Florida's Latest News

Chip Roy says Ron DeSantis ‘killing it’ on social media after leaving 2024 race

The Texas Republican was a fixture at the Governor's presidential campaign events, and he likes what he sees right now. The post-presidential campaign reinvention of Ron DeSantis is drawing rave reviews from one of his biggest campaign supporters.

During a Fox News Radio interview, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas praised the newly freewheeling social media presence, painting a picture of an invigorated Florida Governor with what host Will Cain called “way more personality than as a candidate.”

“He’s been knocking me out of the park since he’s suspended,” Roy said. “Now, for almost two weeks, 10 days, he’s just been killing, killing it on social media, you know,” citing his post about “Mason talking about football games” and how DeSantis urged that Somaliphilic Rep. Ilhan Omar “should be booted” from Congress.

Roy often interjected his comments during DeSantis campaign events during the doomed final stretch in Iowa, the only state that got to weigh in on the campaign. He suggested that the Governor was no match for the former President. 

Florida's agriculture commissioner says food is a national security issue

Wilton Simpson told a Tallahassee business group, "Imagine one week of no food in the grocery stores ... You’d have total chaos in this country." Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson says he thinks of food as a national security issue. He spoke to a group of Tallahassee business leaders Tuesday.

A lifelong farmer, Simpson says defining agriculture in national security terms was his top priority upon taking the helm at the state department of agriculture.

“We can all think about oil as a national security issue, right? We have strategic supplies all over the country just in case there’s a major war in the Middle East or there’s a major disruption somewhere in the world of those oil supplies," he said. "Imagine one week of no food in the grocery stores. Seven days. You’d have total chaos in this country. Imagine 30. Now you’d have people starving to death. So, when I think about agriculture, that’s the lens I think about it through.” 

Simpson also told the audience at a lunch event that agriculture is vital to the economy. “During the pandemic, we were the number-one driver of the economy, and during the recession, we’re the number-one driver of the economy," he said. "And so, over $180 billion of economic output and a major part of the engine that drives our economy. I don’t like explaining it in those terms because you need a farmer three times a day. One of them is right now, right?” 

Florida House, Senate budgets disagree on prisons, health care, home hardening – Orlando Sentinel

With differences on issues such as funding prisons, a health-care plan and home-hardening grants, Senate and House budget committees have approved spending plans that each top $115 billion.

The Senate and House appropriations committees on Wednesday advanced their proposed budgets (SB 2500 and PCB APC 24-01) for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which will start July 1. The votes were the first steps toward the Senate and House negotiating a final budget before the annual legislative session ends in March. 

Both proposals would be lower than the state’s $119.1 billion budget in the current year. House Appropriations Chairman Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, called the House proposal “austere,” putting “us in a good position for three to five years down the road.” But officials have acknowledged that the budgets are lower than last year in part because of the end of federal COVID-relief money flowing to the state.

The House and Senate say a package of tax breaks will be written alongside the budget. But legislative leaders have discussed a need to tighten spending, as state economists have projected mostly moderate annual revenue growth. “I think everyone in this room knows that we probably have access to more than $115.9 billion,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze, said, referring to the proposed Senate budget total. The House proposal totaled nearly $115.55 billion.

Florida Prepaid plan cuts prices, citing years of low tuition increases

The Florida Prepaid tuition program announced this week it will offer its lowest prices in 10 years due to multiple years of lower-than-anticipated tuition and fee increases for the state’s public colleges and universities. The announcement is the plan’s third price cut during the past decade.

It follows a class action lawsuit filed in early January that cites a disparity in the value of plans purchased during or before the 2006-2007 enrollment period. It also criticized the plan for having billions of dollars in surpluses.

The plan, which started in 1988, allows Florida residents to make monthly or lump-sum payments to cover the future costs of college tuition and fees, with an option to include some housing costs. Depending on the plan type, Florida Prepaid covers costs at any in state college or university even if the cost is higher than anticipated when the plan prices were set.

If a student decides to go to an out-of-state or private college, the plan will pay the same amount as it would at a public in-state college or university. The plans can be used up to 10 years after a student graduates from high school.