Florida's Latest News

Florida House Panel Advances Proposal to Eliminate Lieutenant Governor, Restructure Executive Branch

A measure that would eliminate Florida’s lieutenant governor, restructure the state’s gubernatorial succession process, and establish a new Cabinet-level official responsible for government oversight advanced Tuesday as the House Government Operations Subcommittee voted 14-3 to approve House Joint Resolution 1325.

The proposed constitutional amendment, backed by Republican lawmakers, would repeal Section 2 of Article IV of the Florida Constitution, effectively abolishing the office of lieutenant governor. Under current law, the lieutenant governor serves as the governor’s second-in-command and assumes the governorship in cases of vacancy, impeachment, or incapacity. If the amendment is approved, gubernatorial succession would be determined by legislation rather than the constitution, with specific procedures to be outlined by state law.

The measure also creates a new position within Florida’s executive branch: the commissioner of government efficiency, who would be elected statewide and serve as a member of the Florida Cabinet alongside the attorney general, chief financial officer, and commissioner of agriculture. The new commissioner would be tasked with auditing, investigating, and reporting on fraud, waste, and inefficiency within the executive branch, as well as in counties, municipalities, and special districts. The position would absorb certain oversight responsibilities previously delegated to legislative committees and temporary task forces.

Jim Oberweis becomes first Republican to file for Byron Donalds’ seat in Congress

A former Illinois state Senator just became the first Republican to file to succeed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.

Jim Oberweis, former Chair of Oberweis Dairy, filed on March 5 to run in Florida’s 19th Congressional District.

The Bonita Beach Republican is no stranger to federal campaigns. Shortly after his 2012 election to the Illinois Senate, the businessman became the Republican nominee against U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, in 2014, according to Ballotpedia. He also ran for an open U.S. House seat in Illinois in 2020 but lost to Democrat Lauren Underwood, who still holds that seat today.

But now, Oberweis hopes to stake out ground early in a heavily Republican district in Southwest Florida. Donalds has already announced he will run for Governor in 2026, opening the federal office.

Coral Gables becomes Miami-Dade testing ground for Trump and DeSantis immigration crackdown

Coral Gables police officers will soon be the first in Miami-Dade County that the Trump administration will empower to stop, interrogate and arrest immigrants who they suspect are in the United States illegally. The Coral Gables Police Department’s new agreement with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement shines a spotlight on how the City Beautiful, known for its manicured lawns, hyper-strict code enforcement and pre-approved paint colors, has brought President Donald Trump’s and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on illegal immigration into the fold of local law enforcement. The city’s agreement is one in nearly 180 signed by local law enforcement agencies across Florida — by far the most of any state in the nation.

Already, the agreement is leading to residents’ concerns about its potential impact on community-focused policing, even as the city’s police chief says that the agreement is simply “operational” and meant to comply with a state law that requires locals to fully cooperate with federal immigration officials.

During a city commission meeting Tuesday — the first since the agreement was signed — Coral Gables Police Chief Edward James Hudak described the agreement as a “codification of not doing things from the hip.”

House panel gives first OK to Vicki Lopez’s latest condo safety package

A voluminous bill meant to strengthen Florida’s condo safety laws and penalize noncompliant associations just cleared its first House hurdle with ease.

Members of the Housing, Agriculture and Tourism Subcommittee voted unanimously to advance the legislation (HB 913), the latest condo-focused measure from Miami Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez.

The bill would block Citizens Property Insurance — Florida’s state-run insurer of last resort — from issuing or renewing policies for condo owners or associations that do not comply with existing inspection requirements.

Notably, most of the more than 11,000 condo buildings with three or more levels that must comply with the relatively new rules hadn’t done so by the Dec. 31 deadline.

HB 913 would also ban companies from double-dipping on condo safety work, a questionable practice scrutinized during a panel discussion on condo safety in January.

Under the proposal, a company that performs a building’s structural integrity reserve study would be prohibited from doing the subsequent repair work or having a financial interest in the entity that does it.