By CBS MIAMI TEAM, CBS/NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA, June 28, 2022. TALLAHASSEE – From a record $109.9 billion budget to naming a state dessert, nearly 150 laws that Florida legislators passed this year are set to hit the books Friday. Some of the measures face legal challenges, such as a bill that would prevent abortions after
By Lindsey Bever, The Washington Post, May 17, 2022. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill Monday to outlaw protests outside private residences — a move opponents say violates First Amendment rights. The new law will make it a second-degree misdemeanor to picket or protest outside a person’s house to “harass or disturb” that person. Violators will
BY KIRA LERNER , THE OHIO CAPITAL JOURNAL, MAY 2, 2022. Florida authorities arrested a Black man while he was staying in a homeless shelter and charged him with voting illegally in a case tied to Republicans’ drive to root out election fraud. But Kelvin Bolton’s arrest raises questions about the rollout of Amendment 4,
This editorial was published in The Daily Sun Apr 25, 2022. OUR POSITION: Actions last week by Florida’s governor and Legislature may have appeased staunch supporters but they were shameful partisan politics that only further divides our state and nation. Wreckless [sic]. That is the best word to describe the Legislature’s acquiescence to Gov. Ron
The following editorial was published by The Daily Sun on April 15, 2022. OUR POSITION: The leaders in the Florida House and Senate have abandoned their duties by giving Gov. Ron DeSantis the task of drawing up new maps for the state’s congressional districts. Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls
The following editorial was published in the Sarasota Herald Tribune on April 14, 2022. By Teresa Jenkins, chair of the Charlotte County Democratic Party and author of the book ‘Make Democracy Work Again.’ If only I could address how the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature attended to our most urgent needs during the recent legislative session.
By John Kennedy, Capital Bureau USA TODAY NETWORK—FLORIDA, April 6, 2022. TALLAHASSEE – With the dust still settling from a legislative session where Gov. Ron DeSantis’ polarizing agenda of bills was easily approved by Republican majorities, the scene now shifts from the Capitol to the courthouse. The trail was blazed recently with a federal lawsuit looking to overturn the state’s new
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — On Friday, April 1, 2022, a U.S. federal court struck down key provisions of Florida’s Senate Bill 90 that equated to voter suppression. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker ruled that Florida’s Senate Bill 90 violates federal law, unconstitutionally impeding the right to vote for Floridians. He noted that “the right
The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on April 3, 2022. OUR POSITION: Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature are planning a special session this month to settle differences on congressional voting districts, but they’re apparently unwilling to expand the agenda to take on other important business. We’re going into overtime. In a
The following Editorial appeared in The Daily Sun on March 26, 2022. OUR POSITION: A bill in the recent legislative session to catalog and restore abandoned African-American cemeteries never came to a vote, and that is a shame. We know they’re out there. Old, abandoned, forgotten African-American and other cemeteries are spread throughout Florida, some
By Craig Pittman, Florida Phoenix, Mar 17, 2022. When I was a kid, I loved the Sherlock Holmes stories. I read and reread them all. One I still vividly remember was “The Adventure of the Silver Blaze,” which involves a missing racehorse and the death of its trainer. It contains one of the most famous
The following Editorial was published in The Daily Sun on Mar 16, 2022. OUR POSITION: The cost of homeowners insurance and the loss of several private insurers from Florida’s marketplace is a serious problem that needed the Legislature’s attention in its 2022 session, recently concluded. Home and property owners across Florida — including along the
By Will Larkins, Guest Columnist, New York Times, Mar 12, 2022. Mr. Larkins is a junior at Winter Park High School in Winter Park, Fla., the president and co-founder of the school’s Queer Student Union and one of the organizers of its Say Gay Anyway walkout. Last October, I attended a high school Halloween party.
The following editorial was published in The Daily Sun on March 3, 2022. OUR POSITION: The 2022 legislative session is nearing an end and no one even discussed expanding Medicaid in Florida, and that is a shame. Some of Florida’s poorest people have a health insurance problem the state refuses to fix. The fix is
By Tristan Wood, Florida Politics, March 2, 2022. The legislation included an assault weapons ban, gun sale restrictions and a lift of the state’s local gun control preemption. Eleven pieces of gun control-related legislation backed by Democratic lawmakers have not been taken up by a single committee this Legislative Session. With committee meetings concluded except
By Jamelle Bouie, New York Times Opinion Columnist, Feb. 18, 2022. There is a dangerous censoriousness pulsing through American society. In small towns and big cities alike, would-be commissars are fighting, in the name of a distinct minority of Americans, to stifle open discussion and impose their views on the community at large. Dissenters, when they
By Karen Fisk, Charlotte County Democrats Legislative Liaison. The Florida Senate and House are considering two bills (SB 198/HB 349) that would further destroy seagrass in our waterways for the sake of more profitable land development. Seagrass is critical for the health of our waterways and wildlife, including our beloved manatees, for whom seagrass is
By Tim Craig and Lori Rozsa, The Washington Post, Feb 7, 2022. MIAMI — The school system in Florida’s most populous county includes students whose families moved here from 160 nations. Its expansive cultural mix is represented in the district’s curriculum, which includes not only American history, but also the stories of violent government upheavals, such as the revolution
By Jeffrey Schweers, The Capital Bureau | USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA, Feb 6, 2022. LeaseLock, a California-based company with $3 billion in insured leases, is the sole company behind a bill that would codify its business model in the state, providing renters with a nonrefundable fee alternative as an option to traditional security deposits. The idea
The following editorial was published in the Feb 9, 2022 edition of The Daily Sun OUR POSITION: The Legislature tried to stem the soaring costs of homeowners insurance last year, but its new laws fall short. Lawmakers are trying again with better results, we hope. If your homeowner’s insurance bill is causing you headaches, you’re
By Anjali Huynh and Jane C. Timm, NBC News, Jan. 31, 2022. Civil rights groups went to federal court Monday morning to challenge Florida’s new restrictive voting law, lambasting state lawmakers for making it harder to vote. Florida is one of 19 states that enacted new voting restrictions last year, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s stolen election lie. Gov.
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