Miami Beach Democratic Rep. Michael Grieco <\/strong>began the 2022 Legislative Session with a roster of ambitious bills he believed had the potential to unite lawmakers regardless of political affiliation.<\/p>\n Then he filed<\/a><\/strong> to challenge Republican Miami Sen. Ileana Garcia<\/strong> this November. After that, he said, most of those bills were all but doomed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I filed to run for state Senate, you could take all my bills and put them in the dumpster,\u201d he told Florida Politics. \u201cThe moment I announced that I would be seeking to unseat \u2018illegitimate Ileana,\u2019 my subsequent bills and any appropriations of note that I had my name on were going to die on the vine.\u201d<\/p>\n While it turned out that prediction was rather accurate by and large, Grieco still enjoyed some wins.<\/p>\n Among them: HB 1469<\/a><\/strong>, which will impact residents in and around Grieco\u2019s House district<\/a><\/strong> by honoring the 98 lives lost in the Champlain Towers South condo collapse<\/a><\/strong> in Surfside.<\/p>\n The bill (HB 1469<\/a><\/strong>) renames a stretch of Collins Avenue between 87th Terrace and 88th Street \u201c98 Points of Light Way.\u201d It was the only standalone street-renaming item of the year.<\/p>\n Grieco said House Speaker Chris Sprowls <\/strong>asked him to carry it.<\/p>\n \u201cThis very tragic event impacted not only my constituents but (Rep.) Joe Geller\u2019s <\/strong>constituents and beyond,\u201d Grieco said. \u201cThe Police Chief of North Bay Village, which is one of the areas I represent, his mother passed in the collapse. I was there many, many days along with Sen. (Jason<\/strong>) Pizzo<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Another success was HB 435<\/a><\/strong>, which flew through the three House committees to which it was assigned before stalling on the Senate floor. Fortunately, its language was absorbed into a larger sexual cybercrimes bill<\/a><\/strong> by Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book <\/strong>and Republican Rep. Joe Harding<\/strong> that the Legislature approved March 8.<\/p>\n Grieco\u2019s portion of the bill, which heightens penalties for sexual abuses of animals, came in response to the disturbing story<\/a><\/strong> of an Aventura veterinarian who, among other things, recorded himself having sex with dogs and sharing them on social media.<\/p>\n A Miami federal court ultimately sentenced the man to 22 years in prison, but that sentencing was mostly due to other crimes.<\/p>\n \u201cHe essentially couldn\u2019t be prosecuted at the state level because it\u2019s only a misdemeanor, so they prosecuted him federally,\u201d Grieco said. \u201cWe wanted to put some teeth into state law to make sure we put an end to this type of animal abuse and these types of disgusting internet videos.\u201d<\/p>\n The bill, upon receiving Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 <\/strong>signature, will increase the level of offense for sex acts on animals from a misdemeanor to a felony, create a new offense for creating videos of the acts and make prison time mandatory even for first-time offenders.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Humane Society could not be happier,\u201d Grieco said.<\/p>\n Asked which bills he plans to resurrect next year, Grieco\u2019s immediate answer was HB 781<\/a><\/strong>, a measure called \u201cGreyson\u2019s Law\u201d after 4-year-old Greyson Kessler<\/strong>, who was killed by his father in a murder-suicide in May 2021.<\/p>\n Greyson\u2019s mother, Alison Kessler<\/strong>, had repeatedly tried to gain exclusive custody of Greyson to protect him from what she knew were growing threats to his safety, but at every turn, courts ruled against her motions until it was too late.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one believed me,\u201d she told Florida Politics in December<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cFamily courts right now are just so archaic.\u201d<\/p>\n Had it passed, the bill would have expanded the definition of domestic violence by establishing a connection between domestic violence between adults and the abuse of children. The rationale, Grieco said, is simple: If a person is willing to threaten or commit domestic violence against their partner, that may have some bearing on their fitness as a parent.<\/p>\n The bill would also add language to state statutes regarding coercive control, a nonphysical means by which abusers exert power over their partners through financial and psychological means.<\/p>\n HB 781 received no hearing in the House. Its Senate companion<\/a><\/strong> by Boynton Beach Democratic Sen. Lori Berman <\/strong>cleared one committee before stalling out.<\/p>\n Grieco, a lawyer in private life, chalked the bill\u2019s poor performance this year to his Senate run and having \u201ctoo many cooks in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody had an opinion, whether it was staff or the Florida Bar,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just didn\u2019t get the momentum it needed, but I\u2019m confident that if I\u2019m on the Senate side, that we\u2019re going to get it to move. And I\u2019ll find a good House sponsor who can help me with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Then there was HB 819<\/a><\/strong>, which would require landlords in Florida to provide air conditioning to tenants. State law now only calls for such accommodations for heating.<\/p>\n Neither Grieco\u2019s bill nor its Senate companion<\/a><\/strong>, which Pizzo carried, saw a single hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a no-brainer, winner-winner-chicken-dinner bill,\u201d Greico said of the measure. \u201cIt\u2019s such low-hanging fruit \u2014 nonpartisan.\u201d<\/p>\n Likely a bit more controversial, HB 193<\/a><\/strong> would have ordered the Department of Health and Board of Medicine to study the alternative therapeutic applications of psilocybin, ketamine and MDMA in treating depression, chronic pain and a host of psychological maladies.<\/p>\n In August, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of psilocybin<\/a><\/strong>, the psychoactive ingredient in so-called \u201cmagic mushrooms,\u201d in a drug trial for treatment-resistant depression.<\/p>\n However, the bill, which Grieco admits to having plagiarized from legislation that is now law in Texas<\/a><\/strong>, received no hearing in the House. Its Senate twin<\/a><\/strong> by Book saw a similar fate.<\/p>\n \u201cFeel free to Texas my Florida on this one,\u201d Greico said. \u201cAll we\u2019re asking is for them to send it to the universities and say, \u2018Let\u2019s study this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Grieco also plans to bring back a bill he most recently filed for the 2021 Legislative Session (HB 63<\/a><\/strong>) that would require every public school to have bleed control kits. The kits, also known as emergency trauma packs, are a kind of first aid kit that include trauma dressing, gauze, chest seals, coagulation material and tourniquets to help stop serious bleeding.<\/p>\n In February, every public school in Miami Beach<\/a><\/strong> received \u201cStop the Bleed\u201d kits \u2014 something Grieco said he had a hand in making happen.<\/p>\n \u201cI helped get them into our feeder pattern<\/a><\/strong>, and they\u2019ve got them in every classroom in our high schools,\u201d he said. \u201cI also have the American College of Surgeons who are willing to train the entire state for free to get these in all the schools.\u201d<\/p>\n One new bill Grieco plans to file next Session would safeguard women from having their DNA used against them following a sexual assault.<\/p>\n In February, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin <\/strong>went public with claims that California crime labs were using DNA from sexual assault survivors to investigate unrelated crimes \u2014 an \u201copaque practice<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d in Bodin\u2019s words, that advocates said could make victims of rape less willing to come forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI would consider either running a standalone piece of legislation or making sure that it was included in some sort of criminal justice package to ensure that law enforcement would not be able to violate a woman\u2019s privacy by using her own DNA in a rape kit and potentially prosecute her for some unrelated crime,\u201d Grieco said.<\/p>\n Grieco said the Legislature \u201cdropped the ball\u201d this last Session on condo reform, a glaringly urgent issue in the wake of Surfside. He\u2019ll file a bill to address that, he added, as well as related problems like property insurance.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the issues I want to address are nonpartisan issues, and they shouldn\u2019t be ignored just because a Democrat wants to be their champion,\u201d he said. \u201cIf Republicans don\u2019t want to carry water on property insurance, condo reform and condo safety, and if they want to continue with these red meat, culture war bills going into next year, they\u2019re going to find me standing directly in their way.\u201d<\/p>\n A self-described moderate Democrat, Grieco contends that the majority of voters would be hard-pressed to identify which political party he belongs to solely based on his legislative and voting record.<\/p>\n But despite that, or perhaps because of it, he said, much of the GOP is afraid of him and legislators like him, including Book, Pizzo and West Park Sen. Shevrin Jones<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re reasonable, moderate, sharp and good at debating, and I think we scare the crap out of them because we represent our party pretty damn well not only on the Senate and House floor but out in public,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you hear things about the far-left Democrats and socialism \u2014 you can\u2019t call me a socialist, and you sure as hell can\u2019t say I\u2019m trying to defund the police and a bunch of other crap they\u2019re trying to paint Democrats with.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019ll be the first to run toward the fire when it comes to certain issues, especially when it comes to the LGBT community, criminal justice reform and issues like that. My reputation precedes me and is carried with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking another shot at his November opponent, Greico added that he\u2019s also responsive to the public and not afraid to take criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cIleana Garcia, she\u2019s got a lot of numbers blocked \u2014 there are a lot of members of the lobbying corps whose calls go straight to voicemail and don\u2019t get returned,\u201d he said. \u201cShe locked her door for the last month of Session, and she deleted her Twitter account<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cI took my door off the hinges during my first two years in Tallahassee.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/floridapolitics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/fl-ea-thanks-mar2022-728x90-1.png\")
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