We're split over about 98 percent of things at the moment. Can't agree on a thing; probably not even on how much we disagree.
But there are some subjects all but the most depraved among us view as important and deserving of all the care we're able to offer; four of them, to be exact. In no particular order, these are: pets, children, the disabled and the elderly.
According to the News Service of Florida, State Rep. Dana Young, a Tampa Republican, has filed a bill ahead of next year's legislative session that could potentially save members of those four groups from peril. Specifically, it would allow individuals to break windows of vehicles in order to rescue pets, children, disabled or elderly people left alone with the windows up and doors locked.
Filed yesterday, it's similar to two other recently filed bills.
According to NSF, the bill, HB 131, "is an expanded version of bills filed by Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, and Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange."
The first, HB 121, deals with helping children who have been locked in cars while the other, SB 200, "relates to unattended animals."
Young's proposal would protect people who have "a good faith belied that forcible entry into the vehicle is necessary because the elderly person, disabled adult, minor, or domestic animal is in imminent danger of suffering harm if not immediately removed from the vehicle."
But first, according to the bill, an individual would have to call police or the fire department before breaking any windows. It also prohibits using excessive force in breaking into a car.
Young is the House Republican Leader, which lends this bill some degree of potential in terms of getting heard in committees and eventually the floor during the legislative session in January.
But that doesn't mean we're not worried that it might not see the light of day.
After all, the currently legislature has been, to put it mildly, notoriously unproductive.
Here's hoping they can agree on this obviously helpful bill.
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2015.