Cannabis industry gears up for potential gold rush

Momentum is building to legalize adult, non-medical use of cannabis in Florida, with a ballot initiative well on its way to becoming a factor in the 2024 general election. Legalization could lead to a business bonanza as the Sunshine State, with only a medical marijuana program currently, is already the nation’s third-largest cannabis market. [Source: Business Observer]

Florida House and Senate advance proposed record spending plans for 2023-2024 year

House and Senate budget committees Tuesday quickly advanced proposed record spending plans for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, with key differences set to be hammered out after an Easter holiday break. Among the numerous differences, the House has proposed spending $107.9 million to expand the size of the Florida State Guard, while introducing a proposal that would cut state funding from the tourism-marketing agency Visit Florida. The Senate wants to spend $80 million on Visit Florida, up $30 million from the current year and doesn’t propose an increase in state guard funding. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Florida's insurance market is drowning in $1B+ of losses, report shows

U.S. property insurance companies posted the worst year of underwriting losses that the industry has seen in over a decade. The Florida property insurance market is a poster child for the industry’s tough year. Insurance companies with business in the state collectively had losses greater than $1 billion for the second consecutive year in 2022, and even more financial pain is expected once the total loss of Hurricane Ian is realized, according to an Insurance Information Institute report. [Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal]

DeSantis signs $711M affordable housing bill. Advocates say it doesn’t go far enough.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Wednesday a bill that pumps $711 million into affordable housing, a move that developers cheered but others said didn’t go far enough to help typical Floridians struggling to pay rent or buy houses. Dubbed the Live Local Act, the bill (SB 102) from Senate President Kathleen Passidomo redirects some tax revenue toward affordable housing over the next 10 years and creates incentives for developers of affordable projects. It essentially doubles the money Florida spent on affordable housing last year. But it also strips local governments of control over certain projects and outlaws local rent-control ordinances such as the one Orange County considered last year. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

What are the best Florida restaurants? Yelp reveals Top 100 of 2023, ranked

One of the world's most popular review websites has again chosen to spotlight restaurants in the Sunshine State. Following its first-ever such list last year, Yelp recently revealed its ranking for the "Top 100 Florida Restaurants." The list includes numerous neighborhood gems as well as a restaurant our USA TODAY Network Florida Entertainment Team recently picked for best waterfront restaurants. [Source: Florida Today]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› After Ian: Thousands of Sarasota County residents remain stranded; local groups offer hope [Sarassota Herald-Tribune]
As the region hits the six-month anniversary of Ian’s deadly rampage across Southwest Florida, hundreds if not thousands of local families are awaiting or have been denied relief from insurance or FEMA – many forced to live in campers or their cars. But for some residents, help may be on the way, say community leaders.

› Last Winter Garden citrus plant closes [Orange Observer]
The packing house was eerily quiet Wednesday, March 8, without the sounds of the machines whirring and the oranges and grapefruit tumbling down the conveyor belts to be sorted, boxed and bagged and shipped around the world. After 84 years of citrus production at its packing house in Winter Garden, Heller Bros. Packing Corp. has ceased operation.

› Parking in St. Petersburg likely to get easier, thanks to the Rays [Tampa Bay Times]
Hundreds of parking spaces near downtown, the EDGE and Grand Central districts could come online soon, courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays and the city of St. Petersburg have an agreement to allow the public to park on six lots surrounding Tropicana Field on nongame days. According to city documents, the Rays requested help on enforcing parking violations and the areas surrounding downtown need parking for customers and employees.

› Miami unemployment lowest in history [Miami Today]
Employers struggling to find candidates to fill jobs now know why: Miami-Dade’s unemployment in February was the lowest on record at 1.7%. The previous record low was 1.8% unemployment in the condo boom – before the condo bust – in December 2005 and February 2006, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics records that stretch back to 1990.

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› Residents of historically Black Florida town sue to stop land sale [AP]
One of the first historically Black towns in the U.S. is suing the local school board to stop the sale of land that is tied up with Florida’s legacy of racial segregation decades ago and the state’s fast-paced growth nowadays. An association dedicated to the preservation of the town of Eatonville’s cultural history last Friday sued the Orange County School Board in an effort to stop the sale of the 100-acre property where the Robert Hungerford Preparatory High School once stood.

› Miami-Dade waste, recycling programs to operate at loss [Waste Today Magazine]
Florida’s Miami-Dade County has renewed contracts with three companies to ensure continued waste collection and recycling services, but the county’s department of solid waste management will operate at a $17 million loss over the next two years as a result. The county recently approved contract extensions with Houston-based WM; Woodlands, Texas-based Waste Connections; and Coastal Waste & Recycling, Boca Raton, Florida, to handle its recycling and waste hauling.

› Tampa Bay waited long for Major League Baseball. Here’s the story. [Tampa Bay Times]
The Tampa Bay region was zero for 7 in its chase for a Major League Baseball team before the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays began playing in 1998. Count them. There were failed efforts to relocate the Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants, and then a presumed National League expansion team that went elsewhere. This was baseball in Tampa and St. Petersburg in the 1980s and early 1990s.

› Talkin’ Tacos bringing South Florida vibe to two Jacksonville locations [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Just three years after moving from a food truck into three brick-and-mortar locations in South Florida, Talkin’ Tacos is coming to Jacksonville. The first franchise location is expected to open in the second quarter of 2023 at 1300 Beach Blvd. in Jacksonville Beach. The location is the former Mini Bar Donuts shop, which closed in February.