Couriel, 48, will succeed Justice Carlos Muñiz as chief justice, who has served in the role for two consecutive terms.

“I am grateful to my colleagues for their trust,” Couriel said in a released statement. He added that he is “indebted to the previous chief justices with whom I’ve served. I will do my best to serve the people of Florida as they so ably have.”

The chief justice is the administrative leader of not just the Florida Supreme Court but the entire state court system, helping to set the management and operational policies as well as the legislative and budget agendas for the judicial branch.

Before being appointed to the court in 2020 by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Couriel had never served as a judge. He grew up in Miami and earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from Harvard University.

Couriel worked as a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida and also practiced at a firm in New York and at Kobre & Kim LLP, a global firm with offices in Miami.

The rule would also give schools the discretion to consider students’ past misconduct in making admission decisions.

Under the proposal each board of trustees in the Florida College System would be require to “ensure that all students admitted to the Florida College System institution are citizens of the United States or lawfully present in the United States.”

Students would have to “provide clear and convincing documentation that he or she is a citizen of the United States or lawfully present in the United States,” before admission.

The documentation must also be “must be credible, precise, and compelling.”

A hearing on the proposed rule is set for May 14 at Miami Dade College.

The rule would only apply to Florida’s 28 state colleges, not to its 12 state universities.

An email seeking comment from the department was not immediately returned Thursday.

Another part of the rule allows state colleges to “deny admission or enrollment to an applicant because of misconduct if determined to be in the best interest of the Florida College System institution.”

The move comes after some Republican lawmakers sought to limit the amount of non-American students at public higher education institutions, even if they are in the country legally.

A sweeping House bill (HB 1279) sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Kincart-Johnson, R-Lakeland, initially had a provision putting a 5 percent cap on undergraduate admissions for non-Florida residents when it passed the House. But the Senate removed from the final version sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk.

Another bill (SB 1052) sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, prohibited all higher education institutions from admitting any non-citizen who wasn’t legally present in the country. That bill, however, was never heard in committee this year.

And a bill (HB 721) by Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, would have required schools to limit the number of enrolled students who are citizens of foreign countries and who are not permanent U.S. residents to a specified percentage of the enrolled student population.

That bill received one hearing and never made it to the House floor.

Florida has already passed legislation that repealed in-state tuition rates for approximately 6,500 immigrant students who were brought to the country illegally when they were children by their parents.

Also, legislation DeSantis signed into law last month allowing the state to designate groups as “domestic terrorists,” has another provision calling for the expulsion of students at state universities who “promote” support for such groups.

If a student’s actions can be “reasonably interpreted” as an actual threat of violence; disrupt the learning environment; infringe upon the rights of others; or offer “material support for or the recruitment of members for such an organization,” they can be expelled under the new law.

Florida’s special session on redistricting will be delayed one week, after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a proclamation Wednesday postponing it and reviving a couple of his priorities that failed during the regular legislative session.

The session was set to begin Monday, but DeSantis reset lawmakers’ return to Tallahassee to April 28, with the session lasting until May 1. 

His proclamation also asks lawmakers address two of his key issues that failed to win House support in the 2026 session: a bill expanding vaccine exemptions for public K-12 students; and legislation aimed at protecting consumers’ interactions with artificial intelligence.

When asked about a potential delay on Tuesday, DeSantis said he expected the issue to be addressed “One way or another … within the next two weeks.”

Senate President Ben Albritton, a Wauchula Republican, was quick to advise members of his chamber on Wednesday they will await map changes from DeSantis rather than draft their own.

“The Senate is not drafting or producing a map for introduction during the special session,” Albritton wrote in a memo to members shortly after DeSantis issued the proclamation. “It is our expectation … a proposal will be transmitted from the Governor’s Office to the Senate for our consideration.”

DeSantis’ office is expected to present his proposal to the Senate Rules Committee on April 28, the memo states.  

Albritton warned members that as in prior redistricting cycles, significant litigation has followed any new lines.

“We look forward to seeing the Governor’s proposed map,” House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said in a released statement. “The other issues mentioned in the proclamation will be evaluated once we have seen the draft legislation.”

The atypical mid-decade map changes are being pushed by the White House in an effort by Republicans to maintain control of the U.S. House in the upcoming mid-term elections.

DeSantis backed the vaccine proposal (SB 1756), that sought to expand exemptions for students to enter public K-12 schools and create a new “conscience” category for parents to opt out of immunizations.

The measure also would have required health care practitioners who administer vaccines to offer parents an alternative vaccine schedule and to provide parents with information about the benefits and risks of vaccines at the time of vaccination.

The bill also allowed pharmacists to provide ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug often prescribed for animals, over-the-counter to adults without a prescription. However, this part of the bill was not mentioned in the proclamation.

On the last day of the regular session on March 13, DeSantis held a press conference in Jacksonville and criticized the House for not considering the “AI Bill of Rights” and “Medical Freedom.”

“It seems to me you’re fumbling right on the goal line here,” DeSantis said about the vaccine exemption measure. “Punch it in for the touchdown and get it done. I know a lot of people in Florida really want to see these protections written into law.”

He then told the crowd: “It’s not going to be the last word on it.”

Parents’ rights advocates heavily supported the measure, but pediatricians and health care practitioners deemed it irresponsible, warning of the dangers the bill could cause.

The bill still stopped short of what DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo originally asked legislators to file for the 2026 session: repealing all vaccine mandates in the state.

DeSantis also pushed for an “AI Bill of Rights,” which passed the Senate but failed to move in the House, where Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, preferred the issue to be handled at the federal level, backing an executive order issued by President Trump to block state-level AI laws.  

The bill (SB 482) seeks to establish a right for parents to control children’s interactions with AI chatbots. The proposal also declared that people have a right to know when they’re communicating with a human or an AI system or chatbot, and set rules about the unauthorized use of people’s names, images or likenesses.

The measure also says people have a right to know whether political advertisements were created in whole or in part with the use of artificial intelligence and would prohibit government agencies in Florida from contracting with AI firms tied to what is known as a “foreign country of concern,” such as China or Russia.

In his memo, Albritton stated senators will file identical versions of the bills during the special session.

The Supreme Court of Florida released its February results for the Florida Bar exam, with nearly 62 percent of takers passing the test.

Across Florida, 332 out of 537 first-time test takers made the cut.

Florida State University had the highest percentage of students passing the test, with six out of seven succeeding.

Florida International University had the second-highest passing rate, with 17 out of 21 students (81 percent), and Ave Maria University came in third with five out of seven students making the grade (71 percent).

In last place was the University of Miami with 11 out of 28 students passing (39 percent). 

Gov. Ron DeSantis could push back the special session on congressional redistricting, he said Tuesday.

DeSantis originally called the session to produce new maps for the U.S. House in an unusual mid-decade redistricting in January and it’s scheduled to start Monday.

“I haven’t made any decisions on that but the answer is it’s possible you could do a little tweak, but you can’t really push it very far,” DeSantis told reporters in Tallahassee at a bill signing event.

His remarks came after Punchbowl News reported earlier on Tuesday DeSantis was considering delaying the redistricting session, tying it to Virginia’s referendum next week on whether to move forward with redistricting in the Democratic-controlled state.

DeSantis said he had “no idea what the relevance of Virginia” has to Florida’s redistricting decisions.

Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2010 banning partisan gerrymandering, but President Donald Trump has urged lawmakers in Republican-controlled states to redraw their maps to give the GOP an advantage heading into the midterm elections in November.

Republicans hold a 216-213 advantage over Democrats in the U.S. House and a small wave of Democratic wins could give them control of the chamber in 2027.

Democrats have decried DeSantis’ redistricting push as a partisan power grab, but after a swathe of Democratic wins in special elections in recent weeks, including two state legislative districts in Florida, some Republican members of Florida’s congressional delegation are warning against passing an aggressive new map.

The main reason DeSantis gave for convening the redistricting session is a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on a case involving Louisiana he believes will knock down part of the Voting Rights Act that allows districts to be drawn for racial reasons, to address historic discrimination.

DeSantis thinks the decision will implicate some South Florida districts, but the ruling hasn’t been issued yet. Last week he said the lack of a ruling wouldn’t affect Florida’s timing on redistricting.

“We know how that Supreme Court case is going to come out at this point, I don’t think theres much of a dispute about that,” DeSantis said last week. “And I think Justice Alito is writing the opinion. So us looking at our map, understanding the issues in that case and fixing it, I think that’s appropriate whether the decision comes before we do it or after.”

Any new map passed would likely be subject to lawsuits, but whether it would be blocked by the courts before the November elections is unclear.

One major question hanging over the session: who will produce the new district map?

House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, convened a select committee on redistricting last year but after two meetings in December the panel stopped meeting and hasn’t worked on any maps.

Neither has the Senate moved forward with any new districts.  

A spokeswoman for DeSantis didn’t return an email Tuesday asking whether his office was drafting new maps.

“Ultimately they’re going to have to consider maps,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “That will be done one way or another.”

Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia pulled in more than $1.2 million in the first quarter as he seeks a full term in the Cabinet office to which he was appointed last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Ingoglia raised $271,063 through his personal campaign account and the political committee Friends of Blaise Ingoglia picked up $954,181, according to first-quarter numbers posted on the Division of Elections website.

As of March 31, Ingoglia had just over $5.1 million on hand as the contest awaits the formal qualifying period from noon, June 8 to noon, June 12.

Ingoglia, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, is one of four Republicans with active campaign accounts for the statewide office, although two — Rep. Kevin Steele, R-Dade City, and Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota — aren’t considered to be running.

In February, Steele announced he would drop his CFO campaign and seek re-election to his Pasco County House district. He has yet to open the House District 55 account, which has attracted two Republican candidates.

Gruters became chairman of the Republican National Committee last August and is no longer actively campaigning for the CFO post. The quarterly report he filed listed no contributions and $48,500 in spending, including $10,000 on advertising and $20,000 for consulting.

The fourth Republican, Frank Collige, the owner of Property Pros Consulting from Glen St. Mary, reported raising $350 during the quarter. He has now raised $14,035.

John Daniel Smith of Winter Park, running without a party affiliation, hasn’t submitted a finance report since opening a campaign account on Oct. 15.

No Democrat has filed for the office that opened last spring when former CFO Jimmy Patronis successfully ran for a congressional seat.

DeSantis appointed Ingoglia, a former legislator, to the Cabinet office in July, where he has helped lead DeSantis’ push to lower property taxes by highlighting local government spending.

For the quarter, Ingoglia’s personal account included $67,637 from real estate, construction and development interests, $17,500 from the insurance field and $31,000 from political committees. The Republican Party of Florida also provided $166,455 through in-kind assistance for staffing and consulting.\

The Friends of Blaise Ingoglia political committee drew in $313,000 from various political organizations, $145,910 from construction and real estate interests, and $72,000 from the insurance field.

Lawmakers remain in a holding pattern, with no concrete progress made on the budget. Legislative leaders issued memos to members saying they won’t need to return to the Capitol next week because there’s no agreement on allocations – top line numbers for the spending plan.

When talks between the House and Senate to allocate funding for different parts of the fiscal year 2026-2027 spending plan crashed in early March, requiring extra time for budget talks for the second consecutive year, a general “mid-April” timeline was given for the return.

That led many to anticipate lawmakers to take up the process on April 13, with the work overlapping the five-day special session Gov. Ron DeSantis called for congressional redistricting that begins April 20.

On Wednesday, April 8, House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, sent separate memos telling lawmakers no deal on allocations has been reached and they aren’t ready to begin formal negotiations.

“While I believe we are making great progress, it will not be necessary for you to return to Tallahassee prior to the special session called by Governor DeSantis,” Albritton wrote. “We will share a schedule for that special session as soon as possible.”

Perez called “external speculation” of a special session next week “not accurate.”

The special session for congressional redistricting is still moving forward, although the motivating reason DeSantis gave for calling the session hasn’t come to pass.

DeSantis cited a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on a Louisiana redistricting case as the primary reason to redraw Florida’s congressional districts.

He believes the ruling, when it comes, will strike down part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that allows districts to be drawn on racial grounds to address historic discrimination. That would require, DeSantis claims, the state to redraw some districts in South Florida.

Despite the lack of a ruling, though, DeSantis doesn’t think lawmakers need to wait.  

“We know how that Supreme Court case is going to come out at this point. I don’t think there’s much of a dispute about that,” DeSantis said while at a bill signing event at the University of South Florida. “And I think Justice Alito is writing the opinion. So, us looking at our map, understanding the issues in that case, and fixing it, I think that’s appropriate whether the decision comes before we do it or after.”

“It’ll obviously come sometime between now and the end of June,” DeSantis added.

Florida’s orange production forecast looks a little brighter this quarter.

Compared to January’s citrus forecast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s April production forecast for oranges rose by 2%. 

The increase in oranges represents 200,000 more boxes, from January’s projected 12 million boxes to April’s 12.2 million. If the forecast comes true, the 2025-2026 harvest will result in 1% less production than the previous season, which produced 12.28 million boxes. 

In 2023-2024, the state produced more than 18 million boxes. In 2004, the state produced more than 240 million boxes of oranges. The decline over the years is attributed largely to citrus greening and severe weather.

Three hurricanes battered Florida in the second half of 2024, putting, at the time, expected agricultural losses near $1 billion. 

This quarter’s grapefruit forecast production is up by 4%, putting expected production at 1.25 million boxes. Lemon production is up by 29%, with expected production at 900,000 boxes. Tangerine and tangelo production is up by 13%. 

In early 2026, the state experienced freezing temperatures. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson estimated those freezes could drop agricultural production by $3 billion. Those losses included citrus, tomatoes, strawberries, watermelons, sugarcane, greenhouse plants, and more. 

The freezes happened Dec. 30-Jan. 1 and Jan 26-Feb. 4. During which, 66 of 67 counties in the state experienced multiple hours of freezing temperatures.

Florida A&M University has announced plans for the ceremonial investiture and accompanying events for President Marva Johnson, who was selected as the 13^th president of the historically Black public university nearly a year ago.

The school posted online that the celebration will be held under the name “FAMU Forward, Advancing Excellence” on April 20 and 21.

The formal ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. on April 21 in the Lee Hall Auditorium.

The Board of Trustees voted 8-4 for Johnson on May 16, 2025.

A Charter Communications executive and former chairwoman of the State Board of Education, Johnson was one of four finalists for the job.

At the time, some alumni and students questioned her qualifications and ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Proponents of Johnson, who is Black, argued that she would be well-placed to advocate for funding from the state Legislature and that the university needed to adapt to an evolving landscape in higher education.

Colorado State University researchers on Thursday projected a “somewhat below-normal” Atlantic hurricane season.

The school’s forecast models predict 13 named storms, instead of 14 to 15 in an average year, six hurricanes instead of seven, and two reaching major storm strength instead of three.

The research based their model on waters being slightly cooler than normal in the eastern and central tropical Atlantic and for currently weak La Niña conditions to likely transition to El Niño in a few months.

“We anticipate El Niño being the dominant factor for the upcoming hurricane season, driving increased levels of tropical Atlantic vertical wind shear,” the researchers posted online.

Vertical wind shear usually helps weaken or disrupt storms.

The model still shows sea surface temperatures in the western tropical Atlantic warmer than normal, as has been the case in recent years.

The storm season runs from June 1 to November 30.

The meteorological company AccuWeather previously predicted 11 to 16 named storms for 2026, with four to seven reaching hurricane strength.

The AccuWeather forecast also included the potential development of El Niño weather phenomenon conditions, which would limit tropical activity to near or below historical average levels, especially in the second half and climatological peak of the season.

Last year, the Atlantic produced 13 named storms and five hurricanes, with four reaching Category 3—winds of 111 mph to 130 mph, and storm surge of 9 feet to 12 feet above normal tide.

None of the 2025 storms, though, made a direct landfall in Florida or the U.S. 

From 2022 to 2024, Florida took direct hits from six hurricanes, including four that were Category 3 or stronger.

AccuWeather, one of several outfits that will release outlooks for the season, included in its forecast the potential for three to five of the named systems to directly affect the U.S.

Florida’s unemployment rate ticked up in January to 4.5 percent, a jump of 0.2 percent from December, data released Wednesday from the Department of Commerce show.

The state added 23,800 private sector jobs over the month, but the trend for the last 12 months shows the state still down 9,000 positions.  

While jobs in education and health services, along with manufacturing, increased in the past year, all other major industry sectors shed jobs. Financial activities lost 9,200 positions, construction lost 8,800 jobs, and leisure and hospitality lost 4,800 workers. 

The monthly report comes a day after Gov. Ron DeSantis joined business leaders at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami to promote the Texas Stock Exchange.

The event touted the region from Texas to Florida as an economic “Boom Belt,” attracting job creators and young workers.

In brief remarks, DeSantis talked of the “very healthy competition” Florida has for business with states including Texas, Tennessee and Georgia.

“That’s been really, really good, not just for the people of our individual states, but for the region as a whole,” DeSantis said. “We’ve shown a great framework for how you can succeed and really grow your economies and give people more opportunities.”

The January figure represents 499,000 people qualified as out of work from a labor force of 11.12 million.

The number of people out of work is 20,000 higher than revised December figures. Meanwhile, the workforce declined by 7,000 in the same month-to-month comparison.

The jobless mark is also 1 percentage point higher than a year earlier.

The January report follows the annual “benchmarking” process at the state and federal level that includes a revision of historical data.

Even with the revisions, the U.S. Department of Labor noted that Florida was the only state with any unemployment rate change in January.

The national rate currently stands at 4.3 percent, reflecting mid-March conditions. A year earlier, the U.S. rate was at 4 percent.

Florida’s rate was at 3.7 percent in July and has now grown in five consecutive reports. There was no October report due to a federal government shutdown.

The health care sector is adding the most jobs, gaining 38,000 over the last 12 months.  

Manufacturing, up by 4,300 over the month, had an increase of 800 positions over the past year.

In the area of trade, transportation, and utilities, the number of jobs was down 6,200 for the year. But while retail lost 14,700 positions, wholesale trade jobs were up 2,700 for the year and transportation, warehousing, and utilities jobs were up 5,800.

Also, under financial activities, all 9,200 positions lost in the past year were in finance and insurance. There was no change reported in jobs tied to real estate.

Among the decline in leisure and hospitality jobs, 17,000 were tied to hotels and food service jobs. Jobs involving arts, entertainment and recreation were up 12,900 over the year.

The state also reported that while local governments added 3,000 workers in the past year, state government jobs declined by 2,100 and positions with the federal government were down 12,500.

For the metropolitan regions across the state, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area maintains the lowest unemployment rate at 3.9 percent.

Next lowest was the Orlando region at 4.9 percent, followed by Naples, Tallahassee and the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater regions each at 5.1 percent.

The region that includes Wildwood and The Villages had the state high of 9 percent, with Homosassa Springs at 7.5 percent and Sebring at 7 percent.

House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, sent separate memos to their members alerting them they won’t need to travel to Tallahassee next week.

When the regular session ended March 13 without a budget deal, “mid-April” was eyed as a likely time to return for lawmakers.

But discussions between the chambers on allocations – top line budget numbers – that are needed to embark on formal negotiations on the final spending plan, have so far failed to result in an agreement.

“While I believe we are making great progress, it will not be necessary for you to return to Tallahassee prior to the special session called by Governor DeSantis. We will share a schedule for that special session as soon as possible,” Albritton wrote in his memo.

Perez called “external speculation” of a special session next week “not accurate.”

“When we have an update on the timing of the budget, we will notify you,” Perez stated.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has already called a special session for the week of April 20 to redraw congressional districts.

During the regular session budget talks stalemated largely on the overall size of the spending plan. The House preferred a cut from the current budget and passed a $113.6 billion proposal, while the Senate passed a $115 billion plan.

A budget must be in place by July 1, the start of the fiscal year, to avoid a partial state government shutdown.