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On tonight’s program: With some good news from state revenue estimators, the Florida Legislature will start its budget negotiations; This could be the year the Florida Legislature bans seclusion for kids with disabilities. But the victory may be bitter for disability rights advocates, who also want a ban on the use of restraints for those kids; Advocates based in South Florida are blasting a bill now on the move in the state legislature that would protect the practice of sugarcane burning. The opponents charge it causes serious negative health impacts in nearby communities; Lawmakers say while a federal law raised the age to buy tobacco and vape products to 21, state legislation is needed to help enforce those rules; Florida’s senior U.S. Senator shares his thoughts before members of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. Including what he thinks of so-called “cancel culture”; And even though Florida is among a dozen states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid, some state lawmakers in both parties are looking to extend the program for new moms without health insurance.

Only Tallahassee, Florida has the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. That, combined with the research and workforce development capabilities of the town's two universities and community college, make for unique and valuable assets in both attracting out-of-town business, as well as new home-grown enterprise. To talk about the initiative are: Greg Boebinger, Director of the High Magnetic Field Laboratory; Cristina L. Paredes, Director, Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality; Abby Queale, CEO at Magnetics Corporation; Ricardo Schneider, President, Danfoss Turbocor Compressors; and Jeff Whalen, STEM Entrepreneur in Residence at the FSU Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship.

The pre-pandemic nursing shortage was exacerbated by COVID-19. Even as more people are vaccinated, the need for nurses in Tallahassee remains. A shortage of instructors is one barrier to getting more nursing jobs filled.

On tonight’s program: The League of Women Voters is out with a report calling for an investigation into Florida’s largest tax credit scholarship funding group along with its relationship with the lawmakers who support a voucher merger bill; Florida lawmakers are thinking about sweeping funds away from affordable housing programs; Florida opens up its COVID-19 vaccinations to every grownup in the state; When it comes to local zoning issues, there are some in the Florida Legislature who believe those decisions should be made in Tallahassee; And while some lawmakers are pushing to extend Florida’s marijuana programs, others want to shrink it. It’s a move some lawmakers say they just don’t understand.

Dayna Steele and Scott Schroder discuss their book 101 Ways To Rock that explores how the average person can run for political office.

A bill to address the impacts of sea level rise and flooding has been approved by the Florida legislature and is heading to the governor's desk, where it is expected to be signed into law. Environmentalists say the bill is a step in the right direction but say more needs to be done to address the root cause of climate change.

On tonight’s program: Florida Democrats challenge their Republican colleagues in the Legislature on transgender sports and COVID misinformation; A veteran Capital Reporter gives his take on the Session so far; Environmentalists say a bill to boost communities’ resiliency to sea level rise and flooding could be a conversation starter on climate change; And it appears students and schools will get a break this year when it comes to those critical Florida standardized tests. The situation for teachers, though, may be a bit more - shall we say - fluid?

On tonight’s program: Lawmakers take aim at Florida’s skyrocketing property insurance rates. But while some blame frivolous lawsuits and bad actors, others argue there’s more at play; After a stand-alone measure banning transgender girls and women from female scholastic sports teams failed to pass, it returned as an add-on to another bill, much to the distress of Democrats in the Florida Legislature; In a rare display of actual bipartisanship, a police reform bill makes it through the Florida Legislature; As the end of session nears, Florida lawmakers are still hammering out legal guarantees for online data privacy; And there was an emotional end to a political career interrupted by the worst school shooting in U.S. history.

Officials say the idea is to update residents on what's already being done and finding out what else they'd like to see in their neighborhoods.

On tonight’s program: The hankie drops in mid-afternoon on the final day and Florida’s 2021 lawmaking session is over. But not before lawmakers passed a record-busting budget; When the House Appropriations chair is a North Floridian, it’s not surprising that part of the state gets a bigger slice of the Florida budget pie than it’s used to; Governor DeSantis is planning to sign off on election law changes that are opposed by Democrats and voting rights groups; Proponents of a Purple Alert for Florida say the proposal will help fill a gap in the missing persons’ alert system; Special Capital Reporter Steve Bousquet gives his take on how this year’s legislative session turned out; And a bill barring vaccine passports is on the way to the governor’s desk. But some worry the measure leaves people have been vaccinated open to discrimination