A Florida congressman is behind a push on Capitol Hill to end gaps in Medicare coverage and cut down on late-enrollment penalties.

Noting that almost 760,000 Americans are paying fines for late-enrollment in Medicare which increases Part B premiums, on average, by 28 percent, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., is backing the “Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act.” Other champions of the bill include U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., U.S. Rep. Brad Scheider, D-Ill., and U.S. Rep.  Jackie Walorski, R-Ind.

Maybe next year.

From her perch on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, U.S. Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., is increasingly taking aim at U.S. Attorney General William Barr. 

Last week, as Democrats were trying to get Barr in front of the committee, Demings came out swinging at him. 

Three members of the Florida delegation--Democrat U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist and Republican U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan and Francis Rooney--are looking to codify safety regulations about offshore drilling which the Trump administration is looking to change. 

Florida lawmakers finished the 2019 legislative session Saturday by passing a budget for the upcoming year.

During the two-month session, lawmakers considered hundreds of bills and made $91.1 billion in spending decisions. It also was the first session for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and began the two-year terms of Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes.

Here are 10 big issues from the 2019 session:

Bay County was Trump country during the 2016 presidential election.

The Northwest Florida county gave 71 percent of its vote to Republican Donald Trump --- a margin of more than 40,000 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Now, as Trump gears up for his 2020 re-election campaign, he will come to Bay County on Wednesday night for an early rally in the politically pivotal state.

Republicans have long relied on conservative Panhandle voters as a critical bloc in statewide races. But the dynamic could be a little different when Trump appears in Panama City Beach.

Changes could be coming to the state employees’ health insurance program under a bill passed Friday by lawmakers.

Some changes --- including the use of a drug formulary --- could take effect next year if the bill is signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Other changes won’t take effect until 2023.

A measure intended to make it harder for citizens’ initiatives to reach the ballot is heading to Gov. Ron DeSantis, after proposed petition-gathering rules were tacked onto a bill in the waning hours of the last full day of the legislative session.

The House added the petition-gathering restrictions to a bill focused on local sales taxes (HB 5) and sent it to the Senate on Friday evening. The Senate then approved it, though a separate bill that included petition-gathering restrictions failed to make it through the Senate committee process during the session.

Friday marked the 25th anniversary of a groundbreaking environmental law known as the Everglades Forever Act, one of the most significant in the history of the nation, let alone the state of Florida. The act has governed the restoration of water quality in Florida's Everglades since Lawton Chiles was governor in 1994.

The Senate has amended and kicked back to the House a tentative $90 million tax-cut package in Florida’s proposed $91.1 billion fiscal year 2020 state budget for an 11th-hour endorsement before the legislative session draws to a conclusion Friday night.