Florida Senate

In a top priority of Senate President Ben Albritton, senators this past week unanimously passed a more than $200 million plan to bolster health care, education, transportation and economic development in rural areas.Albritton, a Wauchula Republican who owns a citrus grove, said the bill (SB 110) would provide an array of programs that local governments could use “like a buffet” for their communities. He said the money isn’t “hand out” but a “hand up” to provide a chance for residents to “build a career and build a family” in communities where they were raised.

Florida’s Nov. 5 elections include the race for Senate District 27 between Republican incumbent Ben Albritton and Democratic challenger Phillip Carter. The district includes Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee counties, and portions of Lee and Polk counties.

Services have been scheduled April 26 and April 27 for Senate President Kathleen Passidomo’s husband, John, who died last week from injuries suffered in a fall.

John Passidomo, the husband of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, died Wednesday after falling and suffering massive head trauma and other injuries, according to a memo distributed by the Florida Senate.

A top Florida ethics expert is sounding the alarm about an ethics bill passed by the state Senate Thursday that would make it easier for corrupt officials to avoid investigation – and much harder for residents to hold them to account.“This bill would be incredibly destructive and corrosive,” said Carolyn Klancke, who heads the non-profit Florida Ethics Institute and is a past deputy executive director and general counsel for the Florida Commission on Ethics.

Senate Republicans on Tuesday will hold a ceremony to formally designate Ben Albritton, 55, as the next Senate president. Currently the Senate majority leader, Albritton will succeed President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, in November 2024.

Senate Bill 90 passed in the Florida Senate and was signed by Governor DeSantis last May. Its provisions amend the state election laws to, according to the Senate website, “improve election security, transparency, and administration.” Here’s what you should know about the bill before the state elections this fall.

Florida lawmakers are reviewing the most controversial environmental bill to arise during the current legislative session. SB 2508 is the latest attempt by lawmakers sympathetic - or beholden - to the sugar industry to give it and the agricultural industry the key to the Everglades’ huge spigot by guaranteeing “existing legal users” continue to receive a huge amount of the water.

Large amounts of nutrient-rich water released from Lake Okeechobee could once again flow down the Caloosahatchee River if a last-minute Florida Senate bill becomes law. The last-minute bill, SB 2508, effectively returns control of Lake Okeechobee’s water management to agricultural interests and was filed by the Republican-led Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. In addition to largely giving deference over the lake’s water usage to South Florida’s farming interests, critics of the bill say it would jeopardize water quality and lower water quantity in the Everglades, and threaten the viability for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir.

State health officials reported 8,452 new COVID-19 cases, Wednesday, for a total of 1,134,383 cases.The Florida Department of Health also reported 137 new coronavirus-related deaths, Dec. 14, increasing the statewide death toll to 20,271 fatalities since the start of the pandemic. Florida surpassed the 20,000-death mark on Saturday.