Days after Florida lawmakers passed legislation that would require local law-enforcement agencies to fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez offered support for a federal immigration program launched Monday.
Florida lawmakers late Friday passed legislation that would require police, hotel employees and massage-parlor workers to get training in how to recognize signs of human trafficking.
Seeking to carry out a November constitutional amendment, the Florida Senate on Thursday passed a measure that would require repayment of financial obligations before felons’ voting rights could be restored, an issue that’s been a sticking point as lawmakers grappled with one of this year’s most controversial pieces of legislation.
Florida lawmakers have approved new rules for plastic surgery centers, which have been loosely regulated despite the deaths of patients. The House on Wednesday gave final approval to a measure (SB 732) that would require plastic surgery centers to register with the state health department.
The Florida Senate could eliminate controversial proposals about charter schools and hospitals from a tax package that was approved last week by the House.
For the second time this legislative session, the House on Wednesday sent a strict “sanctuary city” bill to the Senate, where Senate President Bill Galvano has already said he plans to make changes and bounce the issue back to the House.
The House early Wednesday substituted its proposed sanctuary-city ban for a Senate version of the bill. Before the House decision, Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine, said such a move could potentially send the “whole thing up in flames.”
With almost no debate, the Florida Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a measure that would raise the minimum age to buy tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21. The Senate proposal (SB 1618) also includes a provision that would ban local governments from passing ordinances dealing with the minimum age.
A Tallahassee-based appeals court will hear arguments June 11 in a battle about whether lawmakers and the Florida Department of Health violated a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana. The 1st District Court of Appeal issued an order Monday scheduling the oral arguments.
The bill would authorize three programs --- the Canadian Prescription Drug Importation Program in the state Agency for Health Care Administration; the International Prescription Drug Importation Program in the Department of Business and Professional
The Florida Senate on Friday overwhelmingly passed a measure that could lead to more underground power lines, as backers point to massive outages in recent years after hurricanes hit the state. The bill, approved 37-2, would create a new process for utilities to pass along costs to customers for storm-protection projects such as installing underground power lines.
A proposal backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to ban “fracking” in Florida appears dead for this legislative session. Sen. Ben Albritton, a Wauchula Republican who sponsored a fracking-ban bill (SB 7064), said Thursday evening he doesn’t think the measure has much of a chance of passing with just more than a week remaining in the 60-day session
The Senate on Thursday prepared a controversial sanctuary-city measure for passage after making changes that included giving the governor authority to remove any official who fails to comply with federal immigration law.
In one of the most-divisive issues of the 2019 legislative session, the House on Wednesday approved a plan for carrying out a constitutional amendment designed to restore the voting rights of felons who have fulfilled the terms of their sentences.
“Ms. Mott argued that expulsion was not appropriate, particularly given the absence of any prior drug violations, but the board stated that expulsion for the remainder of the school year was the least punishment they
After a long and fiery debate about how the state should deal with illegal immigration, the Florida House on Wednesday passed legislation that seeks to crack down on local governments that do not fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed his first death warrant, with an execution scheduled May 23 for Tampa-area serial killer Robert Joseph Long, according to documents posted on the Florida Supreme Court website. Long was sentenced to death in the May 1984 murder of Michelle Simms after picking her up on Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa.
TALLAHASSEE --- In search of a solution that will prevent another school massacre, a sharply divided Florida Senate on Tuesday passed a wide-ranging school safety bill that includes a controversial provision aimed at adding armed teachers to the line of defense.
