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Monday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Old tax breaks hang on, even as new ones pass
The Florida Legislature is proving this spring that it's a lot easier to pass a new tax break than it is to get rid of an old one. It's a sign of the influence that businesses wield in a Republican-controlled Legislature, where many lawmakers are philosophically inclined to support tax cuts. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Lawmakers seek to draw medical tourists to Florida
Florida lawmakers have a new vision for the tourism industry. Forget Mickey Mouse and the beaches. Their goal is to make Florida an international destination for people seeking top-notch medical care. [Source: Times/Herald]
See also:
» Legislative budgets have money to boost tourism
Rush begins for legal marijuana money
If medical marijuana becomes legal in Florida, someone is going to make money from it. Already, a crowd of would-be investors and entrepreneurs are forming on the ground floor. Since last summer, more than 60 businesses have incorporated in Florida with names suggesting the founders intend to get into the medical marijuana business. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
An Everglades restoration project that's working
Much of the massive plan to restore the Everglades exists in theory, a vast and complicated circuit of interconnected canals, culverts, gates and reservoirs, mostly located far inland and far from people. Few sections have been built. Far more exist only in computer models. But in the last two years, engineers have been fine-tuning a small but uniquely accessible project. [Source: Miami Herald]
Blueberry bushes and business blooming in Florida
In the early years of Florida's foray into growing blueberries, there were a lot of naysayers. We were a citrus state, a tomato state, a strawberry state. But the area of blueberries harvested in the state has roughly tripled over the last 10 years, and this year's crop is likely to reach 25 million pounds. More at the Tampa Bay Times and the AP.
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Lack of room for tourists seen by some as a critical void
Is Southwest Florida poised to be the victim of its own success? Since the recovery, visitor bureaus in Manatee and Sarasota counties have reported year after year of record-breaking growth. But to some local tourism officials, those days may be numbered.
› Rising sea level will dramatically change South Florida landscape
Few parts of the United States are as vulnerable to sea level rise as South Florida. As the water level rises in the coming years and decades, the impact will dramatically change South Florida’s landscape.
› Broward's housing market one of nation's most overvalued, says real estate website
Recent price spikes have turned Broward County's housing market into one of the nation's most overvalued — but it's still far too soon to worry about another bubble, analysts say. As of the first quarter of 2014, Broward homes were worth 6 percent more than their fundamental values, according to real estate website Trulia.com.
› Need for more HCA trauma centers not clear-cut
Officials at one of the nation's largest hospital chains have made a powerful argument to defend their unprecedented expansion of Florida's trauma system: Hospital Corporation of America is saving lives.
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