Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the Florida Legislature to enact new legislation to ensure that Walt Disney World loses its self-governing status.
DeSantis held a news conference in Lake Buena Vista on Monday to give an update on the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is home to Disney World.
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Florida is yet again one of the top 10 ranked states for economic performance and economic outlook.
The annual Rich States, Poor States report from the American Legislative Exchange Council shows the Sunshine State outperforming all other states economically over the past decade and for net in-migration, thanks to the state’s low tax burdens and worker-friendly policies.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is suing two federal agencies for failing to respond to Freedom of Information requests filed over a year ago. The FOIA requests relate to a Biden administration program that allegedly used taxpayer money to purchase crack pipes for drug addicts, she said.
In February 2022, Florida sent FOIA requests to the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asking for records about the use of federal grant funds being used to promote drug use through safe smoking kits, some of which reportedly included crack pipes and other drug-related paraphernalia.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law Thursday night a bill that bans abortions in his state after six weeks, the stage of pregnancy when a fetal heartbeat is generally detected.
The new law also provides $25 million in funds for pro-life pregnancy centers throughout the state, to assist women during and after pregnancy.
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Even as Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to galvanize conservatives with his efforts to combat woke political indoctrination in public schools and universities, his largest donor last election cycle is making headlines for a colossal donation to Harvard University.
Harvard announced this week that hedge fund billionaire and GOP megadonor Ken Griffin had donated $300 million to the school’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The university, in turn, intends to rename its Graduate School of Arts and Sciences after him. A graduate of Harvard, Griffin is the CEO of Citadel investing firm.
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Three “detransitioners”—men who underwent surgeries in pursuit of a female gender identity but later rejected that identity—filed a legal brief supporting a Florida health agency’s rule preventing Medicaid from reimbursing for transgender medical interventions.
Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration finalized the rule in August 2022, declaring that Medicaid would not cover “puberty blockers,” hormones, “sex reassignment” surgeries, or other procedures that alter primary or secondary sex characteristics.
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A New College of Florida (NCF) professor wrote that he would burn down campus buildings if he were not “more patriotic,” according to a letter sent to interim President Richard Corcoran.
Aaron Hillegass, NCF director of applied data science, wrote to Corcoran to inform that he would not be renewing his contract when it expires on August 22, according to the letter posted to Twitter. The notice came in opposition to turning the Florida college into “The Hillsdale of the South,” a nod to the conservative Michigan school, after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed six conservative members to the Board of Trustees in January.
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In one year, over 530 police officers have relocated to Florida from 48 states and U.S. territories to take advantage of Florida’s Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program.
On April 1 last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 3 into law, which included a wide range of law enforcement initiatives, including incentives to encourage both out-of-state residents and Floridians to join state and local law enforcement agencies. The recruitment program includes signing bonuses for every recruit, costs covered for training programs and relocation expenses, pay raises and $1,000 bonuses. It also created a Law Enforcement Academy Scholarship Program for children of law enforcement officers and adoption benefits for officers.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s constitutional carry bill into law on Monday.
HB 543, co-sponsored by state Reps. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, Chuck Brannan, R-Macclenny, and state Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, who filed a companion bill in the Senate, allows Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a government-issued permit. It also expands law enforcement and educational programs and safety requirements.
After the law goes into effect July 1, Florida will become the 26th state to enact a Constitutional Carry law.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Michigan on Thursday, claiming his state’s “freedom” is the antithesis of Michigan.
Headlining the stage at Hillsdale College’s Searle Center, DeSantis touted Florida laws that he said empower parents to object to items that violate their standards such as pornographic material in school libraries.
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Florida lawmakers have passed several education reforms this session, but the one drawing the most attention might be an extension of the Parent Rights in Education Act signed last session.
House Bill 1069 passed the state House on March 31 and reinforces parental rights in education and further prohibits classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation, extending the ban from kindergarten through eighth grade.
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The Florida Senate passed a bill on Monday to ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
The bill provides exceptions of up to 15 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, and human trafficking, Politico reported. Such a ban would still need to secure passage in the lower chamber before reaching the governor’s desk.
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The Florida Senate on Monday passed the Heartbeat Protection Act, which would prohibit abortions from being performed in the state after six weeks gestation. In response, protestors including state Democratic leaders were arrested after sitting on and obstructing the street outside of City Hall near the state capitol.
Randy Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said, “Now DeSantis is arresting his opponents,” tweeting a video posted by Planned Parenthood, which claimed the protestors were engaged in “peaceful protest.”
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Florida is taking steps to protect its monuments and memorials from vandalism after two bills have been introduced that will ensure those who deface them face harsher penalties.
Both bills would also ban the placement of specified objects such as signs, on or next to a memorial.
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Individuals who sell controlled substances in the Sunshine State such as fentanyl could face serious penalties for the overdose deaths of drug users if a new bill is signed into law.
Senate Bill 280 revises definitions for what constitutes first degree, second and third degree murder and also provides harsher penalties for adults who distribute, deliver, sell, or dispense specified substances that result in an injury or death to the user.
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In an email obtained by Campus Reform in early March, a professor at the University of South Florida (USF) suggested ways for her students to show support for students arrested during a protest organized by the leftist organization Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
The protest was held in response to Governor DeSantis’ efforts to defund diversity, equity, and inclusion and critical race theory initiatives at public universities in Florida. The four individuals arrested during the protest were each charged with either “assault or battery of law enforcement,” student newspaper The Oracle reported.
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The Florida Senate President said the draft elections shell bill filed Thursday won’t include changes to the resign-to-run law that could stand in the way of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential run.
Senate proposed Bill 7050, filed by the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections, will “revise bills relating to elections,” and Florida’s resign-to-run law might require the governor to resign from office before he can run for president. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said in a press conference Thursday evening that the bill won’t address that law, and that she’s still mulling it over.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sued two members of Antifa and Jane’s Revenge over accusations they vandalized Florida crisis pregnancy centers last year.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision was leaked in the landmark abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, pro-abortion activists and members of “criminal organizations sought to silence and intimidate crisis pregnancy centers’ workers and clients nationwide by vandalizing or even setting fire to their buildings,” Moody said.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is vying for New York donors by positioning himself as the electable GOP candidate for president in 2024, according to Politico.
The governor has been reaching out to and meeting with high-dollar donors in the state over the past few months ahead of his likely presidential announcement, which is expected to come following Florida’s legislative session in May, Politico reported. DeSantis paid a visit to Republican donor and billionaire Ronald Lauder’s home in Long Island where he insisted he is the only GOP contender who could beat President Joe Biden.
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Critics say a bill that would increase retirement benefits for beneficiaries of the state’s defined-benefit pension system could put the system’s financials in future jeopardy.
House Bill 239, which passed favorably through the House Appropriations Committee meeting on Tuesday, will increase retirement benefits for the 629,073 members of the Florida Retirement System and 151,913 current retirees.
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Never Back Down, the political action committee (PAC) that intends on recruiting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024, hired a strategic communications director – another former aide to President Donald Trump, according to The New York Times.
Matt Wolking, former deputy communications director for the 2020 Trump campaign, will join the super PAC founded by former Trump official Ken Cuccinelli, according to the NYT. Wolking also served as a spokesman for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in his 2021 campaign.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday in Miami that establishes an Education Savings Accounts (ESA) program under which every family in the state can receive up to $8,000 to cover education expenses outside of the public school system.
“The state of Florida is number one when it comes to education freedom and education choice,” DeSantis said at a press conference Monday.
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Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a piece of legislation into law on Monday creating a universal school choice program.
House Bill 1, sponsored by the Education Quality Subcommittee, establishes an Education Savings Accounts (ESA) program under which every family is eligible to receive up to $8,000 to cover education expenses outside of the public school system. The vouchers will be distributed on a “priority” basis, with families of four making less than $51,000 annually receiving the funds first.
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As more foreign nationals are caught attempting to illegally enter Florida and are repatriated to their country or port of origin, a new method to bypass law enforcement efforts by sea is underway by air: hang gliders.
On Saturday, two Cuban nationals landed at the Key West International Airport using a powered hang glider. They were taken into custody by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who then turned them over to U.S. Border Patrol. No injuries were reported, the sheriff’s office said.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis wants Florida teachers to emphasize civic education and reward those who do with a $3,000 bonus.
The second-term Republican held a news conference in Orange Park Thursday to discuss the importance of teaching American civics and how it is being better implemented in Florida for school students.
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Miami has the highest taxpayer burden out of Florida’s four largest cities, according to an analysis from Truth in Accounting.
In its annual report that assesses the financial health of the 75 most populous U.S. cities, TIA found that two-thirds of them didn’t have enough money to pay their bills. Their combined debt totals $266.5 billion; combined pension debt totals $109.8 billion; and combined OPEB (other post-employment benefits) debt totals $168.7 billion.
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Four families backed by multiple LGBT activist groups filed a federal lawsuit against Florida on Thursday, challenging its new rule banning gender transition procedures for minors.
The ban, which took effect on March 16, prohibits minors from accessing surgical sex change procedures, puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Four parents, along with several LGBT and left-wing activist groups, filed the lawsuit against Florida’s Surgeon General Thursday on behalf of their children who they claim are transgender, arguing the ban is a violation of parents’ rights to “make medical decisions to ensure the health and wellbeing of their adolescent children,” according to the complaint.
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Walt Disney World in Florida will host an LGBT+ conference this fall that organizers are calling the world’s largest – as the resort and state GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to spar over sexual-orientation and gender-identity issues.
Out & Equal, an activist group that promotes equality for LGBT+ people in the workplace, is hosting its 2023 Workplace Summit for three days in September, according to the organization’s website. The group says the summit “is the largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world, with more than 5,000 attendees every year.”
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Florida GOP Rep. Kat Cammack says that there should not be a bank bailout after the recent bank failures because ultimately, the price will fall on the American people.
“There should absolutely never be a bank bailout ever again,” Cammack said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast. “We saw the failures of that years ago and now we’re staring down the barrel of another meltdown and contagion because there’s poor management.”
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Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling on his Legislature to pass a bill that would prohibit any federally adopted Central Bank Digital Currency from being used in the state.
“A federally controlled Central Bank Digital Currency is the most recent way the Davos elites are attempting to backdoor woke ideology like Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) into the United States financial system, threatening individual privacy and economic freedom,” DeSantis’ office said Monday, taking aim at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in an announcement about the proposal.
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The New College of Florida (NCF) announced on Monday that an official who sparred with newly appointed conservative trustees earlier this year stepped down from her position, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
Provost Suzanne Sherman stepped down from her position after serving in the role since 2020, according to the college website. Sherman clashed with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed trustees Christopher Rufo and Eddie Speir when they refused to cancel a Jan. 25 town hall meeting after receiving a death threat, and Rufo told reporters before the meeting that the board would reconsider college leadership because what he saw “demonstrated here was cowardice, not leadership,” according to the Herald-Tribune.
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The University of Miami in Florida recently launched the George P. Hanley Democracy Center with the aim of depolarizing Americans through civil discourse and exporting democracy abroad.
Leonidas Bachas, dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences stated that the university’s “proximity to Latin America also places us in an ideal spot to study democracy in the Americas and beyond.”
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The Florida House of Representatives passed a significant expansion of the state’s education savings account program Friday.
House Bill 1, authored by Kaylee Tuck, R-Lake Placid, would expand school choice to all 2.9 million school-aged children. The bill would remove income requirements from the education savings account law and end the waiting list for children with disabilities awaiting a scholarship.
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by Andrew Powell The Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Wednesday and approved a bill to revise the definition of telehealth by allowing audio-only patient services. Telehealth is a service that connects consumers in rural areas with health professionals from the comfort and convenience of their homes. This service includes lab tests or X-ray results, mental health treatment – which can include online therapy, counseling and medication management. Other recurring conditions like migraines or urinary tract infections can also be managed via telehealth, as well as post-surgical follow-ups, urgent care issues, physical and occupational therapy and remote monitoring services for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. Senate Bill 298 was presented by State Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, who proposed to permanently include audio-only calls. “Senate Bill 298 removes a provision in the definition of telehealth that excludes audio-only telephone calls. This change allows Medicaid to elect to reimburse for audio-only telephone calls.” Boyd said. Telehealth has become a go-to for those who are not able to see a nurse or doctor. “Audio-only telehealth provides easy access for those in rural communities, its cost effective, convenient, time saving and reduces the risk of exposure in the spread…
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A Florida House subcommittee approved a bill Thursday that would prohibit abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, a move that advances the legislation to the state House Health and Human Services Committee for a hearing.
The House Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee voted 13-5 in support of HB7, a measure that would protect most unborn babies from abortion at generally six weeks after a heartbeat is detected.
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The Florida House Civil Justice Subcommittee approved three bills that are designed to reform the Sunshine State’s civil litigation system.
House Bill 1035, also known as the “Teachers Bill of Rights,” was presented by state Rep. Karen Gonzalez-Pittman, R-Tampa, who stated that education is a fundamental value of the people of Florida.
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A recent Florida audit of the state’s charter school administration still shows a lack of oversight and business dealings that could be seen as conflicts of interest.
The Florida Auditor General recently released a follow-up report into the day-to-day management and transparency of charter schools in the Sunshine State and there were several issues that still needed to be addressed.
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An audit recently released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General gave the state of Florida low marks for its stewardship of children in its foster care system.
The OIG audit found that state agencies were failing to properly report missing foster care children in accordance with federal law and some didn’t report them missing at all.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody called President Joe Biden “trafficker-in-chief” Thursday in response to a White House spokesperson saying there’s no need to designate Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, “Designating these cartels as FTOs would not grant us any additional authorities that we don’t really have at this time. The United States has powerful sanctions authorities specifically designated to combat narcotics trafficking organizations and the individuals and entities that enable them.”
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The Florida House Ethics, Elections and Open Government Subcommittee approved two election-related bills and another bill that would allow the recall of county officials by voters at their meeting on Wednesday.
House Joint Resolution 31 was presented by state Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, who said the resolution would allow voters to change the Florida Constitution to require members of a district school board to be subject to a partisan election.
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Republican lawmakers in Florida filed bills Tuesday that would ban abortion after six weeks pregnancy.
On the first day of the legislative session, GOP legislators introduced such bills to the House and Senate – with a Republican supermajority – that would cut down the abortion window from the previously approved 15-week mark. The bills also allow for exceptions in the case that a mother was raped or fell victim to incest so long as they could prove such a crime.
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Election issues continue in Orange County, Fla., where, a whistleblower alleges, felons illegally voted, deceased voters requested and received mail-in ballots, voter addresses are changed without the voters requesting it, and multiple ballots are allowed to be dropped off without question.
In a new affidavit filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Brian Freid, a whistleblower in the Orange County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) office, alleges that since the SOE was notified last year by the state’s Office of Election Crimes and Security that felons illegally voted in the county in the 2020 election, there have been “no apparent changes implemented … to effectively ensure this does not happen again in the future.”
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University of Florida (UF) health centers reported an uptick in the number of transgender patients, fulfilling a request by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration in January, UF student newspaper the Independent Florida Alligator reported.
The Florida Office of Policy and Budget sent a memo to university leaders on Jan. 11 demanding reports about the number of patients treated for gender dysphoria at affiliated health centers. UF Health reported an increase in sex change treatments including puberty blocker prescription, hormone therapy, surgery and behavioral services at its various clinics since 2018, according to the reports obtained by the Alligator.
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Florida’s legislative session will reconvene on Tuesday, and several GOP-backed bills are set to make their way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk ahead of a possible 2024 campaign launch, according to Politico.
The Republican supermajority legislature will propose various conservative bills over the next two months, including legislation relating largely to education, along with other gun rights, immigration and death penalty proposals, Politico reported. These GOP-led efforts come before a likely presidential announcement by the governor to give him more legislative successes to campaign on, according to Politico.
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With the exception of a dip during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Florida’s tourism industry has continued to grow since 2019 and predictions are that the good times will continue to roll for the Sunshine State.
A report from Visit Florida, showed that the Sunshine State had approximately 33.2 million visitors in total during the fourth quarter of 2022. This is 6% higher than the same time period in 2021, and 7.8% higher than October 2019 through December 2019.
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Two bills have been filed in the Florida Legislature in advance of the upcoming session that would extend protections for human trafficking victims in court proceedings, including for minors or victims of certain crimes.
The bills filed by state Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Tampa, and state Rep. Taylor Yarkosky, R-Clermont, Senate Bill 1208 and House Bill 1037, respectively, have the support of Attorney General Ashley Moody.
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Florida’s Legislature will be serving up a smorgasbord of issues during the upcoming 60-day regular session that begins on Tuesday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has said many times that Florida is the place where “woke goes to die” and passage of laws to stop it tops the agenda for the Republican supermajority in 2023.
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The New College of Florida (NCF) Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to disband an office tasked with advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) on campus, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
The trustees voted to abolish the Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence, which prioritized diversity, community outreach and inclusivity, during Tuesday’s board meeting and will offer its four employees new jobs at the college, according to the Tribune. The board also voted to eliminate the use of diversity statements in the hiring process and to ask interim President Richard Corcoran, former state education commissioner, to issue a ban on employee diversity training.
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A Florida Republican this week introduced a bill to require the state Division of Elections to reject the electoral filings of a political party that previously advocated for slavery.
Dubbed “The Ultimate Cancel Act,” state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia’s plan would automatically notify members of a “canceled” party that it had been dissolved and to change their party affiliations to “no party affiliation,” NBC News reported.
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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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