Florida's Latest News

House eyes 4 projects to potentially override Gov. DeSantis’ vetoes

The debate goes on the House floor Wednesday.

The House is considering overriding four line-item vetoes by Gov. Ron DeSantis to reinstate more than $5 million to fund government infrastructure projects, the Corrections Department’s automated staffing system and a program to help veterans.

Lawmakers plan to take up the issue on the floor Wednesday, the House announced via its agenda calendar.

In February, House Speaker Daniel Perez created “combined workgroups” to review DeSantis’ vetoes in a sign that the Legislature was standing up to DeSantis. The workgroups were developed as lawmakers publicly feuded with DeSantis about returning to Tallahassee for a Special Session on immigration reform.

The projects that could potentially get reinstated are:

— $2.5 million for Rockledge Advanced Water Treatment Phase 1 sponsored by former Rep. Thad Altman, an Indialantic Republican. The money would be spent lowering nutrient loads on the Indian River Lagoon and removing 29,106 pounds of nitrogen per year.

House Panel Advances Bill to Raise Lawsuit Payout Caps Against Government

A House panel on Thursday approved a measure that would raise the amount state and local governments can be forced to pay in lawsuits, moving forward a proposal that would make changes to Florida’s sovereign immunity law.

The House Budget Committee voted 25-3 to advance the bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Fiona McFarland. The measure would raise the current cap on damages from $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident to $1 million and $3 million, respectively, for claims that accrue between Oct. 1, 2025, and Sept. 30, 2030. Beginning Oct. 1, 2030, those limits would increase again to $1.1 million per person and $3.2 million per incident.

The bill would also allow local governments, including cities and counties, to settle claims above those caps without having to seek legislative approval, a change from current law that requires such payouts to go through the claim bill process.

Under the proposal, insurance policies issued to state and local agencies could no longer tie coverage or payment of claims to the passage of a claim bill. Any policy issued on or after Oct. 1, 2025, with such language would be considered void.

A headache for humans, stubborn fire is actually good for Everglades wetlands

An unusually large wildfire rampaged through southeast Miami-Dade this week. It downed powerlines and trees, blocked roads in and out of the Florida Keys for days and sent noxious smoke drifting into adjacent neighborhoods.

By Friday afternoon, the 344 fire, as it was dubbed by Florida’s Forest Service, had ravaged more than 26,000 acres but state and local firefighters had managed to contain it to unoccupied wetlands.

While blazes like this one can be a major headache for people, fire is also a critical part of South Florida’s ecosystem — particularly the Everglades. At Everglades National Park, the first national park in the nation to have a fire management plan, firefighters regularly set controlled fires to help clear out dry brush, leaving charred material that renews the soil for fresh growth.

“Here, the landscape is really amenable to fire. These systems really rely on it,” said John Kominoski, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University.

Emerging research has found that historically, high and dry parts of the Everglades — like pine rocklands — are in fact designed to burn around every four years. In deeper areas, they need to burn every five to fifteen years, Kominoski said.

DeSantis returns millions in federal funds as Florida cities receive DOGE letters

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Friday evening that the state had returned millions of dollars in funding back to the federal government.

DeSantis posted the news to social media, revealing a letter from his office to the U.S. Department of Treasury stating that Florida is returning $878,112,000 in taxpayer dollars back to the federal government as part of DOGE’s efforts.

“For years, Florida has been trying to return federal funds to the federal government due to the ideological strings attached by the Biden Administration — but they couldn’t even figure out how to accept it,” DeSantis wrote. “Today, I met with @elonmusk and the DOGE team, and we got this done in the same day.”

The letter also says that DeSantis’ office will continue to search for other unused or surplus federal funding granted to Florida to determine whether additional refunds can be made.

“Other states should follow Florida in supporting DOGE’s efforts!” he said.