The Latest Breaking News from Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Now that Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation that opens up the voucher program to all school-age children in Florida, public school officials are anxious to see how the state's Senate and House will figure out how to pay for it.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill Thursday allowing Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a permit or training, disappointing gun violence prevention activists while falling short of what some Second Amendment advocates wanted.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A bill that would let people carry concealed firearms without a permit and without training passed out of the House on Friday, putting the bill just a step away from the governor’s desk.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Senate gave final approval Thursday to a bill creating universal school vouchers, and sent it to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his expected approval.

[UPDATE: I've added excerpts from a Slate interview with the school's Board Chair, who ended up commenting on the story after all; his view is that the firing stemmed only from the failure to alert parents to the upcoming material.]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Citing an increase in public records requests for the governor’s travel schedule, Florida legislators are advancing a bill that would shield from the public any information about how and where Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials go.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida middle school and high school teachers would be further restricted from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity under a proposed rule backed by the DeSantis administration that, if approved, would go beyond what state law currently requires.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The DeSantis administration next month could effectively bar all public school teachers from providing classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity, a move that would expand Florida’s controversial 2022 law and go even further than the legislation Republican lawmakers are pushing in Tallahassee this spring.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Two years ago, Orlando television reporter Mike DeForest requested some routine travel and budget expenses from a state agency that had given him contractor license records within days, but this request took more than three months. He decided to ask why, so he asked for more records.