Florida Trend Exclusive
Splitsville meets nicheville
Florida’s divorce rate dropped by more than half over the last three decades, from 6.3 per 1,000 people in 1990 to 3.1 per 1,000 in 2022, mirroring a national trend toward fewer divorces. Even amid that decline, the failure rate for Florida’s 12.9 million married couples still provides plenty of breakup business for Florida’s family law attorneys — and room to specialize. [Source: Florida Trend]
Florida House passes E-Verify measure, but bill looks dead in the Senate
Despite the Senate’s inaction, the House passed a bill Wednesday requiring all employers to use an online system to verify that their new hires can legally work in the country. Public agencies, their contractors, and companies with more than 25 employees are now required to use E-Verify, but companies with fewer than 25 employees would also have to use the system under HB 955 from Seminole Republican Rep. Berny Jacques. House lawmakers approved the change, 88-25, with seven Democrats joining every Republican in supporting the bill. [Source: Florida Phoenix]
‘Uncharted waters’: Florida House, Senate eye sweeping changes to hotel tax
A significant source of tax revenue for Florida's tourism industry is in flux as the Florida House eyes using money collected from visitors to give homeowners a property tax break. The proposal calls for taking money collected from tourists and using it to provide Florida homeowners with a credit on their property tax bill. For tourist-rich Orange County, that change would affect roughly $360 million in annual tax revenue paid by visitors staying in hotels and short-term rentals. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Florida attorney general pivots, says cops can enforce immigration law blocked by judge
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Wednesday told state and local law enforcement agencies that he cannot “prevent” them from enforcing a new state immigration law and that if they continue to make arrests of undocumented immigrants entering Florida, he thinks it would be lawful — even though a federal judge specifically ruled otherwise. [Source: Miami Herald]
89 fires burning 3,400 acres in Florida
While the number of wildfires burning in Florida dropped slightly overnight, don't think conditions are improving. They're not. There were 89 wildfires currently burning in Florida on Wednesday, April 23, affecting more than 3,400 acres, according to the Florida Forest Service. There may be slightly fewer fires burning — there were 92 on Tuesday — but they're affecting more acres than 24 hours ago, when 2,900 acres were affected. [Source: Florida Times-Union]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Visit Pensacola warns of economic risks with bill allowing flexible use of TDT funds
A proposal was filed this week that would get rid of Tourism and Development councils by the end of this year. House Bill 1221 frees up the use of Tourism Development Tax dollars. It would allow counties to use TDT funds for anything with hopes of providing a credit to residents for property taxes. But people in Pensacola are ringing the alarm on the effects it could have on the economy.
› Vacant storefronts and stalled projects challenge downtown Jacksonville's renaissance
Despite years of promises, proposals and press conferences, some of downtown Jacksonville’s most prominent properties, and storefronts in between, remain stuck in time — hollowed-out husks with broken windows, fading facades and no clear path forward. While the city pours resources into a handful of high-profile sites’ revitalization efforts, other properties have become “zombies,” abandoned and underutilized for years.
› Construction begins on Florida's first wildlife overpass crossing I-4 near Lakeland
Less than a year after the first wildlife crossing under Interstate 4 opened in Polk County, another passage is in the works. As part of the replacement of the State Road 33 interchange, the Florida Department of Transportation is constructing a wildlife overpass on I-4 about six miles to the west. Contractors have installed three test pilings for the crossing, which will be the first dedicated wildlife overpass in Florida, FDOT spokesperson Patricia Pichette said.
› New insurer says it will be open to South Florida homeowner business
A new homeowner insurance company has been approved to offer coverage, and its CEO says that South Florida looks like “a very good place to write business.” While St. Petersburg-based Patriot Select Property and Casualty has been organizing for a year and a half, it took until April 14 to show the Office of Insurance Regulation that it had raised the required $30 million capital investment, CEO John Rollins said in an interview.
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› These South Florida beaches are new award-winners, touted as some of the best coastlines
Boca Raton and Delray Beach were two of only three cities in the United States to earn awards for having some of the best beaches in the world, according to an international organization. The Blue Flag Beach Award is given to beaches that comply with “stringent environmental, educational, safety and access-related criteria annually,” according to the Blue Flag website. Blue Flag is presided over by the Foundation for Environmental Education.
› Pinellas to withdraw from Duke clean energy program
As Duke Energy continues to face pushback from local leaders and residents about rising utility costs, Pinellas County made a move this week that would loosen its ties to the energy company. Pinellas County commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday that will end the county’s participation in Duke’s Clean Energy Connection program, through which subscribers help pay for solar power plants across the state in return for future savings on monthly bills.
› OnePlanet Solar Recycling plans $90 million expansion in Green Cove Springs
OnePlanet Solar Recycling announced April 22 it will begin work in 2026 on a $90 million solar panel recycling facility, its second in Green Cove Springs. It is expected to be in operation by 2027 and join the company’s prototype facility it opened in 2024. One Planet Solar Recycling, founded in 2023, is headquartered in Jacksonville.
› Grassroots preservation group aims to buy more North Port Scrub-jay habitat
The Environmental Conservancy of North Port is seeking to raise $15,500 by May 31 to purchase a quarter-acre lot in an active Florida Scrub-jay zone off of Armour Terrace in the city. Purchase of that lot, which is already home to one gopher tortoise, would double the size of the existing Kathleen Belleville Nature Preserve, when combined with a 2022 purchase.