Florida legislators are working to preserve funding for school acceleration programs after months of uncertainty, though questions remain about the exact amount that will be maintained.

An effort to keep students off cell phones throughout the school day passed the Florida House on Wednesday, though differences remain with a Senate proposal.

A new bill in Florida’s upcoming legislative session could change how property insurance companies notify you about canceling, renewing or increasing your policy rates.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a bill that will allow school districts to use cameras designed to capture images of drivers who illegally pass school buses.

People who want to pay tribute to Florida while finishing up a meal might have to order two desserts.

Florida schools could be required to teach students the benefits and risks of social media under a measure now before lawmakers.

Hundreds of Floridians opposing vaccine mandates were at the State Capitol Tuesday to show their support for the Legislature’s special session.

Florida senators asked COVID-related questions and got few answers Wednesday from both the state Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration.

Florida’s no-fault auto insurance law is on the chopping block as legislation that would repeal the decades-old law awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Legislation seeking to increase transparency in big tech and fight back against social media censorship is moving quickly through the Florida House after it cleared its second committee stop Monday. Republicans believe conservatives are being unfairly targeted by big tech censorship, but Democrats argue the GOP-sponsored legislation is a response to former President Donald Trump’s de-platforming from Twitter and Facebook. Burgess is sponsoring legislation that would require social media companies to inform users why their accounts were blocked or disabled within 30 days of action being taken on the accounts. AdA similar bill in the House goes much further, requiring social media companies to publish standards for censoring users on their sites and apply them in a consistent manner. The bill would impose a $100,000/day fine on social media platforms for de-platforming statewide candidates and a $10,000/day fine for all other Florida candidates.

Supporters of the bill say it would help crack down on violent protests, while opponents argue it’s an attack on First Amendment rights. The Republican-controlled House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee signed off Wednesday on the House proposal (HB 1) in a party-line vote, after hearing from dozens of people who condemned the measure. “We’re just basically putting a law in the books saying that type of angry, violent protests, political angry speech is not welcome in the state of Florida,” he said. “What House Bill 1 does is not only does it attack First Amendment speech rights, but it’s making sure that more Black and brown people go into the jails, into the prison system. AdThe bill faces one more committee before heading to the House floor for a full vote.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill (SB 54) that would eliminate no-fault --- and its requirement that motorists carry personal-injury protection, or PIP, coverage --- and mandate bodily injury coverage. Sponsor Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, said the bill would make Florida like 48 other states that have bodily-injury insurance systems. AdUnder the proposal, insurers would be allowed to offer policies with deductibles up to $200 for windshield repairs. Bodily injury coverage, which many motorists already carry, pays for injuries or deaths that drivers cause to other people in accidents. Under the Senate proposal, motorists generally would be required to carry a minimum of $25,000 in bodily injury coverage for the injury or death of one person and $50,000 for injuries or deaths of two or more people.

Moskowitz said that if Florida had the supply, it has the capacity to administer as many as 250,000 doses a day. Supply continues to be the number one issue facing vaccine rollout. “They know it’s a supply issue. Every state knows it’s a supply issue. You know it’s a supply issue,” Moskowitz said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With the bill’s sponsor saying the coverage hasn’t kept up with the times, the latest effort to end Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system chugged through its first Senate committee on Tuesday. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee backed the proposal (SB 54), which seeks to replace a requirement that motorists carry personal-injury protection coverage -- key to the no-fault system -- with mandatory bodily injury coverage. Under the no-fault system, drivers are required to carry personal-injury protection, or PIP, coverage to help pay medical bills after accidents. Motorists are required to carry $10,000 in PIP coverage, an amount unchanged since 1979. So, you can see that that money really doesn’t go very far.”Lawmakers in the Senate and House have floated the idea of ending the no-fault system almost annually since trying to reform PIP in 2012.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Businesses will remain open for the economic well-being of the state even as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Florida, the head of a Senate select committee on the pandemic said Thursday. Ron DeSantis, who has said for months he does not think lockdowns and fines for violating mask restrictions are effective. We will not let any local government kick anybody out of their job,” DeSantis said Jan. 6 while in Pensacola. Lawmakers also are moving quickly on a proposal (SB 72 and HB 7) that would provide COVID-19 liability protections to businesses. Burgess views the select committee as a two-year process, with the initial focus being ways to increase the availability of vaccines to meet the high demand.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The latest effort to end Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system will get its first Senate hearing next week. The proposal seeks to replace the requirement motorists carry personal-injury protection coverage -- key to the no-fault system -- with mandatory bodily injury coverage. Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Trilby Republican who is backing the elimination of no-fault, said personal-injury protection coverage is “outdated” and doesn’t protect consumers. Under the no-fault system, drivers are required to carry personal-injury protection, or PIP, coverage to help pay medical bills after accidents. Disputes about the bad-faith issue have stalled past legislative efforts to end the no-fault system.

Lawmakers on pandemic committees in both the House and Senate are already floating ideas for what they hope to accomplish. After finishing up the 2020 session in March, the Florida Legislature has had essentially no role in responding to the pandemic. Along with relief, the committees will also be looking at the state’s response to the pandemic to better prepare for a similar threat in the future. So far none of these proposals have actually been filed as legislation, but the lawmakers we spoke with told us there are already drafts in the works. Both pandemic response committees will meet for the first time on Jan. 14.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A series of alternative treatment options could soon be available to U.S. military veterans with traumatic brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder, under a law signed Wednesday by Gov. The measure (HB 501), which drew unanimous support from the House and Senate during this years legislative session, will allow the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs to contract with a state university or Florida College System institution to provide the following alternative treatment options: accelerated resolution therapy; equine therapy; hyperbaric oxygen therapy; music therapy; and service animal training therapy. DeSantis, who served in the Navy, said hes long supported alternative-treatment concepts, such as training dogs to work with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. DeSantis, who held a bill-signing ceremony at the University of South Florida Office of Veteran Success, said he pushed for alternative treatments while serving in Congress. The people that would go in the VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), literally it would be they would get counseling and they would get prescription medication, DeSantis said.