A coalition of states has filed a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s latest executive effort to forgive a portion of Americans’ student loan debt.
The lawsuit comes after Biden on Monday announced the plan, which the states in question say is an overreach of executive authority. The White House claims that Biden has so far canceled at least some of the debt for 4 million Americans, totalling $146 billion so far.
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In 2021, Joe Biden was elected after a bitterly fought campaign that deposed the incumbent Donald Trump. Democrats eventually captured, for a time, both the House and Senate, ensuring the most left-wing government in modern American history.
Americans were then set to witness a great experiment. For the first time in their lives, a truly radical socialist program would supposedly fundamentally transform the way America dealt with the border, immigration, the economy, race relations, foreign policy, energy, law enforcement, crime, education, and social questions such as religion, gender, abortion, and schooling.
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Vanderbilt University confirmed to The Tennessee Star on Wednesday that it is considering building a new campus in Florida.
“We are assessing an opportunity to expand Vanderbilt graduate programs in business and computing in South Florida,” Vanderbilt’s Senior Media Relations Specialist Julia Jordan told The Star. “We will share details as they become available.”
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The residents of Fort Pierce, Florida, are not accustomed to seeing dark SUVs and flashing motorcycles speed down the town’s main thoroughfare bordering the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Part beach getaway, part working class community, the city is located about 60 miles north of the luxurious Palm Beach estate of the most famous – and frequent –criminal defendant in recent history: Donald J. Trump.
The former president has become a regular visitor to the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, more specifically, the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon who is presiding over the so-called classified documents trial.
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Agents arrested 23 people in relation to a cartel-linked drug operation in Texas that dealt in cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and meth.
The arrests came after a five-year investigation that started in 2019. Prosecutors said the drug ring operated in the Houston and Galveston areas and was under the control of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
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The measure will need 60 percent support to take effect.
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday approved a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the Sunshine State, though it also upheld an existing ban on the procedure after 15 weeks.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations (CBP-AMO) agents and U.S. Coast Guard crews are seizing large quantities of cocaine attempting to be smuggled to the U.S. by boat.
In five recent operations, they seized nearly $290 million worth of cocaine totaling over 15,700 pounds. or nearly 8 tons – enough lethal doses to potentially kill more than 82 million people.
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Legislatures in 23 states and the District of Columbia have passed some form of a carbon-free electricity goal, but many of these measures do not address the ancillary costs of making it happen.
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State bars are coming under criticism for aggressively going after conservative attorneys and disciplining them, while looking the other way when it comes to legal abuses by left-wing attorneys. The Florida State Bar is pursuing disciplinary charges against decorated veteran Chris Crowley over remarks he made about his opponent Amira D. Fox in 2018 when he was campaigning against her for Office of the State Attorney in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit. Most state bars have an ethics rule, adopted from the American Bar Association’s model rules, that restricts attorneys from criticizing public officials, candidates for office, and judges.
A Florida attorney familiar with the case, who preferred not to be identified due to fear of retaliation, told The Arizona Sun Times, “The Florida Bar is now a political organization dominated by the progressive left. The Florida Bar picks and chooses which political speech to go after, depending on who is politically connected. This is a disgrace to the legal profession.” The source said Fox is part of the establishment.
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With just over 100 days to go before the Iowa caucuses, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is pumping even more resources and staff into the Hawkeye State.
The DeSantis campaign plans to move about a third of its staff from Tallahassee to Des Moines, underscoring the primary position the top tier candidate has placed on the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
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At least 20 states have either restricted or banned transgender procedures for minors, with many of them facing lawsuits and temporary blocks by courts as a result, while future litigation is possible in states considering adopting such laws.
The states that have enacted legislation against such procedures are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia – essentially all conservative-leaning.
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A lot of presidential politics watchers will tell you that it’s not a presidential campaign until a candidate comes to Iowa.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came to Iowa Tuesday evening, officially kicking off his run for the White House in the kick-off caucus state.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may still be mulling over a run for president, but the Republican looked and sounded every bit a contender for the GOP presidential nomination Friday evening in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
DeSantis joined fellow Republican, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. at a packed, standing-room only stop at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, ostensibly to promote his new book, The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.
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Jimmy Patronis, the state of Florida’s chief financial officer, is warning the top executives of a so-called “disinformation” tracking group it’s playing with fire in targeting conservative organizations in what has been described as a defunding campaign. In a letter to NewsGuard CEOs and Editors-in-Chiefs Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, Patronis warns that he will not hesitate to “use the full force” of his office to shed light on an organization that has financially hurt conservative outlets with its rating system. “In short, your enterprise may affect the finances of your clients through triggering Florida’s divestment laws, and it may be subject to legislative scrutiny in the upcoming legislative session,” Florida’s CFO wrote. As the Washington Examiner reported last month in its series, “Disinformation Inc.,” NewsGuard is part of a growing army of self-styled “disinformation tracking organizations that are cracking down on conservative media and part of a lucrative operation that aims to defund disfavored speech.” As the Examiner reported: Major ad companies are increasingly seeking guidance from purportedly “nonpartisan” groups claiming to be detecting and fighting online “disinformation.” These same “disinformation” monitors are compiling secret website blacklists and feeding them to ad companies, with the aim of defunding and…
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants $2 billion in tax relief to lower the burden of inflation on state residents.
The second-term Republican held a news conference in Ocala Wednesday to discuss his tax relief plan.
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Florida Senate and House committees are having interim meetings this week to kick off the new legislative session for 2023, and several new committees will be meeting for the first time – and chaired by freshman Republicans.
Originally, the interim meetings were set to take place from Dec. 12-16, but were postponed and instead replaced with a special session. Lawmakers took the opportunity during that special session to address the growing issue of property insurance costs in Florida, as well as recovery after Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole ripped through the Sunshine State in September 2022.
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Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s invitation to Floridians to move to California ahead of the November election, California businesses continue to leave, and increasingly to Florida.
While their top relocation destination is overwhelmingly Texas, several major companies have relocated to Florida since Newsom’s been in office.
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Changes could be coming to Florida’s abortion laws after the incoming senate president, Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, said she would like to see Florida’s abortion ban go from 15 weeks’ gestation to 12 weeks’ gestation.
The state of Florida banned abortion in 1900, but that ban was overturned in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade case. That ruling itself was overturned by the Supreme Court in June. Anticipating that decision, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to ban abortions from 15 weeks’ gestation, with the law making no exceptions for cases pertaining to rape and incest.
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On Tuesday, Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) announced that it would launch an investigation into a performing arts center that hosted a drag show targeted towards little children.
As reported by the Daily Caller, the investigation is focusing on the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, which hosted the “Drag Queen Christmas” event the day after Christmas; advertisements for the event have since been removed from the center’s website, but archived versions remain available on the Internet.
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The state of Florida is reporting a $21.8 billion surplus in 2022, the highest in state history. The state also decreased its debt by $1.3 billion this year, according to a newly published State Debt Report from the State of Florida Division of Bond Finance.
According to the report, Florida decreased its debt by $1.3 billion, increased its revenues by 17% ($8.5 billion), and maintained its AAA bond rating primarily because of its strong growing economy.
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Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6% in November, the lowest of the 10 largest states in the U.S. and 1.1 percentage points lower than the national rate. It was also the 24th consecutive month that Florida’s unemployment rate remained below the national rate.
In November, Florida continued to exceed the national job growth rate for the 20th consecutive month; its employers have added jobs for 31 consecutive months.
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Republicans will soon take control of the House of Representatives, but with a margin so narrow it may prove difficult to achieve their legislative and oversight objectives. That margin might have been larger, were it not for egregious errors made by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 census.
Come January, House membership will consist of 213 Democrats and 222 Republicans. A party must hold 218 of those seats to control the House. Thus, Republicans will have only a four-seat majority. That extremely narrow majority means that GOP leadership can lose any vote on any issue if only four Republicans defect and the Democrats stay united in opposition.
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A bill has been refiled that could permanently nix Florida’s sales tax from diapers and adult incontinence products.
Florida state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani filed House Bill 29, a continuation of an already existing sales tax exemption for children’s diapers, that are tax-free until June 30, 2023. If passed, the exemption would be expanded to also help reduce the cost for the elderly, their families, and those who use adult diapers and other incontinence products.
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Florida ranked first in the United States for parental involvement in education, according to the Center for Education Reform’s Parent Power Index.
The index is released annually and measures the policies that exist in each state. Those policies are ranked by whether they allowed parental choice in what their child’s education would be, and if the needs of the student and their families were considered first.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed One America News national political correspondent, Neil W. McCabe to the newsmaker line to weigh in on Governor DeSantis’s investigation into COVID vaccine side effects and Floridian opinion on a 2024 presidential run.
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Florida lawmakers are reportedly working to reverse a law that stripped Disney of its special tax status in the state after its then-CEO criticized a state law on gender classes in public schools.
The possible change, first reported by the Financial Times, follows Disney replacing CEO Bob Chapek who was in a feud with GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis announced Thursday that the state will begin pulling over $2 billion in assets from large investment manager BlackRock because of the firm’s environmentally and socially motivated investing standards.
Patronis said that BlackRock is choosing to use its money to pursue its ideology rather than secure profits for its clients, according to a press release. Florida’s State Treasury will begin to remove roughly $1.43 billion worth of long-term securities from BlackRock’s control as well as approximately $600 million worth of short-term investments managed by the firm.
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When Florida lawmakers return to Tallahassee in March to begin their 2023 legislative session, one topic that could be up for consideration is the state’s unemployment benefits.
Florida’s current maximum unemployment benefit is $275 per week, the second-lowest in the U.S. Florida has kept it at this mark for 23 years.
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Job gains have continued in Florida for 30 consecutive months, new labor data shows.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted total nonagricultural employment was 9,542,500 in October 2022, an increase of 36,400 jobs over the month. The Sunshine State gained 457,400 jobs over the year, an increase of 5%, higher than the national rate of 3.6% over the year.
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Google agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states after an investigation found that the tech giant participated in questionable location-tracking practices, state attorneys general announced Monday.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called it a “historic win for consumers.”
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Florida ranks first in the U.S. for attracting and developing a skilled workforce, according to Lightcast’s seventh-annual Talent Attraction Scorecard.
Florida ranked first overall in education attainment, jobs, skilled jobs, migration in 2020, competitive effect, and skilled job openings.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed national political correspondent for One America News, Neil W. McCabe, to the newsmaker line to weigh in on the big win for DeSantis over Crist in Florida and whether or not Trump will announce his candidacy Tuesday for the 2024 presidency.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, won reelection by almost 20 points, and all six of the school board candidates he endorsed have prevailed Tuesday. DeSantis had previously endorsed 24 candidates in school board races, all of whom won.
While school board races are historically nonpartisan, parents’ outrage over critical race theory, transgender activism, and COVID-19 lockdowns in schools have galvanized a parental rights movement that Republicans largely support and Democrats largely oppose. The parents rights group Moms for Liberty also endorsed many of the candidates DeSantis backed.
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Florida’s highest-ever 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress rankings indicate that the state’s students are “well ahead of their peers, especially with younger and educationally at-risk students who were harmed the most from distance learning in other states,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said when announcing the ranking.
“We insisted on keeping schools open and guaranteed in-person learning in 2020 because we knew there would be widespread harm to our students if students were locked out,” he said, adding that the results “once again prove that we made the right decision.”
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new election crimes unit has recommended state police open a full criminal investigation into a Democrat whistleblower’s detailed complaint of a long-running, widespread ballot harvesting operation in the African-American communities in politically important central Florida.
Former Orange County Commissioner candidate Cynthia Harris filed a sworn affidavit in late August with the Secretary of State’s office alleging that illegal operations to collect third-party ballots have been going on for years in the Orlando area where voting activists are paid $10 for each ballot they collect.
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Governor Bill Lee announced Thursday that Tennessee would not require COVID-19 vaccines for children to go to school in response to the recommendation made by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
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A Florida-led virtual 2022 Human Trafficking Summit launched Tuesday nationwide, engaging experts from across the country to collaborate on ways to more effectively combat human trafficking. More than 2,300 attendees registered and registration remains open at HumanTraffickingSummit.com.
The summit provides over 16 hours of educational content, which will remain accessible online through March 2023.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program is continuing to pay off as more law enforcement officers relocate to Florida from other states.
On Friday, Gov. DeSantis delivered $5,000 bonuses to six new recruits in the Cape Coral Police Department in Lee County. Two relocated from New York; one relocated from Maryland, one relocated from Georgia, and two are new to the profession.
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A few years ago, while visiting the National Hurricane Center, I asked the staff to describe a worst-case weather scenario for Florida. They described a high-category hurricane stalling off the coast and pummeling the western side of the state with storm surge. In other words, they described Hurricane Ian.
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Florida will continue transporting foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally north for at least another eight months, according to a state contract and purchase orders reviewed and first reported by the Sun Sentinel.
They are being transported by Vertol Systems Co., a comprehensive transportation service provider, which was granted a contract by the Florida Department of Transportation. Transportation services are to continue through June 30, 2023, according to the contract.
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Two EMT-Ps from Rutherford County are in Fort Myers, Florida assisting victims of Hurricane Ian, according to a press release from the county.
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As President Joe Biden visited Hurricane Ian devastated Ft. Myers, Florida Wednesday, Tennessee’s National Guard was in the area providing emergency assistance.
“Aircrews from the Tennessee National Guard’s 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion continue to help Floridians in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian,” said a press release from the Tennessee Department of Military. “Three UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from Nashville and Jackson, Tenn., are currently in Fort Myers assisting with rescue and recovery efforts.”
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Florida officials are facing multiple hurdles with midterm election voting – now less than six weeks away – as a result of the damage inflicted last week by Hurricane Ian.
Challenges include a lack of functional polling sites, a potential shortage of poll workers, and the deadline for the state to send vote-by-mail ballots being Thursday – while the Postal Service hasn’t resumed service in some of the hardest-hit areas, according to Politico.
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ROTONDA WEST, Florida – More than 36 hours after the devastating Category 4 Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida, a Star News Network reporter trekked to the rural town of Rotonda West to do a wellness check on his parents, who live in the sprawling community.
The deed restricted community of Rotonda West, located in Charlotte County, spent approximately eight hours inside the eyewall of Hurricane Ian on Wednesday, as the storm moved slowly northeast towards Orlando and later Jacksonville.
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Ian, the Category 4 hurricane that slammed Florida’s western coast, has crossed the state back to the Atlantic and is taking aim for South Carolina on Friday night.
With it may be the costliest hurricane on record.
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Ohio Task Force 1 along with Ohio First Responders and American Electric Power “AEP” are deployed to Florida for Hurricane Ian relief. Hurricane Ian is anticipated to make landfall between Wednesday and Thursday and preparations are being made.
As a result of Hurricane Ian strengthening to a Category 4, on Saturday morning at 7:00 am the Federal Emergency Management Agency known as “FEMA” deployed Ohio Task Force 1.
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Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida took on critics attacking him over flying illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, during a Monday night Fox News appearance.
“Sean, it’s really frustrating. You have been covering this,” DeSantis told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “Millions of people since Biden has been president illegally coming across the southern border. Did they freak out about that? No. You had migrants die in the Rio Grande, you had 50 die in Texas in a trailer because they were neglected. Was there a freak out? No, there wasn’t.”
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New York City officials are thinking about flying illegal immigrants out of the Big Apple to Florida after officials in Texas bussed 11,000 border crossers to the sanctuary city, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.
Manuel Castro, NYC’s Commissioner of Immigration Affairs, said that most of the migrants are from Venezuela, and they want to go to the Sunshine State because it has a large community of Venezuelans.
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Illegal migrants Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, were informed of their destination prior to boarding flights to the island, according to documents exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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