The Florida House passed a measure that would lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 to buy rifles and other “long” guns, voting to scrap a high-profile change passed after a 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. House bill sponsor Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, said the measure “corrects the wrong we did in 2018.”
Florida Legislature
How ‘Decorum’ Masks Discrimination
Republicans from Tennessee to Tallahassee to Tacoma struggle manfully to stop those rule-breakers who would keep disrupting white men’s God-ordained exercise of unchecked power. You know the kind: gays; transgender types; students; immigrants; women; Blacks. They’re getting uppity. They’re breaking the rules.
Florida Legislature Is About to Repeal All Local Tenant Bill of Rights Ordinances
As rent costs rise dramatically in Florida, dozens of cities and counties have been passing ordinances — often called tenant “bill of rights” — to give some protections to renters. But the Legislature is now looking to eliminate those ordinances.
With Travis Hutson Cheering, Bill Upending Flagler’s Vacation-Rental Controls Clears Last Hurdle Before Vote
The success of the vacation-rental bill sharply scaling back local regulation this year is a blow to Flagler County government, which was a leader in pushing for the 2014 regulations providing for local control, and has pushed back against attempts to weaken them since. The Flagler County Commission made preserving the 2014 law a legislative priority every year since.
Disney Monorail Is Next on DeSantis Hit List
The Republican-controlled Senate Fiscal Policy Committee, chaired by Travis Hutson, who represents Flagler County, on Tuesday amended a transportation bill (SB 1250) to apply Department of Transportation safety standards to monorail lines that connect Walt Disney World resorts and parks.
On Paul Renner’s Request, House Will Subpoena Trans Treatment Information
The decision to issue the subpoenas is among a series of moves by lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration targeting transgender people and the LGBTQ community. A lawmaker criticized the move as reminiscent of the Johns Committee, a Florida legislative investigative panel that sought to expose communists and gay people at state universities in the 1950s and 1960s.
In Florida, We Are All Child Abusers Now
The Florida Legislature is legalizing a Jim Crow-like system of punishing, demonizing and denying the existence of LGBTQ children. Few sessions of the Florida Legislature provided the legal framework for as much state-sponsored and citizen-empowered terrorism against children as this one.
Vote to End Diversity Programs in Florida Colleges and Universities Set Before Senate
A measure that seeks to prevent colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is ready to go before the full Senate amid strong objections from Democrats, with one Black senator calling the proposal “racist at its core.”
Chinese-Americans Fear Hate Crimes as Discriminatory Bill Advances in Florida Legislature
A legislative proposal would ban the sale of agriculture land and property within 20 miles of military bases and other critical infrastructure facilities to interests tied to the Chinese government and six other “countries of concern.”
Where DeSantis Goes and Who He Sees Is None of Your Business: Lawmakers Approve Secrecy
The Florida Senate on Wednesday approved a controversial measure that would shield travel records of the governor and other state leaders. The proposal also would withhold from the public names of certain guests at the governor’s mansion.