Florida's Latest News

Joe Biden selects California Sen. Kamala Harris as running mate

Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first African American woman and South Asian American to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role African American voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump.

In choosing Harris, Biden is embracing a former rival from the Democratic primary who is familiar with the unique rigor of a national campaign. Born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother, the 55-year-old first-term senator is one of the party’s most prominent figures. She quickly became a top contender for the No. 2 spot after her own White House campaign ended.

Florida agencies asked to cut 8.5 percent to adjust for COVID-19

Getting ready for the possibility of a special legislative session to balance Florida’s budget, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and top House and Senate appropriations staff have called on state agencies to draw up ways to slice 8.5 percent from their current budgets to address “the expected shortfall” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The direction to look for reductions does not mean such cuts will be made in the fiscal year 2020-2021 budget, which took effect July 1. It was included in annual budget instructions sent to state agencies in mid-July.

But it came after the pandemic caused tax revenues to plummet in April, May and June and after DeSantis vetoed $1 billion in spending from the 2020-2021 budget. DeSantis made the vetoes in hopes of conserving cash and aligning the budget, which lawmakers passed in March as the pandemic was starting to hit, with the economic realities stemming from business shutdowns and job losses.

DeSantis says state would have to borrow from feds to get Trump’s unemployment benefits

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he’s looking into ways to take advantage of President Trump’s executive order to extend unemployment benefits but added the state likely would have to borrow money from the federal government to make it happen.

That and other complications could make it unlikely that jobless Floridians would receive the benefit anytime soon.

One of Trump’s orders issued Saturday uses $44 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for $400 in federal jobless benefits, extending a program of $600 weekly benefits paid for by the CARES Act that expired July 31.

Florida will be part of COVID-19 vaccine pilot, says state surgeon general

Florida, which has endured a surge of coronavirus infections this summer, will participate in a COVID-19 vaccine pilot program with the federal government.

State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said Tuesday, during a conference call with hospital officials, that Florida has been invited to be part of a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine pilot group. Rivkees said Florida was one of four states chosen to participate, along with the city of Philadelphia.

Rivkees said details for the pilot program “will be coming as vaccines become available,” but he did not explain further.