By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Potential environmental impacts from a series of controversial toll-road projects could start to be known shortly after the start of the new year. Will Watts, chief engineer for the Florida Department of Transportation, said Wednesday that preliminary routes for the three projects will be based […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Vowing that the state won’t forget hurricane-damaged Northwest Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday made his first use of a controversial economic-development program by saying money will go to a pair of roads tied to workforce housing in Bay County. Marking the one-year anniversary of […]
By Ana Ceballos, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to raise the minimum salary of Florida teachers to $47,500, a proposal that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and likely will be a key issue during the upcoming 2020 legislative session. The governor had hinted for months that he […]
Former US Congresswoman Gwen Graham was asked to step down as the co-chair of Rebuild 850 due to her personal attacks lodged against Governor Ron DeSantis on Twitter. Rebuild 850 is a nonpartisan group focused on helping with the rebuilding effort after Hurricane Michael. Graham tweeted the news yesterday: “Yesterday, a friend called to tell […]
By The News Service of Florida Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, wants to prevent future constitutional amendments from including multiple topics. Rodriguez on Monday proposed a measure (SJR 396) that seeks to place a single-subject requirement on any amendment put forward by the state Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which meets every 20 years to […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Delivering a stunning blow to Gov. Ron DeSantis, a special master has recommended the Florida Senate reinstate suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, after finding the governor failed to prove allegations of neglect of duty and incompetence that sparked the law enforcement official’s suspension. After […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration wants to boost spending next year on a controversial economic-development program, while tourism-marketing money wouldn’t increase, according to budget requests rolled out last week. During meetings of House budget panels, state agencies outlined proposals that ranged from money to repair National […]
BY Ana Ceballos, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — A Republican lawmaker who helped Gov. Ron DeSantis deliver this spring on a key campaign promise to ban so-called sanctuary cities is non-committal about sponsoring legislation that would require businesses to check the immigration status of workers via the “E-Verify” system. Two months ago, Sen. […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida education czar Richard Corcoran bristles at being called a disrupter. He prefers the gentler label of “transformer,” a brand Corcoran burnished during his two-year tenure as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. As speaker, the Republican father of six pushed through a series […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — After three hours of testimony from experts on Monday, the Republican head of a Florida Senate panel looking into mass violence and white nationalism suggested that increased background checks on gun sales might be the answer. “Probably the thing that makes the most sense, if […]