Florida News

Surplus lines insurers are companies largely exempt from state regulations, and their rates and policies aren’t reviewed by the Office of Insurance Regulation. As of May 31, surplus lines carriers covered 778,000 policies in Florida, including 88,314 homeowner policies and 147,501 commercial property policies, according to the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office.

The state added over a thousand jobs in private K-12 education while losing more than 5,000 public school jobs in the last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

DeSantis signed a series of law enforcement-related measures Tuesday, with many of them designed to increase penalties for criminals and give police and prosecutors more options to pursue them.

Although his office declined to say whether the investigation is criminal or civil, subpoenas will be “forthcoming.” The probe will also examine ChatGPT’s potential involvement in child sexual abuse material and the “encouragement” of suicide, Uthmeier added.

Cuba says a fifth detainee has died after a shootout with people on a Florida-flagged speedboat off its north coast. Cuban authorities say people on the speedboat opened fire on soldiers as it approached the island on Feb. 26.

Florida Senate President Ben Albritton was hospitalized overnight Sunday with a blood clot in his lung, his office announced Monday morning. The Wauchula Republican, now in “good spirits,” began experiencing chest pains Sunday morning. He was taken to the emergency room at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where physicians discovered a small blood clot in his lung.

This year there are roughly 40 proposals before the Florida Legislature seeking to create exemptions to public records. Historically, the state has been considered a national leader in making its system of government accessible to its citizens — but no more. Open government advocates are dismayed by the many new attempts at whittling down the state's transparency.

Florida lawmakers next week will start the 2026 legislative session. With hundreds of bills filed for consideration during the session.

In early 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis executed what many viewed as a conservative takeover of New College, a struggling state liberal arts college. About 20 faculty members and 200 students decamped within six months. Today, the campus culture reflects the new influx of many conservative-leaning professors and students, who are sharing classes with the old guard who tend to be more liberal.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management working with Jamaican officials has evacuated dozens of Floridians stranded in Jamaica during Hurricane Melissa.

The bill filed by Republican Representative Ryan Chamberlin would allow high school and college students to opt out of receiving at least the state minimum wage.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue hope to land the next generation of air transport companies at a testing facility in Polk County.