our country illegally and has violated our laws should not possess a government-issued ID which allows them access to state-funded services and other privileges afforded to lawful residents,” Gov Ron DeSantis said in a prepared statement this week “The Biden administration may continue to abdicate its responsibilities to secure our border, but Florida will stand for the rule of law Even if the federal government refuses, Florida will act decisively to protect our citizens, our state, and our country ”

DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1718 earlier this year In addition to prohibiting the issuance of a driver’s license to anyone who does not provide proof of lawful presence in the U S , it “specifies that out-of-state driver licenses issued exclusively to illegal aliens are invalid in Florida ”

Florida Highway Patrol are prepared to s

Executive Director Dave Kerner said in a prepared statement “This legislation supports two of our primary goals: to enhance homeland security and to interdict criminal activity. It communicates our state policy that Florida will not provide incentives to undocumented immigrants, while reminding criminal cartels and those who are planning to unlawfully cross our national border that Florida should not be their destination of choice Florida will not accept driver licenses from those who cannot provide proof of lawful presence in the United States By doing this, we commit to a safer Florida ”

Lee GOP Chairman Michael Thompson said this means that Florida residents are going to be even more protected. He said there is nothing wrong with protecting the residents of your state

“It is unfortunate that he had to take these measures It’s unfortunate that he had to have an immigration bill as well,” He said

The root cause is we have no border from the southern border, which is allowing Governor DeSantis to come in and take control over the security of Florida residents, Thompson said He said there were none of these bills two to three years ago

“They are there for a specific reason We don’t need to look too far from the southern border,” Thompson said

He does not believe it will stop tourism, or put Florida’s economy into question

“This is the state of freedom The people that want to be here have to follow the law,” Thompson said.

The Lee Democratic Party had a different outlook of the bill

Lee Democratic Party Chair Kari Lerner said the State of Florida has the right to whatever requirements they want on driver’s licenses, which she said is discriminatory and hateful

She said the driver’s license is a very small portion of the bill As a former legislator, she read through the entire bill and is surprised there are not other sections being talked about, such as a requirement of hospital’s collecting immigration status of patients

“They are required to report quarterly to the state, the immigration status of each and every patient that comes to the hospital,” Lerner said “The part that says anyone that transports an undocumented individual can be charged with human trafficking Those are pretty terrifying aspects of this bill ”

She said every single person that goes to the hospital is going to be reported to the state

“You are also, as an individual American citizen, going to be reported to the state every time I go to the hospital That is incredibly invasive and intrusive to each and every person in the state of Florida,” Lerner said

She said the bill does not only impact immigrants.

“Think about what this requirement is It should chill each and every person in this state The invasiveness and intrusiveness of this legislation,” Lerner said

The license list is available at flhsmv gov/driverlicenses-id-cards/visiting-florida-faqs/

School district works to increase number of small business vendors

By MEGHAN BRADBURY news@breezenewspapers com

The School District of Lee County is working to increase small business participation in district contracts

The Small Business Enterprise Policy was adopted at the end of 2021 to create the Small Business Enterprise Program

Business Services Executive Director Susan Malay said the program was established to increase competition with local small business on major construction contracts; create jobs and foster economic growth.

A partnership was established with Florida Gulf Coast University to set the thresholds to define small, establish a certification process and share standards, and gather feedback The district worked with the Regional Economic Research Institute to establish a threshold for the number of employees in a s m a l l b u s i n e s s a n d t h e S m a l l B u s i n e s s Development Center to establish a threshold in the annual revenue of a small business

She said with a threshold of 20 employees as the size factor of measuring small businesses, they would hit 93 percent of the businesses in Lee County that are under 20 employees

As far as the revenue threshold, the cap for measuring small business revenue would be $10 million for the most recent three years with recertification every three years

A small business would also have to be in business for at least two years

“Our partners at FGCU have agreed to administer the certification process They are currently doing this assisting by looking at books, taxes and looking at business plans,” Malay said “Part of our registration process of vendors closely aligns with FGCU.”

Board Member Jada Langford-Fleming shared concerns about constraining a small business to 20 employees, especially in the past year with many businesses hiring more people to get the work done post hurricane

“I support this small business ideal It was the backbone of what our country was built on,” she said

Board Member Melisa Giovannelli agreed that the Small Business Enterprise Program is going to be a healthy opportunity and healthy competition

“I am hoping more local,” she said about the businesses “I am all about feeding our local economy ”

The district will continue community engagement regarding the program, as well as continue its partnership with FGCU for the vendor certification process In addition, the next steps include identifying and soliciting prime contracts for small business bidding and establishing mandatory small business subcontracting goals for certain large projects

The first phase of Gulfside Twelve, a five-story luxury home building, is in the midst of being constructed

The second phase, an eight-unit luxury home building at the former Carousel Inn, will break ground this weekend.