People line up at a Workforce Plus job fair in Tallahassee on Thursday. The state's unemployment rate rose to 9.4 %, the highest since 1976, after 75,000 Floridians lost their jobs in February. Nearly one in 10 or 874,000 are jobless. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

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About 300 people showed up in front of the state Capitol today to hear Stuart Milk, left, nephew of slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk, support several gay rights bills introduced in the legislature this year. The rally with Milk, of Broward County, was organized by Equality Florida.

Two of the proposed changes he wants the legislature to approve come from Palm Beach County lawmakers.

Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, has legislation (HB 413) that would let gay couples adopt children.

Rep. Kelly Skidmore and Sen. Ted Deutch, both Boca Raton Democrats, have companion bills (SB 2012 & HB 397) that would make it illegal to fire someone or deny them housing based on sexual orientation.

Brandenburg’s bill hasn’t received a committee hearing the past two years and probably won’t fair much better this year. Skidmore told the crowd today the gay rights bills have an uphill climb in the legislature.

A proposal from Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, to increase the tax on cigarettes from 34 cents to $1.34 per pack would generate $871 million for Florida next year, according to this estimate released Sunday.

The estimate is higher than Deutch’s estimate of about $600 million from the tax hike. And in the wake of dire budget numbers on Friday, the bigger number could increase pressure on House Republicans to support the proposal. (Support appears to be mounting in the Senate, according to this twitter from the Florida Association of Counties.)

Deutch, who wants to earmark the new money for health programs, sent out this press release this morning saying his proposal would “significantly narrow the gap in what the state collects annually from tobacco users ($430 million) versus what Florida spends on tobacco-related illnesses through the Medicaid program ($1.3 billion).”

“Everyone is looking for an acceptable recipe to address our budget crisis,” Deutch commented. “My bill is equal parts common sense and fairness, and more than 70 percent of Floridians consistently say they want this issue on the table.”

State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, is in Washington, D.C., this morning slated to testify on Iranian divestment at 10 a.m. before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade.

You’ve probably bookmarked the Financial Services Committee page already. But in case you haven’t, here’s the link, which will allow you to see a Webcast of Deutch’s testimony and download a copy of his prepared remarks.
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State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, says he’s been invited to testify on Capitol Hill next week on a federal bill aimed at helping states divest from companies that do business with Iran.

He’ll be addressing a House Financial Services subcommittee on Thursday.

Deutch led a successful Iranian divestment efforts in Florida in 2007.

The last two occupants of Deutch’s Senate seat — Democrats Robert Wexler and Ron Klein — are now members of Congress.