A key Senate budget chairman will recommend that Gov. Rick Scott get his wish for $250 million to recruit businesses to Florida.
 
Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said Monday he will ask that the incentive money be included in his panel's proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The subcommittee's proposal is due Thursday.
 

Florida sheriffs Wednesday proposed an alternative to a controversial bill that would let people with concealed-weapons licenses openly display firearms in public, but the proposal quickly drew opposition from Second Amendment advocates.

The Florida Sheriffs Association, which has opposed the open-carry measure, outlined proposed steps that would provide immunity to people who inadvertently or accidentally display firearms. However, a release from the association noted the proposal "stops short of Florida becoming a complete open-carry state."

A proposal that would make owners of drones liable for the negligence of the aerial devices' operators was revamped Tuesday, but critics still say the measure could ground the industry's growth in Florida.

It's still early in the Legislative session, but the four entities seeking millions of dollars from the state for stadium improvements may again have a tough time getting off the bench.

House budget chief Richard Corcoran, the powerful Trinity Republican who is next in line to be House Speaker, hasn't changed his opposition to giving sales-tax dollars to professional sports facilities in Daytona, Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa.

Floridians overwhelmingly back the current Seminole gaming "compact" and support what they know of a bigger gambling deal Gov. Rick Scott has asked lawmakers to approve, according to a Florida Chamber of Commerce poll released Thursday.

Scott and the Seminole Tribe of Florida reached agreement last month on a compact that would allow tribal casinos to add craps and roulette in exchange for a guarantee of $3 billion to the state over seven years. That came after lawmakers in 2010 approved another gambling compact, part of which expired last year.

An advocacy group for Florida's natural springs has outlined concerns with a major water-policy bill that is expected to be quickly approved during the upcoming 2016 legislative session.

The Florida Springs Council, a consortium of 35 organizations, is telling lawmakers what changes are needed to get its support for the proposal (SB 552 and HB 7005). But the group isn't hopeful that its requests --- or similar requests from other environmental groups --- will result in changes to the proposal.

Shortly after the 2016 legislative session goes through its opening rituals, the House and Senate will take up a statewide water-policy proposal more than two years in the making.

The proposal (SB 552 and HB 7005), which sped through legislative committees, has attracted some last-minute opposition from environmental groups that contend it wouldn't go far enough to ensure clean waterways.

But the package, a priority of Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, is expected to quickly win approval from the House and Senate.

Florida has surpassed the 20 million population mark while growing faster than California.

The Sunshine State, adding more than 1,000 people a day, is nearly up a half-million people on New York, which it surpassed a year ago to become the third most-populous state, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Tuesday.

Florida, with an estimated 20,271,272 residents as of July 1, is also growing faster than a year earlier, when 803 people a day were being added to the state's head count.

Time is running out for about 100,000 SunPass customers to convert, for free, to new transponders

Older, battery-operated transponders used for Florida toll roads and some bridges become obsolete with the New Year.

"It is important that anybody with that type of unit contact us now so that their service continues uninterrupted," Chad Huff, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Turnpike, said in an email.

Florida's agriculture commissioner wants raises next year for state forestry firefighters, as well as money to buy and maintain active farm land --- items not included in Gov. Rick Scott's recommended budget.

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, outlining his priorities to reporters this week, said he is lobbying lawmakers to include $25 million to keep the Rural and Family Lands Protection program active. Also, he wants lawmakers to provide $2,000 raises for the nearly 1,000 forestry firefighters and support staff, an idea that Scott vetoed earlier this year.