by Casey Owens | Jan 18, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
After passing through two different committees in the Florida Senate, a bill (SB 254) giving religious institutions the right to stay open during a state of emergency has been put on the calendar to be considered by the entire Senate. Introduced by Republican...
by Casey Owens | Jan 15, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
Two bills (HB 7001 and HB 7003) related to lobbying restrictions for public officials after leaving office were unanimously approved by the Florida House State Affairs Committee on Thursday. Both bills, backed by Representative Traci Koster of Tampa, were filed...
by Casey Owens | Jan 12, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, News, The South
As the 2022 Florida legislative session began on Tuesday, competing proposals from both Democrat and Republican lawmakers addressing gun rights are set to be considered. One side of the debate promotes increased gun control, while the other side promotes...
by Casey Owens | Jan 11, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, News, port, The South
The Charlie Crist campaign for Governor reported $670,000 raised in December to round out 2021 and make his starting cash on hand for 2022, $3.8 million. December fundraising numbers for Crist’s campaign were initially reported by Florida Politics on...
by Casey Owens | Jan 9, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
Weeks after being arrested and charged with perjury, two Republican Sumter county commissioners were suspended from office Thursday by Governor Ron DeSantis in the first two executive orders of 2022 (EO 22-01 and EO 22-02). Until their cases are settled,...
by Casey Owens | Jan 7, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
In an effort to limit citizen ballot initiatives, two Republican lawmakers in Florida, State Senator Jason Brodeur (R-District 9) and State Representative Mike Beltran (R-57 District) filed identical bills (SJR 1412 and HJR 1127) that would restrict the...
by Casey Owens | Jan 6, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, News, The South
A week before the 2022 legislative session in Florida begins, Attorney General Ashley Moody – at a news conference with other state officials on Tuesday – doubled down on her stance regarding the crackdown on organized retail thefts that have been...
by Casey Owens | Jan 5, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, News, The South
Despite the surge in the new COVID-19 Omicron variant that is especially prominent in Florida, the number of new unemployment claims during the week that ended on December 25th was the lowest since before the pandemic during the same time period in 2019....
by Casey Owens | Jan 2, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, port, The South
Amid the recent surge in COVID-19 Omicron variant cases, two South Florida school boards have decided to reinforce mask mandates for adults while strongly recommending masks for students. Given that the two counties account for almost 61% of the new cases...
by Casey Owens | Jan 1, 2022 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
Almost $1 million in handbags were stolen in a smash and grab robbery of the luxury bag store Only Authentics located in Palm Beach, Florida on Christmas Eve. The robbery took place a little more than two weeks after thieves initially stole close to $500,000...
by Casey Owens | Dec 31, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
An appeal to a settlement approved by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) – that would allow Florida Power and Light (FPL) to increase its utility rates in January 2022 and 2023 – was filed Monday to the Florida Supreme Court by a non-profit...
by Casey Owens | Dec 29, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, News, The South
In an attempt to create an alternative to prison time for low-level criminal offenders, Florida Senator Darryl Rouson last week proposed a bill (SB 1356) identical to the bill filed in September (HB 187) that would allow offenders to enlist in military service...
by Casey Owens | Dec 28, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
A bill that aims to exempt additional voter registration data from Florida’s public records laws was introduced Sunday by State Representative Cyndi Stevenson of St. Augustine. In addition to data such as a voter’s social security number which was...
by Casey Owens | Dec 27, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
Ahead of the 2022 legislative session that begins on January 11th, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced his appointments for the first three of five seats on the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC). The three appointments include Secretary of...
by Casey Owens | Dec 25, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, News, The South
Challenging a rule from the Biden administration that would require COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employees at a preschool program known as Head Start, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody joined 23 other states to express an objection to the mandates. Head...
by Casey Owens | Dec 23, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
While the nation recorded a historically low population growth rate from 2020 to 2021, the state of Florida had the second highest population increase in the U.S. behind Texas, according to a report on Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau (USCB). Following Florida...
by Casey Owens | Dec 22, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, along with the state’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody, held a meeting Monday of the State Board of Administration (SBA) to “take action against communist China and woke...
by Casey Owens | Dec 21, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
After months of COVID-19 cases declining weekly since the summer spike in Florida, the holiday season is experiencing a new spike in COVID cases due to the new Omicron variant that began Thanksgiving Day weekend and has increased into the month of December....
by Casey Owens | Dec 12, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
Almost six months after the Florida Supreme Court upheld a law that designated a single medical marijuana treatment center (MMTC) license for an African American farmer, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) issued rules for a new licensing process related to...
by Casey Owens | Dec 11, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
The November campaign finance reports released by the Florida Division of Elections on Friday show that Governor DeSantis’ political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, raised $4,593,936. DeSantis, who had been fundraising for his campaign well before his...
by Casey Owens | Dec 10, 2021 | Battleground States, Florida, The South
Campaign finance reports indicate U.S. Representative and Democratic candidate in Florida’s 2022 gubernatorial race Charlie Crist has amassed $5 million since his campaign announcement in early May. Crist’s campaign, and political committee, Friends...
