Florida Republican senator wants to remove working caps, mandatory breaks for minors

Sen. Jay Collins wants to remove the waiver requirement for older teens and let them work earlier than 6:30 a.m. and after 11 p.m. on school nights

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix February 21, 2025April 29, 2025

News

Democrats file bill to repeal Florida’s six-week abortion ban

Regardless of the preference of the majority of voters, the Republican-led Legislature is unlikely to repeal the six-week ban

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix February 20, 2025May 3, 2025

News

Larry Keefe, who helped plan controversial migrant flights, to head Florida immigration enforcement

He was handed power to distribute some of the $250 million in grants designated for local law enforcement that work with federal immigration agencies

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix February 18, 2025July 3, 2025

News

Gov. DeSantis’ former chief of staff James Uthmeier sworn in as Florida attorney general

He promised to champion an ‘America-first’ agenda as the state’s new attorney general

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix February 17, 2025February 20, 2025

News

DeSantis says Florida universities shouldn’t admit immigrants living in the state illegally

‘For those students who are currently enrolled, the vast majority of them — they will drop out of school,’ predicted Orange County Democratic Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix February 14, 2025April 3, 2025

News

Florida bill would impose harsher penalties for immigrants driving without a license

Orlando Democratic Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith raised concerns, considering the deficiencies in Florida’s public transit system

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix February 13, 2025July 1, 2025

News

Florida bill banning golf courses, pickleball courts from state parks advances in the Senate

The bill requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to notify the public 30 days before a public hearing

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix February 12, 2025March 24, 2025

News

‘Those things are going to happen’: Florida Republican Wilton Simpson downplays heat-related deaths

He said human error was to blame for heat-related deaths on farms, which he described as few and far between

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix February 5, 2025March 5, 2025

News

Florida advocacy groups urge immigrants without legal status to know their rights

‘Here in Florida, I want people to also understand we’re not talking about 100,000 or 200,000 people. We’re talking about over a million people in the state’

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix January 23, 2025June 3, 2025

News

Florida Democrat files bill to change six-week abortion ban after mother was forced to watch newborn suffocate

The bill would change the definition of fatal fetal abnormality in the state’s law banning most abortions after six weeks’ gestation

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix January 16, 2025February 10, 2025

News

755,000 Florida kids didn’t have enough food during past two summers, according to report

The report published Monday urges state lawmakers to opt into SUN Bucks, a federal summer program that gives low-income families financial assistance for food

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix January 13, 2025May 14, 2025

News

DeSantis defends college board appointee who criticizes women prioritizing their careers

Scott Yenor details his views against same-sex relationships, including that LGBTQ+ practices bring ‘dreaded diseases’

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix January 13, 2025May 6, 2025

News

DeSantis says he won’t appoint himself to replace Rubio in the Senate

Although he doesn’t anticipate Rubio will officially leave his post in the Senate before Jan. 20, DeSantis said he is still on course to announce his pick next week

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix January 10, 2025January 16, 2025

News

COVID-19 probe requested by Florida Gov. DeSantis finds no evidence of criminal activity

DeSantis asked the Supreme Court to investigate wrongdoing related to the COVID-19 vaccines

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix January 8, 2025June 17, 2025

News

Florida House lawmakers file bipartisan bill encouraging construction of grocery stores in food deserts

HB 89 would allow local governments to authorize ‘small-footprint grocery stores’ in food insecure areas

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix January 3, 2025July 31, 2025

News

Social media bans, voter registration applications and more Florida laws now in effect in 2025

Social media access for kids, voter registration, workers’ compensation and more laws now in effect

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix and Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix January 2, 2025February 2, 2025

News

Florida’s abortion initiative sponsor drops fight over $328K fine in election fraud accusation

The dismissals end the legal fights between the sponsor and the state as Amendment 4 failed to win the required 60% approval

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix December 20, 2024June 17, 2025

News

Climate change has fueled dengue and Oropouche cases in Florida, says WHO director

Flooding, droughts, and rising temperatures are helping mosquito-borne illnesses spread

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix December 11, 2024January 6, 2025

News

Democrats can no longer assume young Floridians will vote blue, political analyst says

‘Unbelievable, and nobody was paying a bit of attention to what was happening on the age front’

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix December 3, 2024December 13, 2024

News

DeSantis sets April special election date for Matt Gaetz’s former U.S. House seat

The announcement came hours after Gaetz announced he wouldn’t return to Congress

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix November 25, 2024March 28, 2025