January 9, 2026 | by Anita Padilla on Florida Voice
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Rep. Berny Jacques filed sweeping legislation Thursday aimed at tightening restrictions on illegal aliens and sharply increasing penalties for employers who hire them, building on a broader Republican effort to eliminate what state leaders describe as incentives for illegal immigration.
Jacques’ proposal, HB 1307, was filed a day after a companion measure was filed in the Senate and comes amid a broader push led by Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia to reform the state’s workers’ compensation laws.
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January 7, 2026
Today, I filed HB 1195, a vital piece of legislation designed to increase penalties on offenders who commit sexual crimes against our society’s most vulnerable—children and animals.
HB 1195 will require a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of at least five years to those who are convicted of possessing ten or more files of pornographic content involving minors. Additionally, HB 1159 adds a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years to those who generate child pornography and those who distribute child pornography.
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January 5, 2026 | by Michelle Vecerina on Florida Voice
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — State Representative Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, filed legislation Monday aimed at tightening Florida’s voter registration process by requiring citizenship verification and new “non-citizen” markers on state-issued identification.
The bill, HB 985, seeks to reinforce the security of the state’s electoral process by ensuring only eligible Florida citizens participate in elections.
“The future of our state and our nation depends on free and secure elections,” Jacques said in a statement.
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December 31, 2025 | by Frank Kopylov on Florida Voice
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Rep. Berny Jacques warned that fraud schemes like those uncovered in Minnesota could threaten any state, including Florida, and pledged to push legislation cracking down on immigration-related abuses during the upcoming legislative session.
During a interview Tuesday on Florida’s Voice Radio with Drew Steele, Jacques, a Republican representing District 59 in the Tampa area, praised citizen journalist Nick Shirley for exposing what he called widespread fraud in Minnesota involving Somali immigrants and federal funds.
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December 17, 2025 | by Elizabeth Borodulin on Florida Voice
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- A new proposed Florida House bill creates a section of Florida law requiring Medicaid coverage for blood pressure monitors and cuffs for certain patients diagnosed with hypertension.
What it does: HB 781 outlines the new requirement for Medicaid and defines key terms while creating a new section in Florida Statutes.
- The bill defines a “blood pressure monitor and cuff” as a validated device used to measure blood pressure outside a clinical setting.
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