Florida's Latest News

Ken Griffin Reshaped Law Banning Chinese Real Estate Purchases

When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pushed through an anti-China crackdown in his state earlier this year, he won praise from populist Republicans across the country.

But to Ken Griffin, the state’s wealthiest man, the effort represented an ideological affront. In its most extreme version, the proposed legislation would have essentially prohibited citizens of seven nations, including China and Venezuela, from buying property anywhere in South Florida, even if they had work permits. Those limitations also posed complications for Griffin’s plan to relocate hundreds of employees to Miami where he’s planning to build a headquarters costing at least $1 billion.

So the Citadel founder assembled a network of influence to rework the proposed law, according to people familiar with the matter. The scope of the restrictions was then narrowed geographically to those with work permits.

Citadel turned to Capital City Consulting, tapping one of the most influential lobbyists in Florida, which has worked with clients including BlackRock Inc. and Citigroup Inc. Co-owner Nicholas Iarossi is also a long-time fundraiser for DeSantis.

Iarossi and partners, Maicel Green, a former Olympian, and Christopher Schoonover, worked to secure changes by persuading key legislative figures, including House Speaker Paul Renner and the bill’s Republican sponsor, David Borrero, people familiar said.

Ron DeSantis explains how he is a ‘threat’ to his political opponents

Gov. Ron DeSantis still sees himself as a front runner in the 2024 presidential race, and a “threat” to all of his political opponents.

“Ever since we won reelection in Florida by such a historic margin, people have identified me as a threat,” DeSantis told radio host Guy Benson, using the opposition party, the Vice President, the President, the press corps, and the former President, whose endorsement propelled him in 2018, to illustrate the tern.

“The Democrats have identified me as a threat. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, they spend more time attacking me than anybody else, the media, they’ve been after me, I’ve probably had more hit pieces from the corporate press than any other candidate running. And then of course, Donald Trump, he started running ads against me months before I was even a declared candidate for president,” DeSantis said.

The Governor extended that critique to his opponents on the debate stage in Milwaukee, which may or may not include Trump.

Florida school voucher awards jump 44% after state makes everyone eligible

The number of Florida students awarded school vouchers jumped by more than 117,500 this year, mostly due to a new state law that made all students eligible for scholarship programs once targeted to low-income children.

By Aug. 11, more than 382,000 students had received vouchers for the 2023-24 school year, giving them access to money for private school tuition, homeschooling services or therapies for children with disabilities, according to Step Up For Students, the private group that administers most of Florida’s scholarship programs.

That represents a 44% increase from a year ago when about 264,400 scholarships were awarded by the same date.

The voucher programs that previously served low-income children this year received far more applications, and they awarded far more scholarships than they did in 2022. Those scholarship awards jumped by more than 12,000 in Broward County, for example, and by more than 6,400 in Orange County, Step Up’s data showed.

Thousands of Florida families struggle to navigate Medicaid enrollment

State officials say Florida is currently in the process of determining if Medicaid enrollees are still eligible for coverage after more than 250,000 lost coverage earlier this year.

Data shows that many of those removed from Medicaid were terminated because of procedural reasons, including not responding to mailed notices, outdated contact information or computer glitches.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently sent the state a letter saying Florida may not be following federal guidelines that require states to provide prompt assistance to those renewing or applying for Medicaid.

The letter also points out that some eligible for coverage, including children, are being denied services, are experiencing long wait times on the phone with call centers, and that new applications are not being processed fast enough.