Jeffrey Schweers

1 day ago | orlandosentinel.com | Jeffrey Schweers

TALLAHASSEE - With no new deal in sight, House Speaker Daniel Perez called back his members to extend the budget talks to June 30 following the collapse of a deal with the Senate last week. "I don't think we're at risk of a shutdown, but we're no closer now than we were three weeks ago," said Perez after the regular 60-day session ended earlier this month without producing a balanced budget as required by the state constitution.

3 days ago | flcourier.com | Jeffrey Schweers

TALLAHASSEE — A group behind a petition drive to expand Medicaid is suing the state over a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that erects even more barriers to getting citizen initiatives on the ballot. Florida Decides HealthCare said in a press release that the new law is unconstitutional and “significantly undermines Florida’s citizen-led constitutional amendment process” by enacting “sweeping restrictions” that make it harder to gather the petitions needed to get amendments on the ballot.

4 days ago | orlandosentinel.com | Jeffrey Schweers |Steven Lemongello

The politically powerful auto dealerships in Florida have battled for years to protect their turf, seeking help from the Legislature and state courts in their quest to ensure consumers don't buy cars without them. Now they have a new defender in their latest legal fight, attempting to quash a new Volkswagen subsidiary's plans to sell electric trucks directly to drivers: Attorney General James Uthmeier.

1 week ago | orlandosentinel.com | Jeffrey Schweers

GAINESVILLE - Santa J. Ono's introduction to the faculty, staff and students of the University of Florida was a carefully scripted, stage-managed meet and greet at the school's spacious and gleaming Emerson Alumni Hall. Ono, the current president of the University of Michigan, was named UF's sole finalist for president this week, selected by a search committee that worked in secret to vet candidates.

1 week ago | orlandosentinel.com | Jeffrey Schweers

Santa J. Ono, the University of Michigan's besieged president of just three years, plans to trade in "The Big House" in Ann Arbor for "The Swamp" in Gainesville. Following a long and secretive search, Ono was selected Sunday as the sole finalist to take the helm as president of the University of Florida and end a nearly year-long vacancy, assuming he is approved by university trustees and the state board of governors, as is expected. He would start work at UF later this summer.