Attention Honorable Gov. Ron DeSantis:

We the voters, demand that this Bill be signed into law. It is not only the RIGHT thing to do, it is the SMART thing to do. We are voters and we will push out the vote. We as voters on Election Day will not forget those who have forgotten our loved ones. The time is now for prison REFORM . It is not rehabilitation, it is a warehousing system. Where rehabilitation of prisoners is an extremely difficult process. If all of us are brutally honest, when we examine our lives, we have all encountered circumstances that could've lead us to  be wearing a DC number, but God’s Grace was sufficient for us, and these inmates also deserve our grace, mercy, and a second chance.

On September 19th, 2019 Representative Dianne Hart and Democratic Leader Kionne McGhee filed HB189 Retroactive Gain-Time Bill with a Reduction from 85% to 65%. 

Representative Hart issued the following statement:
"FDC suffers from gross overcrowding and consistent understaffing. HB 189 will focus solely on non-violent first time offenders. It is estimated by the Office of Economic and Demographic Research to save the State of Florida over $860 million across 5 years. That savings should go directly back into FDC funding initiatives."

Democratic Leader Representative McGhee added: 
"In 1998, we were promised a war on crime. As a result, Florida required inmates to serve 85% of their time. Years later, research has shown that the policy change failed to reduce recidivism. I agree that dangerous inmates must be punished. However, criminal justice reform should provide a second chance for nonviolent offenders to be rehabilitated."

The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is the largest state agency in Florida and the third largest state prison system in the country with a budget of $2.7 billion, approximately 96,000 inmates incarcerated, and nearly 166,000 offenders on active community supervision (probation). FDC has 145 facilities statewide, including 50 correctional institutions, seven private partner facilities, 17 annexes, 34 work camps, three re-entry centers, 12 FDC operated work release centers, 18 private work release centers, two road prisons, one forestry camp and one basic training camp.