Don Gaetz

TALLAHASSEE — Amazon will bring 3,000 jobs to the state in a deal that also means Floridians will have to start paying taxes on purchases from the online retailer. Gov. Rick Scott's office announced Thursday that Florida had landed the deal with...

TALLAHASSEE — Both sides of the Florida Legislature will spend time this fall reviewing a controversial deal approved by state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said Thursday the Senate Banking and...

TALLAHASSEE — Despite state coffers flush with cash, Central Florida taxpayers might be justified to feel short-changed in the final state budget signed by Gov. Rick Scott. That's because Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Volusia and Brevard all...

TALLAHASSEE — With the 60-day lawmaking session complete, Florida legislators are wasting no time getting back to what they do the other 10 months of the year: raising copious amounts of cash from wealthy donors and companies. And thanks to a...

TALLAHASSEE --Gov. Rick Scott took a knife to lawmakers' $74 billion-plus budget this week, blocking some $368 million in hometown projects. But the collective response from legislative leadership was a yawn. “While many will disagree with...

TALLAHASSEE – A divided appeals court ruled Wednesday that Florida legislators should not be questioned under oath about whether they "intended" to gain partisan advantage when they re-drew congressional maps last year. Two sets of groups have...

TALLAHASSEE – A divided appeals court ruled Wednesday that Florida legislators may not be questioned under oath about whether they "intended" to gain partisan advantage when they re-drew congressional maps last year. The ruling came in one of two...

TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $368 million in lawmaker pet projects Monday and blocked a 3 percent tuition hike for Florida colleges and universities. The tuition increase passed earlier this month was a small piece of the overall $74.1...

The House passed a ban on texting while driving Wednesday, but only after attaching an amendment that is opposed by the bill’s Senate sponsor that could jeopardize passage in the final days of the legislative session.  This the first time the...

TALLAHASSEE – A decades-long battle between the optometrists and the ophthalmologists nicknamed the “eyeball wars” may be at an end. The Senate sent a measure to the governor Thursday that effectively ended a long battle between two...

Dear Sen. Chris L. Smith: It was a long shot at best. Your attempt to tweak Florida's infamous Stand Your Ground law had about as much chance in the Florida Legislature as expanding Medicaid, imposing new taxes or paying teachers their true worth....

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Legislature ended its 2013 session Friday by passing an elections do-over and the largest budget in state history, but without delivering tax subsidies to the Miami Dolphins, Orlando soccer boosters and a cadre of other...