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Gov. Ron DeSantis offers blueprint for federal COVID-19 stimulus funding The governor’s proposal for $4.1 billion in spending includes one-time $1,000 bonuses for first responders.     Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to the press after giving his State of the State speech on the first day of the 2021 Legislative Session in Tallahassee, Fla. Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat via AP) [ TORI LYNN SCHNEIDER/TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT | AP ] By News Service of Florida Published Mar. 16 Updated Mar. 16 TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis pitched plans Tuesda...

Florida lawmakers want to let local government regulate smoking in parks but not mask wearing One bill in the Florida Legislature would do more to preempt local control while another loosens existing preemption law.     State Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 1924, which would limit locally issued emergency orders to 10 days and give the governor and Legislature the power to invalidate them. [SCOTT KEELER | Times] Updated Mar. 17 TALLAHASSEE — Local government can ban a person sitting outside a Little League baseball dugout from smoking, but if that...

Updated Mar. 18 TALLAHASSEE — Last March, when the coronavirus arrived in Florida, state and local governments enacted policies that fundamentally changed how communities interact. Most of the changes restricted the movement of people with the hope of saving lives. But some concessions made things more convenient in a less personal society. As lawmakers gather in Tallahassee, some of those convenient policy changes could be here to stay. Bills making their way through the Legislature would allow Floridians to continue to get alcoholic drinks delivered from restaurants. Other legislation ...

Senate GOP advances Bright Futures redesign Students seeking degrees that are on a list of majors that don’t lead directly to a job would get smaller scholarship amounts under a bill proposed by Sen. Dennis Baxley.   Updated Mar. 16 TALLAHASSEE — Following a rewrite and uproar from dozens of students and parents, Senate Republicans on Tuesday advanced legislation that could reduce amounts covered under the state’s popular Bright Futures college scholarship program. The largely unpopular bill was pulled from the Senate Education Committee agenda a week ago to give its sponsor...

5 ways lawmakers can fix Florida’s unemployment system — besides CONNECT They could raise the maximum benefit amount. Or find out why CONNECT is rejecting so many people.     Hillsborough County Library Service employee Stephen Duran wears a mask and gloves to protect himself from the coronavirus outbreak as he hands out unemployment paperwork to residents Tuesday, April 14, 2020, at the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Public Library in Tampa. [ CHRIS O'MEARA | AP ] Updated Mar. 13 TALLAHASSEE — During the last year, legislators’ offices were flooded with calls from des...