Capital Report

Since February’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting, Florida’s school districts have been grappling with how to keep campuses safe without creating too much stress or disruption for students. From member station WLRN in Miami, Jessica Bakeman reports that hospitals are now trying to strike that balance, too. Hospitals in Broward County had to make some tough calls during the Parkland tragedy and the effects were felt well beyond the immediate community. When Governor Rick Scott rolled out

Florida voters will pick a slate of new state leaders, local legislative representatives, city and county officials, local referendums and toward the end, if they make it-- a dozen or so requests to change the state constitution. Yet some of those requests are likely to give voters pause upon a close read: do they want to ban indoor vaping while simultaneously banning offshore drilling? Lynn Hatter reports on why some of the amendments are bundled together with others. The fight to restore

The need for gun reform is top of mind for the four Democratic candidates running for Governor. Sascha Cordner followed some of the discussion during their first televised debate. On the nineteenth anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, students in Florida’s capital joined their counterparts across the nation in a school walkout calling for gun reform. Ryan Dailey reports students also congregated in the Capitol courtyard joined by Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum

While state lawmakers made changes this legislative session to improve gun safety following the school shooting in Parkland, local governments are more limited in the steps they can take. Regan McCarthy reports a number of cities and counties are pushing for more legal leeway to increase firearm safety. This week, members of Congress grilled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about a data privacy scandal where millions of Facebook users data were compromised by a political consultant firm. Sascha

Days after Attorney General Pam Bondi filed an appeal of District Judge Mark Walker’s ruling the Clemency Board must overhaul Florida’s voting rights restoration process for felons, Bondi and Gov. Rick Scott are unflinching in defense of their position. Ryan Dailey has more. Governor Rick Scott signed off on an $88.7 billion budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year quicker than many expected. But, that hasn’t prevented the nonprofit organization TaxWatch from releasing their annual Budget Turkey

After the February mass shooting that left 17 people dead in Parkland, are the voices of black students being heard fully in the gun violence debate? Sascha Cordner digs into a complex issue to bring us more on that story. The Presidents of Florida’s 28 state colleges have unified in support of a Constitution Revision Commission proposal that recognizes the college system in the constitution. Ryan Dailey reports college system stakeholders feel the move is long overdue. Judge Mark Walker’s

Once again, the latest effort to reform Florida’s gun laws failed. It was in response to last month’s deadly mass school shooting in South Florida. As Sascha Cordner reports, as some clamored for an assault weapons ban and more background checks, Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission refused to take up any measures that would do that. Four key Constitution Revision Commission proposals that could impact K-12 education are a step closer to being in front of voters in November. Ryan Dailey

Within one week, Governor Rick Scott not only signed a gun safety bill into law, he also approved the budget, which includes millions of dollars for school safety purposes. Still, that didn’t prevent the National Rifle Association from filing a federal lawsuit against a provision in the new safety law. And, on the one month mark of the Parkland mass school shooting, thousands of kids across the nation walked out of their schools. Some Parkland families also asked officials to put ideas on the

After passing the Florida legislature this week, Governor Rick Scott decided to sign the gun safety legislation into law. As Sascha Cordner reports, earlier in the week, he told reporters he’d wait before signing it, until he talked to the families who were impacted by the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school. Tom Flanigan wanders the Florida Capitol’s fourth floor to gauge the mood of this final scheduled day of Session. He talks about it with the head of the state’s largest police

Not all bills will make it through the annual legislative session, but this year, the impending failure of several high-profile measures is raising eyebrows both among lawmakers themselves, and others. Lynn Hatter reports. Florida lawmakers are heading to conference in a last ditch effort to hammer out the differences in their gambling overhaul bills. Regan McCarthy has more.... Governor Rick Scott says he will sign a bill that will allow first responders with posttraumatic stress disorder to

The Florida legislative session is heading into overtime after a disagreement over how to fund hospitals stalled negotiations. But Lynn Hatter reports the two chambers reached an agreement Wednesday how to reimburse the facilities for treating low income and uninsured patients. A measure to address Florida’s growing opioid crisis is nearing completion with just days left in the legislative session. Regan McCarthy has more.... The debate over gun safety moved to the Florida House today (Wednesday

The Florida House has now started discussions on gun safety legislation, in response to last month’s mass shooting at a South Florida high school. They agreed Tuesday to take up the Senate version of the bill that narrowly passed Monday. As Sascha Cordner reports, while language was stripped from that bill to exclude most classroom teachers, opponents argue the “compromise” could still arm school staff, like coaches. The Florida Legislature has passed sweeping higher education changes. As Shawn

The entire Florida Senate held a rare weekend meeting to hash out various responses to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. To say that what came out of that meeting was definite would be a vast overstatement. Indeed, senators were back at work today trying to lock down various details of their school safety proposal. Even as this edition of Capital Report was being readied for air, the situation was extremely fluid. And that’s pretty much the way the situation has been all along.

Florida lawmakers are walking back some of the proposed cuts in their tax package. Regan McCarthy reports the move comes as lawmakers work to find more money in their budget for school safety initiatives. While a lot of eyes are on lawmakers in Tallahassee to see how they handle the issue of gun reform, Florida’s U-S senators are also talking about what they’d like to see their congressional colleagues do, as we hear from Sascha Cordner. Amidst all the turmoil concerning guns, it must be

With about a week left of the 2018 legislative session, lawmakers are facing increased pressure to pass gun safety legislation—in response to last month’s mass school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. But, as Sascha Cordner reports, the process is pitting people within the same parties against one another. While some of the priorities announced by Florida lawmakers at the beginning of the legislative session have taken a back seat to efforts to respond to the Parkland school shooting, Regan