The Florida congressional delegation endured a year of highs and lows as they focused on veterans issues, the Middle East and leadership contests even as redistricting back home made them keep their focus on 2016.
Much of state government might be done for the year, but the judiciary spent the week still getting through the last bits of its 2015 workload.
The highest-profile case --- at least to those who work in the 10 square blocks surrounding the Florida Capitol --- was Leon County Circuit Judge George Reynolds' review of proposed redistricting plans for the state Senate.
Gov. Rick Scott is proposing big tax cuts during the 2016-2017 fiscal year -- to the tune of $1 billion -- but state lawmakers aren’t sure if Scott’s proposal will actually fly.
As part of the $1.1 trillion omnibus bill Congress passed this week, $7.5 million will go to fight citrus greening which has devastated agriculture in the Sunshine State in recent years. The funds will go to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Huanglongbing Multiagency Coordination Group ((HLB-MAC) and Citrus Health Response Program to battle citrus greening.
Noting more than a million jobs were created on his watch, Gov. Rick Scott announced on Friday that there were 35,600 new private sector jobs in Florida last month as the unemployment rate dropped to 5.0 percent.
Despite losing to Paul Ryan in the House speakership race at the end of October, Dan Webster has kind words for his victorious rival even as he looks ahead to a difficult 2016.
A Florida congressman an teamed up with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to offer a bill ensuring the federal government screens the social media of everyone who applies for a visa to visit the United States.
The final state redistricting trial in a nearly four-year legal battle over Florida's political boundaries ended with both sides trading charges of partisan gerrymandering, some of them the same accusations that have been hurled in court since the beginning.
In closing arguments Thursday before Leon County Circuit Judge George Reynolds, lawyers for the state Senate and a coalition of voting-rights groups made final pitches for their versions of a map for the Senate's 40 districts.
State Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, and incoming Florida Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart filed bills Thursday to funnel $200 million annually to restore the Florida Everglades and nearby waterways.
Good news for medical marijuana supporters in the Sunshine State: the Florida Supreme Court gave the seal of approval on ballot language for an amendment to legalize medical pot on Thursday.
