Gov. Rick Scott today signed a bill enacting a slew of tax breaks and handouts for businesses in Florida as part of his plan to grow the state’s economy and create jobs.
PolitiFact reported yesterday that state Rep. Jimmie Smith’s justification for exempting legislators from the state employee random drug testing bill he sponsored this past session is flat-out “false.”
A Miami court today announced its decision to dismiss the constitutional challenge brought by the Florida Retail Federation against Miami-Dade County’s anti-wage theft program.
About 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States as of January 2011, according to a report released by the Department of Homeland Security. The department study indicates that “in summary, an estimated 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States in January 2011 compared to a revised 2010 estimate of 11.6 million.”
Gov. Rick Scott (Pic via Facebook)
In a letter sent to state agency heads today, Gov. Rick Scott advises against randomly drug testing state employees, until a judge issues a ruling regarding the issue. The letter comes just one day after Scott signed a bill allowing state agencies to adopt policies that allow for random drug testing of their employees.
Last night, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law the state’s second attempt to randomly drug test state employees.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, led a tour this week of their new immigrant detention center in Texas. The detention center, which will be managed by Florida-based private prison industry corporation The GEO Group, has raised concerns from immigrant advocates.
According to a Florida Department of Economic Opportunity employment report issued Tuesday, Florida’s unemployment rate was 9.6 percent in January 2012, down from 9.9 a month earlier. Overall, 38,600 seasonally-adjusted jobs were lost in January 2012.
Immigrant advocates have launched a campaign to raise funds to develop an emergency alert and personal protection smartphone app that could be used by undocumented immigrants.
As Florida’s $70 billion budget passed in the Legislature late last week, Democrats in both chambers took the opportunity to criticize GOP leaders in both the state House and Senate for denying federal funds from the Affordable Care Act. The GOP-led Legislature also levied huge cuts on health services this year, which could have been remedied by increased federal funding.
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