ERIN GRALL

Proposed changes to abortion access in Florida are expected to draw emotional debate in the state legislature on Monday.

As the 2023 legislative session began Tuesday, Senate and House Republicans proposed measures that seek to prevent abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

The Senate began moving forward Tuesday with a proposal that would make every Florida student eligible for state-backed vouchers that could be used for private-school tuition and various other expenses, while opponents argued the measure would harm traditional public schools.

Florida lawmakers are once again trying to get rid of a long-standing system for drivers that could change how much they pay for car insurance.

The Florida Senate Rules Committee on Monday teed up a new 15-week abortion ban for a vote by the full Senate, where the measure is almost certainly going be approved and sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Florida already has an official state pie — key lime — but might soon designate strawberry shortcake as the official state dessert.

Gov. Ron DeSantis voiced support Wednesday morning for a Republican-led bill that would ban most abortions in Florida after 15 weeks of pregnancy and signaled that he would sign it if it landed on his desk.

The Florida House unanimously passed two civics education bills, including one sponsored by a representative who emigrated from Kosovo.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A controversial three-year agreement that has Pasco County Schools sharing student data with the Sheriff’s Office could soon end under legislation moving in the State Capitol. For three years, Pasco Schools have been providing the Pasco Sheriff’s Office with student data, then cross-referenced for any law enforcement contact and possible follow-up. AdIf approved, the Parents’ Rights legislation would take effect July 1, just in time for the fall semester. The Pasco School Superintendent did not return our call. We did speak to the Pasco County Sheriffs Office, which said it has not planed to work against the legislation.

Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers are adding China to the growing list of targets for the 2021 Florida legislative session, which gets underway on Tuesday. Newly filed bills include measures that aim to limit intellectual property theft by the communist regime and crack down on Chinese influence at American colleges and universities. “The growing presence of the Chinese communist party influence in domestic and international affairs is one of the most pervasive threats to American security and prosperity,” DeSantis said during a Monday news conference. The first seeks to curb Chinese influence in the academic field by requiring transparency for donations from foreign governments over $50,000 and punishing institutions that don’t comply. AdAlso filed this year is legislation that blames China for the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A House Republican is trying to ban abortions that women seek because of tests showing that fetuses will have disabilities. Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, filed the bill (HB 1221) on Tuesday for consideration during the legislative session that will start March 2. The bill targets what are described as “disability abortions,” which would involve situations in which physicians know pregnant women are seeking abortions because fetuses will have disabilities. Such disabilities would include such things as physical disabilities, intellectual or mental disabilities or Down syndrome. Last year the disability abortion legislation didn’t get a hearing.

Photo Illustration/CNNTALLAHASSEE, Fla. - State Rep. Mike Hill, R-Pensacola, will make a renewed attempt during the 2020 legislative session to pass a "fetal heartbeat" bill that would dramatically limit abortions in Florida. Hill this week filed a bill (HB 271) that would block physicians from performing abortions if fetal heartbeats have been detected. Hill and Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, also filed such bills for the 2019 session, but the measures were not taken up in House and Senate committees. Hill filed his bill for the 2020 session as Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, also filed a proposal (HB 265) that would require parents to give consent before minors can have abortions. That would be an expansion of a current requirement that parents receive notification if their daughters plan to have abortions.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After the idea passed the House in April but stalled in the Senate, a Republican lawmaker Tuesday began a renewed attempt to require parental consent before minors can have abortions in Florida. Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, filed a parental-consent bill for consideration during the 2020 legislative session, which starts in January. Under it, physicians could be charged with third-degree felonies if they perform abortions on minors without obtaining parental consent. Similar to the current parental-notification law, minors could go to court to seek approval to have abortions without consent of their parents. The Republican-dominated House in April voted 69-44 to approve a parental-consent bill sponsored by Grall, but a Senate version of the bill made it through only one committee.