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Capital Report: 01-25-2018

With a new change, a bill has narrowly passed its first Senate committee giving religious institutions the right to allow guns on their property, if they’re attached to a school. As Sascha Cordner report, that’s after it’s failed twice before in that same committee for the 2018 legislative session.

Florida lawmakers want more people to be able to report a drug or alcohol overdoses without fear of retaliation. The effort comes after the high-profile death of a college student, and as the state’s opioid-related deaths continue to rise. Kate Payne reports.

In the Florida Legislature right now, the Senate wants to spend more money on higher education, while the House wants to make cuts. It’s still early, but the leaders of the Legislature are hundreds of millions of dollars apart on state university funding. WLRN’s Jessica Bakeman reports, they are downplaying the gap between their budget proposals as formal negotiations are set to begin.

Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has lots of ideas on lots of different educational topics.  Florida Public Radio’s Kim Kelling sat down to chat with the secretary about those ideas recently.

Florida Public Radio’s Kim Kelling speaking with Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart.

In a lot of ways life has returned to normal in most of the Florida Keys. But one major institution – a hospital – is still operating out of temporary quarters after Hurricane Irma. From member station WLRN,  Nancy Klingener [KLING-en-er] reports that for the Middle Keys, the road to a return of a full hospital is looking long – and expensive.