By The News Service of Florida U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Republican who has served in Congress for two decades, announced Tuesday he will retire. “I came to Congress to solve problems, to fight for working families and to help ensure this country remains a place where opportunity is available to everyone willing to work […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, was hospitalized Sunday after experiencing chest pain, with emergency physicians discovering a small blood clot in his lung, according to a memo sent Monday to senators. The memo said Albritton, 57, remained under observation at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital awaiting further testing. He […]
By Jim Turner, The Florida News Service With economic uncertainty “elevated,” state economists Friday increased general-revenue tax projections that lawmakers will use in crafting a state budget for the upcoming year. A panel of economists known as the Revenue Estimating Conference added a combined $572.5 million to projections made in August for the current 2025-2026 […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida Dealing a blow to supporters of a proposed recreational-marijuana constitutional amendment, an appeals court has rejected a challenge to directives by Secretary of State Cord Byrd to invalidate more than 70,000 petition signatures. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal on Friday issued a […]
By The Florida News Service First-time jobless claims in Florida decreased last week as the state prepares to release a December unemployment rate on Friday. The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 6,331 initial unemployment applications were filed last week in the state, down from a revised count of 7,146 during the week that […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida As the Florida Senate continues to ponder an approach to lowering property taxes, House committees on Thursday advanced two tax-cut proposals that could go before voters. The Republican-dominated House Ways & Means Committee voted mostly along party lines to approve a proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 203) that, […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida Amid opposition from a tech-industry group and a push by President Donald Trump for nationwide regulations, a proposed state “Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights” started moving forward Wednesday in the Florida Senate. With the issue a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee […]
By The News Service of Florida The Florida Citrus Commission could see a $1 million increase in revenue after a new forecast of this season’s citrus crop. The commission, which oversees the Florida Department of Citrus, increased revenue estimates Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its first forecast for the growing season, which […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida Proposals that would allow single-family homes on some property zoned for agriculture and make it more difficult for local governments to increase impact fees started to move forward Tuesday in the Florida Senate. The Senate Committee Affairs Committee approved two bills by Chairman Stan McClain, R-Ocala, that […]
By The News Service of Florida Florida motorists Tuesday paid an average of $2.75 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas, down 3 cents from a week earlier, according to the AAA auto club. The state average was down 15 cents from a month earlier and 43 cents from this time last year. The national […]