Florida's Latest News

Don Gaetz raises $910K in opening quarter

Former Senate President Don Gaetz brought in a massive haul for his bid to return to Tallahassee.

The Crestview Republican collected more than $910,000 from October through December, between donations to his Senate District 1 campaign and his political committee, The Partnership for an Affordable Florida.

“I am deeply grateful to the people of Northwest Florida for their incredible support and generosity,” Gaetz said.

“Every day, I hear the same challenges from families across Northwest Florida who are being hurt by Joe Biden’s inflation and failed economic policies — housing costs, property insurance rates, utility rates, and the cost of living are all too high. In the State Senate, I will work every day on the kitchen table issues that are crushing our families and seniors so Florida remains affordable to the people who call our state home.”

The FDA just cleared the way for drug importation. What now?

The FDA’s decision to allow states to import prescription drugs from Canada may not help President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign — or Americans’ pocketbooks.

That’s because Florida’s drug importation plan, which the Food and Drug Administration greenlit on Friday, has a long way to go before Americans end up saving money on their prescriptions, if they ever do.

Pharma companies and the Canadian government — longtime opponents of bulk drug importation — are unlikely to sanction the flow of prescription drugs over the border. Canada has adopted regulatory guardrails to ensure drugs can’t be exported if it would exacerbate domestic supply issues, and drugmakers have indicated they won’t allocate more product to Canada than is earmarked for the country.

“The likelihood of this actually materializing is negligible,” said Eric Miller, a Washington-based trade consultant. “[The FDA knows] that the pharmaceutical companies are not going to oversupply the Canadian market.”

Florida bill seeks to prevent minors under 16 from having social media accounts

In a priority of House Speaker Paul Renner, House and Senate Republicans have filed bills designed to prevent minors under age 16 from having social-media accounts.

The House version of the bill (HB 1), filed by Rep. Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, and Rep. Fiona McFarland, R-Sarasota, was released Friday night, while the Senate version (SB 1788) was filed Monday by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach. They came as the 2024 legislative session prepares to start Tuesday.

During an appearance last month in Tallahassee, Renner said social media is having a “devastating effect on kids” and that lawmakers should be able to impose online regulations “in a meaningful way.”

“I want to hear from everybody on what that looks like,” Renner said at the time. “You know, the idea that we can be libertarians where our kids are concerned? We're not libertarians with our kids on anything. Adults are a different story. They wanted to do all that stuff. That's their business. And it's a free country. But for our kids, we’ve got to protect them.”

Bills filed in Tallahassee would preempt enforcement of 'living wage' laws

State lawmakers begin their annual legislative session Tuesday. And observers are watching to see if they continue efforts to reduce the power of leaders in cities and counties. Lawmakers have already filled proposals to eliminate local control over wages and labor laws.

Republican lawmakers are filing legislation that would stop cities and counties from requiring employers to pay what are called "living wages," which pay more than the state minimum wage.

This could particularly affect workers in high-cost cities, such as Tampa and Miami.

And it would prevent communities from passing laws regulating terms of employment -- such as requiring schedules to be set in advance for hourly workers. It would also prohibit municipalities from requiring extra precautions for workers who toil in extreme heat.

"It's part of a much larger essentially consolidation of power under state government," said political journalist Jason Garcia.