A bill aimed at saving thoroughbred horse racing in Florida and leveling the playing field for the parimutuel industry easily cleared its first committee Wednesday with a 12-4 vote. 

Rep. Adam Anderson’s measure (HB 105) cleared the House Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee easily, signaling that passage may ultimately be coming when Legislative Session begins next month. 

The bill would allow Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach to continue operating its on-site casino without a contingency that it also operate horse racing. The measure is meant to align thoroughbred tracks with other parimutuel facilities that were decoupled from ancillary activities under a 2021 law (SB 2A). 

Rep. Brad Yeager filed a strike-all amendment that would expand the legislation to cardroom license holders, a change that would affect Tampa Bay Downs. Currently, Gulfstream Park is one of two thoroughbred tracks in Florida, but the only with slots. Tampa Bay Downs has a card room, but no slots. 

Supporters of the legislation say it is necessary to level the playing field for horse race tracks, by giving them the option to maintain certain gambling activities even without live horse races. It would make each activity independent.

But the measure is not without opposition. Critics include the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, the National Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, and the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association. They worry the measure would further degrade the horse-breeding industry and thoroughbred racing.

Horse racing is declining, but Gulfstream Park is still trying to preserve it as a significant industry. The park hopes to attract more attention to its racing activities by improving its facility and expanding its gaming beyond parimutuel, supporters argue. The decline is apparent through horse breeding statistics. In 2002, about 4,500 foals were bred. By last year, that number had dropped to just 1,000.

The breeding association collects a percentage of revenue from every race conducted at the parks, even if a Florida horse isn’t in the race.

Anderson’s legislation heads next to its second committee, the House Commerce Committee. The Senate companion (SB 408) by Republican Sen. Danny Burgess has not yet been assigned to committee. 

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A University of Central Florida (UCF) professor was recently placed on unpaid suspension after he partied with his students after a conference and was accused of driving drunk in downtown Orlando last year, school records show.

A school investigative report ruled associate psychology Steven Berman “placed these students in a dangerous situation that could have resulted in an accident.”

Berman, who is paid $96,163 a year and worked at UCF for 23 years, was put on unpaid suspension from Dec. 13 to Jan. 2, school records showed.

Berman promised to never go out with his students again and denied being drunk, according to the University Compliance and Ethics investigation report released to Florida Politics after a records request.

The investigation into Berman began following the Southeastern Psychological Association conference held in Orlando in March 2024.

On March 15, Berman “appeared inebriated” when he met up with students at a group dinner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill as part of a social gathering with the conference, the report said.

Then the next day — the last day of the conference — Berman joined a small group of students at one student’s apartment and took a shot with them. Berman also admitted he drank a mixed drink in the 30 minutes he stayed at the apartment, the report said.

Then Berman drove the group to downtown Orlando to meet up with a larger group of students to go bar hopping.

“One student stated that Dr. Berman was driving erratically, and it was a little scary,” the investigative report said. “Another student recalled telling Dr. Berman that he was driving in a bike lane, and Dr. Berman swerving to get back into the right lane. Another student corroborated this student’s account by stating Dr. Berman had confused a bike or bus lane for a regular lane.”

The report added, “When confronted by investigators, Dr. Berman denied hearing any comments about his driving and denied being inebriated.”

Once out in downtown Orlando, they went to three different bars.

“Witnesses further stated he became increasingly inebriated as the night went on,” the report said.

That night, Berman put his fingers through one student’s belt loops to steady himself — which UCF investigators observed when they got videos and pictures from downtown during their probe.

Students began complaining that Berman got too close to them and made them feel uncomfortable.

Another student said Berman put one of his hands on her lower back and the other hand on her abdomen, just below her chest. He spoke “very closely to her,” the report said.

“The student reported feeling violated and caged in,” the report said.

When confronted by investigators, Berman denied touching the students. “… He stated he could not recall this happening, but that he would never do something like that,” the report said.

At the end of the night, Berman got a ride home from his adult child.

It wasn’t the first time Berman partied with UCF students at conferences.

For instance, one person said Berman drank with students during the 2023 conference in New Orleans and became so drunk, a student helped him back to his hotel room.

“Investigators reviewed a video of Dr. Berman dancing in the street to music during this trip where he appeared to be inebriated,” the report said.

Berman denied being drunk in New Orleans.

The report said another faculty member warned Berman about drinking with students at conferences.

“Dr. Berman dismissed the caution and responded that it was what he did with his supervisors in grad school, and it’s what he’s always done,” the report said.

Throughout the investigation, Berman was cooperative and seemed honest in his interview with UCF investigators who believed he “is in denial about his excessive drinking.”

“He admitted to drinking alcohol and driving although he denied that he was inebriated,” the report said. “Dr. Berman expressed his genuine regret to investigators, stating that he was truly sorry if he ever made a student feel uncomfortable. He also committed to never socializing with students again.”

Berman did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

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U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody is tired of Democratic moves to “obstruct and delay” confirmations for President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, especially given that new Attorney General Pam Bondi needs help combatting the scourge of drugs brought in the country by illegal immigrants, she said.

“She needs her people in place to effectuate these things. She needs the Director of the (Federal Bureau of Investigation) ready to go. Her passion to secure this nation based on her decades as a prosecutor and Attorney General? I mean, it is still lore back in Florida when she went into lawmakers’ chambers and said, this amount of fentanyl will kill you,” Florida’s newest Senator said Thursday.

She then offered a chilling warning and possible blame about potential fentanyl casualties if FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, who is stalled in Judiciary, and others aren’t confirmed in a timely fashion.

“And remember, that is the number one killer of working and fighting age Americans right now. There is no more time to waste, and if Democrats stand in our way, it is on their hands and heads if we cannot control the crime and devastation that was the result of the Biden administration.

The Plant City Republican made the comments on “The Faulkner Focus” Thursday.

As Attorney General, Moody focused heavily on the fentanyl surge, with statistics backing her read.

 “The New England Journal of Medicine reported that after more than a decade of remaining relatively stable, overdose deaths among 14- to 18-year-olds more than doubled. Since then, the issue has intensified, with the national teen overdose rate climbing to 22 deaths a week. Fentanyl is now involved in at least 75% of adolescent overdose deaths,” read a release from her former office last year.

She issued Spring Break advisories, partnered with McGruff the Crime Dog and warned about vape usage.

And she emphasized the danger to young users specifically, messaging that fentanyl could harm children and teenagers in ways they wouldn’t suspect, especially in light of evidence that children under the age of 14 are most likely to suffer fentanyl poisoning.

In May, she blamed President Joe Biden’s border policies after a report highlighted that Florida leads the nation in fentanyl seizures.

During Thursday’s interview, Moody said Trump was “charging ahead” to “protect this house” and make it “safe and secure,” in contrast to what she and other Republicans view as the previous administration’s permissive detente on border crossings.

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