Florida's Latest News

Senate bill limiting Surgeon General emergency powers clears final committee

A Senate bill that would strip the state Surgeon General of authority to mandate vaccinations during a public health emergency cleared its final committee stop on Tuesday.

The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the bill (SB 8) along a party-line vote. The measure now awaits the Senate’s full consideration.

Sponsored by Republican Sen. Aaron Bean, the bill limits the state Surgeon General’s authority to mandate vaccinations.

Under a Republican bill passed in 2002, lawmakers granted the Surgeon General emergency powers, including the authority to mandate vaccinations or quarantine “by any means necessary.” A staff analysis noted the measure was passed amid ongoing national security concerns after the Sept. 11th attack.

Gov DeSantis proposes over $1.5B for environmental projects

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday proposed spending more than $1.5 billion for Everglades restoration, coastal resiliency efforts and other environmental projects in the coming state budget.

The governor outlined the proposed environmental spending at separate news conferences in Naples and Miami. The spending requests would need to be approved by the Legislature.

“We are excited to announce this historic support for Florida’s environment, Everglades restoration, and our water resources,” he said. “We have seen great results so far, but we are not yet at the finish line.”

The proposals include $960 million for Everglades restoration and other water quality projects, as well as $550 million aimed at resiliency projects for sea level rise, storms and flooding.

NWFL Republicans going to Tallahassee to support special session against vaccine mandates

Republicans from across Northwest Florida will be converging on the state capital Tuesday to stand in support of a special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the employees of Ascension Sacred Heart who found themselves without jobs Friday for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Rally for Medical Freedom will be held at 1 p.m. EST at the Florida Capitol Courtyard, according to a flyer distributed via email by the Okaloosa County Republican Executive Committee.

The flyer circulated by OCREC said the rally is being held in support of the special session "on banning vaccine mandates" for which the Florida Legislature convened Monday. The special session opened at 12:45 p.m., Monday, according to USA Today Network.

Food ran out in the Everglades after heavy rain last year. Wading birds had trouble nesting

Wading bird nesting — a key indicator of Everglades health — was weak in 2020 after a very wet rainy season started early with massive storms in May, diluting pools where fish had concentrated and flooding nests full of chicks that weren’t able to fly yet.

Most nest counts were well below the 10-year average and just a fraction of the record-breaking 2018 season that produced massive colonies close to numbers seen in the 1930s and 1940s. There were considered highly productive decades for Everglades bird life.

The 2020 wading bird report — compiled by the South Florida Water Management District, Audubon Florida, the University of Florida, Florida Atlantic University and others — estimated there were 43,860 wading bird nests in South Florida, lower than the 10-year average of 46,841 nests and about three times less than in the banner 2018 season, when 138,834 nests were counted. In 2019 about 33,000 nests were registered. The most recent annual survey documented nesting from November 2019 to June 2020.