The Jacksonville City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a $2 billion budget that could shape the city’s future for years. The proposal includes a property tax cut and reductions in funding for several core social services, and it’s sparking one of the most contentious political battles City Hall has seen in years.

The Jacksonville City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a $2 billion budget that could shape the city’s future for years. The proposal includes a property tax cut and reductions in funding for several core social services, and it’s sparking one of the most contentious political battles City Hall has seen in years.

As Jacksonville’s City Council prepares to vote on the budget on September 23, Mayor Donna Deegan is responding to claims from Florida’s chief financial officer, Blaise Ingoglia, who alleges $200 million in unnecessary budget increases and says the city is “over taxing and overspending.”

A Jacksonville city councilmember accused Mayor Donna Deegan of attempting to improperly route city funds through a local nonprofit for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) purposes — an allegation the mayor and United Way both strongly deny.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said Thursday that over $44 million in unclaimed property was returned to Floridians during July, with about $3 million of that being returned to Jacksonville residents.

Mayor Donna Deegan spoke to the media after the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) arrived in Jacksonville to audit the city for what the agency calls “excessive government spending.”

Hours after Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia posted a letter to social media claiming that some local governments are “trying to place ‘conditions’ and restrictions” on DOGE auditors, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan has responded, insisting that it’s a misrepresentation of her office’s intentions.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will hold a news conference in Bradenton Thursday afternoon alongside Florida Department of Financial Services Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Tuesday morning to announce the rollout of what he called “DOGE efforts” to review local governments across the state.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will hold a news conference on Wednesday morning in Tampa.

Democratic lawmakers are condemning Florida’s new Everglades immigration detention center after making a state-arranged visit.

In the state capital, a bill now heading to the Senate floor could change the way leadership is chosen within Florida’s higher education system. The 15-page Senate Bill 1726 bill addresses various topics related to governance and accountability in Florida’s higher education institutions

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on Monday voted 6-2 to approve a proposal (SJR 802) that would put in the Florida Constitution eight-year term limits for county commissioners and school board members. The Legislature in 2023 approved eight-year term limits for school board members, but those limits are not in the Constitution.

House and Senate Republicans are proposing a constitutional amendment about eight-year term limits for county commissioners and school board members.

Republican lawmakers Sunday filed a flurry of bills to crack down on undocumented immigrants and place additional restrictions on the ballot initiative process.

On the eve of a special legislative session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Republican lawmakers Sunday filed a flurry of bills to crack down on undocumented immigrants and place additional restrictions on the ballot initiative process.

Duval County’s Supervisor of Elections is talking to News4JAX about proposed legislation that would limit access to Floridian’s voting by mail. Senate Bill 1752 would create new eligibility requirements for voters by imposing a strict set of conditions for every Florida resident.

The Republican Party of Florida has ousted Chairman Christian Ziegler and has replaced him with a new leader as police investigate a rape accusation against him.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a bill that will allow school districts to use cameras designed to capture images of drivers who illegally pass school buses.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will soon take control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district.

A record 4.8 million Floridians voted by mail in the 2020 election, and because right now a single request for an absentee ballot is good for two election cycles, they’ll be getting absentee ballots again in 2022.

Disney World could face new competition if social media companies take advantage of a loophole included in legislation aimed at cracking down on social media censorship, which awaits the governor’s signature.

A House committee Monday postponed consideration of a bill that would make changes in Florida’s property insurance system, after the Senate passed a significantly different measure this month.

“It eliminates those that have over-influence and who can influence these ballot initiatives through their dollars,” Payne said. That is not what these ballot initiatives are,” Jenne, D-Dania Beach, said. Ad“The plain fact of it is that they don’t like these ballot initiatives that have passed,” she said. Lawmakers also made sweeping changes last year to the petition-gathering process to make it harder to put initiatives on the ballot. “Here and across the country, state legislators are attempting to dismantle democracy just because they haven’t liked the outcome of recent elections and ballot initiatives.

TALLAHASSEE – On the heels of the 2020 election, Florida lawmakers are working to make changes to the state’s election laws. The sponsor of the House’s election reform legislation says Florida’s 2020 election was a success. The bill would prevent election supervisors from taking private grants. Mail ballot drop boxes would have to be monitored at all times and only family members or a roommate could drop off another person’s ballot. It would ban mail ballot drop boxes altogether.

AdThe proposed voting changes, which come after millions of voters in Florida and throughout the country opted to cast mail-in ballots amid the COVID-19 pandemic, are causing alarm for elections experts as well as Democrats. Election supervisors in Florida also encouraged the use of mail-in ballots in advance of the November election, and the numbers of mail-in ballots skyrocketed. The measure would require voters to request mail-in ballots prior to every general election. AdTrump has frequently voted by mail, but the former president and his allies have asserted that mail-in ballots are vulnerable to fraud. Ingoglia defended the provision in the Senate proposal that would require voters to sign up for mail-in ballots more frequently.