Florida's Latest News

DeSantis signs into law a $1.5 billion tax relief package for Floridians 

The package creates new tax holidays in the state, and provides tax relief for homeowners and small business owners.

Governor Ron DeSantis signed a $1.5 billion dollar tax relief package into law on Tuesday, May 7. The package creates two fourteen-day disaster preparedness tax holidays, a month-long summer sales tax holiday, a fourteen-day school tax holiday and a seven-day tool-tax holiday.

DeSantis said the legislation also provides several tax credits for companies who provide childcare to workers or donate to child welfare charities.  “So childcare has been really, really difficult. It's expensive. And there's not enough options for a lot of parents who are working. So now you can have an employer get a tax credit, if they're providing childcare on the site, or if they're doing a program where they're helping their employees get the childcare that they need,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said companies who employ people with physical and developmental disabilities will also benefit from the program.

Florida again ranked No. 1 for education by U.S. News

Florida is the top state for education for the second year in a row, according to U.S. News & World Report’s latest ranking announced Tuesday.

The outlet said the state’s standing is “largely fueled by several stellar metrics in higher education, and less so by Florida’s still fairly strong performance in the prekindergarten- through-12th-grade arena.”

The recognition follows a period of controversial change in the last two legislative sessions for a system that includes 12 public universities and 28 state colleges. Gov. Ron DeSantis and lawmakers have banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs on campuses; approved a measure regulating campus restrooms according to gender; removed sociology from a required courses list; and weakened tenure protections for faculty, among other changes.

In a separate U.S. News ranking, Florida also landed in the No. 1 spot for higher education alone for the eighth year in a row. Students at the state’s colleges and universities had the nation’s second-highest graduation rates and paid the lowest average in-state tuition and fees, the organization said.

Gov. DeSantis has ‘no plans’ to call for a Special Session. But he’s not opposed to the idea

Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t opposed to a Special Session of the Legislature this year. But he continues to maintain that he has “no plans” to call one.

“You know, I’ve been asked, would you do more immigration? Of course, I’ll do more immigration,” DeSantis said, referring to legislation like Texas’ SB 4, which he said he liked during a Fox News hit in March.

As the Texas Tribune reports, the bill could put border crossers in jail for six months on their first offense, and up to 20 years for a repeat offense. It would also force Judges to order repatriation, with local law enforcement responsible for taking undocumented immigrants back to the border.

“I am for some of the things that people have been talking about, but we don’t have a plan necessarily to do a Special Session,” DeSantis said, before offering a bit more ambiguity.

Florida was just named one of the nation’s Top 10 'best states' by U.S. News. Here's why.

Florida is the ninth best state in the nation and the best overall in the Southeast, according to a new ranking by U.S. News and World Report measuring how well each state serves its residents.

The new ranking of the “best states” evaluates all 50 based on factors such as their economy, education systems, crime rates, health care and natural environments.

Florida ranked No. 9 overall and was the only state in the Southeast to crack the Top 10. It did so largely on the strength of its economy and education systems, which were both rated the top in the nation by the magazine.

The Sunshine State’s rank was one higher than last year, when it earned the No. 10 spot. U.S. News says its methodologies have been adjusted and the two years shouldn’t be directly compared.  This year's list was the magazine's sixth year ranking the states by overall quality. In a news release, it said that it uses "more than 70 metrics and tens of thousands of data points to measure how well U.S. states are performing for their citizens."