Florida lawmakers miss budget deadline, extending legislative session

Florida's regular 60-day legislative session will end Friday with no budget agreement, ensuring that legislators will have to return next week or later to pass a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. House Speaker Richard Corcoran said a “best-case scenario” would be finishing the Session Saturday. Corcoran also said it was possible the Session would be extended to Monday or that Gov. Rick Scott could call a Special Session. This is the second year in a row that the legislature has gone into overtime. More from the Times/Herald, the Palm Beach Post, and Florida Politics.

Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida's YouTube stars are channeling success

Meet four Floridians who are are among those making a living from YouTube: Sandra Cires, brothers Daniel, Fabian and Alejandro Manzano, Natalie Alzate and Troy Pindell. The income each is making off YouTube alone ranges from $5,000 to $200,000 per month. See all the profiles, and catch a video, here.

Medical cannabis testing lab to open in Gainesville

Gainesville will soon become home to Florida’s first medical cannabis testing facility north of Interstate 4, furthering Alachua County’s role in an industry that’s steadily ballooning in Florida. More information in this press release and read more at the Gainesville Sun.

Florida is home to 51 of the world's billionaires

Fifty-one billionaires call Florida home, according to Forbes 2018 list released Tuesday. That was the same number as last year. But, due to a soaring stock market — at least in 2017, many have become even richer. Below is a list of the Top 5 richest Floridians, according to Forbes. Also read more at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Bradenton Herald.

Rank	Name	Net Worth	Age	Source
#47	Thomas Peterffy	$20.3 B	73	discount brokerage
#138	David Tepper	$11 B	60	hedge funds
#154	Micky Arison	$9.7 B	68	Carnival Cruises
#217	Shahid Khan	$7.2 B	67	auto parts
#321	Charles Johnson	$5.6 B	85	money management
Source: Forbes

Florida puts voting right requests on hold due to lawsuit

Due to a legal battle Florida is putting on hold requests by former prisoners who are asking to get their voting rights restored. A federal judge in February ruled that the state's system of restoring voting rights to ex-felons is arbitrary and unconstitutional. [Source: AP]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Another site for Beckham’s soccer stadium? Miami has a golf course in mind [Miami Herald]
Miami’s top administrator this week met with David Beckham partner Jorge Mas about building a Major League Soccer stadium on the city-owned Melreese golf course, floating a 180-acre alternative near Miami International Airport.

› Q&A with interim executive director of Clay Florida Economic Development Corporation [Florida Business Daily]
Laura Pavlus, interim executive director of Clay Florida Economic Development Corporation, sees a bright future for the county as businesses in the region are recovering after the economic recession.

› Targeted therapy at Florida Cancer Specialists gave hope to Pamela Klein [Sponsored report]
When Pamela Klein discovered she had a rare form of lung cancer, being around for her family was all that mattered. See her profile in courage from Florida Cancer Specialists.

› Tampa Bay jobs chief Edward Peachey’s firing upended [Tampa Bay Times]
Edward Peachey is back –– for now. The decisions to fire Pinellas and Hillsborough counties’ jobs chief have been temporarily put on hold over the threat of a lawsuit, thrusting the agencies into further disarray amid state and federal investigations.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Legislature votes to strip USFSM of independent accreditation [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The Florida Legislature voted Monday to strip USF Sarasota-Manatee of independent accreditation, reversing a process put in place years ago to give the campus more autonomy after complaints arose that it was not being adequately funded.

› Pinellas County celebrates another good year of tourism [Tampa Bay Newspapers]
David Downing, president and CEO for Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, presented a “snapshot” of December statistics and a report on statistics from January-December 2017 during the Feb. 21 Tourist Development Council meeting.

› Florida Department of Agriculture recovered nearly $174K in February [Osceola News-Gazette]
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recovered nearly $174,000 for Florida consumers during the month of February. As the state’s clearinghouse for consumer complaints, the department educates the public, investigates complaints and provides mediation on behalf of consumers.

› Publix changes facial hair policy as trial in select locations [Tampa Bay Times]
As an online petition started by a Florida Publix employee in 2015 continues garnering signatures, the grocery chain has launched a pilot program to allow beards in select locations.