Florida's Latest News

‘Exciting hire’: Cory Dowd joins Capital City Consulting’s Tallahassee office

'I am honored to be joining the talented team at Capital City Consulting.'

Powerhouse governmental affairs firm Capital City Consulting is bringing on Cory Dowd as a Partner in its Tallahassee office. Before joining CCC, Dowd served in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Office and held key leadership positions within his administration, including being Deputy Chief of Staff at the Florida Department of Education (FDOE).

“Cory is another exciting hire for Capital City Consulting, as we continue to strategically grow the firm and add value for our clients,” said Capital City Consulting co-founder Nick Iarossi. “His breadth of experience working in the Governor’s office, as well as in the legislature, will translate well to the work we do at Capital City Consulting.”

“We’re glad to see Cory become a part of our team of partners,” said Capital City Consulting co-founder Ron LaFace. “Cory is no stranger to hard work and having to deliver results, and we’re excited to see what he achieves here at Capital City Consulting.”

Florida teachers will get $1.25 billion in state-allocated raises, DeSantis says

Florida teachers will get a raise this year, even if their school district is facing a tough budget year. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that the state budget will include $1.25 billion for teacher raises, which he said is nearly $250 million more than what was allocated last year.

The announcement, filled with praise for charter schools and scorn for teachers’ unions, was made at the City of Hialeah Educational Academy, a city-run charter school.

But there’s no guarantee many teachers will get a higher raise than last year.

In South Florida, school districts combined money earmarked from the state with discretionary funds, referendum dollars and COVID relief money to come up with raises. COVID money has now expired. Enrollment has declined in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, which decreases funding for the districts.

Federal judge blocks Florida law requiring deeper financial disclosure for local officials

Candidates for Mayor and City Council seats throughout Florida won’t have to divulge more information about their finances to voters this election cycle after a federal judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a law requiring expanded disclosures.

Judge Melissa Damian of the Southern District Court of Florida ruled Monday that SB 774, passed by the Legislature last year, violates the First Amendment rights of candidates and local elected officials by compelling content-based speech. She issued a temporary injunction against the law.

Florida law requires legislators, Cabinet officials, and candidates for those positions to file a Form 6 financial disclosure every year, divulging their net worth, the value of their household goods, detailing their assets and liabilities over $1,000, and itemizing every source of income above $1,000..

Tampa Bay’s vote-by-mail requests plunge as 2024 election nears

Tampa Bay is facing a steep drop in vote-by-mail requests ahead of the presidential election, the result of changes in state law that Gov. Ron DeSantis said would make the voter rolls more secure.

Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties have far fewer mail ballot requests on file for general election ballots this year than they did in the 2022 midterms.

So far, fewer than 42,000 Pasco voters have requested mail-in ballots for the general election. Compare that with more than 124,400 requests two years ago.

Hillsborough has less than 155,500 vote-by-mail requests for the general election on file, a dip compared with the more than 335,600 requests it fulfilled in the midterms.