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Andrew Gillum launches major registration campaign to ‘evict’ President Trump in 2020
Vowing to turn Florida blue in the 2020 presidential election, former Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum announced Wednesday night that he’s committed to registering one million voters over the next year-and-a-half. “We can deny Donald Trump a second term, right here in the state of Florida!” he said to a cheering crowd gathered at […]
Some legislators want undocumented immigrants to get FL driver’s licenses
Republican lawmakers are pushing bills that would deport more undocumented immigrants detained by Florida law-enforcement agencies. On Wednesday, two Democratic lawmakers announced an entirely different legislative proposal: allow undocumented immigrants to get a Florida driver’s license. Although the idea is controversial, twelve other states allow undocumented people to get driver’s licenses, including in the very […]
Legislature takes first steps to “clarify” Florida’s felon voting rights law
Democrats and voting rights advocates blasted the first bill introduced in the Florida Legislature Tuesday that seeks to add clarity and definitions to Amendment 4, the constitutional amendment that restores voting rights to an estimated 1.4 million felons in the state. The measure, approved by more than 64 percent of Florida voters last fall, calls […]
Is “telehealth” – with big tax breaks – the answer for Florida’s doctor shortage?
Florida has a a growing shortage of doctors – and lawmakers say “telehealth” is the answer. Legislation proposed by state Rep. Clay Yarborough, a Republican from Duval County, would increase the use of telecommunications – using remote professionals – to provide services where there’s a shortage of medical services. The shortage is so bad, legislative […]
Prominent Florida Republicans blame feds for state’s faulty immigration measures
Two prominent Miami-area Republicans say the federal government’s inability to address comprehensive immigration issues is creating a void that’s allowing state lawmakers to push controversial bills like the one now moving through the Florida Legislature. That proposal would ban so-called “sanctuary cities” and compel local law enforcement agencies to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs […]
State lawmakers moving to kill off the venerable Florida Constitution Revision Commission
Saying it isn’t representing Florida citizens the way it should, a committee in the Republican-controlled state House voted unanimously on Thursday to abolish the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), the state panel that’s supposed to review and propose changes to the Florida Constitution every twenty years. Last year’s CRC placed eight proposed constitutional amendments on the […]
We voted to give felons voting rights – now the Legislature is involved, so advocates are at the Capitol, keeping watch
Hundreds of advocates for felon voting rights have been meeting with state lawmakers this week in the state Capitol. They have three major concerns: – First and foremost, they want the Legislature to fully implement Amendment 4, the state Constitutional Amendment that more than 64 percent of Floridians supported last November. The measure restored voting […]
The ERA only needs one more state to get ratified. How about Florida?
Ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) might seem like a moment from a bygone era, but the truth is that it only needs to be approved by one more state to become part of the U.S. Constitution. On Tuesday, Democratic legislators and women’s rights advocates held a boisterous Capitol rally in hopes that Florida will […]
Legislature advances proposals to let more people carry guns around schools, churches
The Republican-led Legislature is advancing two proposals that would let more people have guns around schools and houses of worship. One measure would repeal a state law that gives Florida school boards the right to prohibit anyone over the age of 18 from parking on a school campus with a gun securely locked in their […]
Hydraulic fracking ban moves along in Florida Senate, despite critics
For the past couple of years in Tallahassee, state lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have supported banning the oil and gas-drilling process known as fracking — yet they haven’t gotten a bill passed into law. Lawmakers are trying again, though the anti-fracking bills this legislative session are not all the same. Take […]
An unequal criminal justice system hurts minorities: There may be one way to fix the inequities
Legal experts, political groupies and citizens following the news were surprised and even outraged last week when a federal judge sentenced former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to less than four years in prison for committing multiple felonies. Critics say the sentence exposed the vast disparities in how people of privilege fare in the […]
FL Democrats still fighting against Republican-led anti-immigration legislation
Florida’s Democratic lawmakers brought out a new argument to oppose anti-immigration legislation on Monday – one that involves Venezuelans and the Nicolas Maduro-led regime. The bill (SB 168) “will escalate mass deportations across the board. It will escalate the deportation of Venezuelans immigrants who may be sent back to their country to be slaughtered by […]