The 2019 legislative session hasn’t even begun, but the mea culpas are already rolling in.

House Speaker José Oliva sparked a firestorm in a discussion with South Florida TV journalist Jim DeFede that went viral Thursday.

Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, repeatedly referred to pregnant women as “host bodies” when asked about the perennially controversial topic of abortion.

The conservative lawmaker is a fierce small-government proponent who believes people should be able to make their own decisions, he told DeFede, a veteran Miami reporter who works for the station CBS4.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is pushing an effort to ban former members of Congress from lobbying once they are out of office. 

Scott announced on Friday that he is backing U.S. Sen. Mike Braun’s, R-Ind., “Banning Lobbying and Safeguarding Trust (BLAST) Act” to ensure a lifetime ban preventing former members of Congress from lobbying. 

Florida’s two U.S. senators are calling for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans fleeing that South American nation which is facing economic and social chaos under the Maduro regime. 

Six Hillsborough county commissioners are intentionally putting taxpayers at tremendous financial risk and signing away the rights of their own constituents and future commission boards. 

County Commission Chairman Les Miller, a supporter of the $16 billion All For Transportation (AFT) tax hike boondoggle, urged the board to approve bonding out $10 million of AFT tax proceeds while the tax is in litigation and under legal uncertainty. He also promoted authorization for the county to file a bond validation lawsuit and sue the county's own citizens.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is accusing suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel of being responsible for the deaths of 17 students and faculty members at a Parkland high school and five other victims of a mass shooting at an airport, according to documents filed this week with the Florida Senate.

The allegations against Israel, whose suspension was one of DeSantis’ first actions after the Republican governor took office in January, were included in what is known as a “bill of particulars” as Israel tries to get his job back.

With Argosy University, a proprietary school with campuses across the nation, failing to disperse financial aid funds to students, members of the Florida delegation are calling for action from the U.S. Department of Education. 

A Florida Democrat is teaming up with a New York Republican in the U.S. House in calling on the American intelligence community to monitor the financial activities and networks used by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. 

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is once again backing a proposal for the federal government to create a human rights commission and name it after U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who passed away last year. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in Tallahassee Wednesday the appointments of John “Jay” Steinle and Scott Wagner to the board of the South Florida Water Management District. The appointments follow six previous appointments made by the governor to the board since taking office in January.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce, with educators, human resource experts and law enforcement leaders, unveiled Wednesday the Institute for a Safer Florida (ISF) to focus its energy and expertise on enhancing school and workplace safety.

For more than 100 years, the Florida Chamber has been working to secure Florida’s future, and lead our state to a diverse and sustainable economy. For the past 40 years, the Florida Chamber has spawned several organizations that Floridians recognize today, including:

• Leadership Florida,