The Flagler County Commission wants the state to help it pay for a new Sheriff’s District Office on the barrier island, but not paired with a community center and branch library. It wants financial aid with its projected tourism center on State Road 100. And it wants aid with a drainage project and a new agricultural extension center. Commissioners are foregoing asking for state money for a countywide animal shelter, among other projects.
Florida Legislature
Randy Fine, One of Florida’s Most Bruising and Bellicose Lawmakers, Will Run for Mike Waltz’s Congressional Seat
Randy Fine, whose latest financial disclosure report showed a net worth of $30.3 million, was an early Trump supporter in the GOP presidential primary and has unabashedly signaled his allegiance to Trump on social media. The only Jewish Republican legislator in Florida, Fine often has taken an openly combative approach to political opponents, an image he has embraced publicly. “Unafraid to say what needs to be said,” Fine’s X profile boasts.
Florida’s Legislative Leaders Issue Roadmap for Leaner Years Ahead
The House memo provided to the press shows that House Speaker Danny Perez plans to try to curb the size of the state budget. He announced he’s scrapping the long-standing House Appropriations Committee (and subcommittees) and replacing them with the Budget Committee and subcommittees. He noted it’s more than just a name change and that it “carries a deeper philosophical point.”
Florida’s Abortion Rights and Recreational Pot Amendments Fail
A ballot proposal that would have enshrined abortion rights in the Florida Constitution failed Tuesday, giving a major political victory to Gov. Ron DeSantis — and dealing a huge blow to abortion-rights supporters. A $150 million-plus effort to allow recreational use of marijuana in Florida fizzled out.
Republicans Retain Super-Majority in Florida Legislature
Miami Republicans and House Speaker-designate Daniel Perez released a statement late Tuesday night announcing the GOP maintained its super majority in the Florida House of Representatives.
Renner, on His Last Day, and Staly on His 2,497th, Break Ground on Florida Guard’s Training Facility in Bunnell
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly, who all but birthed the concept, and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, joined with state and local officials this afternoon to break ground on the future $10 million Florida State Guard multi agency, regional training facility in Bunnell. The facility will serve the State Guard, which Gov. Ron DeSantis revived four years ago, but also all local police and fire agencies, and some regional law enforcement agencies as well in a more advanced training complex than they’ve known to date.
Behind the Desperate Attempt to Defeat Abortion-Rights Amendment: GOP’s Contempt for Women’s Autonomy
DeSantis knows the majority of Floridians — like the majority of Americans — support a woman’s right to choose whether to have a baby, and he’s so scared Amendment 4 will pass he’s resorting to using every dirty trick in the patriarchal book to stop it. Like Donald Trump, he despises women, for whose right to determine what happens with their own bodies is nothing short of obsessive.
Internet Groups File Constitutional Challenge to Renner-Led Social Media Law Restricting Access
In a long-anticipated move, two internet-industry groups Monday filed a constitutional challenge to a new Florida law aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms. The Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, whose members include tech giants such as Google and Meta Platforms, said in a federal lawsuit that the law violates First Amendment rights and that parents should make decisions about children’s social-media use.
New College’s Descent from Stellar Florida College to ‘Eugenicon’
Steve Sailer, a “eugenicon” who believes Black people are genetically inferior to whites, race is biological, interracial marriage is wrong, and “core Americans” are by definition white, has been invited to speak at one of New College’s “Socratic Stage Dialogues.” Socrates himself would not know whether to laugh, cry, or take an even bigger swig of hemlock.
Federal Appeals Court Backs Florida Law Cracking Down on Protesters, Overturning Injunction
After seeking help from the Florida Supreme Court on the meaning of the word “riot,” a federal appeals court Monday overturned an injunction against a 2021 state law aimed at cracking down on violent demonstrations. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law is not unconstitutionally vague and overbroad and would not affect peaceful protesters. Civil-rights groups contended the measure could lead to peaceful protesters facing criminal charges when demonstrations turn violent.
