News Service of Florida

As Florida homeowners grapple with increased property-insurance rates, two Republican lawmakers have filed a proposal that would allow people to buy policies covering only unpaid mortgage-loan amounts.

Several changes in state laws will take hold as 2024 begins, from an expansion of the state’s “move over” traffic law to stricter rules involving investments in Iran.Lawmakers during the 2023 regular legislative session and during special sessions approved five laws that will take effect in January. But the arrival of 2024 also will bring other changes, from new campsite reservation rules to the end of a program that provides credits to frequent toll-road users.

A 2,000-plus-acre Southwest Florida ranch has been added to a state program designed to protect rural land.Florida agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced the addition of the Syfrett Ranch property in Highlands and Glades counties on Monday through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. The approval was part of $19 million approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday to conserve rural land used for cattle, while also expanding a list of agricultural properties the state could help shield from residential or commercial development.

Three teachers on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit alleging a new state law restricting titles and pronouns at schools unconstitutionally discriminates against transgender and nonbinary educators.The plaintiffs are Hillsborough County high-school teacher Katie Wood; a Lee County teacher identified as “Jane Doe;” and AV Schwandes, a nonbinary Orange County teacher who was fired by Florida Virtual School in October.

People would be allowed to kill bears on their property without permits if they feel threatened or think it is necessary for protection, under a bill that moved forward Tuesday in the Florida House.

A series of proposals aimed at "deregulation" of public schools, a priority of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, could be on a fast track for approval by the Senate after receiving backing from a key committee Tuesday.The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee unanimously approved three wide-ranging bills (SB 7000, SB 7002 and SB 7004) that deal with what Passidomo described as cutting “red tape” on issues such as testing and accountability, financial requirements and personnel decisions.

The Biden administration this week urged an appeals court to uphold a ruling that Florida violated federal law by blocking Medicaid coverage for transgender people seeking hormone therapy and puberty blockers.

The South Florida Water Management District on Tuesday issued a “water shortage order” for parts of Lee County and placed restrictions on landscape irrigation.

Florida lawmakers are championing hundreds of projects and seeking billions of dollars as they prepare for the start of the 2024 legislative session in January.Topped by $50 million requests for expanding water storage and treatment in the Lake Okeechobee and Caloosahatchee River basins and for speeding up private passenger rail between Orlando and Tampa, House members as of Monday morning had filed just under 1,500 separate proposals that would require $3.1 billion to fund.

In what could fuel a new round of legislative battles about gender identity, a House Republican on Tuesday filed a bill that would place restrictions on government agencies in the use of personal pronouns.