Florida's Latest News

Countdown: Here are 40 unresolved issues heading into last week of the Legislative Session

There’s just one week to go before the planned end to the 60-day Legislative Session. In just under two months, the Florida Legislature has passed a 15-week abortion ban, twice as many congressional maps as it needs, and plenty of other pieces of legislation, both controversial and ho-hum. So what remains on the docket in the next five days? Plenty. Now it’s just a question of whose priorities pass before the hanky hits the floor.

Here is a list of 40 issues the Legislature still needs to address before Sine Die.

Mandatory — Pass a budget

The three little words sound so simple. The Legislature has one constitutional responsibility to fulfill each year, and that’s to approve a balanced budget both the House and Senate agree upon to send to the Governor’s desk. Plenty of items further down this list will be a part of this overarching mission. And thanks to a statutorily required three-day cooling period before conforming bills stand for a final vote in each chamber, appropriations leaders need to balance this $105-billion-plus checkbook before midnight on Tuesday if they want to avoid Session going into overtime.

Budget conference: Legislature giving flight to $7.1M Crystal River Airport renovation

The Florida Senate has convinced the House to provide a $7.1 million appropriation for the Crystal River Airport, a move approved by the lower chamber in its latest bump offer. The Senate held strong in keeping the appropriation in each budget offer, despite the House excluding it in its counter offers.

The funding would be used for a runway extension and environmental assessment at the airport, as detailed in appropriation requests (SF 1704, HB 4987) filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley and Rep. Ralph Massullo.

Sunrise Consulting lobbyist Gene McGee championed the funding on behalf of the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners, according to the request.

The state funding would account for the whole of the project. Of the funds requested, $4.8 million would be used for construction; $1.8 million would be used for the environmental assessment and land acquisition; and $500,000 would be used for the project design.

Gas prices hit $3.67 a gallon on Friday in Florida. Want to save at the pump? Fill up on the weekend

The average gas price in the Sunshine State on Friday peaked at around $3.67 a gallon. According to AAA’s Mark Jenkins, that’s about 15 cents more per gallon than the same time last week. Jenkins says the Russian invasion of Ukraine is to blame for wildly fluctuating prices at the pump. 

“The oil market has already been especially tight even before this conflict began. And now with this conflict, it’s making supplies even tighter. And so that’s driving oil prices much higher.”

Jenkins recommends people fill up over the weekend as prices tend to be at their highest on Monday.

“Oftentimes in Florida, we see a lot of the gas price increases occur on Mondays. In this current climate, we are seeing gas prices increasing even right now, so there’s a good chance that we could see another round of increases on Monday. So maybe filling up on the weekend wouldn’t be the worst idea.”

What should Clearwater do about affordable housing? Candidates weigh in.

In Clearwater, just like the rest of Tampa Bay, rents are rising, home ownership has become less affordable, and residents are looking to local government for solutions.

At a City Council candidate forum last week, the six candidates running for two seats in the March 15 election were asked whether they would support declaring a housing state of emergency.

Only Seat 4 candidate Maranda Douglas and Seat 5 candidate Jonathan Wade said yes.

“When people can’t afford to stay in their house and have a place to stay, that’s an emergency,” said Wade, pastor of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church.