Florida's Latest News

Ron DeSantis hails SCOTUS switch on Chevron deference

Florida’s Governor isn’t holding back when it comes to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning a four-decade-old principle that he says “really empowered the administrative state.”

The conservative court sided with Atlantic herring fishermen in New Jersey and Rhode Island who challenged fees imposed to pay to have their catches tracked, in accordance with a National Marine Fisheries Service rule passed during the Donald Trump administration. In the process, the court satisfied a long-standing conservative wish list item.

Gov. Ron DeSantis argues that “the long and short of it is … who ultimately governs our society.”

“And the outcry on the left over the repeal of Chevron or the overruling of Chevron really shows how they view society. And those of us who welcome the decision to overrule Chevron, we believe in a conception of government that our Founding Fathers envisioned,” DeSantis said at Pensacola State College.

Supreme Court keeps DeSantis social media law offline for now

One of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature legislative wins designed to rein in tech companies will remain in limbo for the upcoming election season.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a legal challenge against Florida and Texas laws dealing with social media platforms, although parts of the ruling supported by a majority of justices signaled an ongoing deep skepticism about whether the laws are constitutional. Instead, the court sent the litigation back to lower courts.

The bottom line, however, is that a preliminary injunction blocking Florida’s law will continue to remain in place while the legal fight continues. That law could have subjected tech companies to substantial fines if they removed a political candidate from a social media platform.

DeSantis touted the legislation when he signed it into law more than three years ago, branding it as a strike against Silicon Valley “elites” who were censoring information. He also acknowledged the measure would apply to former President Donald Trump, who at the time had been removed from several platforms after the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

Florida bill changes work limits for 16- and 17-year-olds

The rules for teens in the workforce will look different in Florida because of House Bill 49. The new bill, which went into effect on Monday, allows 16- and 17-year-olds to work 30 hours per week when school is in session. A parent or guardian can waive that limitation.

Melissa Judine is 18 years old and felt like 30 hours was too much for teens to work.

“I’m not really a fan of that. The brain develops more when you’re 25, right? It’s just like for you to be making those hard decisions and your brain isn’t really developed yet,” Judine said.

Stephanie Arroyave, who is 20 years old, said she feels the law is good for teens who want to work as many hours as possible. “I personally like it,” Arroyave said. “Whenever I was at that age I struggled finding a job that would let me work certain hours. I always wanted more hours to work.”

The law also includes several other changes like getting a 30-minute lunch break after four hours of work if someone is scheduled to work a total of eight hours for the day.

FSU makes Top 3 in performance-based funding metrics; FAMU on ‘watch list’

Florida State and Florida A&M universities both show a drop in their performance-based funding (PBF) metric scores this year, with FAMU being on the Board of Governors’ “watch list.”

But in spite of FSU’s drop, it maintains its Top Three status in the Florida State University System — tied with the University of South Florida for the third highest scores — along with the University of Florida coming in second place and Florida International University in the lead.

The board met on the University of Central Florida's campus last week to discuss this year's metrics, where the 12 universities in the state’s system are judged on how well they perform in 10 categories designated by the board for a possible 100 points.

While FSU scored an 89 this year and dropped five points from 2023, FAMU scored a 72, which is a drop from 78 points last year.