On Friday, June 21, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a record $90.9 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Before signing the spending plan passed by legislators in May, the governor used his line-item veto power to cut more than $131 million in proposed spending.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Gary Ray Bowles, who was sentenced to death for the 1994 murder of Walter Hinton in Duval County. Bowles, 57, is also serving life sentences for the murders of John Roberts in Volusia County and Albert Morris in Nassau County.
Religious Freedom Week 2019: Strength in Hope takes place from June 22 to 29. The week began with the feast day of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, includes the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and ends with the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.
On June 17, President Donald Trump announced impending immigration enforcement actions by the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Subsequent press reports on Friday, June 21 indicated that ICE has plans for an enforcement operation in major cities, including Miami, to remove thousands of migrant families with deportation orders.
The bishops of the United States just concluded their annual summer meeting. One of the key topics was Pope Francis’ Apostolic Motu Proprio, modifying norms in response to sexual abuse. In her June 11 opinion piece, Senator Lauren Book cited this directive, noting that the Holy Father’s recent directive does not include a requirement to report allegations of abuse to law enforcement.
On Wednesday, June 5, a fire was set at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Tallahassee. The church is the location where the Red Mass of the Holy Spirit is celebrated annually by the bishops of Florida during Catholic Days at the Capitol.