Florida's Latest News

MAGA Antitrust Agenda Under Siege by Lobbyists Close to Trump

The second Trump administration seemed poised to deliver on MAGA’s embrace of aggressive antitrust enforcement. Instead, those efforts have run headlong into power brokers with close ties to President Trump who have snatched up lucrative assignments helping companies facing antitrust threats.

The injection of politically connected lobbyists and lawyers into antitrust investigations is a shift in an arena that for decades was a niche area dominated by specialized lawyers and economists.

Through these power brokers, companies have also been able to appeal to some of the president’s broader economic priorities to limit enforcement. Working through Mike Davis—a longtime Trump ally—and other consultants, Hewlett Packard Enterprise made commitments, not disclosed in court papers, that called for the company to create new jobs at a facility in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. The unusual offer was designed to ease the government’s opposition to the company’s merger with a major rival, Juniper Networks, which would reduce competition in the wireless networking market.

HPE hired a slate of politically-active lawyers and advisers including Arthur Schwartz—a political strategist close to Trump’s eldest son, Donald J. Trump Jr.—Will Levi, and Nick Iarossi. Levi served in the Justice Department during the first Trump administration. Iarossi is a top Florida-based lobbyist who expanded into Washington after Trump was elected a second time.

‘Limited’ oyster harvesting eyed in Apalachicola Bay

State wildlife officials could allow oyster harvesting in part of Northwest Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, where the fishery collapsed more than a decade ago and continues to struggle to recover.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff members have recommended a “limited opening,” as some oyster reefs in the bay have recovered “to a condition that could support limited commercial and recreational harvest.”

In a memo to commissioners, Jessica McCawley, director of the agency’s Division of Marine Fisheries Management, suggested a “lottery” to limit permits for recreational harvesters and new rules for the commercial industry. Restrictions could include such steps as a harvesting season between October and February; harvest limits each season and increased reporting requirements. The area has been closed to harvesting since 2020.

“The oyster regulations that were in effect prior to the closure are not appropriate for the current state of the resource,” McCawley wrote in the memo.

The issue is scheduled to go before the commission Aug. 14 during a meeting at the state Public Safety Institute in Havana. Rules that advance out of the meeting aren’t expected to be finalized until a November commission meeting.

FDA considering lowering sugar content to determine what is ‘orange juice’

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a proposed rule to change what qualifies as “orange juice” in response to industry requests.

The proposal still needs to be finalized, but the FDA wants to modernize regulations that would better reflect the modern orange crop.

The proposal centers on the sugar content in orange juice, or what is known as “Brix levels.” Modern citrus does not produce as much sugar as citrus in years past. The FDA wants the measure of sugar content used to identify orange juice to go from 10.5% sugar to 10% “to better align with today’s orange crop,” according to a Florida Citrus Mutual (FCM) news release.

Not only is the FCM backing the proposal, but the Florida Citrus Processors Association (FCPA) also supports it. Both groups petitioned the FDA to revise the standard that identifies liquid drink as orange juice with what they say would be appropriate Brix levels.

Those original standards were set to ensure the public is getting a product readily identifiable as orange juice. It’s unlikely that the change would significantly impact the taste of the product.

DeSantis announces fewer teacher vacancies in the state. That checks out in Central Florida

As the school year is set to begin, there are fewer open teacher positions in Central Florida public schools compared to last year.

Across the board, districts are reporting few to no teacher vacancies.

In Orange County, 0.5% of teaching jobs are vacant, while less than 2% need to be filled in Brevard. Flagler has no teacher vacancies.

Even in districts with more openings – Seminole has 20, Osceola 56, Volusia 66, Marion 71 and Polk 250 – numbers are lower than last year.

These numbers support Gov. Ron DeSantis' assertion last week that teacher vacancies in the state have improved.

DeSantis said there are 17.7% fewer teacher vacancies ahead of the school year across the state.

The Florida Education Association, the statewide teacher's union, said it will release its analysis later this month.