News Service of Florida

A federal judge Friday cleared the way for a California-based company to continue pursuing a challenge to a 2024 state law that bans the sale and manufacturing of “cultivated” meat in Florida.

The lawsuit was filed in part by operators of Cafe Risque and Serenity Bushey, who performed at Cafe Risque but was barred by the law from working there because she was under 21.

As cities and counties across the state debate the issue, the Florida Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would prevent local governments from adding fluoride to water supplies.

Pointing to the federal government’s power to regulate immigration, a U.S. district judge Friday temporarily blocked a new Florida law aimed at cracking down on undocumented immigrants.

Erasing the Gulf of Mexico from state laws and educational materials won Florida House approval Thursday.

The Florida Senate on Thursday passed a wide-ranging education bill that includes eliminating a requirement that high-school students pass algebra and language-arts tests to earn standard diplomas.

A Senate panel Monday supported repealing a 2022 law that prevents the release of information about applicants to become state college and university presidents, days after House Speaker Daniel Perez strongly backed the idea.

The Republican-controlled House voted 78-34 to pass the bill (HB 759) Wednesday. It remains unclear whether the Senate will take up the issue. The House passed repeal bills in 2023 and 2024, but the bills did not get through the Senate.

A state Senate panel on Wednesday gave initial approval to a proposal that would change the state’s defamation laws, with critics of the measure calling it unconstitutional, vague and “counterproductive.”