Florida News Archive

Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking the Florida Legislature to provide bonuses for public school principals and teachers, using $216 million in federal pandemic relief money earmarked for education. The governor is floating $1,000 bonuses for public school principals and classroom teachers in grades PreK-12, which he estimates would go to 3,600 principals and nearly 180,000 teachers throughout the state.

A Florida Senate panel Wednesday signed off on a proposal aimed at keeping most transgender females from participating in high-school and college sports, but the measure stops short of an all-out ban being considered by the House.

The House and Senate are advancing proposals that would create a public-records exemption for information about lawmakers, including their home addresses and phone numbers, but opponents question how the measures would interact with a requirement that lawmakers live in their districts.

A Northwest Florida attorney who drew national headlines by dressing as the Grim Reaper to criticize Gov. Ron DeSantis’ response to the coronavirus pandemic faces possible discipline after prosecutors filed a motion last week.

Lawmakers continued to move forward Tuesday with efforts to limit local-government emergency orders, despite arguments by Democrats that the proposals are a state overreach.

Proposals are moving through the Legislature that would allow Floridians to postpone jury duty for a year during public-health emergencies and states of emergency.

Over the past decade, Florida voters approved changes to the state Constitution that legalized medical marijuana, restored felons’ voting rights and directed more money to land and water conservation.

House and Senate budget leaders are eyeing cuts to higher education spending, but early recommendations would go about it in different ways.

Florida is considering legal avenues to challenge federal guidelines that keep passenger cruise ships from sailing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as efforts continue to convince the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lift restrictions.

With supporters saying the issue is about property rights, the Florida House on Friday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would allow people to carry guns at churches that share locations with schools. House members voted 76-37 to approve the measure (HB 259), sponsored by Rep. Jayer Williamson, R-Pace, and Rep. Cord Byrd, R-Neptune Beach.