Florida's Latest News

DeSantis wants to increase some law enforcement pay and offer another $1,000 first responder bonus

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will include raises and bonuses for law enforcement when he announces his overall state budget proposal next week.

He made his announcement at an Orlando Florida Highway Patrol state, and said his proposal will include a repeat of the $1,000 bonuses law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical technicians received this year.

He also wants $73 million to raise the minimum salary for entry level state law enforcement officers at the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by 20% and give existing state law enforcement officers a 25% raise.

The Legislature is still weeks away from releasing its budget proposals, and lawmakers do not have follow the governor’s recommendations.

Political maps released by Florida House could help GOP

The Florida House released its proposed congressional maps on Monday, which appear to give Republicans more of an advantage than the Senate-proposed maps released earlier this month.

Of particular significance, the maps would make Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy's central Florida district more difficult to win. The House's two proposals carve up several central Florida districts in order to add a new 28th congressional district.

Florida’s population growth of 2.7 million new residents between 2010 and 2020 led to the new seat in the once-every-decade redistricting process.

The process of redrawing the new political maps is far from over. They need to go through the committee process, and the House and Senate must come to an agreement on the new lines. The first drafts were created by staff. Lawmakers can also suggest changes.

Florida moves closer to issuing a permit for deep well injection of Piney Point wastewater

Florida officials intend to issue a permit that allows Manatee County to pump water from the Piney Point phosphate plant into a deep well.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection last week sent out a notice of intent to issue the permit.

The permit will allow the county to inject up to 4 million gallons a day of wastewater from the Piney Point facility into Florida’s aquifer nearly 2,000 feet below the surface.

Anyone opposed to the plan will have two weeks to file a petition for an administrative hearing.

Manatee County commissioners applied for the permit in April, after a leak in one of the reservoirs forced the release of more than 200 million gallons of contaminated water into Tampa Bay.

Full Sail could get $1.3M from property tax exemption crafted specifically for university

Full Sail University could benefit from over $1.3 million in property tax breaks next year thanks to a new exemption created specifically for the for-profit school near Winter Park.

The exemption, approved at the last minute by the Republican-led Florida Legislature earlier this year, exempts property used by private schools with more than 500 students that specialize in teaching movie production skills.

Full Sail uses nine properties near the school’s main campus off Semoran Boulevard owned by companies run by the school’s leaders, including CEO and co-chairman Ed Haddock. If those property owners apply and are approved for the exemption, they stand to receive $1.3 million in tax breaks from Orange County, based on those properties’ tax liability.