Florida's Latest News

Florida’s 2024-25 budget allocates $346M for energy-efficiency, lowering electricity bills

The 2024-25 Florida state budget includes $346 million for energy-efficiency improvements, aimed at lowering electricity bills for Florida residents. The allocation’s approval has drawn praise from clean energy advocates.

The funding will support various initiatives such as home energy-efficiency upgrades, appliance rebates, and weatherization programs. The measures are intended to reduce energy consumption and cut monthly utility costs for Florida households.

“This is a transformative investment that will directly help countless Floridians lower their electricity bills,” said Zachary Colletti, executive director for Conservatives for Clean Energy-Florida. “We applaud Gov. DeSantis for putting Florida families first and fighting to reduce energy costs at a time when we need it most.”

The budget includes programs like the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) and Home Efficiency Rebates (HER), which are designed to assist low- and moderate-income households.

Appeals court sides with DeSantis but sidesteps ‘executive privilege’ issue

Sidestepping what could have been a major ruling about the state’s public records laws, an appeals court on Wednesday upheld a judge’s decision that shielded Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration from releasing records.

The appeal stemmed from a public records request, filed by a person identified in court documents as J. Doe, seeking information from DeSantis’ office about influential conservatives involved in discussions about appointing Florida Supreme Court justices.

In a subsequent lawsuit, Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey rejected the public records request on a series of grounds, including that the governor had “executive privilege” that could be used to prevent release of certain documents.

Wednesday’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld the denial of the public records request but did not weigh in on the issue of executive privilege.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Cabinet affirms reduction to state’s Commercial Lease Sales Tax

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted on Wednesday to decrease the state’s Commercial Lease Sales Tax in a move expected to provide an estimated $1 billion in tax relief.

The ratification reduces the state sales tax rate on commercial rentals from 4.5 percent to 2.0 percent, effective June 1, 2024, and stems from 2021 legislation mandating a tax reduction once the Florida reemployment tax trust fund returned to pre-pandemic levels, a metric reached in April 2024. Consequently, the Florida Department of Revenue set the June 1 effective date for the tax cut. This revision impacts rents for office space, retail locations, warehouses, and self-storage units.

“This reduction in the Commercial Lease Sales Tax is a huge win for Florida businesses,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in a prepared statement following Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

“This is especially helpful to small business who often do not own their facilities like the big box stores. While Washington will tax and spend you to death, in Florida we work to keep more money in your pocket to help you grow your business.”

DeSantis declares state of emergency over Florida flooding

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) declared a state of emergency in five counties after severe flooding and rainfall impacted large areas of the state on Wednesday. The order affects Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Sarasota counties.

DeSantis said an area of low pressure resulted in “severe weather, widespread heavy rainfall with totals of 10 to 15 inches, and consequential flooding” across southern Florida on Wednesday with more weather expected in the coming days, according to the executive order.

He warned in the order that the weather could affect the “operational capability of critical infrastructure,” like major roadways, schools and airports. He said additional weather in the coming days will likely “exacerbate” the flood conditions in the affected areas.

The National Weather Service in Miami warned Wednesday afternoon of “life-threatening flooding” occurring in the area. The service urged residents to seek higher ground at the time and for drivers to get off the roads.