Tag Archives: Florida

Florida Supreme Court Has Until Monday To Rule On Abortion Rights And Legal Marijuana Ballot Measures

Florida Politics reports: The Florida Supreme Court must make a consequential decision between now and Monday, April 1, on whether to allow two significant ballot initiatives on the November 2024 ballot. Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the court to block the marijuana amendment from the ballot, but the scope of questions during the Supreme Court hearing suggested that several Justices …

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DeSantis-Appointed Board And Disney Settle Lawsuit

The Orlando Sentinel reports: A Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed board and Disney settled lawsuits Wednesday over who controls the governing district of Disney World’s theme parks and resorts. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s board voted to accept the deal, which ends much of the litigation between Disney and Florida officials. The agreement says development agreements and covenants approved by a …

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DeSantis Signs Bill Requiring Age Verification To Access Porn Sites, Banning Minors Under 16 From Social Media

The Tallahassee Democrats reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday signed into law sweeping social media restrictions that also requires age verification to access pornographic websites in Florida. The measure would take effect at the beginning of 2025 – if it survives expected lawsuits from the nation’s largest tech companies. In that case, minors under 16 would be barred from social media …

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Mayors And Community Groups Beg DeSantis To Veto Bill Erasing Local Oversight Of Airbnb And Vrbo Rentals

The Florida Phoenix reports: As lawmakers were winding down in the Capitol, Florida lawmakers finally passed a contentious bill that has irked local governments over the past decade — a proposal to give the state more power to regulate short-term vacation rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo platforms, which have changed the vacation landscape in a tourist-heavy state. But a …

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DeSantis Signs Bill Rolling Back Child Labor Laws

The Florida Phoenix reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Friday authorizing 16- and 17-year-olds to work more than 30 hours per week with their parent’s approval. The governor’s signing of HB 49, which had garnered criticism from workers’ advocacy groups early in the session, came without fanfare. In fact, his office announced the approval in a press release …

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DeSantis Denies Having Criminalized Homelessness

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending legislation he signed this week that bans people from sleeping in public, saying it doesn’t punish the unhoused, but helps them. “It’s not criminalizing homelessness. What they’re saying is you don’t have a right to just sleep in front of somebody’s business or you don’t have a right to just take over …

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NBC: Trump Is Considering Rubio As Running Mate

NBC News reports: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is moving up the list of former President Donald Trump’s potential vice presidential picks, according to six people familiar with the presumptive Republican nominee’s search for a running mate. Trump’s apparent seriousness about Rubio, 52, a third-term senator, hints at his priorities and presents an intriguing set of potential complications. The Constitution prohibits …

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DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Sleeping In Public Places

The South Florida SunSentinel reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill Wednesday that forbids homeless people from sleeping in public places and prevents local governments from allowing them to stay there unless the state authorizes them to do so. The governor was joined at a news conference announcing the signing by local South Florida leaders and representatives at Santorini …

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Scott: Canadian Politicians Are Not Welcome In Florida

Florida Politics reports: Florida often hosts so-called “snowbirds” from Canada during the winter months. But U.S. Sen. Rick Scott wants to clip the wings of Canadian elected leaders who may want to visit the state in the wake of a decision to ban arm sales to Israel amid its war with Hamas. “Canada is sending a clear signal of being …

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19% Of FL Republicans Vote Against Trump In Primary

Newsweek reports: Donald Trump suffered a blow in Tuesday’s primary in Florida, a state he only narrowly won in the 2020 presidential election, after thousands of Republicans refused to vote for him. While the former president won the primary with 910,857 votes, 81.2 percent of the overall share, some 197,000 people, or 17.8 percent, voted for either Nikki Haley or …

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Zieglers Sue To Block Release Of Rape Investigation

The Florida Trident reports: Former Florida GOP chairman Christian Ziegler and his wife Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota School Board Member and cofounder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, have filed a lawsuit seeking to bar the release of records involved in the husband’s criminal rape investigation. The once powerful Republican power couple sued the City of Sarasota and State …

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DeSantis: I Will Send Haitians To Martha’s Vineyard

Florida Politics reports: The return of Air DeSantis may be imminent. Gov. Ron DeSantis said some undocumented immigrants intercepted while attempting to land in Florida from Haiti may lead to a trip to New England for those refugees. “We do have our transport program also that’s going to be operational,” DeSantis said. “So Haitians who land in the Florida Keys, …

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Florida CFO: My Homeowners Insurance Is Up By 50%

Florida Politics reports: Another prominent Florida Republican is discussing his struggles dealing with surging property insurance rates in the Sunshine State. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis detailed the issue in a piece for the Florida Daily. “For all of Florida’s many blessings, however, you don’t have to be an actuary to know that when it came to our property insurance …

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Moms For Liberty To Oversee Book Bans In FL Schools

The Florida Times-Union reports: Some of Florida’s loudest advocates for public school book removals make up half of a state government-sponsored group to advise school districts on how to select titles and when to pull them off shelves. Moms for Liberty members made up three of six members of a Department of Education workgroup that met Thursday in Tallahassee to …

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Trump Attends Stolen Classified Docs Hearing In FL

CNN reports: Former President Donald Trump’s motorcade arrived at the courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, for the 10 a.m. ET hearing in the classified documents case. Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, has set apart an entire day to hear arguments on whether the prosecution should be thrown out on the basis of Trump’s claims about his presidential …

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DeSantis Gets Huge Loss In “Don’t Say Gay” Settlement

The Associated Press reports: Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction, under a settlement reached Monday between Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys who had challenged a state law which critics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” Under the terms of the settlement, the …

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21 Anti-LGBTQ Bills Dead After FL Legislature Adjourns

Truthout reports: At 2:27 p.m. on Friday, March 8, the Florida Legislature adjourned sine die. With this adjournment, 21 of 22 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were effectively killed, leaving an anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in education bill as the lone piece of legislation to pass this session. This session featured some of the most severe bills ever proposed against transgender individuals, …

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Multiple States Set To Place Chaplains In Public Schools

Axios reports: Conservative states are pushing to allow chaplains in public schools, in theory to help solve a persistent shortage of counselors. Since Texas introduced it own blueprint last year, allowing schools to use safety funds to hire chaplains who do not have the same licensing as counselors, similar bills have ricocheted across more than a dozen states including Florida, …

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DeSantis: Florida Has “Restored Sanity” On Measles

From Florida’s Department of Health: Today, Florida is providing an update on the measles outbreak in southeast Florida. Since January 2024, sixteen states have reported measles cases including: California, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Washington, Indiana, and Arizona. Unfortunately, the measles cases in Florida have received disproportionate attention for political reasons. The national medical health establishment and the media lost …

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FL Man Charged With Hate Crime Murder Of Gay Man

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Hillsborough County prosecutors charged a man with murder Friday, alleging that the fatal shooting of a gay man last month at the West Dog Park in Tampa was a hate crime. Gerald Declan Radford faces a second-degree murder charge in the Feb. 2 death of John Walter Lay. Friends of both men told the Tampa …

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