Epic battle
Lawmakers are gearing up for an epic battle over abortion rights that will play out this week on the Senate floor — and the corridors outside the chamber.
Also, on today’s Sunrise:
— Some companies that help pay for Florida’s school voucher program are saying they will no longer contribute because many of the schools accepting those vouchers have anti-LGBTQ policies. Although there’s a bill to ban that sort of discrimination, Senate Education Committee chair Manny Diaz says it’s not going to pass. Diaz doesn’t see a need to change the program, either.
— First Lady Casey DeSantis is opening the Governor’s Mansion to children who want to read, setting up a children’s section in the mansion’s library and inviting kids to take part in storytime.
— After years of neglect, state employees may actually get a pay raise this year. But the House and Senate have quite different ways to make that happen.
— Tampa Bay Times environmental reporter Craig Pittman talks about the fight to save the Florida panther from extinction.
— More Florida Man madness: A 24-year-old man was busted for a slur (literally) and a Florida Woman who went Chuck Norris on a neighbor who refused to allow her children to attend a birthday party.