Michael Peltier

Well, it all comes down to this. Florida lawmakers return today for what is scheduled to be final act of the 2012 legislation.

Long touted as the Sunshine State, Florida is increasingly being looked at for how it balances protecting its environment, most notably freshwater resources, while dealing with inevitable population growth.

TALLAHASSEE — It's been seven years since Florida voters opened the door a little farther to casino gambling in what supporters back then said was a measured, highly controlled entry into an industry that at the time was under the ...

TALLAHASSEE — With Thanksgiving just days away, a few more Floridians will have something to be thankful for as the state's economy continues to rumble, albeit slowly, back to life.

TALLAHASSEE — Confronting an industry costing motorists $1 billion a year in higher premiums, lawmakers this week will turn their attention to reining in costs for an increasingly controversial coverage that was supposed to save money by keeping people out ...

TALLAHASSEE — It was a scene out of some Hollywood movie: Dark-suited federal agents in equally dark sunglasses converge on a small regional art museum a stone's throw from the state capitol building to retrieve a $2.5 million painting stolen ...

Major pieces of legislation passed during Gov. Rick Scott's first term, and with his blessing, are winding their way through the courts as critics try to maintain the status quo on a number of fronts.

The campaign slogan has become a mantra: 700,000 jobs in seven years.

lready complicated by election year politics, lawmakers return again this week in preparation for an election year special session now less than three months away.

With the 2012 legislative session pushed up two months to accommodate an expected fight over redrawing political boundaries, lawmakers will likely get another piece of contentious news this week that will not make their job any easier.

Florida political leaders have struck their claim in the presidential primary land grab as they pushed the state’s contest to Jan. 31 and forced traditionally early primary venues to also move their contests earlier.

Former state lawmaker and long-time securities fraud litigator Tom Grady has taken little time to promote changes in his newest endeavor as the state top banking regulator.

Gun rights advocates early this year scored a major coup when they successfully pushed a first-of-its-kind law prohibiting health care providers from asking patients about guns.

Lawmakers across the nation pass laws every day to address some perceived problem or another. After all, that’s why we elected them, right? Sometimes, emotions take over and result in acts that satisfy some deep-felt need for “justice” but in ...

Mounting fear over the nation’s economic health both in the short run and the long term continues to drag down consumer confidence in Florida, a particularly stubborn and salient thorn because the state’s economic engine is largely fueled by consumer ...