After years of failed attempts, it took Senators mere minutes to pass a monumental bill to repeal a unique restriction that today blocks some exonerees from receiving just compensation for time wrongly spent in prison.

Senators voted 38-0 to pass SB 130 to repeal Florida’s “clean hands” rule, which bars exonerees with more than one nonviolent felony from being eligible for recompense without legislative action.

The measure’s sponsor, Fleming Island Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley, noted that since state lawmakers created a route for exonerees to be compensated, just five have received it. Eighteen have been denied, totaling more than 300 years of lost liberty.

Six have waited for a decade or more.

“Each of us has an incredible honor to be able to represent our constituents, and part of that privilege … is the duty that comes with that to be able to right wrongs,” she said.

Bradley credited her husband, former Sen. Rob Bradley, and former Sen. Arthena Joyner for working on earlier versions of her legislation.

“The posture it’s in today (because of their efforts) is the right and just thing for a state to do (after taking) people’s liberty,” she said. “This bill rights that wrong.”

St. Augustine Democratic Sen. Darryl Rouson noted that he was first elected to the Legislature in 2008, when state lawmakers enacted the “Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act” to pay exonerees for their lost time.

The bill included the “clean hands” proviso and priced each wrongly incarcerated year at $50,000. That rate remains the same today, 17 years later.

SB 130 and its lower-chamber twin (HB 59) by Tampa Republican Rep. Traci Koster, which now awaits a House floor vote, would also lengthen the window for exonerees to file for compensation to two years after an order vacating their conviction, up from today’s time frame of just 90 days.

Since 1989, 91 people in Florida prisoners have had their convictions overturned, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Of them, just five received a settlement from the state since 2008, when lawmakers enacted Florida’s compensation statute.

Representatives for the Innocence Project of Florida, Americans for Prosperity, Florida Association of Defense Attorneys and the Alliance for Safety and Justice have signaled support for the change.

Koster said state staff estimated that passing the legislation will cost Florida $15 million if all exonerees eligible for compensation receive it.

One of them is Sidney Holmes, who spent 34 years behind bars for a crime Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor determined he didn’t commit. Claims legislation filed this Session by Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones, Jacksonville Democratic Rep. Kimberly Daniels and Davie Democratic Rep. Mike Gottlieb would clear $1.7 million to Holmes.

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Another official with ties to Florida is getting tapped to serve in President Donald Trump’s administration and could help run NASA.

Dubbed the “space czar” at the University of Central Florida (UCF), Greg Autry is being nominated to become the next NASA Chief Financial Officer. Autry is UCF’s associate provost for space commercialization and strategy.

“The NASA CFO is responsible for executing more than $25 billion in agency funding across a variety of missions, including the Moon and Mars, for the benefit of humanity,” NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro said in a statement this week.

“With his previous experience as the White House liaison during President Trump’s first administration, as well as his extensive experience in space policy, I look forward to welcoming Greg as our next CFO.”

Autry said he was excited for the opportunity, according to a school press release.

“I have been honored to help move UCF’s incredible space enterprise forward, and I hope to return after my service at NASA,” he said.

UCF has always maintained strong ties with NASA and the Kennedy Space Center since Orlando school was founded in 1963 to serve as a pipeline for the space industry that’s just a short drive away from the coast.

Autry “is nationally recognized for his leadership in space research and innovation, including how the space landscape is evolving with the rapid expansion of private flights,” the school said in a press release.

At UCF, Autry also led the business school’s efforts to start executive and MBA programs in space commercialization and also to make people more aware of the school’s existing space programs.

“Space is the most important thing to happen in at least half a millennia,” Autry said. “We are charting a new future for humanity, improving the lives of billions, saving our biosphere, making our nation more secure, and creating jobs right now.”

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