Florida's Latest News

Florida doles out $50 million to contractor providing DeSantis Israel flights

Emergency management officials have authorized up to nearly $50 million in taxpayer dollars to one contractor for open-ended charter flights since Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the state to bring Floridians home from Israel two weeks ago, public records show.

State officials have offered little information about who’s involved in helping Americans leave Israel amid the war with Hamas, besides identifying Project Dynamo, a Tampa-based nonprofit international rescue group founded by ex-military personnel helping to run the mission.

So it’s unclear if all of the money is going to the Israel evacuation or to DeSantis’ controversial migrant flights as well.

Open-government advocates say a full accounting of the costs should be a public record and note that the governor’s office was sued and lost when it tried to hide the expenses for migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard and California.

Biden administration says a Florida gambling ruling should move forward

The Biden administration has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to allow an appeals-court ruling to move forward in a battle about whether the Seminole Tribe of Florida should be able to offer online sports betting throughout the state.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar last week filed a 29-page response after Chief Justice John Roberts on Oct. 12 at least temporarily halted the appeals-court ruling, which could help lead to sports betting.

Roberts’ order came after pari-mutuel companies West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. sought a stay as they prepare to ask the Supreme Court to take up a challenge to the appeals-court ruling. The order said what is known as a “mandate,” which is a final step in the appeals-court ruling, is “hereby recalled and stayed pending further order of the undersigned (Roberts) or of the (Supreme) Court.”

The chief justice also directed the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees gambling on tribal lands, to file a response to the pari-mutuels’ stay request.

Florida will receive $106M in federal funds to lower home energy bills

The Biden Administration renewed funding for a federal program that helps lower energy bills, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program offers financial assistance with energy bills to eligible individuals and families.

"This funding is a lifeline for low-income communities. It helps keep your energy bills low so that you can keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and it's going to allow families to afford home energy costs on top of other essentials like food, medicine and housing," according to Maggie Thomas, the chief of staff for the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy.

Florida is set to receive $106 million in LIHEAP funding for the 2024 federal fiscal year, which spans Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024. For fiscal year 2023, the state was awarded nearly $203 million in LIHEAP funding.

Floridians pass up $300M in college aid each year. Why that could change.

Millions of dollars in federal student aid sit unused each year, even as college costs rise and student debt skyrockets. Florida families are among the nation’s leaders in forgoing those funds.

But a streamlined application process is aimed at easing access and getting the money in more hands.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid has undergone its largest overhaul in decades, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The form will be shorter, faster to fill out and easier to verify, the department said. Under a 2020 law simplifying the process, eligibility for federal aid will also be expanded for most students.

The only setback is that parents and students will have to wait longer than usual to get started on their applications for the 2024-25 school year. The department, which typically releases the application on Oct. 1, has indicated that the form won’t be ready until December.

Still, student aid experts said there are steps that families can take to prepare.