Category: Florida

Election Supervisors Unsure About New Florida Elections Law

Grant Holcomb
Gov. Ron DeSantis

Florida’s Supervisors of Elections are unsure about the new election reform bill signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in May. The bill, SB 90, was a Republican priority issue designed to ensure election integrity, supporters said. However, supervisors of election are having a difficult time implementing the new law they never supported to begin with.

Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Early said the relationship between the legislature and elections offices has become more strained because of the controversial legislation.

Read the full story

Governor DeSantis Announces $51 Million Towards Alzheimer’s and Dementia Research

Casey Owens
Old person in a wheelchair

Governor Ron DeSantis announced $51 million in funding for Alzheimer’s and dementia research, according to a press release from the Governor’s Office Monday.

The release highlights a $12 million increase for the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year and how Florida is the only state in the nation that Alzheimer’s and related dementias are a specific priority in its State Health Improvement Plan.

Read the full story

Leftists Pounce on DeSantis After Accidental Death During Pride Parade

Peter D'Abrosca
Pride Parade with group of people under large rainbow flag

After a person was struck and killed by an automobile at the Stonewall Pride Parade in Wilton Manors Saturday, the political left immediately jumped to blame Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) before the facts surrounding the incident became known. 

“This is a terrorist attack against the LGBT community,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis (D) said. “This is exactly what it is. Hardly an accident. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was targeted against a specific person. Luckily they missed that person, but unfortunately, they hit two other people.”

Read the full story

Florida Gas Prices Up 48 Percent over Last 12 Months

Steve Stewart

According to publicly available data, average gas prices in Florida have increased approximately 48.0% over the last 12 months. The current price of a gallon of regular gas, as of June 20, was $2.96. This is up from $2.00 per gallon reported one year ago.

The chart below shows the 12-months trend of average gas prices for the United States and Florida. Since March 11, 2021, the average price of gas in Florida has trended below the national average. As of June 20, the U.S. average is $3.07 per gallon.

Read the full story

Parental Rights Bill Awaiting Governor DeSantis Signature

Casey Owens
Woman holding her child.

One of the 24 bills officially submitted to Governor Ron DeSantis Friday was the parental rights bill (HB 241). If it is approved by DeSantis, the bill would establish and expand parents rights related to the health care and education of their minor child or children.

One of the major changes the bill brings to the current law is the expansion in parents rights over their child’s school records that currently sits primarily in the hands of schools and their districts. Two of these rights – in Section 5, Section 1014.04 (a) and (d) Florida Statutes – include the right to direct the education and care of his or her minor child and the right to access and review all school records relating to his or her minor child.

Read the full story

DeSantis Signs Property Insurance Reform Bill, Customers Face Rate Increases

Grant Holcomb

Earlier this month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill earlier this month designed to bring relief to a sector of the property insurance industry. However, some Floridians might be seeing rate increases.

The new law will prohibit contractors from soliciting homeowners to file claims for their roof, but it provides a larger window of time for insurance companies to accept or decline the claim. Some homeowners might find themselves in a discouraging position due to the extended time frame.

Read the full story

Nikki Fried Denies Cannabis Conflict of Interest

Peter D'Abrosca

After a scathing report from The Orlando Sentinel tying Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried to the cannabis industry, the gubernatorial candidate has denied that there is any conflict of interest. 

“One of the sources of her income increase is from Ignite Florida, a consulting firm where she is sole proprietor and lobbies the marijuana industry. Specifically, she amended a 2018 financial statement on May 28 indicating she received $351,480 from the firm. Previously, she had to amend the same 2018 statements on January 30, 2020 saying she received $72,000 in 2018 income,” The Florida Capital Star reported. 

Read the full story

Florida Political Committees, ACLU Request Injunction Against Contribution Limit Law

Casey Owens

A law (SB 1890) signed in May by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that places a $3,000 limit on contributions to political committees collecting petition signatures for ballot initiatives recently faced legal opposition from state officials.

A preliminary injunction was requested by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU) and three political committees who argue SB 1890 violates First Amendment rights and makes it harder to acquire petition signatures and funds needed to amend the Florida Constitution.

Read the full story

Obamacare Lawsuit Backed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court

Casey Owens

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday to uphold a 2017 provision part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, that was challenged by Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody, and 17 other states.

The provision nullified an “individual mandate” or “minimum essential coverage” established in a 2012 court decision that was intended to put a tax penalty on Americans who did not purchase health insurance or enroll in Medicaid.

Read the full story

Court Backs Concealed Weapons Applicant over Florida Dept. of Agriculture

Grant Holcomb

The 1st District Court of Appeals has ruled Nikki Fried’s Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services improperly denied a concealed weapons license to a man who was previously convicted in 1969 in Illinois.

The man, only identified as R.C., said his rights were restored in 1971, two years after his conviction for stealing an eight-track tape player, and even was approved for a concealed weapons license in Illinois before moving to Florida.

Read the full story

DeSantis Sending Florida Law Enforcement to Texas and Arizona to Help with Border Crisis

Cooper Moran

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is sending members of various law enforcement agencies throughout the state to Texas and Arizona to help combat the crisis at the Southern border.

“Governors Abbott and Ducey recently sent out a call for help to every state in the nation, needing additional law enforcement manpower and other resources to aid with border security. I’m proud to announce today that the state of Florida is answering the call. Florida has your back,” DeSantis said of his decision.

Read the full story

Southern Poverty Law Center Files Latest Lawsuit Against Florida’s New Election Law

Peter D'Abrosca

A far-left legal nonprofit has filed the latest lawsuit against the state of Florida over its new election integrity measures. 

“The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the groups HeadCount and the Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters Corp., is the fourth challenge to the law, which was passed in April by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis,” Orlando Weekly reported. 

Read the full story

DeSantis Executive Orders Granting Pardons for COVID-19 Convictions Adopted

Casey Owens

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis proposed two executive orders to the Florida Executive Board of Clemency Wednesday that continues his pursuit to stop local governments from establishing overreaching COVID-19 restrictions. 

 The two orders, EO 21-132 and EO 21-133, would grant full pardon for individuals or businesses who are charged with non-violent civil and criminal offenses related to breaking local COVID-19 restrictions; and waive fees or fines associated with breaking COVID-19 restrictions, respectively.

Read the full story

Governor DeSantis Suggest Appointing DEP Secretary Without Florida Cabinet Approval

Casey Owens
Florida State Capitol

During a Florida Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Governor Ron DeSantis insinuated the possibility of appointing a new secretary for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) without the Cabinet’s approval.

Controversy regarding the appointment comes after Former DEP Secretary Noah Valenstein, who had held the position for four years and was approved by the Cabinet in 2017 and 2019, officially resigned on June 4th.

Read the full story

Discrepancy Found Between Nikki Fried’s English and Spanish Websites

Casey Owens

A discrepancy between Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried’s English and Spanish websites has been recently criticized as a deliberate attempt to withhold progressive ideas from Hispanic and Latino voters.

Newsweek noticed the discrepancy and quickly questioned Fried’s campaign team who, without responding, changed the Spanish website to match the English website.

Read the full story

DeSantis, Fried Spar over Defunding Police Issue

Grant Holcomb

On Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried had a war of words related to governance issues related to the defunding police issue.

Fried, who is running as a Democratic candidate to unseat DeSantis in the 2022 gubernatorial election, said DeSantis was bullying local municipalities under the rule of Republican control in Tallahassee.

“Now, the so-called party of small government is yet again telling government closest to the people what they can and cannot do with their money,” she said. “So, as you vote today, ask yourself, who is really the big government bureaucrat in the faraway Capitol?”

Read the full story

DeSantis Social Media Warrior Triggers Florida Media Outlets

Peter D'Abrosca
Christina Pushaw

The Press Secretary for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tussled Monday and Tuesday with two prominent Florida news media outlets, accusing them of political bias.

Of [South Florida Sun Sentinel]’s last 10,000 Tweets, ONE (1) was positive about [Gov. Ron DeSantis]. And it was a Letter to the Editor. Not written by Sun Sentinel staff. This is absolutely incredible. And they will still say the bias is all in our imaginations,” Christina Pushaw said, citing an account called District AI that claims to be run by an artificial intelligence engineer. 

Read the full story

DeSantis Signs Bills Requiring Moment of Silence for Schools, Prioritizes ‘Religious Freedom’

Grant Holcomb
Gov. DeSantis signing bill

Earlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring Florida’s public schools to allow for one to two minutes of silence at the beginning of each day, before instruction begins.

DeSantis signed the legislation while at the The Shul of Bal Harbour, a Jewish community center in Surfside, FL. Principals in all public schools will be directed to set aside the moment of silence and teachers will be prohibited from making suggestions regarding the nature of the suggested prayer or reflection during the allotted time.

Read the full story

Florida State Representative Michele Rayner Announces Bid to Replace Charlie Crist in Congress

Casey Owens

State Representative Michele Rayner of District 70 officially announced her campaign for U.S. Congress in 2022 to replace the seat left vacant by Charlie Crist and his bid for Governor.

Rayner, a Democrat and the first openly gay woman of color elected to the Florida Legislature, will join a list of candidates in the upcoming primary looking to represent the Democratic party in the 13th Congressional District of Florida.

Read the full story

DeSantis Calls Out Biden, Big Tech on Fox News

Grant Holcomb
Screen cap of live comments from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called out President Joe Biden and Silicon Valley Big Tech companies for caring more about China’s interests than “middle America” on Maria Bartiromo’s Fox News program.

Biden’s big event last week was meeting with world leaders at the G-7 summit. DeSantis said Biden’s “performance may have played well with European elites, but not sure there was much in it for Middle America.”

Read the full story

Mediation Talks Between Florida, CDC Unsuccessful in Cruise Ship Battle

Peter D'Abrosca
People boarding a cruise ship

Mediation talks between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the state of Florida have been unsuccessful, as the federal agency and the state duke it out in court over who controls the cruise ship industry’s return to business as usual. 

“Settlement talks have ended in the legal battle between Florida and the federal government about restrictions on the cruise-ship industry,” according to WKMG. “U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli, who has served as a mediator, said in a court filing Friday that a settlement conference was unsuccessful.”

Read the full story

Florida Colleges and Universities Join Name, Image, and Likeness Law Beginning July 1st

Casey Owens
Person sitting in basketball hoop

Beginning July 1st, a new law will allow student athletes in Florida who play for a college or university the ability to profit from third-party organizations using their name, image, and likeness or NIL.

While NIL was set to be discussed on June 22nd by the Florida Board of Governors who oversee state universities, the proposal by the Board of Education Thursday established NIL rules to include state colleges within the new law.

Read the full story

Val Demings Raises $1M for Senate Run, Touts Endorsements

Grant Holcomb
Val Demings

U.S. Rep. Val Demings (D-FL-10) raised $1 million in the first few days of her campaign against Florida Senator Marco Rubio for the 2022 election. The early momentum comes as Democrats will be backing Demings, who will likely be the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat, to try and expand their majority in the U.S. Senate.

Florida is continuing to be a major battleground state, and Republicans, likewise, will look to gain ground in the U.S. Senate by keeping Rubio in his current post.

Read the full story

Chain-of-Custody Documents: View All the Ballot Transfer Forms from the November 2020 Election Provided by Fulton County to The Georgia Star News

Laura Baigert

On May 3, 2021, six months after the November 3, 2020 presidential election, Fulton County election officials provided The Georgia Star News with a thumb drive containing 30 files those officials said complied with an Open Records Request made by The Star News. The request made to Fulton County was one in a series of Open Records Requests made to all 159 counties in Georgia to produce all chain of custody documents, known as absentee ballot drop box transfer forms, from that election.

Read the full story

Florida Sales-Tax Collections Exceeds Expectations in April 2021

Casey Owens
Florida’s Historic Capitol and Florida State Capitol

The month of April became the ninth consecutive month that the state of Florida exceeded its expected revenue calculations, with 56% of the total revenue gain coming from sales-tax collections.

Sales-tax revenue accounted for $2.7993 billion, which is 19% or  $447.6 million more than the estimated projection of approximately $2.3516 billion that was established by the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) at the General Revenue Estimating Conference.

Read the full story

Florida Rep. Crist Proposes Gun Control Measures on Campaign Trial

Peter D'Abrosca

The former Republican governor of Florida turned Democrat congressman, who is once again mounting a gubernatorial bid, made his case for gun control during a Friday campaign appearance. 

“One of the most common-sense things that we can do is ban assault weapons,” Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) said in Miami Beach. “It is hard for me to imagine why we already don’t do that.” 

Read the full story

DeSantis Reports $7.5 Million in May Contributions, Continues to Significantly Outpace Rivals

Grant Holcomb

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried raised only approximately $215,000 in May, according to newly filed campaign finance reports. Fried’s political action committee, Florida Consumers First, saw exactly $214,832 come in from primarily small-donor contributions. However, the May numbers do not reflect the campaign fundraising effort after she formally announced her candidacy on June 1.

Fried’s foremost competitors, Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), raised $1.2 million and $7.5 million, respectively. DeSantis has been on a fundraising crusade in recent months, raking in nearly $14 million back in April and capitalizing on his administration’s move to ban Critical Race Theory, banning transgender females from competing in female sports, and to push back against “cultural Marxism” in May.

Read the full story

Florida Black Republican Hasn’t Been Allowed to Join Congressional Black Caucus

Peter D'Abrosca

A Florida Black Republican congressman blasted the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in an interview with CNN, calling the group “off-putting” for ignoring his request for membership.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL-19) said he has “not really heard much from the CBC” since he attempted to join the group, and that nobody on the caucus has reached out to him to explain anything.

Read the full story

Florida Job Growth Grant Fund Accepting Applications

Grant Holcomb

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) tweeted on Monday they are accepting proposals for new projects to be a part of the Job Growth Grant Fund. DEO is accepting applications coming off Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing Florida’s $101.5 billion budget last week.
The grant program is getting an extra $50 million from this year’s budget and over $24 million left unspent from 2019. In all, the program will have over $74 million to spend on communities seeking “workforce training and public infrastructure projects to support growth and employment in Florida.”

Read the full story

Visit Florida Leaders Receive over $130,000 in Raises and Bonuses

Casey Owens

The Board of Directors for Visit Florida, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, approved over $130,000 in raises for CEO of Visit Florida Dana Young and her staff members.

Visit Florida is a non-profit corporation established in 1996 as a public and private partnership by the Florida Legislature that appropriates public funds or taxpayer money to tourism marketing. In 2021, the Florida tourism marketing budget consists of $75 million in state and federal funds. 

Read the full story

DeSantis Doubles Down on Banning Critical Race Theory

Grant Holcomb

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continued his push to ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) from Florida’s classrooms while speaking at the State Board of Education Meeting. He maintained the ideology, which is designed to distinguish people based on skin color and considers the United States’ systems of justice and governance as inherently racist, will not be featured as part of instruction, and will instead focus on “the best possible civics instruction standards.”

During the meeting, the State Board officially banned CRT from classrooms in an effort to prevent “state-sanctioned racism,” DeSantis said on Twitter.

Read the full story

DeSantis Wants Bill Banning Chemical Castration of Minors

Peter D'Abrosca

In a Monday interview with Daily Caller, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) continued to bolster his chops as a social conservative, saying he would happily sign a bill preventing doctors from prescribing sex-changing hormone treatments to children. 

“I’m very much opposed to chemical castration of minors, I honestly didn’t know this existed until a few years ago,” DeSantis said during the interview. “That would be something I would sign for sure.” 

Read the full story

Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Charlie Crist Begins ‘Voting Rights Tour’

Casey Owens

Gubernatorial candidate and current U.S. Representative Charlie Crist created a Voting Rights Tour of the state of Florida to advocate against GOP leadership in Florida and their efforts to establish stricter voting provisions for Floridians.

Crist began his tour on Tuesday and will visit seven cities in Florida before wrapping it up on Friday. The selected cities include: Tallahassee, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Broward County, Miami, Orlando, and Gainesville.

Read the full story

Sabatini Challenging Rep. Murphy for Florida Congressional Seat

Grant Holcomb

State Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R-32) announced his intention to run against U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-7) in Florida’s potentially newly drawn congressional district as a result of 2020 U.S. Census data and Florida picking up two additional congressional seats.

Sabatini is highly critical of Murphy and her policies which he says are a reflection of “corporate interest groups” in Washington.

Read the full story

DeSantis Vows Local Action Against Critical Race Theory

Peter D'Abrosca

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) joined appeared Saturday night on “Unfiltered,” conservative commentator Dan Bongino’s new Fox News show, where he vowed to take local action against Critical Race Theory. 

“We’re not going to support any Republican candidate for school board who supports Critical Race Theory in all 67 counties or supports mandatory masking of school children,” he said in the segment. 

Read the full story

GOP Official Files Ethics Complaint Against Nikki Fried

Grant Holcomb
Nikki Fried of Florida

Chairman of the Leon County GOP, Evan Power, filed an ethics complaint at the end of last week against Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. He claimed the violation stems from her failing to disclose more than $400,000 in income on official financial disclosure forms, which she quickly amended after her official gubernatorial campaign launch on June 1.

One of the sources of her income increase is from Ignite Florida, a consulting firm where she is sole proprietor and lobbies the marijuana industry. Specifically, she amended a 2018 financial statement on May 28 indicating she received $351,480 from the firm. Previously, she had to amend the same 2018 statements on January 30, 2020 saying she received $72,000 in 2018 income.

Read the full story

New Education Law Includes Provision for Parental Retention Request

Casey Owens
Two girls at table, writing.

A provision of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act that was signed into law Tuesday by Governor Ron DeSantis, involves public-school parents being able to request that their children be held-back for the 2021-2022 school year.

The provision will only affect students in kindergarten through fifth grade and is available due to what is known as the “Covid slide,” referring to the drop in learning progression in many students during the pandemic.

Read the full story

Governor Ron DeSantis Vetoes $2 Million Related to Reversible Contraception Program

Casey Owens
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed $2 million dollars Wednesday that would have been included within the budget established during the last Legislative session for the upcoming fiscal year.

The money was intended to help low-income girls and young women have more access to long-acting reversible contraception or LARCs, and was backed by Senate President Wilton Simpson (R).

Read the full story

Governor DeSantis Signs Three Bills to Assist Veterans and Military Families

Casey Owens
Governor DeSantis Signs Three Bills to Assist Veterans and Military Families

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed three bills (HB 429, HB 435,SB 922) in Ponte Vedra Beach Friday, focusing on military and veteran related issues regarding education and employment.

The new laws will establish a “Purple Star Campus Program,” help transitioning servicemembers gain workforce training, and enhance veterans’ preference in hiring, as stated in the Governor’s office press release.

Read the full story

DeSantis Press Secretary: Governor Has ‘Earned’ National Spotlight

Peter D'Abrosca
Ron DeSantis

In response to an Associated Press story that describes Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as “seizing” the national spotlight, his Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told the Florida Capital Star that the governor has earned his newfound respect among Republicans nationwide. 

“Governor DeSantis has earned the national stage by demonstrating real leadership. For elected officials facing a crisis like COVID-19, it’s tempting to abdicate decision-making power to unelected bureaucrats in public health,” Pushaw said. “Governor DeSantis did the opposite. He sought out expertise from health professionals and scientists, he did his own research, and most importantly, he made decisions that were harshly criticized sometimes, but more than a year on, the data has proven that his approach was the right one.”

Read the full story

NCAA Threatens to Pull Competitions Out of Florida over Women’s Sports Act

Grant Holcomb

The NCAA is threatening to pull key competitions and championships out of Florida since Governor Ron DeSantis signed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” yesterday. The new law prohibits transgender women from competing in high school and collegiate women’s athletics.

“In Florida, girls are going to play girls sports and boys are going to play boys sports,” DeSantis said, speaking at a private school in Jacksonville.

Read the full story