Capital Report: January 24, 2024

Published January 24, 2024 at 4:57 PM EST

A disastrous rollout left many Florida families without school voucher funds at the start of this school year. WMNF’s Chris Young reports a house bill is advancing that would make some changes.

Legislative Democrats are urging their lawmaking colleagues and the governor to focus more of their attention on making more Florida housing affordable. Tom Flanigan reports.

It could soon be illegal to mouth off to police and other first responders on the job. Tristan Wood reports a bill prohibiting people from harassing officers has passed its final committee stop in the Florida Legislature.

Capital Report

Capital Report: May 3, 2024

On tonight's program: What lies ahead for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis? Another plan to search for fossil fuels in the delicate Apalachicola River basin has opponents rushing to the barricades; It’s not yet a law, but a bill allowing people who feel threatened to shoot black bears has advocates and opponents locked in verbal combat; Jobs are going begging for workers in South Florida. One of the reasons? High housing prices; And we’ll find the secret to making the so-called “Golden Years” healthier and happier is to stay involved, connected and active!
Capital Report: April 26, 2024

On tonight’s program: Florida colleges and universities are – so far – experiencing only modest protests in support of Gaza as the war with Israel goes on; Florida’s six-week abortion ban takes effect in days. We’ll see how it will impact those on both sides; On this Confederate Memorial Day – and yes, it’s still an official observance in Florida – we’ll talk about other monuments to the “lost cause”; Florida’s unhoused population keeps growing and there are those who are using this fact to political advantage; President Biden still has a lead over former President Trump among young people. Florida Democrats hope those young people will give the incumbent the winning edge in November; And Florida expands its DNA sampling to include everybody who’s arrested
Capital Report: April 19, 2024

On tonight's program: A looming six-week abortion ban in Florida has advocates scrambling to ensure some kind of care will remain accessible; Florida dives into a voucher program that advocates hope will drown-proof more kids; With a voter referendum on recreational marijuana coming in November, some people are still sounding bells of alarm; While pot opponents – like Governor DeSantis – believe loosening the state’s marijuana laws would be catastrophic, not everyone is so sure; A young Florida mom struggles to keep her opioid addiction at bay; And Florida bids goodbye to a statesman. Perhaps one of the last in our modern era.
Capital Report: April 12, 2024

On tonight’s program: An organization supporting transgender people in Tallahassee has gotten national attention; Governor DeSantis signs a bill into law ramping up penalties for interfering with law officers; Florida has a new law imposing harsher penalties on those convicted of retail theft; More and more Florida seniors are finding a place to live less and less affordable; The opioid crisis remains a crisis, although a Medicaid expansion in places like Florida is being touted as a powerful tool to help the fight; And some ancient Native American wisdom may be the best way to deal with some very modern problems.
Capital Report: April 5, 2024

On tonight’s program: Florida voters will decide the legality of abortion during the upcoming election; A recreational marijuana initiative likewise makes it to this November’s ballot, much to the delight of proponents; We talk with a third-party candidate for president who isn’t happy with the difficulty of qualifying to get on the Florida ballot; Florida’s new education commissioner is making sure that charter schools in one county are getting their share of funding. Even if that share was originally intended for traditional public schools; And while Florida is trying to lure more new manufacturing jobs to the state, some long-time production jobs in a rural North Florida county are disappearing forever.
National News

Florida's abortion fight is headed to voters after court allows for a 6-week ban

Regan McCarthy

Florida is at the center of the fight over abortion. As the state faces new restrictions and a November ballot question on abortion rights, Democrats see potential where they haven't in years.
Capital Report: March 29, 2024

On tonight’s program: A federal court says Florida’s redrawn North Florida congressional district is okay. But that doesn’t mean the matter is closed; Governor DeSantis signs the bill banning younger teens from accessing social media. And it looks like that’s not a done deal either; Disney and the State of Florida resolve at least one issue in their ongoing battle; Florida acts to ban synthesized meat. That battle is continuing; One of Florida’s U.S. Senators returns from Israel with strong criticism for the Biden administration; The state is helping businesses recruit employees amid an ongoing worker shortage; And some advocacy groups are pushing Florida to rejoin a system that is supposed to ensure no voters cast ballots in more than one state.
Capital Report: March 22, 2024

On tonight’s program: Governor DeSantis signs into law a bill forcing local governments to make sure the unhoused don’t wind up sleeping in public places; Floridians stuck in a health insurance coverage gap are turning to voters for help; A new Florida law pulls the plug on local bodies that deal with ethics violations by government officials; As debate continues about a ban on the social media site TikTok, it seems not everyone – even among young people – is necessarily a big fan; Is synthetic meat a powerful tool in the fight against hunger, or is it a threat to our traditional way of life?; And Certain Florida destinations love tourists EXCEPT for the ones who come during spring break.
National News

A push is underway for voters to make Florida the next state to expand Medicaid

Regan McCarthy

For a decade, Florida lawmakers have debated whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Advocates are trying to circumvent the legislature and take the issue directly to voters.
Capital Report: March 15, 2024

On tonight's program: As the judicial system puts the brakes on Florida’s “Stop Woke Act,” Governor DeSantis insists the whole thing was taken out of context; Some institutions, however, including the state’s flagship university, are keeping at least some of the “anti-woke agenda” in place; During recent arguments on abortion before the state supreme court the chief justice has brought up the idea of fetal personhood; Governor DeSantis signs into law a bill to prevent undocumented immigrants from using local IDs to misrepresent their immigration status; State lawmakers kept up their drive to take more and more authority from local governments during the session that just ended; Florida's money managers are making plans to drop China-owned investments; And a proposed state land purchase has some residents of a rural North Florida county upset.

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