Don Gaetz

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...

Without any debate, the Florida House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected a measure that would have allowed small coastal counties to spend some of their hotel taxes on lifeguards and beach patrols. The idea was fiercely opposed by the Florida...

The Senate now has three session days left to get a hefty workload done and Senate President Don Gaetz has started to show his more outspoken side on many topics left to tackle. The Niceville Republican seemed to be in good spirits when he joked with...

TALLAHASSEE -- The Senate passed its health care plan by a 38-1 vote this morning, possibly a final act in the legislative debate over health care, which now seems doomed. Last night, Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said that it appeared "unlikely" that...

Amid all the chaos in this year's legislative session, a seemingly innocuous sentence could do more harm to government transparency than any measure in recent memory. Lawmakers seem not to care. But you should. This one sentence would make it far more...

It's funny how the vibe around a piece of legislation can change. Several weeks ago, a bill that would let consumer lenders increase the cost of borrowing was, politically speaking, not especially dicey. The groups that opposed it — Progress...

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott should be at the high tide of his influence, dropping the hammer on fellow Republican legislators thwarting his agenda. The governor has made it clear he wants $2,500 pay raises for teachers and a $141 million...

TALLAHASSEE – As the Legislature heads to the final days of the 2013 session, hope is fading fast for a deal to expand health care to about 1 million of the state's poorest citizens. If no compromise is reached, roughly two-thirds of those people...

WKMG-Channel 6's "Flashpoint" is taking the show on the road this weekend. You can attend an 11 a.m. Saturday taping at the Things to Do in Florida Expo at Seminole Towne Center. You can see "Flashpoint" at 8 a.m. Sunday on WKMG. Moderator Lauren Rowe's...

TALLAHASSEE -- Could a special session on no-fault auto insurance be in the works? Maybe. Senate Banking and Insurance Chairman David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, told the Sun-Sentinel that should an appeals court strike down reforms the state made...

State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, said he may abandon his bill that would block local governments from adopting mandatory sick time benefits, such as one pending in Orange County, and go for something broader. Instead, Simmons said he may...

Backed by the president of the state Senate, a small Florida county is challenging the state's tourism industry over how it can spend its hotel taxes. Okaloosa County, a coastal Panhandle community whose economy relies on tourists visiting its white-...