By GARY PINNELL

SEBRING — Restaurants will have until 2008 before they’re required to post trans fat warnings.

But a Sebring restaurant owner says, “We’ll need some help.”

The House Business Regulation Committee let Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, work on a bill that would force restaurants to alert customers when foods contain trans fats. It will be taken up next year.

HB 309 would require restaurants to post this general warning in a conspicuous location: “Some foods served here contain trans fats. Eating foods with trans fats can increase your risk of stroke and heart attack.”

Gibbons says his plan would empower customers.

But Reba Hendry, co-owner of EJs Cafe, said most cooked food has trans fats.

“We can’t keep it from coming from our suppliers,” said Hendry, a nurse by profession.

Which is what lawmakers learned. Virtually every restaurant in the state serves at least one dish with trans fats, so all would have to post the warning. Some lawmakers were concerned businesses would be subject to inappropriate criminal penalties, mandated by the bill.

The biggest restaurant chains are still frying French fries, chicken nuggets, and other fast foods with partially hydrogenated oils, according to a survey conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It’s also in baked goods. For instance, a Kentucky Fried Chicken pot pie has 14 grams of trans fat; Taco Bell’s Nachos BellGrande has seven grams.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association opposes the bill. A spokesman said many restaurants are already eliminating trans fats in their cooking oil, and they’re informing customers about those fats.

A more helpful warning would be the exact amount of trans fats in each food, but Hendry said, “It would take a scientist to sit down and calculate how much.”

She wouldn’t be opposed to the bill if the state health department would supply general numbers for, say, for a 6-ounce serving of French fries or a quarter-pound cheeseburger.

Vocational Education

School districts would have a financial incentive to create career and professional academies that train students to meet the needs of Florida employers under a bill that passed the Senate 33-4.

SB 1232 was sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and is patterned after a program he established when he was Okaloosa County’s school superintendent in cooperation with local employers.

Districts would get about $1,200 – the current year figure under an existing funding formula – for every student who successfully completes the program and receives industry certification.

It’s unclear whether community colleges would also receive the benefit, said Norman Stephens Jr., president of South Florida Community College. He met with legislators this earlier this week, but he didn’t recall SB 1232 being mentioned.

“Every time we link the interests and aptitudes of a student with preparation for a high-demand career, we’re building Florida’s future,” Gaetz said in a statement.

Opponents were worried the bill would force school districts to shut down programs that fail to get national industry certification. Gaetz assured them it would not and offered an amendment the Senate adopted to further that assurance.

Communications Tax Cut

The House unanimously passed a bill that will lower taxes on the use of cell phones, cable, satellite systems and other communications devices.

The House voted 112-0 to pass HB 567, which would cut taxes by $60 million for those who use the devices by July 2009.

“Florida’s current tax is the third highest in the country,” Gov. Charlie Crist said in a statement. “This legislation is the first step to significantly reduce this tax burden on the people of Florida.”

A companion measure in the Senate has not yet been heard in committee.

“That would be a benefit to our customers,” said Jeff Mechlin. Avon Park District communications manager for Embarq. “It affects almost everyone in Florida.”

However, he didn’t believe the bill would affect land lines – telephones which are connected by wires.

Smoke And CO Alarms

The families of Anthony Perez and Janelle Bertot urged House members to pass proposed legislation that would require every residence in Florida to have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors by July 2009.

HB 483 would also mandate detectors in all new construction starting this July.

Perez, 25, and 19-year-old Bertot were killed two years ago by carbon monoxide, an odorless gas, inside a car in Weston.

Janelle’s mother, Barbara Bertot, said statistics show most homes in Florida do not have carbon monoxide detectors.

Anthony’s sister, Jennifer Perez, said her family remains devastated by her brother’s death and she believes the bill would prevent other families from losing loved ones.

The House Business Regulation Committee approved the proposal. It now heads to the full House chamber for debate.

Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Lake Placid, said smoke detectors were removed from the amended bill Carbon monoxide detectors must be installed in newly constructed and existing single-family dwellings, multi-family dwellings and rental properties. Lodges must install carbon monoxide devices in machine rooms.

DeSoto City resident Malena Pack and her five-month-old daughter Jenna were saved by a smoke detector.

“They would have been gone,” said her mother, Cyndee Pack. “It would have been a quickie. Mobile homes, they’re just like kindling.”

Home Depot sells a combination smoke and carbon monoxide detector for $44.

“I don’t care if it’s $500. What’s a life worth?” Pack asked rhetorically.

The Associated Press contributed to this report