Joseph Casello News Today

TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers are gambling that an expansion of government employee retirement benefits that take effect Saturday will keep veteran teachers, firefighters, police and other crucial public employees from leaving their jobs. The expansion of the Deferred Retirement Option Program could prove lucrative for career government workers and educators, who will be ...

The expansion of the Deferred Retirement Option Program will allow career government workers and educators to draw pensions while continuing to work for eight to 10 years but will cost the state an additional $350 million annually.

"People were like, ‘What’s going on?’” At 8 a.m. last Thursday morning, Jane West found herself sitting in a State Affairs Committee of 21 leaders from Florida’s House of Representatives in Tallahassee. She was joined by other incredulous observers asking the same question, as the elected officials decided to move House Bill 1515 forward to

“What is Tallahassee afraid of — that citizens will get it wrong? That their local elected governments will get it wrong? ... We are a government of the people, and these types of laws do not reflect that.” — Sen. Lori Berman, a Democrat from District 31 in Palm Beach County. “People were like, ‘What’s

SMART Florida environmental policy and smart-growth advocates are feverishly lobbying against eight legislative proposals that they say will strip local governments of authority, open the door to unregulated development and hamstring taxpayers who choose to fight back. And, they say, the bills filed in the current session are in direct opposition to executive orders Ron

Florida environmental and smart-growth advocates are targeting eight bills in the Legislature that they say will encourage sprawl. Florida environmental policy and smart-growth advocates are feverishly lobbying against eight legislative proposals that they say will strip local governments of authority, open the door to unregulated development and hamstring taxpayers who choose to fight back. And,

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE 2021: Bills being offered up by lawmakers from Palm Beach County © Provided by The Palm Beach Post State Sen. Bobby Powell, D-West Palm Beach This years 60-day session of the Florida Legislature, which starts Tuesday, promises to be an active one with COVID-19 budget issues and a slew of measures, from changes to gun safety, that will be hotly debated. The state Senate and House members from Palm Beach County districts have also offered up scores of bills. Here is a sele...

A purple alert could be used to help find someone who has certain conditions like an intellectual, developmental, or emotional disability. The state already has programs like Silver Alert, which cover adults who have dementia and Alzheimer’s, and the Amber Alert for children. If an adult with a developmental disability gets lost, law enforcement could send out a Purple Alert. That’s under a proposal that just passed its first House committee stop. The Purple Alert would be used for adults w...

A purple alert could be used to help find someone who has certain conditions like an intellectual, developmental, or emotional disability. A Purple Alert would be used for missing adults with certain cognitive or developmental disabilities. A proposal just passed its first House committee stop. If an adult with a developmental disability gets lost, law enforcement could send out a Purple Alert. That’s under a proposal that just passed its first House committee stop. The Purple Alert would b...

If an adult with a developmental disability gets lost, law enforcement could send out a Purple Alert. That’s under a proposal that just passed its first House committee stop. The Purple Alert would be used for adults with certain conditions like brain injuries or autism.