Florida's Latest News

DeSantis called for ‘energy dominance’ during campaign. His plan still is relevant to Floridians

Established by rocket scientists on a sliver of a barrier island south of Kennedy Space Center in the middle of the 20th century, this community is the sort of place where locals raise families after growing up here themselves. Most don’t want their community to change, but change is coming.

The city is situated in one of the most highly eroding areas in Florida. With the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the 156-mile Indian River Lagoon on the other, the water is a treasured draw and growing threat. In 2022, Hurricane Nicole washed away some 13 feet of beach, leaving four homes uninhabitable, after making landfall roughly 42 miles to the south as a Category 1 storm.

“I grew up here. I don’t want it to change either,” said Courtney Barker, the city manager. “What is that happy medium, to allow people to build better but still keep the character of the community that we all love?”

Across Florida, communities are grappling with the biggest environmental threat facing the state: climate change. Gov. Ron DeSantis has invested more than $1.6 billion toward hardening the infrastructure against rising seas and flooding, the first time in about a decade top leaders of this uniquely vulnerable state have taken action on virtually any aspect of the global problem.

Gov. DeSantis expects voters to decide on cannabis legalization

'It'll be on the ballot.'

Gov. Ron DeSantis is not an advocate for legalized marijuana, but he said voters in his state likely will get a chance to vote on that this year. “I think the (Florida Supreme Court) is going to approve that, so it’ll be on the ballot,” DeSantis said, as reported by Marijuana Moment.

The Adult Personal Use of Marijuana citizen initiative that could lead to a constitutional amendment for voter consideration, with legalization in effect as soon as May 2025 if 60% or more of voters approve. If the court allows Florida voters to weigh in, it will be over the objections of the state’s top cop. 

Attorney General Ashley Moody has cited law requiring constitutional amendments to touch on just a single subject, and expressed doubt whether this one complies with all technical requirements of state law.

Smart & Safe Florida already has more than a million verified signatures, meeting the threshold needed for ballot inclusion should the Supreme Court back its position. The committee has raised more than $40 million, almost entirely from Trulieve, the leading dispensary chain in the state in terms of number of storefronts.

Florida House panel backs measure to require ID cards to show sex assigned at birth

A Florida House panel on Monday backed a measure that would require state-issued identification cards to reflect a person's sex assigned at birth and impose requirements for insurers who cover gender-affirming care. The Republican-controlled House Select Committee on Health Innovation approved the bill (HB 1639) along party lines, despite opposition from transgender people and their allies. 

Under the bill approved Monday, insurance companies and health plans that cover such treatments as hormone-replacement therapy and surgeries for people diagnosed with gender dysphoria would additionally be required to cover the cost of "de-transitioning," It also would require insurers and medical plans that cover gender-affirming treatment to offer plans that do not include such coverage.

The bill also would require changes on driver's licenses. Currently, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles identifies a person's "gender" on licenses. The bill would require licenses to reflect a person's sex, based on "the person's sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and internal and external genitalia present at birth." Bankson said the proposed changes are aimed at establishing a "medial line" for government documents.

"This is not to suppress people's right for personal expression. This is not to force one belief upon another," he said, adding that the licenses would be "tied to a scientific standard of birth sex."

Florida high school graduation rate hits new high

Improvements were reflected across many subgroups. More than 7 of every 8 Florida high school students are successfully completing their courses of study as of the 2022-23 academic year.

As the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis notes, that’s a new record for the state, and a validation of his administration’s approach to K-12 education.

“Florida’s graduation rate continues to climb because our educators place a sole focus on academics in the classroom. Whether Florida students choose a four-year university or non-traditional post-secondary learning, they will have built a strong foundation to set them up for success,” DeSantis said.

Though the Governor graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School, he has been consistent in talking up vocational and trade education, often noting those career-oriented courses of study put people on firmer footing than courses in “zombie studies” and the like. “Graduating high school is important for any student’s future,” added Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr.