Florida's Latest News

Citizens Property keeps growing as Florida leaders try to fix property insurance woes

As lawmakers look at making changes in Florida’s property insurance system, the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. added more than 17,500 policies in March.

Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, had 569,868 policies as of March 31, up from 552,340 at the end of February. An increased number of policies at Citizens is part of the debate as lawmakers consider changes to bolster the property insurance industry.

The Senate passed a potentially far-reaching plan (SB 76) last week, while House committees have moved forward with a bill (HB 305) that is substantially different.

‘We’re not going to be silenced’: Ron DeSantis, doctors fire back after YouTube takedown

In response to YouTube pulling down a video of Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ recent meeting with controversial scientists, the Governor brought the panelists back together to combat what he described as censorship at the hands of Big Tech.

On Wednesday, YouTube removed a video of DeSantis’ March roundtable, hosted by WTSP Tampa Bay. Drs. Scott Atlas, Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff were in Tallahassee for that event, teleconferenced via Zoom, a news conference that harangued YouTube for suppressing contrarian views.

“It was disappointing to see it, but I’m glad that we’re back,” DeSantis said. “We’re not going to be silenced. We’re going to make sure that folks get to hear from some of the great experts in the country and also be able to actually hear what the data has revealed over the past year.”

Florida once again leading nation in P.1 and B.1.1.7 COVID variant cases

Florida had it's lowest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases since October on Monday, according to the Florida Department of Health's daily update. 

The state added just 1,613 new cases on Monday. The last time cases were this low was on Oct. 5, where there were just 1,415 new cases announced, according to state data. 

But that news was tempered with the announcement that Florida is once again leading the nation in the COVID-19 P.1 variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Sunday evening update. 

State Waives Standardized Tests As A Requirement For Graduation, Promotion

Answering the question of how the state would handle standardized testing this year, the Florida Department of Education issued an emergency order Friday waiving accountability measures tied to state exams.

Concerns about consequences of testing had loomed as exams kicked off this week for some students. Education officials and lawmakers grappled with the issue because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools, including many students learning remotely.

“Similar to last year, this emergency order protects our high school seniors and empowers local school districts and schools to make the important decisions on graduation, promotion and whether to opt in to school grades and improvement ratings,” Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said in a prepared statement Friday.