Florida's Latest News

Session preview: Housing, education, cultural battles atop conservative agenda in Florida

Florida’s legislative session begins on March 7, but there’s a pretty solid preview of what’s to come thanks to a breakneck special session that ended Feb. 10. During the special session, requested by Gov. Ron DeSantis, lawmakers took five days to approve funding priorities that were on the governor’s priority list and approved cleanups behind two of the governor’s high-profile media grabbing initiatives last year. 

The Republican supermajority in both chambers clarified that state funds can be spent to transport migrants from anywhere in the U.S. and also put $10 million toward future “relocations.” The broader language was needed to retroactively approve the flight DeSantis’ staff orchestrated last year flying mostly Venezuelan asylum seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. At the time, the state budget line only allowed for transport of people from Florida.  

Florida elections officials ask lawmakers not to make voting changes before 2024

Florida’s elections supervisors are asking state lawmakers not to implement changes to vote-by-mail ballots before the 2024 presidential election, warning that it will confuse voters and slow down vote counting.

A provision in last year’s Senate Bill 524 requires the state to come up with a plan to require Floridians voting by mail to include either the last four digits of their Social Security number, their driver’s license number or their state ID card number next to their signature.

The change was touted by Republicans as a security measure to crack down on alleged voter fraud.

But voters currently sign their name on the outside of the vote-by-mail envelope. Adding sensitive information to the outside of the envelope is considered a security risk, so supervisors and state officials have been grappling with how to implement the change. (The ballots inside the envelope have no information that identifies the voter.)

School choice bill advances in Florida Senate with a promise of changes to come

Freshman Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, drew a capacity crowd to a Senate hearing Tuesday when he introduced a proposal to make private school vouchers available to all Florida students. 

SB 202 supporters, including parents with children who have disabilities and Americans for Prosperity, call the idea transformational, while classroom teachers and groups like Leon County Guardians for Public Schools warned universal vouchers could bankrupt the public education system. 

School choice is high on the ruling Republican agenda for the 2023 legislative session, and Simon reworked a House proposal to expand eligibility for Florida’s three taxpayer-financed scholarships for private schools. 

His proposal would make the scholarships available to all Florida residents in pre-K through 12th grade, including part-time students and those who have never attended a public school, while also providing money for transportation. 

Lawmakers advance permitless carry for a full Florida House vote

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday backed a proposal that combines allowing people to carry concealed firearms without licenses and efforts to improve school safety, despite Democratic arguments that easing gun restrictions would increase violence.

A Senate committee on Monday approved a similar measure, with some gun-rights groups — which want people to be able to openly carry firearms in most public places — calling the proposal “too weak.”

The Republican-dominated House committee voted 16-7 to approve the House version (HB 543), which would allow people to carry concealed guns without going through state licensure, background screening and required training. It also would provide money for school hardening and take other steps to address school safety, including coordinating threat-assessment services, allowing armed “guardians” in private schools and calling for firearm-detection dogs at schools.