Florida legislature

Jennifer Canady’s campaign website bills her as a “lifelong conservative” and a “Lakeland native,” attributes that could be considered requisites for the Polk County state House seat she hopes to capture in next year’s elections. What it doesn’t say is perhaps more interesting: Canady’s husband holds one of the most powerful posts in the state.

A federal judge has blocked the state from enforcing a key part of a new property insurance law designed to combat fraud. It prohibits roofing contractors from advertising to potential customers.

Lawyers for the state are seeking to sidestep mediation ordered by a federal judge, in a legal challenge to a controversial law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis aimed at cracking down on violent protests.

Florida Realtors have launched a major political campaign to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot next year. It’s designed to prevent future legislatures from raiding a state housing trust fund for other expenses.

Florida could add 134,700 jobs, lower the number of uninsured residents by 852,000 and pump billions of additional federal dollars into the economy if it would expand Medicaid to low-income adults without children, according to a report released Thursday.

Alleging discrimination against Black and Latino voters, a coalition of groups has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Florida elections law that includes additional restrictions on voting by mail.

From abortion restrictions to vacation rentals, many high-profile bills died Friday when the Florida legislative session ended.

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.

The House has approved a tax package that would lead to sales-tax “holidays” on back-to-school supplies and hurricane gear, as well as a “freedom week” related to entertainment and outdoor activities.

Civil-rights attorneys are challenging a new set of state laws that establish a crime of “mob intimidation” and enhance penalties for riot-related violence and looting, arguing in a federal lawsuit that the measures unconstitutionally “seek to arrest the peaceful expression of free speech.”