Florida's Latest News

Ron DeSantis says he can do more for Florida as President than as Governor

Gov. Ron DeSantis says he can do more for Florida as President than he can in his current role.

During a press conference at JAXPORT, the Republican chief executive who was re-elected just last year diminished the importance of finishing his second term as Governor.

“I will be able to do, you know, more for Florida as the President than I can in two years as Governor, but also more for the country,” DeSantis said.

The Governor also stressed that he isn’t interested in being the running mate for any other candidate, a position he’s maintained for months.

“I have no interest in being the No. 2,” DeSantis told reporters.

The Governor also spoke to the “narrowing” of the race on the Republican side, noting that while in 2016 there were “many candidates” in the field who “stayed in for many contests,” this time around he expects the field to “continue to do that” consolidation process.

Biden requests emergency funding for Florida child care and fentanyl addiction treatment

President Biden requested $16 billion in emergency supplemental funding for child care in recent days. That breaks down to $917 million for Florida.

The money will allow parents to access child care while they work or finish school, says Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.

“What we don't want is for Americans to have to make the decision between having good care for their kids, or going into the office or going into a job. And unfortunately, that's the real dilemma a lot of families face today, because childcare is so important, but so expensive,” said Secretary Becerra.

Many child care centers are struggling, he says, and might not survive without this funding.

“There's a good, strong chance that they would have to close their doors because they wouldn't have the resources they need to pay the wages to keep the slots available,” said Secretary Becerra. “And therefore, American families would lose those opportunities to have quality childcare, which means a lot of women would end up staying home.”

Thousands of Florida children appear to not have coverage in Medicaid unwinding

Nearly a quarter of a million children were ineligible for Medicaid as the state is about halfway through its redetermination process, in which the Department of Children and Family Services is reevaluating eligibility for 5.5 million Floridians.

So far, DCF has disenrolled around 260,000 children from Medicaid across the state. The state plan was to have those qualifying children enter Florida’s kid healthcare plan. Only 25,000 have enrolled.

The state doesn't have information on what's happened to the other 235,000.

During the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency, states were not allowed to drop people who no longer qualified for Medicaid under the continuous enrollment provision. That emergency order ended in May, meaning the state could begin narrowing its list of Medicaid recipients, such as 8-year-old Landon Booth.

New bill would punish tech-assisted stalkers with 5-year prison sentences, address AirTags

Today in Florida, if someone installs a tracking device or application on another person’s car or cellphone, the offender faces up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

That’s an insufficient punishment for the crime, according to Palm City Republican Rep. Toby Overdorf, who this month filed legislation (HB 401) levying what he believes is a proper penalty.

Under Overdorf’s proposed changes, the infraction would rise from a second-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

The bill would also tweak the existing law, which state legislators unanimously approved in 2015, to address devices like AirTags, which seldom require installation. It would ban placing such devices on another person or their property without their knowledge, a restriction not clearly stated in the law now.