Kevin Del Orbe

The full Florida Senate okayed a bill Wednesday aimed at addressing the state’s alarming rate of seagrass loss and record breaking manatee deaths.

The Florida House and Senate will soon start ironing out their differences as they work toward a final budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Democratic Senator Shevrin Jones says the bills won’t make LGBTQ kids go away.“LGBTQ people will exist. Your children will have to learn how to coexist with those same individuals. Period. So you can legislate this type of stuff all you want, it’s not going anywhere," Jones said.

One proposal would create a decade-long seagrass restoration plan after the state saw a dramatic rise in seagrass loss, tied to record manatee deaths.

The police reform bill that has garnered bipartisan support is going to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The bill was a product of House and Senate leadership working with the Legislative Black Caucus.

A Florida House bill that would allow guns in churches with schools attached is now on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. HB 259 will let people who have concealed weapons permits carry in churches that share properties with schools.

Police reform proposals have been largely stagnant in the Florida Legislature following a summer of social justice protests. However, that has changed.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Sebring, who is seeking to prevent biological males who transition into transgender women from playing on women’s sports teams. Tuck believes transgender women pose an unfair physical advantage in athletic competition.

Florida’s unemployment system nearly failed at the start of the pandemic, and critics point to low benefits as part of the problem. Now lawmakers in the Senate are looking to increase the amount of cash benefits. Still some Democrats say the proposed increase doesn’t do enough for workers.

A measure to limit the scope of executive orders by local leaders is garnering support in the Senate, with some lawmakers saying it will prevent local governments from stepping on personal freedoms. The bill recently passed it’s second committee stop on a party line vote with Democrats in opposition.