Looking ahead to this week

Ted Deutch, member, U.S. House of Representatives

President’s Trump’s mass deportation plans will rip families apart, remove mothers from their children, and round people up for swift deportation. Rather than focusing on dangerous criminals, Trump’s cruel plan offers no exemptions, including for longstanding law-abiding immigrants with American children. This plan will leave businesses without workers and children without parents. Instead of using our limited resources to build new detention facilities and construct a ludicrous border wall, we should be working to fix our immigration system with precision and humanity, not callousness and a bulldozer.

Katy Sorenson, past president, Good Government Initiative, University of Miami

It’s encouraging to see two of our local Republican members of Congress, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Carlos Curbelo, starting to resist. With close ties to the immigrant community, they understand that Trump’s immigration policies harm families. They have also spoken out against the mistreatment of transgender children. I know them both and believe they are honorable people, and I respect them even though I disagree with many of their public policy positions. I hope they will lead their colleagues to oppose other Trump actions, and to find a solution to the health care dilemma that affects so many of their constituents.

Marty Kiar, Broward County Property Appraiser

Florida’s school districts are not required to provide recess to students. Senate Bill 78, filed by Sen. Anitere Flores, passed its first legislative committee. If passed into law, it would require school districts to provide for at least 20 minutes of recess each day to students in grades K-5. Providing students a short recess break between their rigorous academic schedule helps them better focus and feel more positive about the school day. Recess also has the added benefit of ensuring students receive needed exercise as well as opportunities to improve upon social skills such as taking turns and conflict resolution.

Burnadette NorrisWeeks, attorney, Austin Pamies Norris Weeks, LLC

Hats off to Bert Medina of WPLG-10 for launching a public campaign to abolish I-95 express lanes. The effort may be fruitless, but anyone who drives on I-95 knows that these lanes have made traffic conditions worse, not better. Often times, taking the express lanes means spending a small fortune. In the alternative, you can take the regular lanes and sit in traffic for twice as long as you did before the express lanes were constructed. Seeing multiple accidents during one trip has become commonplace. Something must be done to put

people above profits.

Paul Castronovo, host, Paul Castronovo Show

The Academy Awards are here and for the first time in a long time, I’ve actually seen two of the movies. They increased the number of Oscar nominees from five to between eight and 10, so they could highlight pictures we’ve actually seen. Well, it’s not working out that way — 55 percent of America hasn’t seen any of the films nominated. Would it kill them to nominate a “Star Wars” movie, just once? “Rogue One” was incredible, but instead you get “Manchester by The Sea.” I don’t want to cry at the movies. For my money, “Hell or High Water” was excellent, and better win.

Eleanor Sobel, former member, Florida Senate

Cover stories in the New York Times: “98-year-old takes marijuana pill in nursing home.” “Pot eases the way through pregnancy.” Marijuana is used more than most realize — medicinally and recreationally. The Florida Department of Health has offered a rule which is a place holder. The Legislature has several bills ranging from granting a monopoly to the current license holders to a free market proposal. And the cities have put into place temporary ordinances that reflect fear that the marijuana industry will be clones of pill mills. Time to implement the will of the people. Time to use common sense.

Tim Ryan, member, Broward County Commission

Local governments wouldn’t be able to pass any new business regulations without state permission, under a bill advancing in the Florida Legislature. Under House Bill 17, existing laws affecting business would also expire in 2020 unless specifically allowed by state law. Laws like Broward County’s Human Rights Ordinance which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity could disappear, along with local environmental and anti-wage theft protections. Cities and counties are the closest and most responsive governments to the people. This “super preemption” of local government control is an overreach, and should not be passed.

Mike Ryan, mayor, Sunrise

Public transportation is one potential solution to our traffic and infrastructure problems. However, the bus route for a college student to travel from Weston/Sunrise to Broward College Central Campus proves the problem. The fastest route is estimated to require over an hour and half in travel time and two bus changes. Most routes were closer to two hours and three bus changes. If you must ride the bus for a job, what a waste of valuable time. Perhaps such tortured trips are actually intended to encourage people to ride bikes since it would take less time to go that distance?