All Florida public universities would be banned from hiring foreign workers on H-1B visas under a policy change that the Florida Board of Governors will consider next week. Next Thursday, the board's Nomination and Governance Committee will consider adding to a policy a line saying the universities can't "utilize the H-1B program in its personnel program to hire any new employees through January 5, 2027." If the committee and full Board of Governors approve the addition, there will be a 14-day public comment period.
Tens of thousands of Floridians are facing a life or death scenario as Ron DeSantis' administration revokes funding for HIV medication. The Florida Department of Health has gutted the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) after supposedly failing to find $120 million in the state budget to cover the cost. The program provides assistance to low-income people living with HIV, meaning that over 10,000 people could lose access to life-saving medication if funding isn't restored.
Edward Zakrzewski's wife had known him since they were in the fourth grade. Growing up in the same neighborhood in Michigan, she and Zakrzewski had a close friendship. "I always had a crush on him, but I always knew that he was a ladies' man in high school, and I was a good girl, so I wasn't having that," she said. As happens with many childhood friendships, they lost touch when her family moved away to Illinois.
The state of Florida has become the epicenter of Republicans' rainbow crosswalk crackdown. The DeSantis administration has heeded warnings from federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has falsely claimed Pride art is distracting to drivers. Duffy wrote in a July 1 letter to the nation's governors that all non-freeway intersections and crosswalks must be kept "free from distractions." In a subsequent X post, he said, "Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks."
On Sept. 30, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet unanimously agreed to donate a 2.63-acre parcel of prime downtown Miami real estate to the foundation that will develop the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library. The land, used for parking by Miami Dade College, has been valued at more than $67 million, but the state asked for nothing in return for this gift.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier's office is jumping in to defend Miami Dade College in what he's calling a "bogus lawsuit," after a judge temporarily blocked the school from transferring the deed for prime downtown land the state plans to give Donald Trump's presidential library foundation. Florida's chief financial officer Blaise Ingoglia has also filed a request to join the lawsuit on the college's behalf, according to court filings.
New rules for insurance company owners that are now out of state regulators' reach. An emergency relief fund to help low-income homeowners pay for insurance. A national risk pool to spread insurance costs across several states. Those are some of the ideas - some new, some brought back - that Florida's Democratic senators are pushing to ease the high costs of property insurance costs for homeowners and renters in the state.
The bad news is that Charlie Kirk is dead, but the good news is that he's now part of the curriculum. It's been my understanding from people opposed to tearing down memorials to treasonous slavers that the most effective means of teaching people is via statuary-and my alma mater, the New College of Florida, is leading the way, with the announcement that private donors will be paying to place a statue of the late right-wing influencer on campus.
"But I do believe that there is a really significant opportunity here for Democrats to take back the state of Florida - as long as we have a candidate who can relate to everyday people who keeps it focused on the most important pressing issues that affect people every single day in their lives like affordability and public education, and access to true freedoms across the state," Jenkins said.
Children in Florida will no longer be required to receive vaccines against preventable diseases including measles, mumps, chicken pox, polio and hepatitis said Joseph Ladapo, the state's surgeon general, on Wednesday in a speech during which he likened vaccine mandates to slavery. Ladapo, hand-picked for the role by Ron DeSantis, Florida's Republican governor, is a long-time skeptic of the benefit of vaccines, and has previously been accused of peddling scientific nonsense by public health advocates.