By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Karen Leicht spent nearly three years in federal prison and three months on probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit insurance fraud in 2010. According to a judge and a former probation officer, Leicht’s sentence is over. But the Miami paralegal may never be […]
TALLAHASSEE — Florida House and Senate leaders will go into budget negotiations hundreds of millions of dollars apart on spending for the state’s public schools. House Republicans on Wednesday released an initial proposal that calls for a $579.3 million increase next year in the key part of the budget for public schools, a 2.75 percent […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida While focusing heavily on now-familiar priorities such as the environment and education, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday used his first State of the State address to emphasize a need to take “bold” action. In a 34-minute speech to lawmakers gathered in a joint session in the flower-filled […]
A political committee backing a proposed constitutional amendment that would increase the minimum wage in Florida is moving toward meeting an initial threshold for getting the measure on the 2020 ballot. The committee Florida For A Fair Wage, which is led by prominent Orlando attorney John Morgan, had submitted 55,284 valid petition signatures to the […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers will gather March 5 in the House chamber to hear Gov. Ron DeSantis give his first State of the State address, the traditional start of the 60-day legislative session. Led by Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, […]
By Ana Ceballos, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday he wants to create a new “equal opportunity” voucher program to eliminate a waiting list of about 14,000 low-income students seeking to use state-backed scholarships to attend private schools. The governor is asking lawmakers to create a “supplement” to the […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s orange crop forecast has held steady since the end of 2018, while projections for other types of citrus have been reduced. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, releasing January and February forecasts on Friday, reported Florida remains on pace to grow enough oranges to fill […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Four years after lawmakers started a controversial teacher-bonus program, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he wants to scrap the “Best and Brightest” program and plow nearly $423 million into a new effort to reward teachers and principals. The Best and Brightest program has faced opposition, […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In the first major demonstration of an ideological shift on the revamped Florida Supreme Court, justices Tuesday refused to consider an appeal in a Miami Beach minimum-wage lawsuit that a former liberal-leaning majority of the court had scheduled to hear next month. The move by […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Commission on Ethics released documents Wednesday supporting the panel’s unanimous finding of probable cause that Andrew Gillum, last year’s Democratic nominee for governor and a former Tallahassee mayor, violated ethics laws with trips to Costa Rica and New York and tickets to the […]