The Florida Supreme Court said Friday it will hear arguments in a dispute about how much the Broward County School Board could be forced to pay to parents and victims in last year’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Justices issued a unanimous order saying they will take up the case and will […]
Florida Supreme Court approves DeSantis’ ask for grand jury on school safety
The Florida Supreme Court justices unanimously agreed to impanel a statewide grand jury to broadly investigate school safety, in an order issued Monday. The decision came after Gov. Ron DeSantis filed a petition on Feb. 13 to ask for the grand jury, which he said should have sweeping powers to oversee both the government failures […]
Gov. DeSantis proposes new program to end FTC wait list
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday called on the Legislature to create a new state-funded program that would reduce the number of families on a waiting list to receive the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) for lower-income families. Speaking at Calvary City Christian Academy & Preschool, DeSantis proposed establishing an “equal opportunity scholarship” funded in […]
Governor Ron DeSantis Calls for Statewide Grand Jury on School Safety
Today, Governor Ron DeSantis filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a statewide grand jury to examine and review school safety measures throughout the state, as well as the responses of public entities to laws designed to protect schools such as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. Read More
Galvano says Supreme Court makeover could prompt ‘bold’ education reforms
State Senate President Bill Galvano told a Sarasota business audience Tuesday that the more conservative Florida Supreme Court being fashioned by Gov. Ron DeSantis could pave the way for education reforms that had been struck down in the past. “We have a new court,” Galvano, R-Bradenton, told a sold-out crowd of 270 at the Argus […]
Florida may seek internet tax collections
Florida law requires residents to report and pay the sales taxes they own on items purchased from mail order catalogs or the internet. Few residents actually do this, but a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision cleared the way for out of state businesses to begin the collections, but the change would require legislative approval. Read […]
Florida Supreme Court tosses out decade-old education funding lawsuit
Florida’s 10-year-old lawsuit contending the state has shortchanged some of its public education students has ended with the Supreme Court’s narrow rejection of the complaint. Three justices plus a substitute associate justice, subbing in for recused Justice Ricky Polston, agreed with the trial and appellate court rulings that the constitutional terms the plaintiffs relied upon are political […]
Florida Supreme Court considers education funding challenge
Florida’s Supreme Court justices gave just a few hints Thursday of how they’re thinking about a 9-year-old case that contends, essentially, that the Legislature has shortchanged some students in the state’s public education system. The case, Citizens for Strong Schools vs. Florida Board of Education, focuses on the Florida constitution’s mandate that the state has a “paramount […]
Recounts loom larger, legal action begins as margins tighten in key Florida races
As the Senate race between Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Bill Nelson appears headed to a statewide recount, both candidates are mobilizing teams of lawyers and legal skirmishes are well underway. Thursday dawned with Scott leading Nelson by just more than one-fourth of a percentage point. The candidates for agriculture commissioner are much closer, divided […]
Facing national microscope again, Florida braces for several recounts
Florida’s chief legal officer, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, told county election supervisors Thursday to plan for statewide recounts and for extraordinary public and media scrutiny in the state with the singular status of unusually close elections. Read More