Florida legislators, led by Republican leaders, are considering changes (SB 524, HB 7067) to the absentee ballot verification process that has one critic calling the proposal “a recipe for disaster” and another implying the new rules are racist. Under current law, voters enclose completed mail-in ballots inside “secrecy” envelopes or sleeves before putting them inside another envelope […]
The Florida State House approved a ban on abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy Thursday morning, adding to the list of Republican-led states that have modeled legislation after the Mississippi law that has been challenged and is now awaiting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. HB 5, titled “Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality,” […]
By Ryan Dailey, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — As the House speaker decries a “fatherhood crisis” in the state, the House on Wednesday passed a wide-ranging measure that seeks to bolster fathers’ parenting skills. The House unanimously passed the measure (HB 7065), which deals largely with the Department of Children and Families and […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Legislature’s 60-day session reached its halfway point Wednesday. Here are snapshots of 10 big issues in the session: — ABORTION: The Republican-controlled House and Senate are moving forward with a proposal that would prevent physicians from providing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. […]
The City Walk Urban Mission filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Tallahassee on February 8, 2022. The lawsuit comes after the shelter’s permit application was denied some weeks ago. The denial of the permit meant that City Walk was operating out of compliance with city codes. City Walk ( plaintiffs) claims that the […]
TALLAHASSEE — A challenge to a controversial state law that bans transgender females from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams has been put on hold while another Florida case plays out in a federal appeals court. U.S. District Judge Roy Altman last week issued a stay in the challenge filed on behalf of a […]
The FBI tracking of hate crimes show that Florida hate crime incidents have decreased 23% from 2018 to 2020, while hate crimes in the United States have increased 14.4% during the same period. In addition, the state comparison data (2019) shows that Florida ranks 47th in hate crime incidents with 0.53 incidents per 100,000 population.The national rate […]
The Clay County School Board is being sued by parents that allege school officials hid their 12-year-old daughter’s mental health and gender identity issues for months – only informing them after the child attempted suicide in the school bathroom on two separate occasions. Clay County is located just southwest of Jacksonville. The father said he […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — With lawmakers preparing to craft a new state budget, economists estimated Friday that Florida will collect nearly $4 billion more in general-revenue taxes than had been expected over two years. The increased estimates come after federal stimulus money has helped fuel consumer spending and as […]
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) compared Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to Adolf Hitler, the infamous Chancellor of National Socialist controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. Fried claims that she has studied Hitler and how he came to power. “Instead of listening and trying to govern with the people, he’s trying to govern over […]