Florida's Latest News

Florida House, Senate remain far apart on budget as session nears end

House Speaker Daniel Perez says it’s “looking tough” for Florida lawmakers to complete a budget by the end of next week, the scheduled end of the legislative session.

“We're still having conversations in the hopes of eventually getting closer,” Perez said on Wednesday afternoon. “We have a fundamental disagreement on what the budget should look like.”

The Senate’s proposal is around $115 billion, which is nearly $1.5 billion more than what the House wants.

“I don't think that I'm very flexible on wanting to spend more money,” he said. “And it's not just about the overall number. I think it's also about how it's spent. But we aren't even at that part of the conversation yet.”

He continued: “We aren't talking about specific allocations. We're talking about the bigger number, and that's something that, although we are still conversing, it is a very light and short conversation that I wish would move faster.”

Farm bill, stripped of food libel language, is headed to the governor

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services package, amended and defended, is on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The House passed it, 94-10, Tuesday; the Senate approved it unanimously last month.

The 10 votes in opposition were all Democrats.

Following an involved committee path in each chamber, the most controversial provision, regarding food libel, was amended out. It would have created a legal cause of action for agriculture producers against people criticizing their products or practices. One commonly cited example involves criticism of sugar growers that burn off their fields ahead of harvest, sending smoke through neighboring communities.

That left a land conservation provision to cause consternation. That language would allow state land designated for conservation to be reviewed by a state council to determine suitability for commercial agriculture. If it’s found suitable, the land could be sold by the government.

USDA signs disaster declaration after Florida takes $3.1B in winter freeze losses

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has signed a disaster declaration for Florida, unlocking federal aid for farmers grappling with over $3.1 billion in losses from a historic winter freeze that devastated key crops like sugarcane, citrus, and strawberries.

State Rep. Kat Cammack joined U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins Wednesday as Rollins signed the disaster declaration for Florida counties affected by a historic winter freeze earlier this year.

The declaration comes after a bipartisan push from Florida’s congressional delegation urging the USDA to provide relief for farmers and producers hit by the late-January, early-February freeze. In a letter to the administration, members of the delegation stressed the urgency of deploying disaster assistance and called on USDA and Congress to ensure adequate funding to help producers recover.

Preliminary estimates from the USDA and Consumer Services show more than $3.1 billion in agricultural losses statewide. Florida officials say the freeze caused major damage to sugarcane, citrus, strawberries and other key commodities.

Florida may expand Capitol Police patrols in Tallahassee

The Florida House, with scant debate, voted to nearly double the size of the Capitol Police's jurisdiction, giving it authority over a whopping 20-block area of downtown Tallahassee. 

Rep. Adam Botana, R-Bonita Springs, said the idea for the bill (HB 975) came to him after seeing what he called vagrants milling about downtown during his daily strolls, causing him worry about the safety of his staff.

The idea has faced little opposition in the House, passing on a 89–22 vote on March 4, but Botana worries whether the bill will make it to the governor's office this year.

The Senate has yet to hear the companion measure in any committee and there's fewer than two weeks left in a session scheduled to end March 13. That means the House is at the mercy of the Senate to take up its bill and pass it unchanged.