Florida Senators Rick Scott (R) and Marco Rubio (R) joined Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (R), Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty (R) and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy (R) in an effort to sanction a tobacco company. The Republicans directed a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, calling on the Biden Administration to sanction Tobacco International Holdings (TIH).

While Governor Ron DeSantis still has over 100 recently-passed bills to sign into law, one of them, Senate Bill 262, could have dire consequences for small business owners. The bill, dubbed a “digital bill of rights”, passed the legislature with minimal opposition. The measure is designed to regulate how social media platforms and tech companies collect and use personal information.

Teachers sue over SB256, resulting in stricter certification requirements and automatic union dues deduction bans from paychecks. There have been numerous complaints referencing such practices, citing lack of any real ability to stop it for those who refuse to fund political activities or simply decline membership.  Teacher unions are one of the largest political contributors.

Florida House Speaker Paul Renner joins Glenna Milberg to discuss the recent legislative session, record setting $117 billion state budget, $1.3 billion in tax breaks and his top policy priorities enacted into law as well as the substantial impact of the Legislature’s agenda on Floridians.  The interview premiered on This Week in South Florida on WPLG Local 10 News on May 7, 2023.

HB 1297 passed the Florida Legislature and was just signed into law by the Governor. The bill will allow prosecutors to seek death penalty for individuals who have been found guilty of raping children under the age of 12. death sentences do not require a unanimous jury decision. A prosecutor will only need the approval of 8 out of 12 jurors to sentence capital punishment.

Governor DeSantis signed several education-related bills, including 8-year term limits for school board members and HB 379, prohibiting students from using TikTok on district-owned devices and blocking anyone from using it to promote school activities. Addtitional provisions in the new law also allow teachers to prohibit cell phone use entirely in the classroom.

Florida lawmakers on Friday finalized a $117 billion budget and an accompanying $1.3 billion tax package to end a legislative session. After adjourning “sine die”, the traditional declaration that marks the end of the annual 60-day session, House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, pointed to a series of key issues that he said lawmakers addressed.

After sitting idle for nearly two months following its passage in the Senate, a bill proponents, describe as the preemption to end all government preemptions has cleared its last stop in the Legislature.  The bill would enable businesses to sue county and city governments over policies and ordinances they believe are “arbitrary or unreasonable.” 

“I think we are seeing this movement of canceled culture that is taking over our nation. It’s in our schools.  I think there’s seven to nine states who already are looking at language to ban hunting and fishing and actually actually criminalized hunting and fishing." — Florida State Representative Lauren Melo, sponsor of House Joint Resolution 1157.

Florida Senate on Monday gave final approval to a bill that would impose eight-year term limits on county school-board members. Approval came during session that has included lawmakers pursuing various other changes dealing with school boards, including a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to holding partisan school-board elections.

The plan for the fiscal year that will start July 1 would be more than $6 billion larger than the budget for the current year. The budget, which will be published Tuesday, includes such things as Gov. Ron DeSantis starting to get $4 billion he wants to speed a series of highway projects. House and Senate finished working out details expected to top $116 billion.

Florida Senate on Friday passed an immigration package that Republican supporters said is aimed at forcing the federal government to address an “invasion” of migrants into the country.  DeSantis and the Legislature in recent years have passed a series of changes to target illegal immigration, including a 2019 law that banned so-called sanctuary cities.

Newly proposed legislation would allow Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president while continuing to serve as Florida governor.  A provision was added to a large elections bill expected to be passed into law. Florida lawmakers supporting the bill say its language is meant to be a clarification of current legislation and not specifically aimed at benefiting DeSantis. 

Disney sued Gov. DeSantis, alleging the Republican governor has waged a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” over the company.  The lawsuit was filed the same day that a state gubernatorial board moved to undo a development deal that it says Disney struck to thwart its power, alleging “relentless campaign to weaponize government"

Faced with concerns from Florida’s small businesses that rely on digital advertising, a legislative committee scaled back a technology bill that attempts to give consumers more control over their online footprint by narrowing it to 'Big Tech' companies.  The measure, SB 262 and its companion, HB 1547, head next to the House and Senate floors for final votes.

Legislative proposal that aims to prohibit colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives has been approved by the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. Opponents of the bill (SB 266) claim it will have adverse effect on academic freedom, in part because it could lead to changes related to general core courses.

People in Florida can now be sent to death row with an 8-4 jury vote, instead of a unanimous requirement. DeSantis pushed to reduce Florida’s death penalty threshold, citing the outcome of the Parkland school shooting case — where the gunman who killed 17 at Stoneman Douglas High was given a life sentence after only nine of the 12 jurors voted for death.

With weeks until Florida’s legislative session ends, Disney is pushing lobbyists to step up their efforts to influence the state Legislature and to target land use-related bills that could hurt the company, among other measures, said the people, who declined to be named in order to speak freely about the issues. A spokesman for Disney declined to comment. 

The Florida Board of Education has approved a new rule that says schools “Shall not intentionally provide classroom instruction to students in Grades 4-12 on sexual orientation or gender identity, unless such instruction is expressly required by state academic standards.” 

Legislation banning adult live performances for minors and allowing Department of Business and Professional Regulation to revoke food and beverage licenses of businesses that admit children to adult performances will now make its way to the desk of Governor Ron DeSantis.

Millions of votes have already been cast, and voters have collectively spent thousands of hours poring over ballots and ticking boxes. But as we all know too well, elections don’t conduct themselves. Here’s a rundown of the organizations that work to make Election Day happen.

Speaker-designate Paul Renner on Tuesday endorsed Republican Danny Alvarez in the race for House District 69.  “Danny Alvarez is a  leader who will keep Florida moving in the right direction. A champion for the men and women in law enforcement and our nation’s veterans, Danny will make Florida an even stronger and safer place."

Ileana Garcia added more than $47,000 last month between her campaign proper and political committee, No More Socialism.  Her opponent, Democrat Janelle Perez, reported raising about $178,000 in her first full month in the race, but her campaign says she has much more pending transfer from her canceled congressional bid.

Hialeah state Rep. Alex Rizo doesn’t have a challenger in his bid for a second term representing House District 110, but he does have $46,660 in money raised to hold onto his seat should one emerge. His campaign received $1,000 from Sebastian Aleksander of Tallahassee who runs the Aleksander Group, a public affairs strategy group.

Sebastian Aleksander registered as a lobbyist for AT&T lobbyist regitration records hows. AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and the world's third largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third-largest provider of mobile telephone services in the U.S.

The Aleksander Group has been honored on the Seminole 100 list-a celebration of the fastest-growing U.S. businesses owned by Florida State University alums. The Aleksander Group represents some of the biggest companies in the US before Florida's legislature. Founder Sebastian Aleksander is a seasoned lobbyist and proud FSU graduate.

Florida State alums are leading some of the country's fastest growing businesses, according to the inaugural Seminole 100 List.  Created by the Jim Moran Institute of Global Entrepreneurship at FSU's College of Business — includes businesses ranging in size and industry. Seminole 100 are ranked based on Inc. Magazine's verification.

Networking platform Facebook has again hired Sebastian Aleksander for the 2017 Legislative Session, according to lobbyist registration records reviewed Tuesday.  This makes the third year in a row that Aleksander will have represented the social media behemoth, based in Menlo Park, California. Among other major websites, he also represents Yahoo! Inc., records show.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio returns to his old stomping grounds — Tallahassee — for a Rubio Victory PAC eception on April 7 for the prospective 2016 presidential candidate.  In attendance as the host committee is a catalog of some of the biggest Republican power players, lobbyists and political insiders: Sebastian Aleksander, Gaston Cantens, Len Collins, Nick Fererri, Adam Hasner,

Donald Trump partnered with Florida lobbying and business interests to raise cash for Attorney General Pam Bondi.  It's being held at the swankiest of swank locations: the Trump-owned Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.  Besides the big-name New Yorkers, there's a long host committee for Friday's event, with all sorts of ties.  Democrat Challenging Bondi reported raising $67,098.