A Leon County Circuit judge on Tuesday cleared the way for a lawsuit challenging part of a controversial protest law that gives the governor and Cabinet the authority to override local governments’ decisions about police spending.
Florida Legislature
Flagler Schools’ Budget Is Millions Short from 10 Years Ago as District Is Forced to Shift Tax Dollars to Private Schools
Historically lower taxes it has no control over, a state funding formula that cheats it of 5 cents of every dollar it sends the state, and a state-required $6 million transfer to pay for private education vouchers have again left the Flagler County school district scrambling to balance its budget. But it’s been an annual erosion of local dollars, entirely at the expense of public education.
Federal Judge Urged to Halt Law Muzzling Instruction on Gender and Sexual Orientation
The 26-page motion contends that the law, passed this year by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, “was enacted with the purpose to discriminate and has the effect of discriminating against LGBTQ+ students and those with LGBTQ+ family members.”
Almost No Florida University Students Responded to New ‘Intellectual Freedom’ Survey
Florida’s public university students seemed reluctant to fill out a controversial survey on so-called “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” that was prompted by the Legislature, as about 8,800 of some 368,000 students bothered to submit responses.
Appeals Court Will Decide Whether You Can Pass Water and Food to People in Line to Vote
Attorneys for the League of Women Voters of Florida, the Black Voters Matter Fund, the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans and other plaintiffs filed a 67-page brief asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a district judge’s ruling that said increased “solicitation” restrictions near polling places violate speech rights.
FPL’s Covert Campaign Against the Free Press
FPL got a consultant to hire a private investigator who spied on a Florida Times Union reporter, his girlfriend, and their dog. FPL CEO Eric Silagy swears he didn’t do it. And, if somebody did it, he didn’t know about it.
Suddenly, Florida Is a Haven for Abortion-Seekers in the South. But For How Long?
As of this week, most abortions are banned in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina. Other states in the South also have strict abortion bans that are in flux because of court appeals. But on the geographical edge of this block of Deep South states, abortion is expected to remain legal in Florida and North Carolina, at least until the November elections.
Due to Redistricting, Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book Faces Challenger in Re-Election Bid
Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, a Plantation Democrat elected in 2016, is trying to hold onto her seat after the makeup of Senate District 35 changed earlier this year through the once-a-decade reapportionment process. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Book has made her advocacy for preventing child abuse a top priority.
Paul Renner’s Stunning Attack on Green Energy Is Bad News for Florida’s Climate Change Challenges
Sea level rise is just the most obvious manifestation of our climate change peril. Yet Speaker-designate Renner has barely even mentioned that when talking about Florida’s future as he keeps raking in campaign cash from power and coal companies.
DeSantis and the Mis-Education of Florida’s Schoolchildren. With Test for Extra Credit.
Ron DeSantis wants the young ’uns educated with no unfair criticism of the Greatest Country that Ever Was. To that end, he’s bringing in a curriculum from Hillsdale College, a righteous institution where they love the Lord, the flag, and capitalism — not necessarily in that order.