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'Make Florida more affordable': Senate President Ben Albritton talks legislative priorities

From considering elimination of property taxes to a "rural renaissance," Florida Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, has multiple priorities he's focusing on during this legislative session.

Albritton spoke with "The Florida Roundup's" Tom Hudson about some of those issues and his opinion on them. Below is a breakdown:

Eliminating property taxes

One key topic of interest in this session has been the concept of eliminating property taxes.

One proposal (SB 852) calls for a study exploring the potential impact of eliminating property taxes on things like education, infrastructure and emergency services. The News Service of Florida reports that, if passed, the study would need to be done by Oct. 1.

In general, it will take some time before any voting happens about cutting the taxes. However, Albritton told Hudson that the Legislature is looking at it closely.

"When you talk about getting rid of property taxes, that is a huge swing in the way that the money moves around in the state," he said. "It is calculus. It is not simple math. Those taxes are used locally to do a lot of things, and we just need to make sure that, you know, we approach this with both eyes open."

Blaise Ingoglia proposals giving voters new term-limit powers clear first Senate hurdle

Two proposals from Sen. Blaise Ingoglia that could cap the tenures of long-standing legislators in Tallahassee and throughout the state have cleared the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.

First, the committee approved SJR 536, which proposes a constitutional amendment on the 2026 General Election ballot.

It would potentially block legislators who served two full terms in the Senate and four terms in the House (16 years total) from returning for more time in the legislative branch.

An amendment from the temporarily absent Sen. Erin Grall that was presented by Jenn Bradley would have relaxed the cap to 24 years total. But it was deemed unfriendly by the sponsor and failed by a 3-3 vote.

Bradley is concerned by the “lifetime ban” that could result from Ingoglia’s measure, though she acknowledged the “ping pong” of legislators between one office and the other.

Tom Leek’s employment agreements bill advances

The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee passed a measure Monday that seeks to protect employer trade secrets and confidential information from being shared by former employees.

St. Augustine Republican Sen. Tom Leek introduced the bill (SB 922). If passed, it would allow employers to enter into non-compete and Garden Leave agreements to protect their business interests.

“The current law in Florida on restrictive covenants is insufficient to protect industries in which employees’ routinely access sensitive business information,” Leek said. “Under current law, if an employee with access to such information leaves for somewhere, employment with another company, an employer can go to court to seek to stop the former employee from using or disclosing the former employer sensitive business information.”

Leek noted that litigation could, however, be protracted, and added that by the time the court rules, the sensitive information may have already been disclosed.

Senate Appropriations Committee backs bills to promote government efficiency

The Senate Appropriations Committee is pushing a pair of bills that are part of the Senate’s government efficiency and accountability package.

The bills, which are being shepherded by President Pro Tempore Jason Brodeur and Sen. Gayle Harrell, would modernize the government’s accountability measures and add more cybersecurity protection and information technology oversight, the lawmakers said.

“Our state has been well served by the performance metrics, planning requirements, and accountability standards Governor Bush and legislative leaders put in place nearly 30 years ago,” said Senate President Ben Albritton in a statement.

“Florida has grown and changed a lot since that time, and today technology continues to revolutionize nearly every facet of our economy and our lives, at a pace never seen or felt before. It’s not enough to know government is completing a task or providing a service, we need to know if that service is being provided well, which means we need to have new, innovative ways to measure performance. Additionally, when it comes to cybersecurity, Floridians’ personal data, and the IT infrastructure of our state – our citizens expect us to get that right.”

Both bills are scheduled to be brought up Thursday during the next appropriations committee meeting.