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In push for overhaul in Florida elections, Senate Republicans ease up and create new controversy
It would potentially require âmillionsâ of voters to go to their elections supervisor to update their signature.
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Updated 3 hours ago
TALLAHASSEE â Florida senators on Wednesday substantially scaled back a potential crackdown on voting by mail, including eliminating a proposed ban on drop boxes, but added requirements that could create headaches for elections supervisors and millions of voters.
Instead of banning drop boxes and requiring IDs when dropping off ballots, senators instead proposed nearly two dozen smaller changes to how mail ballots would be requested, examined and reported.
Updated 2 hours ago
TALLAHASSEE â As was the intent of Senate President Wilton Simpson, the Republican majority in the Florida Senate on Wednesday blocked all attempts to amend a House anti-riot bill that Gov. Ron DeSantis has prioritized this year.
Republicans rejected 16 Democrat-led amendments including ones that would have narrowed the scope of the bill, enhanced criminal penalties for police officers that beat up peaceful protesters and made it unlawful for people to picket or protest outside of someoneâs home with the intent to harass and disturb.
Republicans appear to have listened to Simpson, who last week said the goal was to make little to no changes to the House bill. He added that he believes the bill (HB 1), which would enhance criminal penalties for a host of crimes committed during protests that turn violent, has enough votes to pass the Senate and be sent to the governorâs desk.
Key West business owners lobby legislators over port bill
Key West organizers then assembled at the Governorâs Mansion, where they hoped to send a message to urge the governor to threaten a veto.
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In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Kim Stamps, left, photographs Michigan newlyweds Tyler Gillet, middle, and Ashley Gillet, right, by the Southernmost Point marker Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, in Key West, Fla. New measures in the Florida Legislature ban cruise ships in Key West with more than 1,300 passengers from docking at the city port and limit the total number of cruise visitors who can disembark each day to 1,500. A similar bill, HB 267, is barreling through the House. [ CAROL TEDESCO | AP ]
Florida Senate passes overhaul of auto insurance. Hereâs what that could mean for drivers.
Senators passed it without any independent study showing what it would do to rates.
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Heavy traffic is seen along the Memorial Causeway as beach goers head to Clearwater Beach Tuesday, March 16, 2021. [ CHRIS URSO | Times ]
TALLAHASSEE â Floridaâs unusual âno-faultâ auto insurance system could soon be roadkill.
State lawmakers are poised to pass the most sweeping changes to the stateâs automobile insurance laws in nearly 50 years, doing away with its âno-faultâ insurance provision and requiring every motorist to carry bodily injury coverage.
By Jan. 1, 2022, nearly every motorist in Florida would have a new insurance policy.