Yesterday (Thursday), a Florida Board of Medicine rule that bans gender affirming care for transgender kids goes into effect. Earlier this week, a bill that codifies those rules got its first committee hearing. But as Regan McCarthy reports members of the transgender community, their parents and their allies are pushing back. They say gender affirming care is healthcare and perhaps more importantly it’s life-saving care that helps transgender people to live full and complete lives.
Florida's largest teacher's union is filing a legal challenge to a new state law that restricts what books can be allowed in schools. As WUSF’s Kerry Sheridan reports, the lawsuit (filed Thursday) is the first of its kind. The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Florida House passed three key bills that would affect K-12 schools and change the way insurance claims are handled. The moves come two weeks into the 60-day lawmaking session. Valerie Crowder reports, the bills passed along party lines in the Republican-supermajority chamber.
Florida lawmakers are again taking aim at public employee unions. As Lynn Hatter reports a proposal to raise the membership threshold to 60 percent and prevent automatic withdrawals for union dues is moving in the legislature over accusations that it targets some of Republicans’ most vocal critics.
The Florida legislature is considering a bill that would help people legally challenge city and county ordinances. WMNF’s Chris Young reports that the bill was met with opposition from citizens and a coalition of labor unions.
The Biden Administration has ordered federal agencies to remove the TikTok social media platform from all government-issued devices. And it says steps could be taken to ban TikTok in the United States -- if the platform’s Chinese owners don’t sell it. The popular video service is the focus of several pieces of legislation getting bipartisan support in the Florida Legislature, as Gina Jordan reports.
Former lawmaker and lobbyist Sam Bell died on Tuesday. He had spent 14 years in the Florida Legislature, including four as House Appropriations chair. As Margie Menzel reports, the list of his legislative successes is long and lasting.