Florida News Archive

The city of Tallahassee filed a notice that is a first step in asking the Supreme Court to decide whether the constitutional amendment, which is designed to bolster crime victims’ rights, can apply to police officers who were threatened in use-of-force incidents. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal last month sided […]

The Florida Department of Education advised school districts they won’t be affected by two executive orders that Gov. Ron DeSantis issued Monday to block local governments’ COVID-19 emergency orders. One of the governor’s orders, Executive Order 21-101, effective July 1, mandates that “any emergency order issued by a political subdivision due to the COVID-19 emergency which restricts the rights or liberties of individuals or their businesses is invalidated.”

More than a decade after walking away from the governor’s office, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist launched a campaign Tuesday to try to unseat Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022.

Lawmakers during this year’s legislative session eliminated grants that help students at some private colleges pay tuition and got rid of an annual textbook stipend for Bright Futures scholarship recipients — but stopped short of upending the way the $650 million Bright Futures program is funded.

Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended all local-government coronavirus emergency orders on Monday as he signed a bill that makes permanent his ban on COVID-19 vaccine “passports” and limits the authority of cities and counties in future health-care crises.

“My message is that the vaccines protect you. Get vaccinated, and then live your life as if you are protected,” DeSantis said during an event at the Big Catch at Salt Creek, a St. Petersburg restaurant. “You don’t have to chafe under restrictions infinitum.”

From abortion restrictions to vacation rentals, many high-profile bills died Friday when the Florida legislative session ended. Here are 10 issues that did not make it through the Legislature:

An appeals court has upheld the murder conviction and life sentence of a Jacksonville man whose wife’s disappearance went unsolved for two decades before her remains were found by their son

Business lobbyists claimed victory Friday after the demise of a bill that would have given consumers more control over personal data collected by companies.

Florida lawmakers passed a $101.5 billion state budget Friday and ended a 60-day legislative session that gave Gov. Ron DeSantis many of his top priorities.

The House and Senate adjourned “sine die” — the traditional end of session — at 2:40 p.m. after a flurry of activity that included passing the budget and approving a repeal of the state’s no-fault auto insurance system and a revamp of the property-insurance system.

With minutes left in the 2021 legislative session, lawmakers on Friday reversed course on delaying the implementation of a law allowing student athletes at Florida colleges and universities to profit from their names and images — with a controversial addition.