Gov. Ron DeSantis signs Florida voting bill in front of Trump fan club
The event was nationally televised on Fox News. Florida reporters were excluded.
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Hundreds gather in West Palm Beach to honor Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as he prepares to sign an elections overhaul bill that many say will make it harder for Floridians to vote.
Updated 1 minute ago
TALLAHASSEE â During a nationally televised event hosted by a fan club of former President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed into law contentious and wide-ranging changes to the stateâs voting system, including provisions targeting voting by mail and limiting the use of ballot drop boxes.
Floridaâs unemployment benefits will soon require proof of job searches
DeSantis said unemployment claimants will likely have to start showing how they looked for work once an executive order waiving a work-search requirement ends May 29.
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By Jim Turner
Updated 5 hours ago
Gov. Ron DeSantis expects late this month to reinstate a requirement that people in the unemployment system submit weekly âwork searchâ updates.
Referring to some businesses saying they are unable to find new employees as they regroup from the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis said Wednesday unemployment claimants will likely have to start showing how they looked for work once an executive order waiving a work-search requirement ends May 29.
DeSantis sets election for Hastingsâ seat in 2022, leaving it open for 9 months
Hastingsâ seat will be vacant for more than nine months. The void is about four months longer than the last U.S. House seat that became vacant in Florida following the death of a sitting member of Congress.
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By Alex Daugherty
Updated May 5
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week announced that the special election to replace Rep. Alcee Hastings, who died last month, will take place in January 2022.
Democrats urged DeSantis to fill the seat quickly â arguing that leaving a majority Black and heavily Democratic seat in Broward and Palm Beach counties unoccupied for months deprives
Florida Capitol set to open after 14 months of being closed
Floridaâs surgeon general wants government agencies that closed their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic to reopen. But itâs not clear that government agencies are following the advisory.
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The Florida Capitol is normally bustling with lobbyists and visitors, but it s been mostly empty with COVID-19 safety protocols in place. It opens again to the public on Friday.
By Christine Sexton
Updated 5 hours ago
TALLAHASSEE â After nearly 14 months of being closed to the public, the Florida Capitol will reopen this week ahead of a special legislative session on gambling.
Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, made the announcement Monday, but itâs not clear if other parts of state government will follow a public-health advisory by Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees to open back up as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
How unemployment got lost during Florida’s legislative session Lawrence Mower, Tampa Bay Times
TALLAHASSEE A year ago, Florida’s unemployment crisis was a top issue on the minds of state lawmakers.
With the state’s unemployment system inoperable, hundreds of thousands of desperate Floridians bombarded lawmakers’ phone lines begging for help filing their claims. Lawmakers from both parties pledged to reform the antiquated system.
Yet by the time they convened months later in Tallahassee for their annual legislative session this March, the unemployment crisis had been eclipsed by hot-button culture war topics such as penalizing social media companies, banning vaccine “passports,” voting reforms and “anti-riot” legislation.