Bill Montford

The contentious "parent trigger" bill failed again in the Florida Senate, dying Tuesday on a tie vote just as it did in 2012. The bill aimed to give parents more say in the fate of a struggling school, allowing them, by petition, to select a "turnaround"...

State employees would get a raise of at least $1,000 under a deal struck Saturday by House and Senate negotiators, as the final pieces of the state budget fell into place. Under the plan agreed to by Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart,...

By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, April 22 (Reuters) - Public university students in Florida next year will be able to start working toward college degrees without actually going to college, under a law Governor Rick Scott signed on Monday in front of...

A bill that would alter current high school graduation requirements and allow students to swap  industry-approved classes and tests for traditional high school versions unanimously passed the Senate's education appropriations committee this morning. Under...

TALLAHASSEE — The Senate has released its Committee list for the 2013 legislative session. In key positions: Senate President Pro Tempore Garrett Richter will head the new committee on gambling. Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, will...

The Senate's Democratic Caucus — cheered by the fact that the election of Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, broke the Republicans' super-majority stranglehold on the chamber — rewarded Sachs by electing her as Democratic leader pro tempore. As...

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Chamber of Commerce, the most well-heeled business lobby in the Capitol, has issued its legislative endorsements, and the roster includes a few head-turners in Central Florida. The Chamber is endorsing Victoria Siplin,...

TALLAHASSEE — The influential business lobbying group Associated Industries of Florida has released its first batch of endorsements for the 2012 elections, and avoided taking a side in virtually every high-profile Orlando-area contest. The group's...

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott defended the state's decision to identify non-citizen voters in the state's 67 counties and press for their removal. The U.S. Department of Justice ordered the state to stop the process and gave state officials until...

A state representative from Lake County is hoping to give schools more freedom to decide when they’ll be starting their classes this fall. A new bill filed last week by State Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, if passed would allow school boards to set...

TALLAHASSEE – Over complaints that its work continued decades-old gerrymandering, Senate Republicans rammed through a proposed map for their own 40 seats that more evenly divides population gains over the last decade and maintains an electoral...