Commentary Archives - Florida Phoenix
WEBSep 9, 2024 — BY: Barrington Salmon - September 6, 2024. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a man of the people, a vocal champion in defense of labor unions. And he cares deeply about bread-and-butter issues and promoting workers’ rights. DeSantis also labors tirelessly to secure better wages, salaries, and conditions for working and middle-class Floridians.
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WEB4 days ago — The Phoenix is a nonprofit news site that’s free of advertising and free to readers. We cover state government and politics with a staff of five journalists located at the Florida Press Center in downtown Tallahassee. We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Amendment 5 would lower taxes on homeowners, but others …
WEBMay 17, 2024 — Florida provides an exemption from property taxes for the first $25,000 of the assessed value of a homestead, meaning a building where the taxpayer lives. There’s a second exemption of $25,000 of assessed value over $50,000, except for school taxes — in other words, on values between $50,000 and $75,000.
Short-term vacation rental bill passes in FL Senate, but regulations …
WEBFeb 1, 2024 — Florida lawmakers took significant steps Thursday toward regulating short-term vacation rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, but local officials fear that the measure won’t resolve the conflicts that have existed for years in their communities. That said, the Florida Senate passed a measure [SB 280) that includes the issue of occupancy for …
FL Legislature stuck last-minute policy changes to HB 7; critics call ...
WEBMar 14, 2022 — Lawmakers debated the lengthy pros and cons of the culture-war bill HB 7 during the 2022 legislative session, but not all lawmakers knew that a last-minute change late last week drastically impacted how the measure would work. Now, HB 7, because of a different bill, would be expanded to allow lawmakers and the state Board […]
13 Florida candidates file to run for U.S. Senate nomination
WEBApr 26, 2024 — There are 13 Floridians vying to win the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Republican incumbent Rick Scott. That’s after the qualifying period for all federal candidates, which ended Friday at noon. Leading the pack is Scott, who narrowly won the seat six years ago against then 18-year Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.
Bridge to Sanibel Island reopening, well ahead of schedule
WEBOct 19, 2022 — The road crossing to Sanibel Island, severed in three places by Hurricane Ian, was reopening to civilian traffic on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a public announcement. Private vehicles would be allowed to cross at 11 a.m., 10 days ahead of schedule, the governor said. In the meantime, he and other dignitaries, staged at the …
A cashless society: Lawmakers in FL want to protect residents' …
WEBOct 13, 2021 — A cornerstone of society is the freedom to pay for products and services through a variety of payment methods, from cash and coins to credit and debit cards. And as technology evolves, digital payment options also have become popular, such as Apple and Google Pay using smartphones and online platforms through PayPal. That said, …
Some foreign-trained physicians could skip residency to practice ...
WEBJan 12, 2024 — One of the ways the Florida Senate’s ‘Live Healthy’ initiative could increase the supply of doctors is by creating another licensure pathway for physicians trained outside of the U.S. As lawmakers started looking into the state of Florida’s healthcare workforce ahead of this year’s legislative session, it became apparent that physicians would not be …
State appeals judges throw a wrench into North Florida Black …
WEBOct 31, 2023 — Judges of a state appeals court steered arguments over the future of a sprawling Black-dominated North Florida congressional district in a whole new direction Tuesday, raising legal arguments never even uttered by any of the parties in the case. Lawyers for the state, at the behest of Gov. Ron DeSantis, have argued in court filings …