State Legislature

Florida lawmakers marked the end of the 2021 legislative session on Friday. Representatives discussed a wide range of controversial issues from mail ballots to vaccination passports to protests.

This post will be updated today, Thursday, April 29, and through the week with the latest information on COVID-19 in South Florida.

A day after citizens of Key West thought the legislation aimed at overturning their vote to limit cruise ship traffic appeared dead, Republican legislative leaders quickly reversed course Wednesday and powered it past Democrats to send it to the governor.

Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined his plans for the $4.1 billion the state will received from the federal government, including funds to fix the state's troubled unemployment system.

Scores of bills related to government transparency have been filed in the state legislature. At least a few have are progressing through committees ahead of regular session.

The Republican-controlled Legislature has taken a series of steps in recent years to make it harder to amend the Constitution.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican leaders recently announced proposed legislation targeting big tech giants that own social media platforms. They accuse them of censoring conservative voices. Legal experts who say the proposed crackdown is unconstitutional.

This is the Institute's 3rd edition of the report it first published nearly 2 decades ago.

Florida lawmakers have gotten a well-timed budget break thanks to a decision by the federal government to extend the nation’s public-health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saying it is designed to quash voices of Black and brown people, Florida Democratic lawmakers on Monday excoriated a proposal pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative leaders aimed at cracking down on violent protests.

A Florida lawmaker who was disciplined after using a gay slur against a political rival and who lost re-election earlier this year is in custody in Haiti on a weapons charge, police there said Thursday. Circumstances of his arrest were a mystery.

Florida's legislative leaders have released contrasting COVID-19 protocols for upcoming committee meetings, with the Senate setting up an off-site area where the public can view and participate in meetings.