Florida's Latest News

Gov. DeSantis says property tax Special Session will be scheduled sometime before the end of July

Gov. Ron DeSantis is keeping scheduling logistics in mind as he mulls when to set a Special Session that could lead to voters deciding on whether to eliminate homestead property taxes.

“We’re consulting to make it convenient for everybody. And that will be done,” he said in Fort Myers.

DeSantis added that he has until “Aug. 1 in order to get on the ballot,” sniping at people who wonder why it has taken him so long to formalize a proposal he’s been teasing for months.

“They’re voting on it in November,” he said, referring to voters who would have to pass the measure via a constitutional amendment.

DeSantis has given many rationalizations for taking his time formulating a specific plan, even as the general trend of his comments has been the progressive dilution of a proposal he once called “revolutionary.”

House bill could give millions of dollars in tax breaks to aerospace industry

As lawmakers return to Tallahassee Tuesday for a Special Session to approve the budget, one bill for consideration would create millions of dollars in tax breaks for Florida’s aerospace and defense industry.

HB 7031-E is sponsored by Rep. Wyman Duggan, a Jacksonville Republican who is also the Chair of the House Ways & Means Committee.

The House tax bill would expand the law to include nongovernmental tenants doing projects with Space Florida as having an “essential governmental purpose” so they would be exempt from paying ad valorem taxes.

HB 7031-E would give the property tax exemptions if the property is owned by Space Florida and is leased by a company working “with a defense or aerospace contract, program, or project authorized by the board of directors of Space Florida.” The impact of the tax break would be about $11 million per year, according to the House Committee’s analysis.

Gov. DeSantis signs legislation to round up or down a nickel as pennies fade away

Florida is getting ready for a penny-less world.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that allows vendors to round up or down to the nearest nickel when people pay with cash, now that pennies are no longer being manufactured.

DeSantis signed SB 1074 with little fanfare on Monday, without holding a public news conference, as he has with other higher-profile bills.

During the 2026 Legislative Session, lawmakers said SB 1074 was needed to prepare Florida for the fact that the federal government stopped producing pennies last year.

“We will soon get to the point, as pennies are no longer in circulation, where your customer won’t have the proper amount of pennies to pay … so this bill will codify how you should round in those circumstances,” said Rep. Fiona McFarland, who sponsored the House version while Sen. Don Gaetz carried the Senate version.

Spirit served millions of passengers at Fort Lauderdale airport. Who will do it now?

Parking was a breeze, the hot coffee arrived within moments and the TSA lines at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport’s Terminal 4 last week seemed to be among the shortest in months.

But for visitors who thought it was all a sign of airport efficiency, the appearances were deceiving. Bankrupt Spirit Airlines, the pioneering “hometown” discount carrier for Greater Fort Lauderdale and main occupant of Terminal 4, was long gone, shut down the previous weekend amid a cash shortage and a lack of political and lender appetites for a U.S. government bailout.

“I can’t believe they shut Spirit Airlines,” said an airport worker who videoed the vacated terminal.

Outside, five of Spirit’s signature yellow Airbus jetliners awaited possible trips to storage. Three others sat along the airport’s northern perimeter. Midweek, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge allowed Spirit to sell its remaining planes, engines and equipment.