In his first speech after assuming the gavel as president of the Florida Senate, Ben Albritton put property insurance companies on notice that he’ll be watching how well they treat policyholders who suffered property damage during the recent hurricanes.

Most will be Vice Chairs, since South Florida is still mostly represented in the Senate by Democrats. But all four Republican members from the area — Sen. Bryan Ávila of Hialeah Gardens, Sens. Alexis Calatayud and Ileana Garcia of Miami, and Ana Maria Rodriguez of Doral — received Chair designations.

Floridians can carry concealed weapons, but lawmakers have stopped short of allowing openly carrying firearms.

Senate President Ben Albritton on Wednesday continued to fill out key positions in the Florida Senate, including putting an antagonist of Gov. Ron DeSantis in a role that could lead to greater oversight of the administration.

Senate President-designate Ben Albritton has his choices for Senate Appropriations Committee Chairs lined up. The incoming head of the Senate has already selected Sen. Ed Hooper to lead the main Senate Appropriations Committee. Now, Albritton has decided on heads of the siloed committees.

Advocates pushing for Florida to join the overwhelming majority of states that allow the ‘open carry’ of guns aren’t happy with state Senate President Ben Albritton after he said Tuesday that he has no desire to cross the Florida Sheriffs Association,