Florida's Latest News

U.S. House passes Sunshine Protection Act championed by Florida lawmakers

The U.S. House has approved legislation that could fix the nation on Daylight Saving Time year-round. The bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act (HR 139), spearheaded by Florida lawmakers, now heads to the Senate where it may face an uphill climb.

But for now, Republicans and Democrats from the Sunshine State cheered the chance to abandon twice-annual time changes.

“Twice a year, Americans are forced to change their clocks,” said U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Longboat Key Republican and the bill’s lead sponsor. “These changes disrupt their schedule for no good reason. The outdated practice is frustrating for families, workers, schools and small businesses across the country. And let me just tell you, as someone who has been in business for 30 years, this is gigantic, especially for the small businessperson.”

The legislation passed in the lower chamber on a 308-117 vote. The bill has been a priority of Buchanan, the Republican co-Chair of Florida’s congressional delegation, especially as he wraps a final term in Congress.

Florida has some of the strongest markets for homebuyers in the U.S. Here’s where.

A new report ranks some of Florida’s homebuyer markets among the strongest in the United States, led by regions such as Miami and Orlando.

The report, released Tuesday by Redfin News, found that roughly 70% of the U.S. metro areas it examined were buyer’s markets. Those are areas where sellers outnumber homebuyers, which typically shifts the negotiating power to the buyers.

June’s strongest buyer’s market across the U.S. was Miami, which had an estimated 140% more sellers than purchasers.

Contributing to the imbalance between sellers and buyers is the “increasing frequency of natural disasters, which are themselves deterring some house hunters,” the Redfin report said. Also discouraging many would-be buyers are the higher home prices and insurance premiums, as well as rising homeowners association fees for many condos, the report said.

Florida Chamber says it is ‘all in’ for Blaise Ingoglia

The Florida Chamber of Commerce is backing Blaise Ingoglia for a full term as Chief Financial Officer.

“The Florida Chamber of Commerce is ‘all in’ for Blaise Ingoglia to continue serving as Florida’s Chief Financial Officer,” Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson said.

“Both as a legislator and as Florida’s CFO for the past year, Blaise has fought side by side with the Florida Chamber of Commerce to help stomp out the frivolous lawsuits, fraud and waste that drive up costs and impact affordability for Florida families and local businesses. Florida has the lowest debt per capita in America, and we look forward to another four years of strong partnership as he continues his leadership on the Florida Cabinet.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis elevated Ingoglia, the founder of homebuilding company Hartland Homes, from the Senate to the Cabinet post last year after Jimmy Patronis left the job early to run for Congress.

The Chamber noted that during his time in the Legislature — eight years in the House and three in the Senate — Ingoglia consistently earned an “A” on the Chamber’s annual Legislative Report Card.

Leon Schools hires firms to recruit students, international teachers

Facing persistent teacher vacancies and enrollment losses that have strained district finances, the Leon County School Board approved contracts Tuesday with two outside firms that officials say could help stabilize classrooms and bring more students back to public schools.

The board approved contracts with two recruiting firms that will help fill classrooms with teachers and students in the upcoming school year.

With a unanimous approval in the absence of school board member Laurie Lawson Cox, the board gave Superintendent Rocky Hanna a green light on agreements with Caissa K-12 to boost student enrollment and TPG Cultural Exchange, a company that will bring qualified educators from other countries to Leon County on a federal visa to teach.

"We are in a position now to explore different options to ensure our students have access to highly qualified educators," Hanna told the Tallahassee Democrat about the TPG contract. "We're optimistic on both fronts that we can fill the gap and the void that we have right now with qualified teachers and also compete in an ever growing and competitive market with private schools."