Budget chiefs see progress on state spending plan
House and Senate budget negotiators agreed to pay raises for state employees, with bigger boosts going to law enforcement officers and firefighters, as talks continued on a state spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget chiefs said they hope to close out the remainder of unresolved issues involving health care, education, general government and natural resources, along with associated bills and a tax package, later this week. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Florida still without CFO after more than six months
Florida has gone more than six months without an appointee for its Chief Financial Officer, and the delay in naming a replacement is drawing criticism—including from the man who last held the job. Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL1), who announced his intentions in November and formally resigned at the end of March to run for Congress, is now publicly urging Governor Ron DeSantis to appoint a new CFO, warning of a growing leadership vacuum in one of the state’s most important offices. [Source: WPTV]
Invasive pythons are reprogramming themselves to expand their range
Stone crab captains have found pythons swimming 15 miles offshore or coiled around crab trap buoys. They'll also help themselves to armadillo or threatened gopher tortoise burrows. The snakes use the other critters' homes to escape the cold and, researchers have learned, as nurseries. This allows the cold-sensitive snakes to march farther north.[Source: Naples Daily News]
From the sky, the ground, the sea. The three ways South Florida gets flooded
Climate change has already brought more coastal flooding to South Florida. You see it during many annual king tides, pushing salt water over sea walls and docks and filling streets from the Florida Keys to Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. But the growing risk of what’s known as compound flooding extends far inland and isn’t just from rising seas. It’s a triple threat that will add to the region’s challenges of staying dry this year and many years to come. [Source: Miami Herald]
Should Florida change term limits?
Over 30 years ago, Florida voters amended the state’s constitution to limit legislators’ terms to eight years. At the Tampa Tiger Bay Club Friday, political leaders favored overturning term limits. Former state legislators Bob Henriquez and Tom Lee, current State Senator Darryl Rouson, and lobbyist Ron Pierce spoke at the forum. All were in favor of abolishing term limits – including Rouson, who’s served for the last 17 years in Tallahassee. [Source: WMNF]
From the Sunshine State to Oxford — a bright future indeed
When Tyler Fisher earned a Bright Futures Scholarship and went on to attend the University of Central Florida (UCF), he didn’t know that would only be the beginning of his adventure in higher education. The son of middle school teachers, Fisher always knew college was in his future. The oldest of his siblings, he didn’t want to burden his parents to pay the cost of tuition and housing. Yet from an early age, he knew that the Bright Futures Scholarship could open the doors to his future. [Sponsored report]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› NHL's state income tax debate heats up with the Florida Panthers back in the Stanley Cup Final
The Florida Panthers are two wins away from becoming the fifth Stanley Cup champion in the past six years from a U.S. state with no income tax. The run has made taxes something of a hot topic around the league. Many contenders going deep in the playoffs come from Sun Belt locales, but the financial benefit is one advantage of many for them in attracting and retaining players. Or is it?
› Jacksonville-based Project Rotunda approved for incentive
A manufacturer code-named Project Rotunda is poised to expand its operations in Jacksonville after City Council approved a $1.1 million incentive for the company June 10. The Council voted 18-0 to support the company, which resembles an affiliate of heavy equipment dealer Ring Power Corp., in plans to build a new manufacturing facility after outgrowing its current site.
› SpaceX plans up to 76 Starship launches annually from old Delta IV launch site
The first of two Environmental Impact Statements around SpaceX plans for Starship launch sites on the Space Coast was released last week, and it lays out the company’s plans to fly as many as 76 times a year from Cape Canaveral Space Station. The Department of the Air Force owns the property at Space Launch Complex 37 that was most recently used by United Launch Alliance, but was shut down after the final launch of ULA’s last Delta IV Heavy rocket in 2024.
› Record passenger traffic — again — at St. Pete-Clearwater airport
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport has been busy. In a report stating this “was our biggest May in history,” the Pinellas County airport says passenger traffic for the month was up 13% when compared with a year ago. Overall, the number of people flying in and out this year is up 11% compared to last year.
More stories ...
› Naples-based Enveric Biosciences awarded patent for sleep disorder drug class
Enveric Biosciences, a biotechnology company headquartered in Naples, was awarded a new U.S. patent for a class of compounds that target melatonin receptors, potentially advancing treatments for sleep and central nervous system disorders.
› Florida to spend $118 million on conservation easements for 76,000 acres in North Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet on Tuesday approved spending nearly $118 million to conserve about 76,000 acres of land in North Florida. Using money from the Florida Forever program, the state will buy two conservation easements. Such easements are intended to shield land from potential development while allowing property owners to continue such things as agricultural operations.
› Formula E’s Miami E-Prix returns in 2026 with a new site — Hard Rock Stadium
FIA’s Formula E electric car racing series will run its 2026 Miami E-Prix at the same site as FIA’s Formula 1 runs its Miami Grand Prix — the Miami International Autodrome at Hard Rock Stadium. The Formula E event on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, won’t use the same 3.36-mile track used for the annual F1 race, rather one of four shorter configurations. Unlike the F1 course and accompanying event fuss, none of the four options will affect access roads to or from Florida’s Turnpike.
› Buc-ee’s Florida expansion: One of the largest convenience stores in the world by 2028
Buc-ee's plans to make make its Southwest Florida debut with one of the largest convenience stores in the world by 2028, based on timelines from corporate and government leaders. "Talking ballpark, two and a half, three years from now, something like that," said Stephen R. Deutsch, Florida's Charlotte County commissioner since 2010.