By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Attorneys for the state acknowledged Tuesday that a 2021 Florida law that placed restrictions on social-media platforms posed “First Amendment problems” but urged a federal judge to reject a legal challenge that wound its way to the U.S. Supreme Court before being sent back to […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers late Friday approved barring students in elementary and middle schools from using cell phones during the school day — and testing the idea in high schools. Current law prevents students from using cell phones during instructional time, but the change would expand that […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Santa Ono, who has led the University of Michigan since 2022, is the sole finalist to become president of the University of Florida, UF announced Sunday. A presidential-search committee recommended that the UF Board of Trustees approve Ono after a search that began last year […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would make a series of changes related to charter schools, including allowing charter schools to have stricter codes of conduct than traditional public schools. The Republican-controlled House voted 86-25 along almost straight party lines to […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — The Florida House on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill that would prevent local governments from adding fluoride to water supplies and take aim at labeling of plant-based products as milk, meat and eggs. The Republican-controlled House voted 88-27 to pass the bill (SB […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — A special House committee will begin hearings this week to consider possible alternatives for asking Florida voters to cut property taxes. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, on Tuesday announced the creation of a select committee to look at potential property-tax changes that could go before […]
By The News Service of Florida Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, said Monday he hopes formal budget talks with the House can start later this week, with lawmakers finishing the spending package next week. Under such a scenario, Hooper said, lawmakers would take the weekend off before returning to Tallahassee. The Senate and the […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — State lawmakers often assert that their single required task to complete before the end of the annual 60-day legislative session is to approve a budget for the next fiscal year. But this year’s mission, slated to come to a close next Friday, will go into […]
By Dara Kam and Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In a stunning move less than a week before the scheduled end of the legislative session, Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo announced Thursday that he has left the Democratic Party and registered as a voter with no party affiliation. Pizzo, who was […]
By The News Service of Florida Marva Johnson, a Charter Communications executive and former member of the State Board of Education, is one of four finalists to become president of Florida A&M University, according to an announcement Tuesday. Johnson, who has worked as group vice president for Charter since 2020, served eight years on the […]