In Florida, the state government has passed legislation repealing part of a law that requires some public notices, including those about tax increases and special elections, to be published in print newspapers.

Sponsor Republican Randy Fine argued that governments had been subsidising a 'dying' industry, arguing that when telegrams were superseded, "government didn't step in and require people to continue to send telegrams."

Florida law sets a discounted rate at which legal notices are published in newspapers and on a newspaper's website, and Florida Press Association also publishes them on a special website.

Under Fine's legislation, people will be able to have notices mailed to them.

The proposal reaches the Senate committee next week, leaving the possibility that it may suffer the same fate as similar Fine bills in 2020 and 2019, which then died in the Senate.

The initial bill passed 85-34, with voting mostly on party lines.