The Florida state House and Senate on Thursday approved legislation to impose tight restrictions on social media access for minors.
Under the plan, young Floridians under 16 years old would be barred from access several social media platforms, which in turn would be required to delete the accounts of underaged persons, Politico reported. It would also require that websites producing sensitive content, such as pornography, work to verify the age of users.
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A bill that would have possibly prevented Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from sending the Florida State Guard to the nation’s southern border has been rewritten to remove that provision.
Instead, House Bill 1551, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Giallombardo, R- Cape Coral, was replaced by a committee substitute authored by the Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee.
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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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Florida could change the way unions operate through legislation that proponents say would force union representatives to be more involved and available to their members while ensuring non-members don’t face discrimination.
Senate Bill 256 is sponsored by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill and it would require union members to sign a membership authorization form recognizing Florida as a right to work state before they join.
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Florida lawmakers have passed several education reforms this session, but the one drawing the most attention might be an extension of the Parent Rights in Education Act signed last session.
House Bill 1069 passed the state House on March 31 and reinforces parental rights in education and further prohibits classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation, extending the ban from kindergarten through eighth grade.
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The names of two new men connected to the alleged underage sex trafficking case involving Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) have been released.
One of them is a friend and former employee of Joel Greenberg, the Gaetz associate at the center of the case who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and other crimes earlier this week.
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The federal government is standing in the way of Florida restaurants that are in desperate need of employees as the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, and Floridians look to dine out.
“The biggest challenge out there is the federal government and the state government are going to continue with this unemployment, because that is truly creating the incentive to not work right now,” said Bill Casper, who owns 60 McDonald’s restaurants in the Tampa area. “And, how do you blame somebody? You can make more money on unemployment—and so, we’ve got to be at least above that.”
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