Florida - The Sunshine State

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The fewer seats republicans have in the US house, the harder it is to get their stuff through. Moreover, if these seats flip or show a strong overperformance, Republicans will be way more weary about going along with Trump

Tuesday’s decision temporarily stops the bill from moving forward.

The Florida Senate Committee on Criminal Justice has struck down a proposal to allow guns on college campuses.

The bill (SB 914) sponsored by Brevard Republican Senator Randy Fine, failed to get enough “yes” votes on Tuesday after one Republican rejected the idea.

Florida lawmakers rolled back some of the state’s child labor protections last year. Now, a proposal is advancing in Tallahassee that would strip them completely for those 16 and older.

The rollback would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work full-time, including late nights and days longer than eight-hour even on school nights without required breaks. The proposal would also waive those same protections for 14- and 15-year-olds who are enrolled in home school, virtual education, or those who have already graduated and received a high school diploma.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/58752260

Spent a week in #keywestflorida, #drytortugas, and the middle #floridakeys. Took notes, made 1000 photos and some videos. Summarized in an old-school blog post with links to photo albums: https://jsclarkfl1.blogspot.com/2025/03/no-lofty-peak-nor-fortress-bold.html.

A bill that would radically change Florida’s citizen-led constitutional amendment process received its first hearing in the Legislature on Thursday, where dozens of Floridians warned it would deal a major blow to direct democracy.

The measure (HB 1205), sponsored by Fort Myers Republican Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, was approved mostly along party-lines by the House Government Operations Subcommittee, although Osceola County Democrat Jose Alvarez joined committee Republicans in voting yes.

*Profits of insurance companies are limited by regulators to about 4.5% — hardly enticing to investors, considering the risk of hurricanes.

However, insurance executives in Florida have used financial workarounds to reward investors and themselves.

While the profits and executive compensation of the insurance company are capped, the profits of affiliate and parent companies are not.

So executives create sister companies that charge the insurance company for basic services, such as claims handling, underwriting, accounting and issuing policies. (Large national insurers typically handle all of those services internally.)*