FLORIDA LEGISLATURE

A judge says that a Florida redistricting plan pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis violates the state constitution.

Planning for a hurricane means high-stakes decisions must be made quickly, especially when you're the person or organization responsible for people's lives and preparedness.

There are new calls for accountability from lawmakers as Florida homeowners face record-breaking property insurance hikes and outright cancellations of their policies.

Curtis Law, which officially takes effect Saturday in Florida, gives victims' families more rights during investigations, something Patricia Ward said she wished she had 26 years ago when her 16-year-old son, Curtis Williamson, was killed.

More than 200 new laws will go into effect in Florida on Saturday, and one of the new laws will allow guns to be carried almost anywhere in the state, without a permit.

A new law will increase the legal age to drive a golf cart in Florida.

Three organizations have filed federal lawsuits, claiming Florida’s Senate Bill 7050 violates First Amendment rights and harms efforts to sign up Black and Hispanic voters.

The largest LGBTQ+ rights organization in the U.S. has joined other civil rights organizations in issuing a travel advisory for Florida.

The NAACP on Saturday issued a formal travel advisory for Florida saying that the state is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.

The Walt Disney Co. says it's scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development.

Gov. Ron DeSantis will appear for a news conference at 10:15 a.m. Friday in Fort Myers.

A bill that gives high school athletes greater options than ever in choosing where they want to play cleared the Florida Legislature and now awaits the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis, another blow for the embattled Florida High School Athletic Association.

The district said Duval County students failed to provide principals with notice or get approval from the superintendent.

High school and college students across Florida plan to walk out of their classrooms on Friday to protest the state’s rapidly changing education policies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Monday afternoon in Lake Buena Vista to discuss the ongoing dispute between the state and Disney World over the governing of the theme park and its 27,000-acre property.

Florida is proposing some of its toughest immigration laws in years, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. One bill proposes prosecuting legal resident who hide or transport those in the country illegally. As a result of that, another group has come out with a travel advisory for people coming to state. The Florida Immigrant Coalition wants people to know they might face problems if the law is passed. They join two other groups Equality Florida and The NAACP which has come out with similar warnings...to not come to Florida.

There was outrage on Tuesday from advocates of the LGBTQ community after a Florida lawmaker compared transgender people to “demons”, “mutants” and “imps.”

The Florida Legislature is voting on a bill that would allow the state to revoke the licenses of restaurants and other establishments that allow children to attend drag shows.

The Florida Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on a bill that would clear the way for the state to revoke the licenses of restaurants and other establishments that allow children to attend drag shows.

Some Florida teenagers may not be able to drive golf carts around their neighborhoods anymore if lawmakers pass a bill under discussion that would raise the age to operate a golf cart and add some additional requirements.

Police, fire and other government agencies across Florida must ground millions of dollars in aerial drones because of a new state rule banning the agencies from using devices made by China-based DJI.

Florida lawmakers are trying to crack down on thieves stealing catalytic converters from vehicles. This is happening more and more often, even in broad daylight.

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

Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to sign the affordable housing bill Wednesday that was passed by the Florida Legislature.

A $711 million plan to make housing more affordable statewide is headed to the governor’s desk, and there is also help on the way for people in Jacksonville who are struggling to pay bills.

From expanding gun rights to going after “woke” investors, the Florida Legislature is quickly moving on a list of bills that will give Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis conservative-pleasing policy successes as he prepares to launch a presidential campaign.

The new JEA building is up and running, but the question of if the electric company is going to be sold still looms.

The Republican-controlled House on Friday passed a measure that would make every Florida student eligible for taxpayer-backed school vouchers, as Democrats and other critics slammed the expansion as a “coupon for millionaires.”

Legislation moving in the Florida House would ban discussion of menstrual cycles and other human sexuality topics in elementary grades.

A Senate panel on Thursday moved Florida one step closer to allowing people to carry concealed firearms without licenses, as critics on opposite sides took aim at the proposal.

It’s a scenario that many families know all too well. Early each morning, parents struggle to rouse sleepy teenagers, get them in the car or to the bus stop and then hope they are prepared for the school day.

Florida lawmakers will look at a plan to stop people from speeding through school zones. If this bill passes, speed detection cameras would go up and people who are caught speeding would have to pay $100.

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

Florida Sen. Lauren Book filed a bill intended to protect animals, and the legislation included a proposal that would make it illegal to let a dog stick its head out of a window of a moving car. But after getting feedback on that proposal, Book reportedly plans to amend the bill and remove that ban from the legislation.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that gives him control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district.

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.

A new Florida bill would make it illegal to let a dog be in a driver’s lap or stick their head out of a window of a moving car.

Florida Representative Cyndi Stevens filed House Bill 949 Monday, a bill that would improve safe operation of golf carts and other utility vehicles.

Florida lawmakers are trying to address the affordable housing crisis with a new bill that would put millions toward creating more options in the state.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed bills to expand his migrant relocation program and enhance the prosecutorial power of his election police unit.

A Florida House panel on Tuesday took a first step toward shifting to partisan school-board elections and backed a proposal that would limit school-board members to eight years in office instead of the current 12.

Three local high school students traveled to Tallahassee Wednesday morning to take their message of prevention directly to lawmakers.

Florida would make every student eligible for vouchers to attend private school with taxpayer money under proposed legislation House Speaker Paul Renner said will be a priority for the session that begins in March 7.

Friday night’s Mega Millions Jackpot is flirting with $1 billion at $940 million. A portion of the money from the lottery goes to education.

Gov. Ron DeSantis was sworn in Tuesday for a second term, offering a theme of “freedom lives here in our great Sunshine State” to counter “faddish ideology” nationally.

A new Florida law is forcing some public officials to choose between their day jobs or holding office.

Beefed up lobbying restrictions and breaks for motorists who frequently use toll roads are among state laws and other changes that will arrive with the new year.

When the new year starts in less than a week, a number of new laws will take effect in Florida.

New rules for Florida landlords and property managers take effect next week as the new year begins.

The race for one Jacksonville City Council seat is a little less crowded for now.

Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said she is considering expanding the state’s “Parental Rights in Education” law to additional grade levels in schools,

Florida lawmakers are in a second special session devoted to the topic of homeowners insurance. Lawmakers are considering legislation to help private insurance companies.

Insurance experts are calling it the most groundbreaking property insurance reform legislation ever introduced in the state of Florida.

Nearly 50,000 property owners forced from their homes for more than a month by Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole could be eligible for tax relief under a bill that was being prepared Friday for a special legislative session next week.

The Florida Legislature will hold a special session on Monday to tackle the property insurance issues in the state.

The Florida Legislature will meet next week for a special session on property insurance and property tax relief in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Ian.

High rents, skyrocketing insurance premiums and inflation are hot topics with the Florida Legislature.

The Florida Legislature will hold a special session before the end of the year to consider providing property tax relief for people and businesses whose property was destroyed by Hurricane Ian.

State money that would have gone to help the USS Orleck naval museum prepare for its permanent home has sunk.

Prices at the pump for Florida motorists should go down Saturday as part of a temporary gas-tax break, as 27 new laws kick in this weekend.

The third proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that the Florida Legislature voted to place on the ballot this November this year would increase the homestead exemption for teachers, law-enforcement officers, correctional officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, child-welfare services professionals and active-duty members of the military and Florida National Guard.

The first of three proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution that the Florida Legislature voted to place on the ballot this November is an effort to help homeowners fight the effects of rising sea levels and climate change

Pay hikes, shorter shifts and shuttering facilities are some of the strategies Florida has employed to try to rehabilitate a prison system that leaders have said is in crisis.

After establishing a six-month program to save certain commuters about $10 a month on tolls, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to expand the program next year.

Here’s a look at some of the results Tuesday from notable races in the Florida Legislature..

Here’s a look at some of the results Tuesday from notable races in the Florida Legislature..

When Councilman Garrett Dennis resigned to run for a seat in the Florida Legislature, three candidates signed up to run in a special August election for District 9, Jacksonville City Council. Democrat Tyrona Clark-Murray received 53% of the vote and was elected to fill the seat through next June. She must run for re-election next spring to win a full four-year term.

The new law is in effect for now because the judge’s order won’t have an impact until he puts the ruling in writing.

As the battle continues in Florida over a 15-week abortion ban that was slated to take effect Friday but is being blocked by a state judge, an open letter went out to Florida businesses from the governor of Connecticut.

A Florida judge on Thursday said he would temporarily block a 15-week abortion ban from taking effect, following a court challenge by reproductive health providers who say the state constitution guarantees a right to the procedure.

Nearly 150 laws that Florida legislators passed this year are set to hit the books Friday.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling drew fiercely polarized reactions in Florida, with Gov. Ron DeSantis saying the state will “work to expand pro-life protections.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that will require the Florida Department of Health to improve education and community outreach programs related to Alzheimer’s and dementia-related disorders.

An iconic downtown Jacksonville landmark that’s currently boarded up is about to get a makeover.

The Walt Disney Co. is delaying by more than three years the opening of a campus in Florida to which 2,000 workers were being relocated from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development.

A South Florida Jewish congregation has challenged a new state law that blocks abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, contending the measure violates privacy and religious-freedom rights.

Two weeks after the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1421, a bill that is designed to improve school safety in Florida.

As a national debate rages over gun laws after last month’s mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, proponents of “red-flag” policies point to a Florida law as a model for states seeking to strip deadly weapons from people who could cause harm.

A contractors group and an Orlando-area roofing firm Thursday challenged the constitutionality of a new law that combines a property-insurance change with efforts to bolster the safety of condominium buildings.

Pointing to a need to further brace the state against a potential recession, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued $3.13 billion in vetoes Thursday as he signed a record $109.9 billion budget for the fiscal year that will begin July 1.

Reproductive health providers have sued Florida over a new law banning abortions after 15 weeks.

Less than a week after Florida lawmakers rushed to make property-insurance changes, a contractors group Tuesday filed a constitutional challenge that targets a new restriction on attorney fees in lawsuits against insurance companies.

An appeals court Friday said a circuit judge issued a “patently unlawful” temporary injunction against a congressional redistricting plan pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Ron DeSantis, giving another sign that the controversial plan likely will be used in this year’s elections.

With more than 850,000 policies, the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has become an 800-pound gorilla in Florida’s troubled insurance market.

A bill has been sent to Florida's governor that would require statewide recertification of condominiums over three stories tall, in response to the Surfside building collapse that killed 98 people.

Supporters said the plan will stabilize the property-insurance market. Critics said it doesn’t do enough to help homeowners.

The Florida Senate has approved a sweeping legislative package meant to combat rising property insurance rates and other problems in the state’s turbulent insurance market, creating a $2 billion reinsurance fund and writing new rules around coverage denials and attorney fees.

Lawmakers are trying to find a way to lower home insurance premiums for Floridians.

People who owned condominiums in the Florida building that collapsed nearly a year ago but didn’t suffer a loss of life will together collect at least $96 million from a court settlement.

The Florida Legislature on Monday began a special session focused on fixing the state's turbulent property insurance market.

Roof-damage claims. Lawsuits. Reinsurance costs. For tens of thousands of homeowners, those issues could add up to large property-insurance rate increases if state regulators sign off on proposals presented Tuesday.

Little more than an hour after a judge issued a temporary injunction against a new congressional redistricting plan, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration Thursday launched an appeal that put the ruling on hold.

Starting this summer, the home hardening incentive removes sales tax from storm resistant windows, exterior doors and garage doors.

Gov. Ron DeSantis was noncommittal Wednesday about whether he will ask lawmakers to further restrict abortion in Florida, as the nation awaits a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision.

The Florida Department of Education has reinstated more math textbooks that were previously rejected because the state said they contained “prohibited” content such as critical race theory, social emotional learning and Common Core frameworks.

The Florida Department of Education reinstated nine math textbooks that were previously rejected because the state said they contained “prohibited” content such as critical race theory, social emotional learning and Common Core frameworks.

As a new round of legal battling begins about congressional redistricting, the state is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit that has urged judges to draw new district lines.

In taking on Disney, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is testing the limits of his combative leadership style while sending an unmistakable message to his rivals.

Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday he signed a new congressional redistricting bill.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the state Legislature to revoke a provision that gives Walt Disney World autonomy in governing areas near its theme parks.