Florida's Latest News

Vance and Walz keep it civil in a policy-heavy discussion: VP debate takeaways

Vice presidential hopefuls Tim Walz and JD Vance focused their criticism on the top of the ticket on Tuesday as they engaged in a policy-heavy discussion that may be the last debate of the 2024 presidential campaign.

It was the first encounter between Minnesota’s Democratic governor and Ohio’s Republican senator, following last month’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. It comes just five weeks before Election Day and as millions of voters are now able to cast early ballots.

Tuesday’s confrontation played out as the stakes of the contest rose again after Iran fired missiles into Israel, while a devastating hurricane and potentially debilitating port strike roiled the country at home. Over and again, Walz and Vance outlined the policy and character differences between their running-mates, while trying to introduce themselves to the country.

Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s debate.

Gov. DeSantis says convicts are helping out with Helene cleanup

Gov. Ron DeSantis says prisoners are helping the state recover from Hurricane Helene. Speaking in Horseshoe Beach, DeSantis remarked on “debris” being cleaned up by inmates, which facilitates taxpayer savings.

“We’re utilizing our resources. We’ve got low-security inmates that are out there who do normal prison labor. The Department of Corrections is bringing them to help with hurricane cleanup,” DeSantis said.

The Governor went on to discuss savings from them being “out there cleaning up in the debris, which would cost us way more money if you had to do that through some of these private contractors.”

It’s unclear how many convicts have been tasked with storm recovery. Visitation at some facilities was curtailed for a few days, being reinstated on Sunday. And more than 4,600 inmates were relocated to hardened facilities ahead of the storm’s landing.

Jared Moskowitz calls for Congress to ‘act swiftly’ on $15B proposal for Hurricane Helene relief

No stranger to post-disaster response, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz is proposing $15 billion in supplemental appropriations to help areas devastated by Hurricane Helene pick up the pieces.

Moskowitz, a Broward Democrat, just filed a bill that would earmark $10 billion for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relief efforts and $5 billion for related endeavors by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“The devastation we’re seeing across the Southeast, especially in North Carolina, is simply unprecedented. While the administration is utilizing every tool at its disposal to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene, it’s up to Congress to make sure that FEMA and HUD get the funds they need. So many lives have already been lost or forever changed, and many others are still at risk,” he said in a statement.

“Congress should’ve dealt with this funding shortfall before we went on recess, but now we must act swiftly to pass this supplemental. Emergency management can’t be a partisan issue — hurricanes don’t just hit Republican areas or Democratic areas. We have to come together to show the American people government still works.”

New Florida law requires real estate sellers to disclose a property’s flood risk

A new Florida law effective Tuesday requires the disclosure of a property’s flood risk to buyers by the seller. Before HB-1049, property owners and real estate agents selling homes in Florida didn’t have to tell buyers about a property’s risk for flooding.

The new law changes that, and requires sellers to disclose if a property has had any filed insurance claims for flood damage and whether federal assistance has been granted before due to flooding. The language of the law outlines a definition for what constitutes a flood.

Rose Kemp, president of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, said laws for transparency in the homebuying process strengthen the market.

“I think that's actually a really positive thing for the market. We can't have enough of ensuring that people know what they're getting into. It's obviously the largest transaction most people make. We don't want the American dream to turn into the American nightmare. So things like this are good,” she said.