January 5, 2024 | by Michael Costeines on Florida's Voice
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, and Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, this week filed identical bills to immediately hold juveniles more accountable for gun crimes.
“Florida is experiencing a 50-year low in crime, but there’s always more we can do to keep Floridians safe,” Jacques said in a press release. “One area we can work on is holding juveniles who commit gun crimes more accountable.”
Through HB 1181/SB 1274, juvenile offenders would be forced to the terms and conditions of court-ordered sanctions.
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January 2, 2024 | by Eric Daugherty on Florida's Voice
SEMINOLE, Fla. – Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, advocated for his new piece of legislation enabling municipalities to count election ballots by hand rather than with machines.
“Currently, it’s mandated that machines have to be used when tabulating votes,” Jacques said on LiveNOW from Fox. “[The bill would] simply give local supervisors of elections [the] option to hand count [if they], based on their models and their perspective, see it as a more accurate way to tabulate votes.”
The bill, HB 359, entitled “Voting Systems,” allows counties to count ballots “by hand” and works to ensure more transparency in the kind of software used for elections.
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December 28, 2023
LARGO, Florida – State Representative Berny Jacques, who has been serving the people of District 59 since 2022, is proud and honored to announce the endorsement of his re-election campaign by esteemed colleague, Pastor Doug Bankson, a respected member of Florida’s legislative body and member of the Florida Constitutional Rights, Rule of Law & Government Operations Subcommittee.
“Bankson’s endorsement is not just a vote of confidence in my past work, but also a strong encouragement for the future”, said Representative Jacques.
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December 13, 2023 | by Calvin Lewis on Bay News 9
LAKELAND, Fla. — A new piece of legislation could see elected leaders removed from office for taking down Confederate monuments.
It’s through House Bill 395, which proposes state “protection of historical monuments and memorials” authorizing “all actions to protect and preserve all historical monuments and memorials from removal, damage or destruction.”
The bill would punish lawmakers and officials who voted to remove such items. They could also be fined with the costs of replacing or repairing any removed monuments.
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November 20, 2023 | by Owen Girard on Florida's Voice
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, and Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Clearwater, filed legislation Monday to prevent juveniles who are convicted of crimes as an adult from playing high school sports.
HB 545 and SB 530 bar high school students who are convicted or held responsible in an adult court for homicide, sexual battery, or lewd and lascivious offenses from participating in high school athletics.
DiCeglie explained in the press release that when tragedy strikes, “we as a community have the ability to provide support for the victims and their families.”
DiCeglie told Florida’s Voice about a situation in Pinellas County took place at one point where a student was killed in a boating accident.
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