From COVID-19 to education and election reform, lawmakers took up a wide range of issues during the 60-day session, along with passing a budget for the fiscal year that will start July 1.
The 2021 legislative session ended Friday with a traditional hanky-dropping ceremony in the fourth-floor rotunda of the Florida Capitol.
Lawmakers took up a wide range of issues during the 60-day session, along with passing a budget for the fiscal year that will start July 1.
Here are 10 big issues from the session:
BUDGET: Buoyed by billions of dollars in federal stimulus money and rebounding state tax revenues, lawmakers passed a record $101.5 billion budget for the upcoming year. The budget includes such things as bonuses for first responders, providing services to more people with developmental and intellectual disabilities and addressing effects of rising sea levels. Also, lawmakers scrapped proposed cuts in Medicaid funding for hospitals and nursing homes.
A look at 10 big issues from the 2021 Florida legislative session
Jim Saunders
TALLAHASSEE The 2021 legislative session ended Friday with a traditional hanky-dropping ceremony in the fourth-floor rotunda of the Florida Capitol.
Lawmakers took up a wide range of issues during the 60-day session, along with passing a budget for the fiscal year that will start July 1.
Here are 10 big issues from the session:
Largest state budget adopted
Buoyed by billions of dollars in federal stimulus money and rebounding state tax revenues, lawmakers passed a record $101.5 billion budget for the upcoming year. The budget includes such things as bonuses for first responders, providing services to more people with developmental and intellectual disabilities and addressing effects of rising sea levels. Also, lawmakers scrapped proposed cuts in Medicaid funding for hospitals and nursing homes.
The 10 biggest issues Florida lawmakers tackled in the 2021 session
By Jim Saunders
2021 legislative session wrapup
Craig Patrick takes a look at the bills that did and didn t pass in the Florida Legislature this year, including some that seemed dead, but came back to life in the last few moments.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The 2021 legislative session ended Friday with a traditional hanky-dropping ceremony in the fourth-floor rotunda of the Florida Capitol.
Lawmakers took up a wide range of issues during the 60-day session, along with passing a budget for the fiscal year that will start July 1.
Here are 10 big issues from the session:
Four developments in the final days of Floridaâs 2021 Legislature | Editorial
Some good, and bad, in the mischievous waning hours of the legislative session.
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Florida House members work through the legislative session Wednesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) [ WILFREDO LEE | AP ]
This article represents the opinion of the Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board.
Published 3 hours ago
With only two days left in this yearâs legislative session, lawmakers are rushing to pass (or kill) a flurry of bills before the ceremonial drop of the handkerchief Friday. But nothingâs over âtil itâs over. And even legislation feverishly negotiated still has to go to the governorâs desk. But hereâs a snapshot of some good â and bad â developments in the waning hours of this yearâs session.
With little comment, the Florida House on Tuesday gave final approval to scrapping much of a controversial toll-road plan, sending the issue to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The House voted 115-0 to repeal the program dubbed the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance, or M-CORES, which was pushed through in 2019 by then-Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.
While the planned toll-road projects have been a lightning rod for environmentalists, the Florida Transportation Builders’ Association, a backer of the M-CORES plan in 2019, called the repeal a responsible way to address the state’s “short-term and long-term infrastructure.”
“As Florida’s population continues to grow, there will be an increasing number of vehicles traveling on our roads and we will need both new and improved roadways throughout our state to accommodate them,” association President Ananth Prasad said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “This legislation is a sensible approach to begin a