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Floridians voted to enfranchise felons, but GOP plans new restrictions

Florida legislators are moving to minimize the impact of last fall's decision by the voters to restore voting rights to felons in the nation's third largest state.

The Republicans who dominate the state House began advancing legislation Tuesday that would require felons to pay all outstanding court fees and fines before they may go to the polls.

Critics say the move could block more than 80 percent of the 1.4 million Floridians who were supposed to be eligible to register starting this year.


Reporting by WLRN in Miami found that, in the last five years, over $1 billion in felony fines were issued but only 19 percent were paid, while the state association for court clerks deemed 83 percent of those fines to have "minimal collections expectations."

Democratic Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York took to Twitter to label the legislation "a poll tax by any other name." Its Republican authors disputed that characterization and said their effort was to live – albeit strictly – with the terms the voters set.

But the constitutional amendment, approved in November by 65 percent of voters, makes no mention of restitutions. It says voting rights are to be restored after former felons "complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation." Excepted are those convicted of "murder or sexual offenses."

The bill would classify every felony with any kind of sexual component as a disqualifying "sexual offense," including operating an adult entertainment store too close to a school.

It was approved by committee Tuesday and now goes to the full House, where the GOP holds a 71-46 edge. Republicans hold a solid majority in the state Senate as well, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled his support for the legislation.

"What the barriers proposed in this bill do is nearly guarantee that people will miss election after election ... because they cannot afford to pay financial obligations," Julie Ebenstein, a voting rights attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC News. "It's an affront to the Florida voters."

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Could Trump’s campaign against the media come back to bite conservatives?

US President Donald Trump reacts next to Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, after speaking at the public memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025.

(Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Could Trump’s campaign against the media come back to bite conservatives?

In the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’sapparently temporary— suspension from late-night TV, a (tragically small) number of prominent conservatives and Republicans have taken exception to the Trump administration’s comfort with “jawboning” critics into submission.

Sen. Ted Cruz condemned the administration’s “mafioso behavior.” He warned that “going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again — wins the White House … they will silence us.” Cruz added during his Friday podcast. “They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.”

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Enhanced health care tax credits expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts. Learn who benefits, what’s at risk, and how premiums could rise without them.

Getty Images, yavdat

Just the Facts: What Happens If Enhanced Health Care Tax Credits End in 2025

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

There’s been a lot in the news lately about healthcare costs going up on Dec. 31 unless congress acts. What are the details?

The enhanced health care premium tax credits (ePTCs) are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts to extend them.

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Congress Bill Spotlight: No Social Media at School Act

Rep. Angie Craig’s No Social Media at School Act would ban TikTok, Instagram & Snapchat during K-12 school hours. See what’s in the bill.

Getty Images, Daniel de la Hoz

Congress Bill Spotlight: No Social Media at School Act

Gen Z’s worst nightmare: TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat couldn’t be used during school hours.

What the bill does

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN2) introduced the No Social Media at School Act, which would require social media companies to use “geofencing” to block access to their products on K-12 school grounds during school hours.

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A portrait of John Adams.

John Adams warned that without virtue, republics collapse. Today, billionaire spending and unchecked wealth test whether America can place the common good above private gain.

John Adams Warned Us: A Republic Without Virtue Cannot Survive

John Adams understood a truth that feels even sharper today: a republic cannot endure without virtue. Writing to Mercy Otis Warren in April 1776, he warned that public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without [private virtue], and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.” For Adams, liberty would not be preserved by clever constitutions alone. It depended on citizens who could restrain their selfish impulses for the sake of the common good.

That insight has lost none of its force. Some people do restrain themselves. They accumulate enough to live well and then turn to service, family, or community. Others never stop. Given the chance, they gather wealth and power without limit. Left unchecked, selfishness concentrates material and social resources in the hands of a few, leaving many behind and eroding the sense of shared citizenship on which democracy depends.

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