Attorney General Ashley Moody is pushing legislation she says is needed to prevent chaos in Florida’s legal system after voters overwhelmingly approved a measure that could reduce existing sentences of thousands of people convicted of crimes.

More than 4 million Floridians in November approved Amendment 11, which got rid of an 1800s-era constitutional "Savings Clause" provision that banned the Legislature from applying criminal-justice and sentencing changes retroactively.

Only 1,203 miles separate Seneca Falls, N.Y. from Tallahassee. Philosophically, the two cities have been light years apart -- until now.

Members of the Florida delegation in both chambers on Capitol Hill are doubling down on their efforts to put more pressure on Iran for the disappearance of Robert Levinson, a Florida resident who has been missing in that Middle Eastern nation for 12 years. 

Last week, President Donald Trump launched his efforts to crack down on veteran suicide and he has the support of a leading Republican in the Florida delegation. 

House Democrats have limited power to get priorities in the state budget, but they released a spending plan this week that they said focuses on working Floridians.

Called the “New Sunshine Deal,” the plan seeks a tax-rebate program for working families, expansion of Medicaid, a 13 percent pay raise for teachers and fully funded affordable-housing programs.

Democrats, who are far outnumbered by Republicans in the House, intend to introduce aspects of the plan as proposed amendments throughout the 60-day legislative session, which started Tuesday.

U.S. Congressmen Brian Mast, R-Fla. and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif. introduced on Thursday the bipartisan Kittens in Traumatic Testing Ends Now Act of 2019, or KITTEN Act. The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to end the use of cats in experiments that cause pain or stress. 

Currently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) performs parasite-related experiments on cats and kittens. This taxpayer-funded testing results in thousands of kittens bred, fed parasite-infected raw meat and then killed.

Two years after lawmakers approved a controversial change to the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law, the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments about whether the change should apply to a woman charged in a shooting incident outside a Miami-Dade County nightclub.

The defendant, Tashara Love, was charged in 2015, but her case remained pending when lawmakers changed the “stand your ground” law in 2017. The issue before the Supreme Court centers on whether the revised law should apply to Love’s case --- and potentially other cases that began before 2017.

In his first 60 days in office, Gov. Ron DeSantis said his administration has issued “bold” challenges to “champion” environmental protection, education reform and revamp health care, including a proposed state-sanctioned wholesale import program that could dramatically cut prescription pharmaceutical costs.

These initiatives are among the legislative priorities lawmakers must return to him in the form of approved bills to sign, DeSantis said Tuesday, kicking off the 60-day legislative session with a 25-minute State of the State address.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is supporting a proposal to offer more transparency on the costs of higher education.

With plenty of breathing room before a March 15 deadline set by Gov. Ron DeSantis, House and Senate leaders have neared completion of a measure that would do away with a state ban on smoking medical marijuana.

Sen. Jeff Brandes and Rep. Ray Rodrigues confirmed Wednesday they’ve reached an accord on a proposal that would allow patients to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for smoking every 35 days, ban smoking of medical marijuana in public places and allow terminally ill children to smoke the treatment, but only if they have a second opinion from a pediatrician.