Former Gov. and Sen. Bob Graham will make two presentations at the University of Florida next week, both detailing efforts to conserve the state’s natural resources.
GOP elected officials, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., are working on “a conservative-Republican alternative” to the DREAM Act, in an effort to reach out to Latino voters before the November presidential election.
Parents, educators and supporters of public education will occupy the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., starting Friday to demand support for well-funded, high-quality public schools and an end to publicly funded private schools.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, along with other groups, sent letters to school boards this week, warning them not to adopt policies recently allowed by the state that the civil liberties groups says will surely land them in court.
The leader of Personhood Florida, the group that wants the Sunshine State to outlaw abortion by defining life as beginning at the moment of conception, recently penned an op-ed targeting Planned Parenthood — claiming the group “fears the thought of what will happen if women learn the truth about the development of the baby inside of them and the results of abortion.” A Planned Parenthood rep disputes those claims, arguing that personhood proponents are the ones endangering women.
Late last week, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a measure that allows all schools in Florida to adopt policies allowing students to give “inspirational messages,” which could include prayers or hate speech, during any school event. Critics of the law have warned that the law will land the state in yet another lawsuit.
According to a new report from the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy (FCFEP), an economic development package that passed during the Legislative session this year included “$125 million in special-interest tax breaks.”
Religious leaders sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott today, urging him to veto a bill that would allow school boards to adopt policies allowing “inspirational messages,” including prayers, to be given during any school event. The bill is currently awaiting Scott’s signature.
As state-wide budget cuts impact public schools, Parent Teacher Associations and education foundations in school districts across Florida and the U.S. are raising money to help meet the deficits.
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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