Jim Turner/News Service of Florida
-
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis suggested the state should have looked again at the prices of three conservation-land deals that totaled $193 million before they were approved Tuesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Cabinet members.Patronis said after the Cabinet meeting that a federal judge’s ruling last month in a battle about wetlands permitting has affected the appraised values of the 27,742 acres of agricultural land in Polk, Seminole, Hendry and Collier counties.
-
Florida’s agriculture industry hopes a newly passed bill that would limit local regulations on farmworker housing will bolster efforts to bring in more non-immigrant foreign workers.The bill (SB 1082), which lawmakers unanimously passed, would prevent cities and counties from taking steps to “inhibit” construction of housing for farmworkers on agricultural land. The bill has not been formally sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who can sign, veto or allow the legislation to become law without his signature.
-
Florida pension-fund managers are ready to begin the process of dropping investments in China-owned companies, anticipating that Gov. Ron DeSantis will sign a bill directing divestment.The bill (HB 7071), which was unanimously approved last week by the House and Senate, would require the State Board of Administration to develop a plan by Sept. 1 for selling holdings tied to companies that are majority-owned by the Chinese government, the Chinese communist party or the Chinese military. Divestment would then have to occur within one year.
-
A controversial proposal designed to prevent homeless people from sleeping in public places while requiring local governments to address the issue is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis.The Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday voted 27-12 along party lines to pass the bill (HB 1365), which would bar cities and counties from allowing people to sleep at places such as public buildings and in public rights of way. The House approved the bill last week, and DeSantis has voiced support for it.
-
Legislation backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that seeks to prevent homeless people from sleeping in public places is ready to go to the full Senate and House.The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Thursday voted 14-4 to back the Senate version of the bill (SB 1530), a short time after the House Health & Human Services Committee voted 17-3 to approve the House version (HB 1365).
-
The Florida House on Wednesday rolled out a proposal to divest an estimated $277 million in state pension-fund investments in Chinese state-owned companies.The proposal, approved by the House State Affairs Committee, would require the State Board of Administration to develop a plan for selling holdings tied to Chinese companies by Sept. 1 and complete divestment within one year. The State Board of Administration invests state money, including in the pension fund.
-
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday supported legislation that seeks to prevent homeless people from sleeping in public places such as streets, sidewalks and parks, as a Senate committee moved forward with the proposal.“I think what we're envisioning is providing some support for counties for additional sheltering, providing some financial support for both substance abuse (programs) and mental health,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Miami Beach, as he stood behind a podium that said: “Don't Allow Florida to become San Francisco.”
-
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he is deploying members of the Florida State Guard and additional members of the Florida National Guard to Texas, which is in a dispute with the federal government about undocumented immigrants entering the country.“I believe that a state has a right to fortify its own borders,” DeSantis said during an appearance at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville.
-
A Senate committee Monday backed a proposal that would prevent counties and cities from allowing people to sleep or camp on public property without permits.Bill sponsor Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, called his proposal (SB 1530) a way to address a mental-health crisis in the state and to assist the “chronically homeless.”
-
The Florida State Guard, revived by Gov. Ron DeSantis, could operate outside Florida and be called into service anytime he “deemed necessary,” under a bill approved Thursday by a House panel.The House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee voted 11-3 to support a proposal (HB 1551) that would remove part of a law that keeps the State Guard’s activities only in the state.