Tag: Florida

Florida is expanding its purchase of electric transit and school buses statewide through funding made available from a national 2016-era EPA Volkswagen settlement.

Of the state’s $166 million allotment, more than $68 million was awarded to 13 counties to purchase electric transit buses. More than $57 million was awarded to purchase 218 electric school buses in seven counties.

The Florida Cabinet approved spending more than $56 million on seven parcels of land totaling 19,897 acres within the Florida Wildlife Corridor for acquisition or conservation easement made possible by the state’s Florida Forever Program and Department of Agriculture’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.

The overwhelming majority of the properties, more than 98%, are within the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a mix of native and working lands that provide habitat for key Florida species including the Florida panther, Florida black bear, swallow-tailed kite, and gopher tortoise, among others.

In Florida, a coalition of far-left groups is preparing to sue the state government over a directive that orders the state’s Medicaid regulator to ban coverage of so-called “gender-affirming” procedures.

According to Politico, the Southern Legal Counsel’s Transgender Rights Initiative announced on Wednesday their plans to file their case in federal court, where they will seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the ban from going into effect.

The superintendent of a Florida school district and a spokesperson both said the district has cut its operating expenses due to a drop in the budget.

Superintendent Mark Mullins of Brevard Public Schools said the operating expenses for the district had been cut for the sixth consecutive year by more than $3.5 million.