Too many dunderheads are buying what dangerous anti-vaxxers like Ron DeSantis and his pet quack Joseph Ladapo are selling, so the measles virus is roaring back in Florida as the governor basks in a series of retro-reactionary new laws, from the end of the DEI movement in state universities to the ban on local governments’ attempts to treat their workers humanely in the face of climate change–a pair of words disallowed in the governor’s administration.
Florida
DeSantis Says Undocumented Immigrants Will ‘Regret’ Coming to Florida as He Signs Harsher Penalties Into Law
One bill doesn’t mention migrants specifically but imposes a mandatory 10-day jail sentence for a third or subsequent conviction for driving without a license or with a license that has been suspended, cancelled, or revoked. Another bumps criminal penalties for people who commit felonies after having been deported and returning to the United States.
Paul Renner Vaunts His Tenure as Speaker and the Millions He Steered to Flagler, But Evades Saying What’s Next
House Speaker Paul Renner, the Republican who has represented Palm Coast at the Legislature for the last eight years, spoke for the first time at length about the record $150 million in appropriations he helped steer toward Flagler County while boasting of a successful session that increased money “across the board” for roads, schools, health care and green spaces. But he remained mum about his future as his term-limited tenure ends this year.
Watchdog Groups Call on Gov. DeSantis to Veto Ethics Bill Restricting Investigations of Corruption
A coalition of state watchdog groups have sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling on him to veto an ethics bill that prohibits ethics commissions from pursuing any investigation of public officials or candidates for public office unless it comes from an individual “based on personal knowledge or information other than hearsay.”
Census Bureau: Flagler County’s Population Was 131,500 Last July, an Increase of 16,000 in Three Years
Flagler County is again among the faster-growing counties in the nation, but not among the fastest. The county added 16,000 residents between 2020 and 2023, a 14 percent increase beginning to resemble the population surge of the early 2000s that was halted by the housing crash. Put another way: the county has grown by a population equivalent to more than three times the size of Flagler Beach in that brief span. Just since 2010, the county has grown by 40,000 people.
As DeSantis Crows, Opponents of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law Say Settlement Rectifies Some of the Damage
Gov. Ron DeSantis was quick out the door with a claim that a settlement in a legal challenge to his Parental Rights in Education Act— or Don’t Say Gay — vindicated his efforts “to keep radical gender and sexual ideology out of the classrooms of public-school children.” In fact, the settlement agreement’s terms also limit enforcement of that law which the governor pushed through the Legislature two years ago to bar public school instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Vice President Kamala Harris Will Visit Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on March 23
The White House announced Monday that Harris will visit Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Saturday, March 23, to meet with family members who lost loved ones in the 2018 mass shooting at the Parkland school, where 17 people were killed.
Defamation Revamp, Flag Bans, Limits on Local Tax Authority, ‘Unborn Child’ Bill All Dead Issues for Now
When Florida lawmakers went home after ending the 2024 legislative session Friday, they left behind hundreds of bills that did not pass, including a bill that would have allowed public figures easily to sue journalists, one that would have banned the flying of certain flags on public property, a proposal to lower the minimum age to buy rifles, and one that would have made it harder for local governments to raise property taxes.
Flagler County’s Unemployment, at 4.1%, Registers Second-Highest Total of Unemployed in Over 2 Years
Flagler County’s unemployment rate again crossed the 4 percent threshold, for the fourth time in six months, registering at a not-seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in January, up from 3.7 percent in December and 3.6 percent a year ago. The more telling average of the last 12 months was 3.7 percent, compared to 3.3 percent for the previous 12 months, underscoring a small but perceptive trend upward.
To An Increasingly Hysterical Right, Women and Their Bodies Are a Danger To the Republic
What’s America’s biggest problem? Not catastrophic climate change; not income inequality; not systemic racism. It’s women. OK, also communists. They’re everywhere, but the Florida Legislature means to nip that in the bud. But even the threat of a worker’s revolt pales in comparison to the Woman Problem. To the increasingly hysterical Right, women — and their unruly bodies — are a danger to the Republic.