By Ana Ceballos, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Private schools and Florida universities might see drops in enrollment as the coronavirus continues to hammer the economy, members of a panel focused on reopening the state’s education system said Wednesday. School-choice advocates said in a conference call they worry families might no longer be […]
The News Service of Florida Florida will be able to increase by 18,000 a day the number of COVID-19 tests that can be processed, after the state signed contracts with two additional testing companies, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday. DeSantis told reporters in Tallahassee that he anticipates the companies will be able to provide results […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In a move that would create a utility with customers from Miami to Pensacola, Florida Power & Light and Gulf Power plan to merge in 2022, their parent company, NextEra Energy, said Wednesday. NextEra, which has long included FPL, closed a deal in January 2019 […]
By Jim Turner, Christine Sexton The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — With hundreds of thousands of workers filing unemployment claims and businesses shuttered across the state, a task force created by Gov. Ron DeSantis began discussing ways Monday to revive the state’s economy from the coronavirus crisis. Officials from businesses such as Disney World, […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday shook up oversight of the state’s unemployment-compensation system, which has struggled with a massive surge in applications because of economic fallout from the novel coronavirus. DeSantis put Department of Management Services Secretary Jonathan Satter in charge of the troubled CONNECT […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — A Tampa Republican lawmaker on Friday called for an audit of the state’s overwhelmed unemployment-compensation system, as work was underway to finalize a paper version of the benefits application. Rep. Jackie Toledo, R-Tampa, wants the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee to audit spending on the Department […]
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he will issue an executive order calling for Floridians statewide to stay at home, a move that he had been resisting as other states took similar steps because of the novel coronavirus. Read order here. See the list of “Essential Businesses” here. The list is from an earlier Miami Order […]
By Christine Sexton, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said he is taking measures to prevent people from fleeing coronavirus “hotspots” and coming to Florida, where they could contribute to further spread of the virus. DeSantis said he will issue an executive order directing the Florida Department of Health […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In a far-reaching move to try to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday issued an executive order that blocks restaurants statewide from serving food in their dining rooms. The order will allow restaurants to sell food for carry-out and […]
By Jim Turner & Christine Sexton, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers finished the 2020 legislative session Thursday by passing a $93.2 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The Republican-dominated Legislature dealt with a wide range of issues during the session and grappled with uncertainty because of the […]