State and Local News That Matters
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) have been vocal since the FBI launched a raid at the home of former President Donald Trump (R) Monday morning. They both derided the partisan nature of the raid.
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit due to neglect of duty. Warren said he would not prosecute doctors and nurses who perform abortions after 15 weeks, which is a violation of state law. In response, Warren has said he will enter into a legal challenge against the state and DeSantis’ order.
Yesterday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the suspension of State Attorney Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit due to neglect of duty. Warren vowed that he would not prosecute doctors and nurses involved in performing abortions after 15 weeks, which has been banned by Florida law.
Yesterday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced a new pilot program to assist Floridians with substance abuse which establishes a recovery network “to disrupt the opioid epidemic.” DeSantis was joined by multiple Florida health officials as the programs will be under the purview of a joint-agency effort with the Florida Department of Health, Department of Children and Families, and the Agency for Health Care Administration.
The program is not an exclusively emergency response program, but also contains numerous aspects of recovery and goes by the acronym CORE (Coordinated Opioid Recovery).
Vice President Kamala Harris (D) campaigned with Congresswoman Val Demings (D-FL-13) in South Florida earlier this week in an attempt to bolster Demings’ chances of unseating Sen. Marco Rubio (R) in this November’s election.
Both Demings and Harris were one-time finalists for the vice president pick after then-candidate Joe Biden achieved the Democrat presidential nomination in 2020. The job eventually went to Harris, but Demings made a name for herself among Florida Democrats.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) launched her first television ad as she seeks the nomination for Florida’s Democrat primary. She launched the ad with the moniker “Something New,” harkening back to a phrase she has commonly used on the campaign trail and when she launched her campaign over a year ago.
Earlier this week, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) held a press conference addressing the budding monkeypox outbreak across Florida. Fried criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) saying he is not doing enough on the matter, so she decided to take the issue into her own hands.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) penned an op-ed condemning the Biden Administration’s recent visit to Colombia to meet with the new Colombian president-elect Gustavo Petro. Petro is the first leftist to get elected to the post and previously served as a guerilla fighter in his younger years.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D), who is running for governor in 2022 in the Democrat primary, called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his fellow Florida Republicans “creepy” for opposing sexual content being taught in Florida’s public schools.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced a new initiative to fight environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) scores that America’s largest corporations and companies are adopting this week. ESG scores were originally developed as part of the United Nations Environment Programme Initiative as part of the Freshfield Report in 2005.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) denounced the Cuban government’s deceitful investment practices. The Castro regime has been incentivizing American investors to invest in Cuba’s “private sector,” but the DeSantis administration warned that they’re not actually assisting the Cuban people, but rather lining the coffers of the Castro dictatorship.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) teamed up with other lawmakers to redefine the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Last year, the Biden administration removed the group from terrorist lists which garnered backlash from Republicans and Democrats.
Latino Media Network (LMN), the group that secured the cash to buy out 18 radio stations across the country including in Florida, announced their newly transitioned radio stations will be used to fight right wing “disinformation.”
LMN secured their invested cash in part because of a push from George Soros, the businessman and philanthropist who has funded countless left-wing causes and candidates in the United States. The effort comes from Democrat groups as Hispanic voters abandon the Democrat Party in droves and are becoming Republicans.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) touted his accomplishments while speaking in Tampa at a Turning Point USA Student Action Summit. He discussed how the country is better off because Florida led the way in combatting COVID lockdown policies.
Last Friday night on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out China for buying up large tracts of property around the country, particularly in Florida.
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Earlier this week, Florida’s Republican Congressional Delegation were split on the passage of H.B. 8404 entitled the “Respect for Marriage” Act. The impetus for the bill is out of fear from left-leaning lawmakers that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) might overturn the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case which struck down marriage laws across the country in 2015.
The State of Florida has moved forward with a new policy that would deny Medicaid coverage for transgender treatments including puberty-blockers and hormone therapy. The Florida Department of Health prefaced the likely rule in April, but now the new policy stems from the Agency for Health Care Administration. “Following a review of available literature, clinical guidelines and coverage by other insurers and nations, Florida Medicaid has determined that the research supporting sex reassignment...
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) called on President Joe Biden (D) to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction in a letter sent to the White House.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced Monday that $6.5 million was being designated to launch the Career Pathways for Public Service Initiative. The new program will prepare students for public service and a career in local or state government.
Late last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) spoke at an event in Tampa for the Florida-based Moms for Liberty organization. The group was founded with the intention of empowering “parents to stand up and reclaim their parental rights at all levels of government.”
DeSantis touting his conservative track record and the legislation he has worked on to enhance parental involvement during his last few legislative sessions as governor.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) have traded jabs over the last couple of weeks, most recently culminating in Newsom pushing back against DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw.
Pushaw said that opponents to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill were “groomers,” to which Newsom took offense.
Former Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee released her first political ad of the campaign season. Lee is running for Florida’s 15th Congressional District which encompasses northeast Tampa communities and stretches up to Zephyrhills, and across to Lakeland.
In the ad, Lee touts her track record for implementing election integrity laws that were passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. She also described herself as a “conservative that will battle Biden’s leftist agenda,” will continue to support building a wall on the southern border started by former President Donald J. Trump (R), and defend gun rights.
Florida Attorney General Democrat candidate Daniel Uhlfelder announced on Twitter that his campaign reached the threshold to achieve matching state funds. Uhlfelder was also the notable individual who patrolled Florida’s beaches dressed as the Grim Reaper protesting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Florida State Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Miami) floated the idea of protected abortion access by way of Florida’s constitutional amendment process. His tweet comes in the wake of the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade case last month by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling.
The ruling from SCOTUS did not institute a federal ban, but allowed individual states to determine their own stance on abortion access.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s (R) office is requesting that the legal fight between pro-abortion groups and the state be fast-tracked to the Florida Supreme Court. The 15-week abortion ban in question, was recently put back into effect after an appeal from the state.
Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper issued a temporary injunction Tuesday morning to block the law, but the appeal to Cooper’s decision is what led to its reinstatement.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), in the last couple of weeks, vetoed a piece of legislation that would have presumed 50-50 custody sharing of children from divorced families. SB 1796 was called the Dissolution of Marriage bill and would have ended permanent alimony payments.
DeSantis vetoed the bill because of a constitutional issue.
The City of Orlando issued an apology for their Independence Day message saying that “we can’t blame them” if there were residents of their city who felt there was not much to celebrate. The city posted the original announcement to Twitter but has since deleted it and replaced it with an apology.
The apology stated that they “understand these words offended some” who read it.
Congresswoman Val Demings (D-FL-10), who is seeking to unseat incumbent Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R), denounced a the “Defund the Police” movement in a series of new ads.
The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida has opted to not offer their endorsement for the 2022 Democrat gubernatorial primary. The two most likely candidates to achieve the party nomination are Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D).
The caucus said that they both feel the two candidates are better options than incumbent Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), but they maintained that the two Democrat candidates did not model a progressive candidate quite close enough.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) awarded more than $28.4 million in funding for economic growth and infrastructure to 23 Florida communities on Tuesday. The funding came through primarily two state grant funds that are designed to assist communities with development and disaster preparation.