Patty issued a letter to the community on Tuesday after he said residents reached out with “questions and concerns” about Hutson’s hire.

Due to term limits, incumbent State Sen. Travis Hutson isn’t seeking re-election in District 7, which covers St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler and northern Volusia counties. Tom Leek won the Republican primary and will face Democrat George “T” Hill II in the general election in November.

In what could be one of this year’s highest-profile legislative primary elections, former St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar has opened a campaign account to run for a seat that will be vacated by term-limited Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine.

In 2017, Florida lawmakers signed an education bill that carried several mandates including one that said students in kindergarten through fifth grade were entitled to 20 consecutive minutes of free-play recess every day.

The district added another 1,400 students this year and Superintendent Tim Forson told News4JAX on Wednesday that growth means new schools are a necessity.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday morning that will require all Florida high school students to pass a financial literacy class before graduating.

Two St. Johns County school board members were in Tallahassee last week and took the opportunity to lobby local lawmakers for additional funding to help deal with the explosive growth in the county.

Land management agencies would have to consider finding areas suitable for gopher tortoises that get pushed from their homes by development, under a measure sent to the full Florida Senate on Thursday.

A controversial measure that could lead to businesses filing lawsuits against cities and counties likely will be revamped Thursday when it goes before the Florida Senate.

Legislation that would make it easier for Florida businesses and individuals to challenge local ordinances has cleared its first state Senate test.

Housing is considered affordable if it costs less than 30% of a household’s income, but nearly 900,000 Florida households are paying more than half of their monthly income on housing.

The special session of the Florida Legislature called by Governor Ron DeSantis is less than two weeks away.

The story behind Florida’s new laws that strip cities of their ability to fight climate change.

On this edition of “This Week in Jacksonville,” Equality Florida’s Jimmy Midyette discusses the impact of changing the lights on the Acosta Bridge from rainbow for Pride Month to blue and then back to rainbow again. State Sen. Travis Hutson weighs in on the governor signing the largest state budget in Florida’s history. Some of the vetoes included killing requests to fund the Hotel Ponce de Leon Preservation and Restoration ($250,000) and a program called St. John’s Schools Classroom to Careers/Flagships. And 100 Black Men of Jacksonville President Ronnie King reacts to a bill that would have given $1 million to a project called Coding in Color being vetoed.

The largest state budget in Florida’s history didn’t have room for several local projects in Northeast Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has received the implementing legislation for the new 30-year Seminole Compact and is expected to sign it into law in the coming days.

Lawmakers may have left for home after wrapping up the 2021 legislative session, but they are already planning to be back in the Capitol in two weeks.

The Florida Senate on Monday passed a plan that would regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes and raise the state’s legal age to use tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On this edition of “This Week in Jacksonville,” state Rep. Angie Nixon and Dr. Nancy Staats, both of whom have called for Florida to expand Medicaid, talk about how it could help people in need of health care and the money that would be involved in making it happen. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, of Florida, calls for states to send back federal relief money if they aren’t spending it on COVID-19 expenses. And state Sen. Travis Hutson talks about his energy bills and how he feels about proposed changes to the Bright Futures scholarship program.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In a unanimous vote, the Florida Senate has given a thumbs up to a bill that would ease restrictions on craft distilleries in the state. Republican Sen. Travis Hutson is the sponsor of Senate Bill 46, which he says levels the playing field. “Senate Bill 46 attempts to put our craft distilleries on the same playing field nationally as other states,” Hutson was quoted by Florida Politics as having told the Senate Rules Committee. As noted in the bill, the term “craft distillery” now refers to a licensed distillery in Florida which distills or blends 250,000 gallons or less of spirits per calendar years on its premises. Additionally, effective July 1, 2026, a minimum of 60% of a craft distillery’s total finished branded product has to be distilled in Florida.

Climate activists believe that banning new gas stations will speed up the move to electric cars, but state lawmakers are having no part of it. “What’s currently in place, you can’t change,” said state Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine. The first says they wouldn’t be able to ban energy choices outside your home, like gas stations. If we don’t, getting to 1% renewable energy will be 100% impossible,” said Dave Cullen, with the Sierra Club. State Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, split her vote on the bills but said she doesn’t really like either.

Senate Community Affairs on Monday and the House Business and Professions Subcommittee on Wednesday are slated to take up nearly identical measures (SB 140, HB 65) by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine, and Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral. The proposals for the 2020 legislative session, which begins Jan. 14, would allow individuals to pledge to use the fireworks "solely and exclusively" during one of three designated holidays. RELATED: Proposals take aim at state's ban on fireworksBoth measures would allow the use of fireworks on Memorial Day and Independence Day. The Senate proposal also designates a third holiday on New Year's Eve, while the House version allows for the fireworks on New Year's Day. But fireworks companies -- including TNT Fireworks, Phantom Fireworks and Sky King Fireworks -- have strenuously opposed any changes to the law, warning of more injuries to consumers if the market is less restricted.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Floridians could add more sparkle to the Fourth of July and two other holidays, under the latest attempt to water down the states prohibition against fireworks. The push to make the sale of fireworks legal on Independence Day, Memorial Day and New Years Eve is being spearheaded by Sen. Travis Hutson, a St. Augustine Republican, and Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral. State lawmakers over the years have tried and failed to amend the statute regulating the use and sale of fireworks, from repealing the ban altogether to proposing changes to the legal waiver. In the past, fireworks companies -- including TNT Fireworks, Phantom Fireworks and Sky King Fireworks -- have strenuously opposed any changes to the law, warning of more injuries to consumers if the market is less restricted. Despite numerous failed attempts to repeal the prohibition, some lawmakers continue to poke fun at Floridas fireworks ban.