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Progress Florida grades Florida lawmakers’ 2019 votes
Thirteen Florida legislators won a progressive organization’s title of “People’s Champions” for their votes on key legislation during the 2019 legislative session. That’s up from three legislators the year before on Progress Florida’s “People’s First” report card. Republicans scored much lower on the progressive nonprofit’s key priorities, including a new law making it more difficult […]
FL counties will get bucks to spend for online election security
On the eve of President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign kickoff in Orlando, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised Monday to dedicate some $5 million so that county elections officials can beef up their internet security systems. But DeSantis wouldn’t commit to informing Floridians if the state suffers any more breaches by Russian hackers. Special Counsel Robert […]
FL state budget now in DeSantis’ hands; he promises some vetoes
The Legislature sent Gov. Ron DeSantis its $91.1 billion state budget Friday for the fiscal year beginning July 1. He has until June 29 to sign the spending plan into law, although his staff has already been reviewing the document. DeSantis has said he plans to sign it next week. The governor has guaranteed he’ll […]
DeSantis goes to Panhandle Republican country to sign hardline immigration measure
Gov. Ron DeSantis, flanked by hard-line GOP U.S. House Rep. Matt Gaetz, traveled to a Republican stronghold in the Panhandle Friday to sign into law Donald Trump-inspired sanctions on any local officials who might refuse to cooperate in federal immigration law enforcement. The new law (SB 168) gives the governor authority to remove local officials […]
Gov. DeSantis says he sees no need for LGBTQ legal protections in his administration
Two days after omitting mention of LGBTQ Floridians in a memorandum commemorating the 2016 Pulse nightclub shootings, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that he sees no need to include them in an executive order barring discrimination within his administration. “My office – we do merit only, and I don’t need a piece of paper to […]
New FL health insurance programs signed into law
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation that legislative backers say will encourage Floridians to save money by shopping for certain medical services based on comparison pricing. The so-called “Patient Savings Act” (HB 1113) encourages insurers to offer “shared savings incentive” programs. Participating policyholders would shop for nonemergency health care services, including lab and diagnostic tests, […]
DeSantis: Let’s hold separate elections to decide constitutional amendments
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday defended a new law that will make it more difficult to amend the Florida Constitution through petition drives, and suggested the state might someday stage separate elections on proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution. During a news conference in Jacksonville, DeSantis suggested staging “stand-alone” elections to vote on citizens’ initiatives, […]
Gov. DeSantis campaign account gets $850,000 since January
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political committee raised nearly $437,000 during May – more than it collected during all of the year’s first quarter, according to records on file with the Florida Division of Elections. The committee’s year-to-date haul surpassed $850,000. The largest donors were the Florida Chamber of Commerce, at $50,000, and Disney Worldwide Services Inc., […]
Gov. DeSantis praises Trump, signs prescription drug bill in The Villages
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Tuesday at the sprawling Villages retirement community that allows the state to import bargain pharmaceutical drugs from Canada. He also praised President Trump’s “unprecedented” support for Florida ahead of Trump’s planned campaign rally in Orlando next week. “Since I’ve come into office, the president’s done more for Florida than any […]
Gov. DeSantis hires new external affairs director
Mara Gambineri, communications director for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will replace Justin Caporale as director of external affairs for Gov. Ron DeSantis, supervising advance work for his public appearances. Meredith Beatrice, deputy communications chief to the governor, confirmed the hire Monday following a report about the personnel move by Florida Politics. Caporale, a […]
Gov. DeSantis signs law taking aim at citizen ballot initiatives, including raising minimum wage to $15
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed 38 bills into law Friday, including one that will make it difficult to collect petition signatures to place constitutional amendments on the Florida ballot. HB 5 throws fresh doubt on the future of citizens’ initiatives already in the works, including proposed amendments to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per […]
U.S. Ag Secretary meets with Gov. DeSantis, promises Hurricane Michael aid will come swiftly
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue promised Friday to speed federal Hurricane Michael disaster assistance to Florida, now that President Trump has signed a $19 billion supplemental budget bill eight months after the storm made landfall. Speaking during a roundtable discussion hosted by Gov. Ron DeSantis at Florida’s governor’s mansion, Perdue promised to send federal […]