Florida's Latest News

Gov. DeSantis names new quartet of Southern Regional Education Board members

Gov. Ron DeSantis named a new slate of Southern Regional Education Board members Friday. Appropriately, all are current or former educators.

Rules require Board membership to include Governors from all 16 member states and four gubernatorial appointees, including at least one state legislator and one educator.

This time, the state lawmaker is Hialeah Republican Rep. Alex Rizo, who runs a consulting firm specializing in charter school and college preparatory tutoring.

The other appointments are Megan Crombie, a teacher and instructional specialist at Florida State University School; Arthur Keiser, the chancellor and founder of Keiser University and Southeastern College; and G. Devin Stephenson, president and CEO of Northwestern Florida State College.

Alimony bill in limbo as pending divorce actions pile up

The Family Law Section of The Florida Bar wants Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto 2022 legislation that would make dramatic changes to state law on alimony, and the sooner the better. Lawyers in that section of The Bar say pending divorce and child custody actions are stalled and piling up.

As of noon Friday, state lawmakers had yet to send the bill to DeSantis to take action. He can approve, veto or let the bill become law without his signature.

Senate Bill 1796 was adopted by the Legislature on March 9. Former Gov. Rick Scott vetoed similar legislation on alimony in 2013 and again in 2016.

Florida Bar News reported Thursday that while SB 1796 remains in limbo, pending divorce and child custody actions are starting to clog the courts.

“The uncertainty right now is impacting many pending cases and causing a backlog,” said Tampa magistrate Philip Wartenberg, chair-elect of The Bar’s Family Law Section, as reported by The Florida Bar publication.

Gov. DeSantis appoints Cord Byrd as Secretary of State

Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Rep. Cord Byrd to be Florida’s next Secretary of State.

Byrd, a three-term Neptune Beach Republican, was rumored to be on the shortlist to replace outgoing Secretary of State Laurel Lee, who announced she would leave the administration Monday amid talk she would run for Congress. In Byrd, DeSantis will have someone largely viewed as an ally leading the department that heads election efforts when he appears on the ballot for re-election in November.

“Cord Byrd has been an ally of freedom and democracy in the Florida Legislature, and I am confident he will carry that mission forward as Secretary of State,” DeSantis said in a news release. “I look forward to his successes ensuring Florida’s elections remain safe, secure and well-administered.”

When Byrd steps into his new office in the Department of State, he will inherit a legal challenge to Florida’s congressional maps, which were drawn by DeSantis’ office and passed by the Legislature during a Special Session. Byrd will also oversee the Primary Election on Aug. 23 and the General Election on Nov. 8, and the Department will implement the Office of Election Crimes and Security under his watch.

Florida's vaccine 'passport' ban will be heard in a federal appeals court

Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republicans took aim at so-called “vaccine passports” as they pushed to end COVID-19 restrictions.

But Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings had other ideas. After the cruise industry had been sidelined by the pandemic, the Miami-based company wanted to require passengers to show documentation they had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Norwegian filed a federal lawsuit last year that challenged a state law banning vaccine passports. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams agreed with the company’s arguments that the ban violated the First Amendment and what is known as the dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and issued a preliminary injunction that applied only to Norwegian.

Williams wrote in August that the law was a “content-based restriction” on speech, as it targeted documentation but allowed businesses to request other information from customers about issues such as vaccinations.