Working & The Economy
Changes could be “uncomfortable” with controversial new Medicaid director at the helm
Mary Mayhew, head of the Agency for Health Care Administration, says she expects changes at the $29-billion agency designed to help the state’s most vulnerable people. “We can’t sit back and manage to the status quo or to become complacent about the approaches. I believe in a culture of continuous process and quality improvement. That […]
Here’s what’s happening on gun laws, a year after South Florida high school mass shooting shattered a community
This Thursday marks the one-year anniversary that a troubled ex-student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, shooting 31 people and killing 17. The tragedy ranked among Florida’s worst mass shootings, behind the 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting. On that June night, a 29-year-old security guard carrying semiautomatic weapons opened fire in […]
If you steal a $300 bike, it’s a felony? Lawmakers want to change that threshold
Stealing anything in Florida worth $300 or more is felony grand theft, a figure that hasn’t changed since 1986. Now, lawmakers are trying to boost that threshold to $1,500. St. Petersburg Republican Jeff Brandes has been trying to get that law changed for the past few years, and on Monday, his proposal to raise the […]
Florida’s top financial regulator warns about “duffle bags of cash”
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis wants Donald Trump to do something about duffle bags stuffed with millions in cash. The bags, he says, are being transported all over the state due to the state’s growing medical-marijuana industry. It’s a serious problem, said Patronis, a Republican who oversees the state’s banking industry. He explains it […]
Maybe this year the Legislature will stop swiping the money earmarked for Florida’s affordable housing
Scrambling to pay rent or find affordable housing is a daily reality for many of Florida’s poorest residents. According to 2017 data from the University of Florida’s Shimberg Center for Housing studies: –Over 1.94 million low-income households in Florida pay nearly a third or more of their income for housing. –Some 1.1 million of those […]
Really, Matt Gaetz? Congressman gets aggressive with dad who lost son to Fla. mass shooter a year ago
Pro-gun Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Northwest Florida created an uproar this week in a Washington hearing about gun control, pointing his finger aggressively at a parent who lost his 17-year-old son last year in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, and then asking Congressional colleagues how he could get the parent kicked out […]
Nobody likes going to the dentist. But imagine you couldn’t find one at all
Millions of Floridians live in places where it’s hard to find a dentist, and the problem is even worse if you are poor. Everyone knows there is stigma attached when people have to live with missing teeth because they can’t afford to get the problem fixed. It can affect employment, self-esteem, and cause serious medical […]
Meet Florida’s first Director of Cannabis
Florida has its first cannabis director. And her marching orders are to give more patients access to legal marijuana. State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Wednesday named Holly Bell as the cannabis director in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Fried has directed Bell, a Nashville consultant with extensive experience in finance and […]
Florida should tackle gun violence in minority communities, lawmaker says
As hundreds of gun-control advocates swarmed the state Capitol in Tallahassee to lobby lawmakers Wednesday, a South Florida Democratic House member called on Governor Ron DeSantis to form a commission to address gun violence prevention in minority communities. “The creation of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission fell short when it didn’t […]
Female lawmakers push for family-friendly policies and a non-discriminatory workplace
Six months of paid family leave. Fair pay and employment opportunities for women in the workplace. Equal pay for equal work without regard to gender when it comes to state bids and contracts. Those issues and more are part of a series of bills that a group of female lawmakers will be pushing this coming […]
FL state pension fund will need more cash to stay healthy
What public employees and retirees may want to know: It will cost counties, school boards and state agencies an additional $123 million in the next budget year to keep the state pension fund financially healthy. That means state and local governments will have to increase their contributions in the coming year. In addition to those […]
It’s time to revive Florida’s African American History Task Force
Dear Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran: First, congrats on the gig. As you are by now aware, the job of education commissioner is far more than a title, paycheck and political steppingstone after eight years in the Florida Legislature. Your work – the decisions you make, the policies you push — impacts an estimated 2.7 […]