Florida Legislature

The 2020 legislative session will start Jan. 14 as House and Senate members gather to hear Gov. Ron DeSantis’ State of the State address.

As the next legislative session looms on the horizon, lawmakers are trying to squeeze in their personal projects into the 2020-2021 fiscal year budget. However, not all proposals will make it.

In a contentious meeting where proponents and opponents talked about God, homosexuality and government intrusion, a Florida Senate panel Tuesday approved a bill that would require minors to obtain permission from their parents before having abortions.

House Speaker Jose Oliva continues to lead the charge against funding for Visit Florida, saying in a newspaper column this week that tourists would still be drawn to Florida without taxpayer-paid promotional efforts.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed creating a program that would increase funding for high-performing hospitals, a move that could mean more money for 66 hospitals across Florida, according to an analysis by a statewide hospital association.

An administrative law judge will hold a hearing this month in a dispute about how to carry out a new law that is expected to lead to more underground power lines in Florida --- and higher costs for utility customers.

State lawmakers got another message to expect a lean year for bringing home budget bacon.

Time ran short Tuesday, delaying a vote in a Senate health-care panel on a controversial bill that would require minors to get parental consent before having abortions.

A proposal to let Duval County voters choose whether the school superintendent should be elected has moved a step closer to being considered by state lawmakers. Under the current system the superintendent is selected by the school board.

An effort to allow Floridians to add some personal sparkle to the Fourth of July and two other holidays makes its first appearance before a pair of legislative committees this week.

The messy issue of overhauling Florida’s alimony laws could be making a political comeback, based on a lineup of high-powered lobbyists engaged to wage the 2020 legislative session’s iteration of divorce wars.

Suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel faces a legislative showdown Monday in the fight to get his job back, amid procedural wrangling that began before senators even began considering his fate.

A Republican lawmaker wants to crack down on the titles that health care providers use when they identify themselves to the public.

A second House bill, this time from a Republican, has been filed to allow college student athletes in Florida to be able to cash in on their names and images.

Measures to protect police dogs and horses and crack down on hazing and child-like sex dolls are among new laws ready to take effect this week.

Florida education czar Richard Corcoran bristles at being called a disrupter.

Moments after he was formally elected Tuesday to serve as Florida’s next House speaker, Palm Harbor Republican Chris Sprowls waded into issues such as bolstering the state’s finances and addressing climate change.

A state House member wants to increase the legal age for vaping and smoking tobacco from 18 to 21 in Florida.

In the wake of two mass shootings in Texas and Ohio last month, contributions flooded into a political committee seeking to ban possession and sale of assault weapons in Florida, according to a new campaign-finance report filed at the state Division of Elections.

Florida lawmakers will return to the Capitol next week to start holding committee meetings in advance of the 2020 legislative session. Members of the House and Senate are wealthier than ever, at least in terms of their reported net worths.

Florida House Democrats say they’ve rounded up more than enough support to require votes from both Republican-dominated chambers of the Legislature to determine if there is any appetite for a special session dealing with gun violence.

Floridians could add more sparkle to the Fourth of July and two other holidays, under the latest attempt to water down the state’s prohibition against fireworks.

A long-debated proposal that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry handguns on Florida college and university campuses was filed Thursday for consideration during the 2020 legislative session.

Declawing cats, unless medically necessary, would be banned under a bill proposed for the 2020 legislative session by Sen. Lauren Book.

Civil rights groups are hoping a federal judge will strike down a new Florida law that they say does not properly carry out a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences.

Florida’s record $90.98 billion spending plan for the new fiscal year and more than 100 new laws hit the books Monday.