Florida says the case is the “last, best hope” to save the Apalachicola River region from destruction.

Georgia says Florida’s arguments threaten to cause hundreds of millions of dollars in “real harm” to the Peach State.

Now, a federal appellate judge based in New Mexico will have to sort out the long-running battle between Florida and Georgia over water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, which starts in Georgia and flows south into the Florida Panhandle.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is pushing for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to expand its funeral benefits for veterans. 

Last week, Rubio paired up with U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., to unveil the “Burial Rights for America’s Veterans’ Efforts (BRAVE) Act” which would “update the current funeral and burial benefit system to treat all non-service connected deaths equally, regardless of where the veteran passes away.” Peters is the main sponsor of the bill. 

From his perch on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., has brought back a proposal that he says will protect the nation from cyberattacks. 

Yoho, the top Republican on the U.S. House Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, reintroduced the “Cyber Deterrence and Response Act” last week. The proposal sets up a three-step process for the federal government to identify, deter and respond to state-sponsored cyberattacks. 

More than 60 firearms-related proposals, from “assault weapon” bans to “red flag” measures, await state lawmakers when they begin their 60-day legislative session Tuesday.

The debates will come after 15 of Florida’s 27-member congressional delegation -- including three Republicans -- voted last week for the House’s Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019.

The House took time out from Michael Cohen’s public testimony before the Oversight & Reform Committee on Feb. 27 to pass HR 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, in a 240-190 vote.

We have just passed the one year-anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. In that year we have watched the amoebic nature the story has taken, from activist students becoming a national mouthpiece to the eventual realization that local officials have become a culpable cabal of enablers.

Florida lawmakers have 10 days once the 2019 legislative session begins Tuesday to meet Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ultimatum to repeal the state’s ban on smoking medical marijuana.

If they don’t by March 15, DeSantis has vowed to sustain the state’s appeal of a court ruling that deemed the Legislature’s 2017 prohibition on smokable bud violates the 2016 constitutional amendment approved by 70 percent of voters to legalize medical marijuana.

President Donald Trump slammed the Green New Deal environmental plan and socialism in his speech Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

"We believe in the American dream; not the socialist nightmare,” he said at the conference, located in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.

(This is part of a series of stories advancing the 2019 legislative session)

Senate President Bill Galvano is pursuing an aggressive transportation vision heading into the 2019 legislative session, but a potential conflict could loom on the use of toll roads.

With the 60-day session starting Tuesday, Galvano has directed a Senate committee led by a veteran lawmaker to study extending two toll roads and reviving the plans for a third, all through mostly rural areas of the state.

TALLAHASSEE --- It’s showtime.

When Gov. Ron DeSantis takes the podium Tuesday morning in the House chamber to deliver his first State of the State address, he will formally start the 2019 legislative session. Then the annual 60-day sprint will begin for lawmakers, lobbyists, staff members, interest groups and reporters.

The Legislature has new leaders --- Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes. But the overall direction should look familiar, as Republicans continue more than two decades of control of both chambers.

Heading into the 2019 legislative session, lawmakers have already filed more than 2,500 bills and budget requests to bring taxpayer dollars to local attractions, education programs, transit needs, regional improvements and other projects for constituents.

In the House, the proposals total more than $3.13 billion. Senators are pursuing $1.8 billion.

Many of the proposals have been submitted in both chambers. In the House, members must submit each request as a bill. In the Senate, each request is filed as a local funding request but not as a bill.