Florida's Latest News

Gov. DeSantis marks 3-year pandemic anniversary with COVID-19 policy victory lap

The experts were wrong, I was right.

That’s the message from Gov. Ron DeSantis as he marked the three-year anniversary of the federal government’s “15 days to slow the spread” campaign that initiated the shutdown of much of the country’s economic life.

The push to reduce human contact to slow the spread of COVID-19 was an attempt by public health authorities in March 2020 to prevent rapid transmission of the respiratory disease that would soon threaten to overwhelm hospital systems throughout the country.

DeSantis acquiesced to some of those measures initially, but was often the first Governor to roll back those restrictions, making moves such as reopening restaurants and schools, pushing to neuter mask requirements and banning vaccine mandates for customers and workers.

Lawmakers push for Space Florida restructure, increased collaboration with public and private stakeholders

A proposal by Rep. Tyler Sirois seeks to update the structure and operations of Space Florida, the state entity focused on aerospace industry economic development, by separating it from Enterprise Florida, restructuring its board of directors, and soliciting input from public and private stakeholders.

Sirois aims to establish a new composition for Space Florida’s Board of Directors that aligns with what he referred to as the “contemporary, commercialized economic landscape” of the aerospace industry. The Representative stated that the existing board structure, formulated in 2006, was tailored to the requirements of the Space Shuttle program, which ended in 2011, believing that the proposed changes would enable Space Florida to better serve the evolving needs of the modern aerospace sector and foster the development of emerging technologies and commercial space ventures.

HUD forms new disaster office, announces nearly $2.77B for Florida hurricane relief

Florida will receive an additional $2.7 billion in disaster relief from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The money was announced as part of an effort by the federal agency to respond to direct impacts from weather-related events. HUD this week established a new Office of Disaster Management and Office of Disaster Recovery within the agency. This means dozens of new federal hires will be dedicated to expediting efforts to provide assistance in disaster-struck areas.

HUD Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman announced the state funding at an event in Fort Myers as HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge announced details about the program overhaul in Kentucky.

Fudge said President Joe Biden’s administration saw a need following disasters last year to provide targeted assistance to those relying on public programs for housing.

‘Justice they deserve’: Parkland victim’s father supports proposed death penalty changes

On Wednesday, Tony Montalto stood in front of Florida lawmakers and urged them to pass a bill that would make it easier for juries to hand out death sentences.

Montalto lost his daughter Gina, 14, in the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Seventeen students and educators were killed and another 17 injured in the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The House bill Montalto supports would change the requirement that juries must be unanimous to recommend the death penalty. If passed, at least eight jurors recommending the death penalty would bind the court to the sentence.

There are currently three other bills related to death sentences moving through the House and Senate. One would grant judges more power by allowing them to overturn a jury’s decision with proper review.