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☆ A rash of proposed Florida laws use 'genocidal rhetoric' to attack trans people, legal experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

If passed, the bills would restrict access to gender-affirming care and classify it as child abuse. Experts told Insider the bills are posturing ahead of the 2024 presidential race. New legislation 'short circuits existing law'The proposed new bills go further to expand anti-trans legislation than others across the nation, disrupting established custody and health care precedent, legal experts told Insider. "I think that's important, just to note how brazen the language has become — it's genocidal rhetoric," Caraballo told Insider. "This is all about politics, and this is all about bolstering DeSantis is run for the presidency," Caraballo told Insider.

Like Trump, Bush has experienced what it's like to watch a younger man overshadow him, a man he worked hard to support. Bush and Rubio were allies in Florida government, and Rubio was widely viewed as a Bush protége. There is nobody who can even come close to generating the excitement and enthusiasm as President Trump has and will do in 2024." In the end, Trump branding Bush as "low energy" wasn't the only thing standing between Bush and the nomination. "DeSantis is like the one person who has gotten more out of Trump than Trump has gotten out of them."

☆ Florida courts could take 'emergency' custody of kids with trans parents or siblings — even if they live in another state
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Florida Senate Bill 254 would grant courts emergency custody of kids who receive gender-affirming care. The bill, introduced Friday, would also allow the courts to modify out-of-state custody agreements. The bill would grant officials authority under the law that protects kids from domestic violence. "The court must vacate, stay, or modify the child custody determination to the extent necessary to protect the child from the provision of such prescriptions or procedures." "The bill goes even further to violate interstate comity by authorizing the courts to vacate child custody determinations of other courts only if the child is trans.

☆ Book bans and restrictions are a losing issue for Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Polling says books bans are popular with most GOP respondents, but it could backfire in 2024. But the issue could come back to haunt the GOP in the 2024 general election, with book bans remain unpopular with the general electorate. Independents don't like book bans. According to YouGov polling, 67% of respondents who voted for President Donald Trump in 2020 said they approved of banning books. "Did you ever think when you were teaching, you'd be worrying about book burning and banning books all because it doesn't fit someone's political agenda?"

☆ Florida schools will not ask student-athletes about menstruation, following outcry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Miami Palmetto Senior High School Lady Panthers huddle before the start of their basketball game against the Miami Senior High School Lady Stings at Miami Senior High School on Feb. 3, 2023, in Miami. Florida schools will no longer ask student-athletes to share their menstrual histories in order to play high school sports, following months of opposition from parents, physicians and advocates. Until now, the form included five optional questions about a student-athlete's menstrual history. Now, however, the newly adopted form will not ask student-athletes about menstruation, instead requiring them to fill out questions about their medical, surgical and emotional histories. (The organization did not provide statistics on transgender and nonbinary people's participation in high school sports in Florida.)

☆ Florida legislators want to give DeSantis another $10 million to keep shipping migrants across the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ron DeSantis $10 million to transport migrants across the US. DeSantis previously used a state program to fly asylum seekers from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in September. Ron DeSantis' program to transport migrants to so-called "sanctuary cities" across the country. The proposal, Senate bill 6-B, would create a new "Unauthorized Alien Transport Program" and provide $10 million to transport migrants. Two identical bills were introduced this month in the state Senate and House by State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R) and State Rep. John Snyder (R).

Florida could soon become the 26th state to allow individuals to carry concealed loaded guns anywhere without permits — a growing trend that has alarmed gun safety groups. “Constitutional carry” and “permitless carry” laws eliminate the requirement. Permitless carry laws get rid of that requirement. “Permitless carry causes harm, and there is data to prove it,” said Shannon Watts, a board member at the gun violence prevention group Everytown for Gun Safety. She pointed to multiple studies showing that states that have implemented permitless carry have had upticks in both gun violence and police shootings.

The group of hard-line Republicans standing firm in opposing Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid for speaker has coalesced around an alternative: Rep. Byron Donalds, a conservative two-term lawmaker from Florida who is considered a rising star in the GOP but is still relatively unknown nationally. Donalds said the incident inspired him to change his life and eventually emerge from businessman to politician. In 2021, Donalds was denied membership in the Congressional Black Caucus and insisted it was because of his conservative views. Donalds’ wife, Erika Donalds, with whom he has three children, is also a conservative Republican and involved in state politics. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., center right, speaks with a colleague in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol, on Wednesday.

☆ Who is Rep. Byron Donalds — ultra-conservatives' latest pick for House Speaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida is the far-right faction's latest choice for House Speaker. The 44-year-old is a second-term lawmaker and one of only five Black Republicans in Congress. Donalds graduated from Florida State University with a degree in financing and marketing. After an unsuccessful 2012 Congressional bid, Donalds was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016. One of only five Black Republicans in Congress, Donalds expressed excitement about the number of Black Republicans running for Congress in 2022.

☆ 2 Black people have been nominated for House speaker for the first time in American history
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

For the first time, two Black people were nominated to be speaker of the House of Representatives. Conservatives opposed to Kevin McCarthy nominated Rep. Byron Donalds on the 4th ballot on Wednesday. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped down from leadership at the end of the last Congress, though she will remain in the House as a rank-and-file lawmaker. "Now, here we are, and for the first time in history, there have been two Black Americans placed into the nomination for speaker of the House." Donalds' nomination came on the fourth ballot for House speaker.

☆ Ron and Casey DeSantis danced to the governor's campaign song 'Sweet Florida' at the state's inaugural ball, in final event of 2-day 'DeSantis-Palooza'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Casey DeSantis wore a gold embellished gown. Songs included "My Girl" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," two guests leaving the event told Insider. Bill Diamond of Palm Beach told Insider the food was "very good and very inventive" and raved about the lamb. "I have had clients coming back and saying that was very Kennedy-ish," one source who attended multiple inauguration events told Insider. Casey DeSantis and the couple's son, Mason, were also present, he said, as were Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez and her husband Adrian Nuñez.

☆ 2 Black people have been nominated for House Speaker for the first time in American history
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

For the first time, two Black people were nominated to be Speaker of the House of Representatives. Conservatives opposed to Kevin McCarthy nominated Rep. Byron Donalds on the 4th ballot on Wednesday. Conservatives oppposed to Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy nominated Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida — a Black Republican who was first elected to a southwest Florida district in 2020 — as their candidate. "Now, here we are, and for the first time in history, there have been two Black Americans placed into the nomination for Speaker of the House. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped down from leadership at the end of the last Congress, though she will remain in the House as a rank-and-file lawmaker.

☆ Florida legislator who sponsored ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law resigns amid Covid-relief fraud charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The Florida state representative who sponsored legislation opponents dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill resigned Thursday, a day after he was accused of fraudulently obtaining tens of thousands of dollars from a federal Covid-relief program. State Rep. Joseph Harding, a Republican, said his resignation would be "effective immediately." He has been indicted on a slew of charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements and other crimes. He sponsored a bill this year prohibiting “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in the state’s primary schools. The bill, which was criticized as an attack on Florida’s LGBTQ community, was signed into law in March by Republican Gov.

☆ Former Rep. David Rivera of Florida is arrested in Venezuela probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

David Rivera, a Republican who served from 2011 to 2013, was arrested at Atlanta’s airport, said Marlene Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami. To justify the large payments, PDV USA allegedly created “phony contracts” backdated to March 20, 2017 — the day before the consulting agreement took effect. Rivera’s consulting contract had all the hallmarks of a sham, according to PDV USA, which since 2019 has been run by directors appointed by the U.S.-backed opposition. Rivera never met in person with anyone from Citgo or PDV USA while supposedly working on its behalf. “The written record is bereft of any evidence that Interamerican performed any of the contracted services,” PDV USA argues in the new filings.

☆ Top Florida lawmakers want to change state law so DeSantis can run for president in 2024 without resigning as governor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans in Florida want to change the law so DeSantis can run for president and keep his job. The comments came as the new GOP legislature and leaders were sworn in Tuesday. Ron DeSantis could run for president without resigning from his current job. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo echoed Renner's comments, saying it would be an "honor" to have someone from Florida running for president. Under current Florida law, if DeSantis were to run for president then he would have to resign his post as governor — even if he eventually lost the presidency.

Community organizer Maxwell Frost won his Florida race for Congress on Tuesday, NBC News projected, making him the first member of Generation Z to reach the House of Representatives. Frost, 25, beat Republican Calvin Wimbish, a retired 72-year-old Army Green Beret, to take the Orlando-based 10th Congressional District seat now held by Democrat Val Demings. Frost will stand out among his soon-to-be peers in the halls of Congress where the average age of House members is 58. (Gen Z generally refers to those born in the late 1990s to the early 2010s.) “We made history for Floridians, for Gen Z, and for everyone who believes we deserve a better future.

☆ Live Results: Republican Sen. Marco Rubio defeats Democratic Rep. Val Demings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Rubio defeated Democratic Rep. Val Demings, a former Orlando police chief. Sen. Marco Rubio is projected to have beaten Democratic Rep. Val Demings. 2022 General EmbedsFlorida's Senate race candidatesRubio has been in the US Senate since 2011. Still, Democrats in Florida see Rubio as vulnerable against Demings, and have invested far more into the Demings-Rubio race than into the Florida governor's race. In comparison, Rubio has raised $44.2 million, spent $34.7 million, and has $9.6 million on hand, as of September 30.

☆ Live Election Results: Florida State Legislature
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Polls close in the state at 7 p.m. local time. Given the state has multiple timezones, the first polls close at 7 p.m. EST and the last polls close at 8 p.m. EST. This cycle, all 40 of the seats in the Florida State Senate are up for election, and Republicans currently control the chamber by a margin of 7 seats. Given the state has multiple timezones, the first polls close at 7 p.m. EST and the last polls close at 8 p.m. EST. Florida House of Representatives election results:Florida Senate election results:

The GOP, especially in South Florida, is trying to portray Democrats as "socialists" and soft on foreign policy, with Taddeo touting her hard-line stance against leftist governments. Salazar and Taddeo have similar hard-line foreign positions against the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Taddeo, according to a spokesperson, feels current foreign policy toward Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua cannot change until there are democratic transitions in those countries. There are about 275,000 Colombian eligible voters in Florida and a significant number live in the district. The two candidates recently left many puzzled when they tweeted that former Colombian President Iván Duque seemingly supports both of them.

☆ Republican Sen. Marco Rubio seeks a third term in the Senate, facing off against Democratic Rep. Val Demings, a former police chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Florida's Senate race candidatesRubio has been in the US Senate since 2011. He rose quickly in politics at a young age, serving as speaker of the Florida House from 2006 to 2008 while he was still in his 30s. After losing the White House race, Rubio decided to run for his Senate seat again — contradicting a previous pledge to leave Congress in 2017. In comparison, Rubio has raised $44.2 million, spent $34.7 million, and has $9.6 million on hand, as of September 30. What experts sayThe race between Rubio and Demings is rated as "likely Republican" by Inside Elections, "likely Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and "likely Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

☆ Claims of socialism and misinformation take center stage in South Florida House race
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Gen X is late to the leadership table in US politics, prompting the question: Will it ever produce a president?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Darren Samuelsohn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

By historical standards, Gen X should be in charge of the US by now. Think of them as the godparents of the "Xennials" — those born in the late 1970s or early 1980s who aren't fully Gen X or millennial. No matter whether you deny the 61-year-old Obama is a boomer, Gen X is starting to get up there in age. Michael Ciaglo-Pool/Getty ImagesWhat's the US missing without a Gen X president? "It's like seeing a ghost that doesn't appear," she said of any expectation the presidency would just suddenly open up for Gen X.

☆ Florida migrant-moving company gave GOP cash, has ties to DeSantis' immigration 'czar' and Rep. Matt Gaetz
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Vertol is based in the Florida Panhandle city of Destin, in Gaetz’s congressional district, and near Keefe’s home city as well. State and federal campaign finance data show Vertol contributed $2,500 to the North Florida Neighbors super PAC backing Gaetz’s first congressional bid in 2016. After DeSantis was elected, Vertol in 2019 contributed another $10,000 to the Republican Party of Florida, which is ultimately controlled by the governor. And Vertol contributed another $1,000 in June to state Rep. Jay Trumbull Jr.’s state Senate campaign. His father, Jay Trumbull Sr. had been appointed by DeSantis to the Florida Transportation Commission, which oversees the Florida Department of Transportation, the agency in charge of the Vertol contract.

☆ This married couple make $118,000 in revenue a month as Airbnb hosts. Here are the tools they use to manage their 6 properties and how they got started.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-25 | by ( Narina Exelby | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Six years on, our Airbnb properties brought in $118,000 in bookings last month. In March 2020, after only three months on Airbnb, we were set to cash-flow over $7,000 after expenses. In September 2020, we bought our third property: a four-bedroom cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, near the Smoky Mountains. With income from the Nashville properties, we invested $35,000 in a cosmetic rehab of the Gatlinburg cabin — new floors, light fixtures, toilets, mirrors, stairs, paint, and landscaping. When we opened in November 2020, the place booked up almost immediately; revenue in that first month was $14,158.85.

☆ We found at least 25 ex-Gaetz staffers who don't mention the congressman by name on their LinkedIn page
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-20 | by ( Robin Bravender | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Gaetz's name is absent from McFaul's LinkedIn page, too, where he describes his duties during that time working as a chief of staff for an unnamed "congressman." At least 25 of Gaetz's former congressional staffers don't mention the Republican congressman by name on their LinkedIn pages, according to an Insider analysis. McFaul declined to comment about why Gaetz's name wasn't on his LinkedIn page or his Ballard bio page. She also worked for Miller, Gaetz's congressional predecessor, but doesn't name him on her LinkedIn page, either. Drew Angerer/Getty Images'Riding the wave'Some current and former Gaetz staffers continue to publicize their work for the congressman.

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