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The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a crucial reinsurance program, will have an estimated $6.72 billion in cash to pay claims during the 2025 storm season, according to a report approved Monday by a panel that helps oversee the program. The so-called Cat Fund also would have access to about $3.25 billion in borrowed money through what are known as “pre-event” bonds.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill to revamp condominium-safety laws passed after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside that killed 98 people. The wide-ranging bill (HB 913), approved unanimously by the House and Senate in April, was crafted after residents and condominium associations argued that the laws passed after the collapse were driving up costs.

President-elect Donald Trump vowed to undo a directive Monday by President Joe Biden that would ban oil and natural gas drilling off Florida’s coasts. During an appearance with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump called Biden’s directive “ridiculous” and said he had the right to “unban” drilling immediately.

Six weeks after the regularly scheduled session ended, legislative leaders finished negotiating details of a spending plan Friday for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a bill that includes preventing local governments from adding fluoride to water supplies. The bill (SB 700), dubbed the “Florida Farm Bill.” makes a series of changes related to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Yes, use fluoride for your teeth, that’s fine, but forcing it in the water supply is basically forced medication on people,” DeSantis said during a bill-signing event in Dade City. “They don’t have a choice. You’re taking that away from them.”

In the presidential race in Florida, former President Donald Trump topped Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 13 percentage points in unofficial results as of about 9:30 p.m. Scott was defeating Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by more than 12 percentage points.

Perseverance, a lucky sweater, and an uncanny resemblance to one of world’s most iconic authors. That was the winning formula that helped a 69-year-old man from Key West, Florida, win the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest title this weekend in the Southernmost City in the U.S.A Key West local, Tim Stockwell, captured the coveted title, beating out more than a hundred contestants to make the top 5. And it was in that final round that he offered a compelling story as to why he deserved to be “Papa 2025.”

State lawmakers and members of Congress will be able to visit a controversial immigrant-detention center in the Everglades on Saturday, after some Democratic legislators last week were denied access to inspect the facility. The Florida Division of Emergency Management on Wednesday sent an email inviting “congressional and state legislators” to tour the detention center, which state officials hurriedly erected as part of an effort to help President Donald Trump’s deportation of undocumented immigrants.

The industry group Florida Realtors last week released a report that showed the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in March was $412,500. The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island SMSA again leads the state with a median home price of $800,000.A median home price is the middle value in a collection of home sales prices with half the homes selling at a lower price and half higher. This is how the typical home price in a given area or market is calculated, giving a better representation than the average price, which can be skewed by extreme values.

A $150 million-plus effort to allow recreational use of marijuana in Florida fizzled out Tuesday, falling short of the needed 60 percent voter approval and delivering a major victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis.