By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — After three hours of testimony from experts on Monday, the Republican head of a Florida Senate panel looking into mass violence and white nationalism suggested that increased background checks on gun sales might be the answer. “Probably the thing that makes the most sense, if […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis wants lawmakers to double fines for sewage spills into waterways and to lock an environmental-funding pledge into state budgets for at least the next three years. The proposals are the first of a series the governor said he will make ahead of […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — More millionaires are deciding how Florida tax dollars should be used and which laws should be passed. With all but three lawmakers in the 160-member Legislature filing annual financial-disclosure reports, the average net worth of state senators is $5.9 million, according to an analysis by […]
By Ana Ceballos, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis, state lawmakers and university officials on Monday bragged about Florida State University and the University of Florida moving up in the rankings of an annual report that grades the country’s top public colleges and universities. The news of the universities’ improved status […]
By The News Service of Florida Senate Republicans and Democrats filed separate legislation Wednesday to condemn white nationalism and white supremacy after high-profile incidents such as a mass shooting at a Walmart store in Texas. The proposed resolutions are filed for consideration during the 2020 legislative session, which will start in January. While the resolutions […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — An amendment to the Florida Constitution restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences does not require payment of “legal financial obligations,” as ordered in a state law passed this spring, plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the law argue in a new […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — When it comes to peddling influence, Brian Ballard has all the bases covered. He’s parlayed his reputation as one of the Florida Capitol’s most powerful lobbyists into a similar niche in Washington, D.C., where his clients range from the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance to Major […]
By Ana Ceballos, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Department of Education on Wednesday asked a Tallahassee judge to toss a lawsuit that seeks to have the state pay money to teachers that school districts deducted from bonuses. The lawsuit, filed last month, accused state officials of improperly instructing school districts to […]
The News Service of Florida Florida students in grades K-12 would be taught about child-trafficking prevention, under a rule proposed by state education officials. The intent of the rule is to have “every school in Florida be a ‘child trafficking free zone,’ ” according to the proposed regulation published by the Florida Department of Education […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In a final pitch to a Senate special master, former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel’s lawyer is insisting that the suspended law enforcement officer wasn’t to blame for two deadly mass shootings that led to his ouster by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year. The […]