Vacation rental marketing giant Airbnb began the year under a withering attack in Florida from newly seated Gov. Ron DeSantis for its ban on Israeli West Bank rentals.

But since rescinding that policy -- and receiving a nod of appreciation from DeSantis in Jerusalem in May -- Airbnb has been on a winning streak in the Sunshine State, especially in court.

The leading digital platform in Florida’s $31 billion short-term vacational rental industry, Airbnb won two major court victories this month.

Albuquerque is a long way from Apalachicola.

But when a federal judge in the New Mexico city hears arguments next week in a long-running water war between Florida and Georgia, the small Panhandle community will be at the center of the case.

Senior U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Paul J. Kelly, appointed as a special master by the U.S. Supreme Court, will weigh whether Georgia uses too much water from a river system that flows into Apalachicola Bay.

The Florida Division of Elections has confirmed sponsors of a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026 have secured enough validated voter signatures to qualify for the November 2020 ballot.

According to the DOE, as of Tuesday afternoon, Florida For A Fair Wage had submitted 766,352 signatures, surpassing the 766,200 required to be presented to voters in a statewide election.

U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla. has co-sponsored a bill to make Puerto Rico the 51st state.

H.R. 4901, the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act, would require a "Statehood Yes-No" vote by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for the island. This is the same precedent established for the admission process of Alaska and Hawaii.

The legislation is sponsored by U.S. Reps. Jenniffer González Colón, R-P.R., and Jose Serrano, D-N.Y.

Even before Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, filed a bill that would require all state employers to use the federal E-Verify system to validate workers’ immigration status -- a priority for Gov. Ron DeSantis -- the same Republican-aligned forces that stymied similar legislation two of the last three sessions were campaigning against it.

Barbara Petersen, founding president of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation who is retiring after 25 years leading the organization, received the Susan Spencer-Wendel Award for Lifetime Achievement Monday for her contributions in support of a free press and Floridians’ right to have access to their government.

Spencer-Wendel was a longtime Palm Beach Post courts reporter who died in 2014 from ALS. She received a lifetime achievement award from The Florida Bar in 2012 and numerous media awards throughout her career.

Just hours after Florida Republicans unexpectedly postponed the state party’s biggest fundraiser of the year, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump will be the keynote speaker at the event, which is now scheduled for Dec. 7.

DeSantis was previously scheduled to be the main speaker at the Republican Party of Florida's 2019 Statesman’s Dinner in Orlando, originally slated for Nov. 9. But the state GOP on Monday afternoon announced via Twitter that its gala would be postponed until an unspecified date later this year.

A Florida Republican is teaming with a top New York Democrat on Capitol Hill to urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to do more to cut down on the growing number of suicides across the nation. 

This week, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-NY, teamed up on the “Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act.” The bill would have HHS create a five-year program for hospitals to better prepare their emergency departments to identify, assess and treat individuals at risk for suicide. 

Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Indialantic, and Rep. Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, filed Monday the Florida High-Speed Passenger Rail Safety Act, SB 676 and HB 465, designed to promote and enhance the safe operation of high-speed passenger rail systems in Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday questioned a proposal to increase Florida’s minimum wage through the constitutional amendment process, warning about effects on the restaurant industry.

DeSantis focused on the minimum wage proposal as he railed against policy-oriented constitutional amendments that he said put “handcuffs” on future legislation, as he opened an Associated Industries of Florida conference at the Augustus B. Turnbull III Florida State Conference Center in Tallahassee.