Ana Goñi-Lessan | News Service of Florida

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) issued an emergency rule Wednesday prohibiting the importation of shelter and rescue dogs and cats from states with confirmed screwworm detections.

Florida enacted emergency rules Friday to prevent the New World screwworm from making its way to the Sunshine State. The state created protocols to protect Florida's cattle herds from the parasitic fly after it was found in Texas earlier this week.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet next week will consider approximately $90 million in grants for local law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

Stuart Bell, former president at the University of Alabama for 10 years, participated in three forums throughout the afternoon on campus in Gainesville.

Budget negotiations over education funding kicked off Tuesday, but the House and Senate remain at odds over major issues, including funding for universities and K-12 schools.

A bill limiting foreign influence from “countries of concern,” including adding penalties for businesses and prohibiting surrogacy contracts with Chinese nationals, was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Districts have until May 18 to sign up for the new pilot program. The statewide implementation of the new course is slated for 2027-2028 school year.

The Florida Department of Education appointed a financial board to both Union and Glades counties' school districts to help with "operations, management and finances and to make recommendations for financial recovery."

Drought conditions in Florida have helped spur 1,500 wildfires in the first three months of the year, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said.

Months after the state’s auditor general found a "myriad of accountability challenges" with Florida’s K-12 school voucher system, the Legislature failed to pass a bill providing better oversight of the $4 billion program.

A group of sheriffs on a state immigration enforcement board sharply criticized the federal government’s mass deportation efforts Monday, a stark departure from hardline policies in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis has spearheaded collaboration with federal officials to remove all undocumented immigrants.

The House on Thursday passed a bill (HB 991) on a 77-28 vote along party lines, imposing new identification requirements on voters, but it doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2027.