Veterans groups are rallying behind a proposal from a Florida congressman to study connections between veteran suicide and opioids.

At the start of the year, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.,  introduced the “Veterans Overmedication and Suicide Prevention Act" which would have the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) “review the deaths of all veterans it treated who died by suicide or from a drug overdose in the last five years.”

The U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing on the bill on Tuesday and a host of veterans groups went to bat for it. 

U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., is once again working with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Penn., to hold federal employees accountable on performance and misconduct. 

Last month, Smucker brought out the “Department of Labor Accountability Act” with Rooney as the main cosponsor. For his part, Rooney introduced the “Department of Education Whistleblower Protection Act” with Smucker supporting it. 

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., is continuing her efforts to shine the spotlight on terrorist group Boko Haram and its actions. 

House and Senate Republicans support passing a ban on so-called sanctuary city policies, but differences between the chambers are stalling final passage of one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top legislative priorities.

The House late Tuesday night was preparing to take up the issue, but Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, had made clear the House does not support a Senate version of the bill. The House was expected to substitute its version for the Senate bill. Such a decision, however, could potentially send the “whole thing up in flames,” said Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine.

There are safety consequences to lowering the lake. The folks who know Lake Okeechobee best, who work on it and fish in it, keep telling us a deliberately lowered 10.5-foot lake is an accident waiting to happen.

On Saturday night, we found out how justified those fears were when three boys visiting from South Carolina and fishing in Lake Okeechobee, ran aground about a mile from shore.

The Florida House is ready to put the state on a path toward three new or expanded toll roads in mostly rural regions, despite fears from environmental groups and Democrats about sprawling development and damage to wetlands.

With the issue a priority of Senate President Bill Galvano, the House on Tuesday set itself up to vote Wednesday on a bill (SB 7068) that would set the stage for the projects. The bill, in part, would establish task forces to study the economic and environmental impacts of the toll roads.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its “Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents”  report on Tuesday and found fewer incidents taking place in Florida thanks to a dip in non-criminal harassment. 

As the chairman of the U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is weighing in as the federal Small Business Administration (SBA)  takes aim at Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), a non-profit which has helped small businesses for 55 years. 

After more than two decades of debate about the issue, the Florida Legislature on Monday approved eliminating the “certificate of need” regulatory program for hospitals and passed a high-profile measure aimed at importing prescription drugs from Canada.

A priority for House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, the House voted 81-34 to pass a bill (HB 21) to eliminate the certificate-of-need program. The vote came hours after the Senate passed the bill in a 23-17 vote, as Oliva took major steps toward his priority of revamping the health-care system.

With days left before the legislative session ends Friday, the Senate sponsor of a proposal aimed at carrying out a constitutional amendment on felons’ voting rights said he worked all weekend to reach what he called a compromise with his House counterpart.

But Senate Democrats are still opposed to the measure, which they believe creates onerous financial barriers to restoring voting rights for people who’ve already got the odds stacked against them.