Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed an education bill that allows for greater school choice in his state.
The new law, which streamlines Florida school choice scholarship programs and expands eligibility, was touted by DeSantis at a May 11 news conference at Jacksonville Catholic School.
Children in families of four that earn less than $100,000 will be eligible for a fully funded K-12 education at the school of their choice.
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer in studio to discuss the removal of Liz Cheney as House conference chair and the future of the Republican Party.
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Founder and President of PJTN Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the newsmakers line to update listeners on the fight against critical race theory being taught to next generations of K through 12 students.
Read the full story
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is once again under fire for a Florida trip she took months ago.
The trip was partially paid for by a 501(c)4 group, which critics say presents legal questions.
Whitmer used funds from an inauguration-related nonprofit to pay for a $27,521 trip to Florida to visit her ailing father in March, MIRS News reported. “She continued to carry out her duties as governor while she assisted her father [in Florida] with household duties like cooking and cleaning,” JoAnne Huls, the governor’s chief of staff, wrote in a memo. “The governor’s flight was not a gift, not paid for at taxpayer expense, and was done in compliance with the law.”
Read the full story
The ransomware attack that paralyzed the Colonial Pipeline for nearly a week, causing gas shortages throughout the Southeast, including Florida’s Panhandle, may revive one senator’s multi-year effort to convince the Sunshine State to establish its own petroleum stockpile.
Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, has filed bills since 2018 seeking to create a Florida Strategic Fuel Reserve Task Force to study creating a fuel stash similar in concept, if not in size, to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Farmer Thursday called on Republican statehouse leaders to add his 2021 proposal, Senate Bill 1454, to the agenda when the Legislature convenes Monday for a special session to vet a proposed 30-year gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Read the full story
The Florida State University Presidential Search Committee met Friday to discuss applicants for the President’s position and narrowed the list. The committee has invited nine individuals to interview with the committee. In-person interviews with the selected candidates will take place May 14-15, 2021, at the Augustus B. Turnbull Florida State Conference Center.
The Committee announced the interviews and meetings will continue to be livestreamed. For those who wish to attend in person, plans have been made to offer very limited seating. The agenda will include public comment. Once the search firm has finalized the interview schedule, it will be made available.
Following first-round interviews with the FSU Presidential Search Advisory Committee on May 14-15, the committee anticipates hosting a series of open candidate forums for faculty, staff and students during the week of May 17.
Read the full story
Government documents from Florida show that social media giant Twitter failed to properly file to do business in the state, incurring a fine for transacting business there without the official permission of state officials.
The documents, available on the website of the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations, show that in March the department received from Twitter an “application by foreign corporation for authorization to transact business in Florida.”
The application reveals that Twitter “first transacted business in Florida” in June 2015, apparently well before it registered to do business there. A letter sent back to Twitter by the department indicates that the social media company failed to properly register with the state, potentially for many years.
Read the full story
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Wednesday scrapping all COVID-19 restrictions throughout the state and an accompanying bill that limits localities’ ability to enforce emergency precautions.
“I think that’s the evidence-based thing to do,” DeSantis said during a press conference Tuesday announcing the executive order. “I think folks are saying they need to be policing people at this point, if you’re saying that, then you’re really saying you don’t believe in the vaccines.”
DeSantis signed SB 2006, which says that any emergency orders can last no longer than six weeks. It gives him the authority to overrule cities that adopt restrictions deemed too harsh or unnecessary, and gives city and county commissions the power to overrule mayors.
Read the full story
Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Florida State Representative Randy Fine to the newsmakers line to discuss current legislation on the table in the Sunshine State that will address Big Tech, critical race theory, pro-police policy, and anti-rioting.
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed State Senator Mike Bell in studio who discussed the status of a bill that would push back on Big Tech and explained the dynamics of his current bill that would create three elected statewide court divisions.
Read the full story
Texas and Florida are slated to gain congressional seats during the decennial redistricting process, while California and New York are set to each lose one, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Monday.
The U.S. Census Bureau released the decennial state population and congressional apportionment totals Monday, outlining how many districts each state will have for the next decade. The data also determines how many Electoral College votes each state will have through 2032, and allocates how federal money is distributed to each state for schools, roads and other public projects.
The release was originally scheduled for December, but faced delays due to the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration’s unsuccessful effort to exclude non-citizens from the count.
Read the full story