A Florida House subcommittee met this week to discuss implementing some of the elements of a bill that passed during the 2022 session designed to promote responsible fatherhood.
House Bill 7065 was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April of 2022 and was designed to “aid in creating and sustaining safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children and families that allow children to grow up to their full potential,” and also focuses on responsible fatherhood.
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On Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his energy plan. It includes reversing all Biden administration policies to get gasoline prices at the pump back to $2 a gallon in 2025.
Gas prices and all other household goods reliant on petroleum have soared to over 40-year highs since President Biden implemented new energy policies in 2021. They include canceling the Keystone Pipeline on his first day in office, halting offshore and onshore lease sales, advancing EPA and other regulatory restrictions solely on U.S. oil and natural gas companies, halting investments in the industry by imposing environmental, social governance policies to restrict lending to U.S. oil and natural gas companies, among other policies.
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New rules approved by officials in Florida this week are designed to increase accountability from pharmaceutical companies when it comes to drug pricing.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that he and the Florida cabinet approved rules that will allow the implementation of provisions within Senate Bill 1550, the Prescription Drug Act.
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House lawmakers held a hearing to investigate the Chinese Communist Party’s alleged efforts to influence American classrooms.
The Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee held the hearing, led by Chair Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla. The lawmakers brought scrutiny against Confucius Classrooms, a program with ties to the CCP, which promote teaching things like the Chinese language and culture, among other things, in hundreds of classrooms around the country.
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A bill seeking to prevent Florida women from being prosecuted for seeking abortions out of state was filed last week as the state Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the state’s six-week abortion ban.
In a news release, Florida Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, D-Davie, said she had filed legislation to prevent pregnant women and girls from being criminally charged and imprisoned for obtaining an abortion, stating that the new bill — Senate Bill 34 — was in response to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ claim that only abortion providers would be prosecuted.
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The Tampa Bay Rays will reportedly announce plans Tuesday for a new $1.2 billion domed stadium that could cost up to $600 million in public funds.
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The U.S. government estimated unemployment fraud during the pandemic cost taxpayers up to $135 billion or about 11% to 15% of the total amount of unemployment insurance benefits paid during the pandemic.
That’s according to the latest report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which the U.S. Department of Labor disputes.
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A Kings Mountain lithium mine shuttered since 1988, estimated capable of supporting the production of 1.2 million electric vehicles annually for 30 years, will reopen.
Charlotte-based Albemarle, the world’s largest producer of lithium, received a $90 million grant from the Department of Defense this week to expand domestic production of the raw mineral used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries. The grant follows a $149.7 million grant Albemarle received from the Biden administration last year for a North Carolina processing facility.
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After the Senate voted to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton of all charges levied against him by the House General Investigating Committee on Saturday, several members of the House who voted against impeaching Paxton called on House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, to resign.
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Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez extolled the conservation efforts of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration at an award ceremony Friday for the Florida Python Challenge.
Nunez said that she is proud to be part of keeping Florida’s natural environment pristine.
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Americans are bringing home less money as inflation squeezes family budgets, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced Tuesday that real median household income fell in 2022 compared with 2021. Real median household income fell by 2.3% from $76,330 in 2021 to $74,580 in 2022.
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Newly released federal inflation data shows that producer prices spiked in August, undoing a steady downward inflationary trend.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Producer Price Index Thursday, a key marker of inflation, which showed producer prices rose 0.7% in August alone. Much of that increase came because of an rise in the cost of gasoline.
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Ballotpedia tracked one new recall effort against a local official in Florida from Sept. 4 through Sept. 10, bringing the yearly statewide total to six efforts against five officials. The most recent effort is: Henry Rosenthal recall, Islamorada, Florida (2023): Seat 4 Village Councilman.
Recall organizers accused Rosenthal of malfeasance, alleging that he asked the village’s planning director to ask the rest of the council how they planned to vote on an amendment he needed for a project to open a theater and entertainment venue in the village, which violated multiple Florida laws.
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A recent analysis determined the United States sits on a century’s worth of gas supply, but industry experts warn there aren’t enough pipelines to access it.
The report from the Potential Gas Committee, part of the Colorado School of Mines, found that the country had technically recoverable gas resources of 3,353 trillion cubic feet, a 0.5% decrease from its 2020 estimate.
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Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said Wednesday that the Sunshine State will be the first state to officially recommend against COVID-19 boosters for those under age 65.
The state, in its guidance, discourages use of the booster for those under age 65 because the new U.S. Food and Drug Administration boosters lack a human clinical trial and evidence of their efficiency or benefits.
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A federal judge blocked parts of a controversial gun measure from New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham Wednesday, but she is not backing down.
U.S. District Judge David Urias temporarily blocked the law, arguing that the executive order runs contrary to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on gun rights and violates people’s abilities to defend themselves.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday published an internal Border Patrol email her office obtained that provides guidelines to release foreign nationals being held at Customs and Border Patrol processing centers because they are at near full capacity, at full capacity or are already over capacity.
President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “have become so brazen that they are now implementing mass-release quotas for immigrants surging into our country,” Moody said. “As a federal judge already recognized, these releases are unlawful, yet the Biden administration is ordering Border Patrol to release even more immigrants into the interior.” Moody is referring to a lawsuit Florida brought against the administration and won.
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There will be some changes to committee assignments when the Florida Legislature reconvenes in January.
Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, has announced new committee assignments ahead of the start of interim committee meetings on Sept. 18. Lawmakers can start filing bills on Monday.
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The federal archive agency that helped spark former President Donald Trump’s first federal indictment has come under fire from Republicans after reporting showed the agency has embraced far-left diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Republicans blasted the National Archives and Records Administration after The Center Square reported that the agency’s latest 2022 DEI plan pledges to double down on equity training for employees.
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Up to 146,000 United Auto Workers could strike starting this week if the Big Three auto companies don’t reach a new union contract agreement by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.
UAW Union President Shawn Fain has repeated his mantra “record profits mean record contracts.” He says Big Three executives at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis have received hefty pay raises while inflation has eaten away at UAW workers’ paychecks.
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Florida’s Medicaid enrollment continue to decline, according to recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on health policy, research and polling.
According to data from the Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, the number of people on Medicaid in the Sunshine State declined 7% from April to July, shrinking from 5.78 million to 5.36 million.
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Fewer parents sent children to preschool in 2021 in a decline that corresponded with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The percentage of 3-to-6-year-olds enrolled in preschool in the United States dropped by 9.3 percentage points from 2019 to 2021, from 51.1% to 41.8%, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report.
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Former Vice President Mike Pence in a speech before the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and in an article in The Wall Street Journal warned Republicans and conservatives about the danger of populism. The former Vice President argues, in echoing Ronald Reagan’s 1964 address, that it is “a time for choosing” for Republicans whether to continue to follow the “siren song” of populism or return to true conservatism. It is clear that Pence is not only drawing a line in the sand and forcing a debate over conservatism, but also distancing himself from former President Donald Trump and those who support his policies. Nevertheless, Pence fails to understand that the conservative populism he is denouncing is actually rooted within the American conservative tradition.
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced new enforcement initiatives Friday to crack down on 1,600 millionaires and 75 large companies it said owe hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes.
IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said the agency will use Inflation Reduction Act funding to focus on high-income earners, partnerships, large corporations and promoters. He said the IRS won’t increase audit rates for those earning less than $400,000 a year.
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At least 215,908 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture after illegally entering the southwest border in August, according to preliminary Border Patrol data obtained by The Center Square.
This includes at least 187,553 apprehensions and 28,355 gotaways. “Gotaways” is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term that refers to the number of people known and reported to illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry who intentionally try to evade capture and don’t return to Mexico. In August, the most gotaways were reported in the Tucson and Rio Grande Valle sectors. Notably, with most Yuma agents pulled out of the field to deal with an influx of people arriving at open areas of the border wall, gotaway numbers reported by agents last month were extremely low, which is out of the ordinary.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is launching a new statewide crime fighting initiative involving former America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh.
Moody made the announcement in West Palm Beach on Wednesday with Florida Association of Crime Stoppers President Frank Brunner, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, other law enforcement officials, and Walsh.
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A federal judge ruled Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott installing marine barriers in the Rio Grande River is illegal. After the ruling, Abbott said Texas was appealing.
Two lawsuits were filed over the marine barriers: one by the federal government and one by a Texas-based kayaking company seeking to end Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star. The ruling issued on Wednesday relates to the federal case only.
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Floridians Protecting Freedom, sponsors of an initiative that would prohibit restrictions on abortions before fetal viability, have submitted 297,586 valid signatures as of Sept. 1, qualifying the proposal for a review by the state Supreme Court.
The initiative would provide that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.” The amendment would not change the state legislature’s ability to require parental notification for abortions sought by minors.
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Nine counties in Florida have areas that will no longer be eligible to participate in a federal loan program for rural housing due to population increases.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development completed its recent review of rural areas nationwide, using data from the 2020 U.S. Census. The ruling goes into effect for those areas on Oct. 1.
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A national operation led to 366 criminal illegal foreign nationals being arrested and targeted for removal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents. The operation targeted criminals who were determined “to be a threat to national security, public safety or border security.”
The operation took place from August 4 to August 25 during which agents prioritized finding and arresting fugitive criminal aliens, including those who’d been previously removed from the U.S. and illegally reentered. Arrests occurred nationwide.
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Few voters think children should undergo transgender interventions even with parental permission.
That’s according to The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll of 2,500 registered voters across the U.S., conducted by Noble Predictive Insights. The poll found that 58% of those surveyed are against medical interventions such as gender-changing surgery or puberty blockers for children younger than 18 years old.
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A new report found that states with less restrictive marijuana policies have higher incidents of residents driving while high.
The Drug Free America Foundation released a new report showing that states that have legalized or weakened restrictions around high-THC marijuana, either for medical or recreational use, saw 32% more marijuana-impaired driving than states that have not adopted the same policies.
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Despite being hit by Category 3 Hurricane Idalia, gas prices in Florida have decreased by five cents going into the Labor Day weekend.
The average gas price in Florida was $3.69 per gallon of regular according to the American Automobile Association, down from $3.75 last week but four cents more than last month. The national average is $3.83.
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The U.S. Department of Labor issued notice Wednesday of a proposal to increase the threshold for required overtime payments to salaried workers whose weekly or annual wages are considered low income.
If enacted, the proposed rule would guarantee overtime pay for most salaried employees earning less than $1,059 per week, or about $55,000 per year. It also calls for an “escalator” that automatically updates the salary threshold every three years to reflect current earnings data. The Labor Department estimates the rule could apply to about 3.6 million workers nationwide.
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The moderators for the second Republican presidential primary debate have been set, but the candidate leading in the polls has yet to show any interest in attending.
Fox News announced Wednesday that Stuart Varney, Dana Perino and UNIVISION’s Ilia Calderón will co-moderate the debate from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Varney, one of Fox Business News’s original anchors, is the host of “Varney & Co.” Perino co-anchors “America’s Newsroom” and serves as co-host of “The Five.” She is also a former White House press secretary under George W. Bush. Calderón is co-anchor of UNIVISION’s weekday evening newscast “NOTICIERO UNIVISION” and its newsmagazine “AQUÍ Y AHORA.” She co-moderated the final debate between Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders in March 2020.
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Florida state officials say more than 476,000 electric customers have had their power restored 48 hours after Hurricane Idalia made landfall.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news briefing on Thursday that there were 91,000 customers in Taylor, Madison, Lafayette, Hamilton, Suwannee, Dixie and Jefferson counties that awaited restoration after Idalia made landfall on Wednesday in the Big Bend as a Category 3 storm.
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In states like California, Colorado, Washington and Arizona, cities this summer are spending millions buying hotels and converting them to shelters for the homeless.
In Los Angeles, there is a ballot initiative in 2024 to require hotels to use vacant rooms to house homeless people besides paying customers. The American Hotel & Lodging Association has objected to the proposal.
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Synthetic opioids estimated to be 10 times more potent than fentanyl are creeping into the illicit drug market in the U.S., according to new research.
“Synthetic opioids, such as the fentanyl analog and nitazene drug class, are among the fastest growing types of opioids being detected in patients in the emergency department with illicit opioid overdose,” researchers warned in a paper published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.
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Recently released federal pricing analysis from the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that food prices will continue to rise through 2024.
The USDA pointed to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index released earlier this month, which showed consumer prices overall rose 3.2 percent in the previous twelve months. Food prices, though rose more quickly at 4.9 percent during the same time.
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Members of the Texas A&M Task Force 1 deployed to Florida on Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Idalia to help Floridians.
Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to deploy the task force, saying, “The State of Texas is sending personnel and resources to Florida as Hurricane Idalia prepares to make landfall in Florida tomorrow.
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The Internal Revenue Service lost millions of taxpayer records and federal employees don’t know where they have gone.
Lawmakers want answers and accountability for the IRS over those documents, which could be used by nefarious actors to steal Americans’ identity.
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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with cancer.
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According to a new analysis from the Los Angeles Times, California’s ban on thin plastic bags is a failure, as thicker, “recyclable” replacement bags are largely unable to be recycled in California, and the majority of consumers still opt not to bring their own bags to reuse for shopping.
Additional analyses have also found increases in purchases of plastic trash bags chip away at the plastics savings from single-use plastic bag bans, the pounds of plastic bags per-capita placed in landfills has increased since the ban, and many of the alternatives to single-use plastic bags typically end up being worse for the environment. Nonetheless, a major decrease in grocery bag litter suggests at least a partial success.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 46 counties in Florida on Monday as Tropical Storm Idalia is predicted to make landfall as soon as Wednesday as a major hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center predicts Idalia to stroke the Big Bend of Florida as a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
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U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, R-Florida, made good on his promise earlier this year to file articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. On Friday, he filed one article of impeachment against Austin alleging high crimes and misdemeanors.
Mills appears to be the first to file an article of impeachment against a Defense secretary in U.S. history.
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Nearly 90% of U.S. voters are concerned about fentanyl trafficking as drug overdose deaths continue to mount in the U.S. ahead of the 2024 election, according to a new poll.
The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, found that 57% of those surveyed are very concerned about fentanyl overdose deaths. An additional 32% are somewhat worried, or 89% overall indicating some level of concern.
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Small business owners are feeling the pain of inflation-driven interest rate hikes, another difficulty for those owners to overcome as they continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic-era shutdowns.
A rash of federal spending and an increase in the money supply in recent years have fueled inflationary pressures. Prices soared during the beginning of the Biden administration, making it hard for Americans to make ends meet.
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The U.S. federal program formerly known as food stamps had peak spending levels in 2023 that were more than double pre-pandemic times.
Now, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is set to be reauthorized as it reaches the end of its five-year budgeting cycle.
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Among the more than 8.6 million people who’ve illegally entered the U.S., at least nearly 1.6 million are “gotaways.”
Gotaways is the official term used by Border Patrol agents to describe foreign nationals who illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry and don’t return to Mexico or Canada.
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The Florida Public Service Commission held the first of a series of hearings Thursday into how much utilities can potentially charge their customers to repair storm-damaged electrical infrastructure.
Thursday’s hearing was an organizational one to set the stage for the main hearings Sept. 14-17. Each utility and the commission’s staff can call witnesses and offer testimony during the hearings.
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