Florida's Latest News

Florida House OKs bill to protect lottery winners’ privacy

People who win $250,000 or more in the Florida Lottery could choose to keep their identities secret for 90 days under a bill overwhelmingly passed by the House on Wednesday.

Democratic Rep. Tracie Davis read headlines about multi-million dollar lottery winners in Florida and Georgia being killed after claiming prizes.

“At some point in our lives, we all dream of winning the lottery,” Davis said. “But unfortunately for some people, that dream of winning the lottery, sometimes those dreams become nightmares.”

The bill passed on a 114-1 vote without any debate. An identical Senate bill has one more committee stop before being considered by the full chamber. So far, it has received no opposition.

Department of Economic Opportunity: Florida gained almost half a million jobs in 2021, unemployment remains low

Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity recently released its 2021 jobs report, where the organization marked 479,300 new jobs within The Sunshine State since December of 2020. Of these new hires, over 50,000 were in the industries of health and education, helping to mitigate the ongoing worker shortages in those sectors.

Florida has experienced a surging economic recovery coming out of the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, marking 20 consecutive months of an economic surge as well as 14 consecutive months of labor force increase.

“Month after month, the data continues to show that freedom first economic policies create jobs and keep our economy moving,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Our new businesses and workforce growth show that Floridians have the opportunities they need to thrive. We will continue to lead the nation in economic growth because we value the individual freedoms of Floridians and protect the ability for our citizens to succeed.”

Fla. governor stops at Santa Fe College, announces $89M investment in workforce training

A new charter school will be opening at Santa Fe College and other institutions throughout the state where students will be able to earn their high school diploma, an Associate of Arts degree and technical certification. 

It will be funded as part of “Building Florida’s Future” program, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at a press conference at Santa Fe's Charles R. Perry Construction Institute, where construction and other technical and workforce training programs are taught. 

DeSantis announced that the state is investing $89 million in workforce programs, which is part of a $3.5 billion investment the state has made into the programs since 2019 when he came into office.

‘No Patient Left Alone Act’ ensuring hospital, nursing home visitations advances

Legislation aimed at strengthening patient visitation rights in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities across Florida now has just one more committee hearing to go before reaching the Senate floor.

The bill (SB 988), dubbed the “No Patient Left Alone Act,” cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services Wednesday after roughly 15 minutes of conversation. Most speakers supported the bill outright, but one asked for better safeguards against potential disease outbreaks.

Republican Miami Sen. Ileana Garcia, the bill’s sponsor, spoke of the uncertainty that patients, nursing home residents and their families faced during the COVID-19 pandemic when many health care facilities blocked or limited visitations.

“There was a lack of information … about the disease, which led to a lot of desperate decisions and situations,” she said. “We want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. We want to make sure that everyone keeps their civil liberties regardless of circumstances.”