Florida's Latest News

Yes, Florida has one of the country's lowest tax burdens

As he considers a potential 2024 presidential run, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has positioned his state as the blueprint for the country.

“The state of Florida has set a standard for this country,” DeSantis said April 13 at a Lincoln Day event in Akron, Ohio, sponsored by the Butler County Republican Party.

DeSantis touted Florida’s education and economic freedoms, and its low taxes.

“Our tax burden, and we have no state income tax, you all should try that sometime. It works pretty good,” DeSantis said. “We have the second lowest tax burden per capita in the United States.”

House, Senate reach top line budget numbers, set to begin spending talks

'The House and Senate budgets were already aligned on many key issues, making for a smooth allocations process.'

House and Senate leaders agreed to top line spending numbers, known as allocations, for each area of the budget, with both sides ready to spend $45.4 billion in general revenue in total.

Formal meetings between the chambers to hash out the details of the budget won’t start until 9 a.m. Monday at the earliest and evening meetings won’t start later than 8 p.m., according to a joint memo from House Speaker Paul Renner, a Palm Coast Republican, and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples Republican, sent to members Saturday.

“The House and Senate budgets were already aligned on many key issues, making for a smooth allocations process,” the memo states. “The … allocations deliver fiscally responsible levels of funding that maintain historic reserves and allow for a record number of meaningful tax relief initiatives, while at the same time respecting the budget goals unanimously passed by each chamber and those identified by the Governor, Cabinet, and state agencies.”

Wanted: One new city hall in Fort Lauderdale

They say you can’t fight City Hall – but Fort Lauderdale City Hall lost its own fight against nature. 

The recent torrential rains that created massive flooding in Fort Lauderdale and eastern Broward County have ended the life of the current City Hall building at 100 North Andrews Ave., city officials say. 

Next week, city employees will clear out their personal belongings from their offices as efforts are being made to find new office space for city personnel, according to Ashley Doussard, City of Fort Lauderdale spokesperson.

For now, some are working from their homes while others are working from other city office locations.

“The (City) Commission has given direction that they don't want to move back into the existing city hall building,” Doussard told City & State. “The estimated cost to repair the building (is) between $40 million and $50 million. This was not a minor flood.”

Ron DeSantis praises military build-up in visit to Japan

TOKYO — Potential U.S. presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Monday met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and lauded bilateral ties, especially the idea of a “strong Japan.”

The trip, officially part of a four-country trade mission, comes as the Florida governor seeks to burnish foreign policy credentials ahead of an official announcement that he will run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, expected later this year.

“We really appreciate what a great ally Japan has been to the U.S. for many, many decades,” DeSantis told Kishida at the start of their meeting at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo.

Japan last year unveiled a five-year, $315 billion military expansion in the face of an increasingly powerful China and as North Korea steps up its missile launches, a move that DeSantis praised.