Florida's Latest News

DeSantis uses sports betting to craft gambling deal that would bring Florida $2.5 billion

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has navigated between the neighboring worlds of gambling and sports, attracting millions of campaign dollars from casino titans and turning mega-fan while cheering on the NFL champion Tampa Bay Bucs.

This week in Tallahassee the governor will try to mash those worlds together – pushing state lawmakers to approve a $2.5 billion gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe that brings legal sports betting to Florida for the first time.

It would make Florida one of the nation’s biggest gambling meccas. And it could prove a defining, “art of the deal” moment for a governor whose mentor — former President Donald Trump — has long touted his own deal-making.

Gov. DeSantis Signs Bills To Combat Flooding, Sea-Level Rise

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a pair of bills Wednesday that will annually float tens of millions of dollars to help combat the effects of rising sea levels across the state.

The bills, which include creation of a Resilient Florida Grant Program in the Department of Environmental Protection to aid local communities, came only a few years after Republican lawmakers began to openly acknowledge the impacts of climate change.

“We're really putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to protecting the state of Florida and particularly our coastal communities from the risks of flooding and storms,” DeSantis said during an event to sign the bills (SB 1954 and SB 2514) at Rusty Bellies Waterfront Grill in Tarpon Springs.

Nikki Fried, a likely candidate for governor, promises ‘something new’ on June 1

Nikki Fried is promising she’ll announce “something new” on June 1, her strongest indication yet that she will run for governor.

Fried, who serves as agriculture commissioner, is Florida’s only statewide-elected Democrat and one of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ most outspoken critics.

She hasn’t formally announced, but Fried has all but confirmed her candidacy.

Earlier this month, Fried said it makes “absolute sense” that she would run for governor in 2022.

Gov. DeSantis holds key to health care projects

Gov. Ron DeSantis, aiming to curtail spending amid the COVID-19 pandemic, used his veto pen last year to wipe out $44 million in health care-related projects inserted into the budget by state lawmakers.

The question is whether he will do it again this year as the state’s financial picture has improved.

An analysis of the health and human services portion of the budget obtained by The News Service of Florida shows that lawmakers this year were able to direct $91.1 million to hometown projects, including money for hospital clinics, meal-delivery programs for homebound people and a hurricane center for The Arc of St Johns.