Kate Payne | Associated Press/Report for America

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a new nearly $115 billion state budget into law. Monday's signing ceremony capped a long and combative legislative season marked by GOP infighting. The budget totals about $4 billion less than the state's current adjusted budget.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is racing ahead with construction of a makeshift immigration detention facility at an airstrip in the Everglades over the opposition of Native American leaders who consider the area their sacred ancestral homelands.

Florida officials are pursuing plans to build a second detention center to house immigrants, as part of the state's aggressive push to support the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Florida condominium residents grappling with the steep cost of building improvements will get some financial relief under a new bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The legislation signed Monday goes into effect July 1.

Florida's public universities can free up $22.5 million a year to compensate student-athletes. That's under an emergency rule approved Wednesday by the state board overseeing the universities. The rule comes ahead of a landmark legal settlement going into effect July 1 allowing schools to directly pay their players for the use of their name, image and likeness.

The new budget lacks some of the top priorities of legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, coming in $500 million less than the governor's proposed budget, and $3.5 billion less than last year's adjusted total, a goal of conservative lawmakers focused on scaling back state spending amid concerns of a broader economic slowdown.

A former Republican congressman and vocal critic of Donald Trump says he wants to become governor in the president's adopted home state of Florida and is running as a Democrat.

The order means that at least for now, new campaigns will largely have to operate under the new restrictions as they try to gather enough signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation related to the Hope Florida Foundation, the nonprofit behind the welfare program that has been touted as the signature achievement of Florida first lady Casey DeSantis.

Florida lawmakers have given final approval to creating new hurdles for getting citizen-driven initiatives on the ballot before voters. Under Florida's measure that lawmakers approved Friday, voters could be charged with a felony if they collect more than 25 ballot petitions from non-family members if they don't register with the state as a petition circulator.

Florida is poised to become the second state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, over the concerns of dentists and public health advocates who say the mineral is a safe, effective way to protect people of all ages from developing cavities.

The police departments of at least three public universities in Florida including Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton are seeking agreements with the federal government to carry out immigration enforcement on campus.