With the sponsor saying the bill targets “bad actors,” the House on Thursday passed a controversial bill that would revamp the insurance practice known as assignment of benefits.

The 96-20 vote came on an issue that the insurance industry and business groups have made a top priority as they contend changes are needed to hold down insurance premiums. But the House and Senate have not been able to agree on the issue in past years and still need to reach a compromise before the annual legislative session ends May 3.

The state attorney for Florida's 20th Judicial Circuit will go before the Florida Ethics Commission Friday, answering a complaint that during 2018 and even before, she campaigned during working hours, costing state taxpayers what the complainant claims are "many thousands of dollars" in political absenteeism.

Republican lawmakers are trying to make it harder to amend Florida’s Constitution.

But amid the debate in the Capitol, backers of proposed constitutional amendments for the 2020 ballot continue to raise chunks of money and gather piles of petition signatures.

Newly filed finance reports and updated signature totals offer a glimpse of why GOP leaders might be focused on trying to change the amendment process.

Florida’s two U.S. senators and a freshman congressman brought out a proposal to ensure the federal government does not work with businesses supporting the Maduro regime in Venezuela. 

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., are championing the “Venezuelan Contracting Restriction Act” which, they insist, will “hold Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro accountable by prohibiting federal agencies from doing business with anyone that supports the oppressive Maduro regime.”

This week, two Florida congressmen have brought back their proposal battling fraud against seniors. 

Visit Florida would stay in business for at least eight more years under a measure the Senate is set to approve next week.

But as lawmakers approach budget talks, the House continues to support closing the embattled tourism-marketing agency this fall.

The Senate on Wednesday positioned a bill (SB 178) for a vote on April 17 that would allow the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation, better known as Visit Florida, to continue operating beyond Oct. 1. Under state law, the agency must be reauthorized or it will go away on that date.

Two Florida Republicans are leading the charge on Capitol Hill to crack down on fentanyl being brought in to the U.S. from China, Mexico and other nations. 

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is calling for a closer partnership with Israel, Greece and Cyprus as he backs a new strategy in the eastern Mediterranean--and taking aim at Turkey.  

This week, Rubio, who sits on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, paired up with U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, to bring out the “Eastern Mediterranean Security and Partnership Act.”

Jason Shoaf and Randy Maggard could be halfway to the Florida House.

Shoaf, a Port St. Joe Republican, and Maggard, a Dade City Republican, easily won GOP special primary elections Tuesday as they seek to replace former Rep. Halsey Beshears, R-Monticello, and former Rep. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its latest look at orange production on Tuesday. 

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) lowered the forecast of total oranges 1 percent.