The Florida Roundup - Florida bans undocumented students from public universities, remembering 9/11, PACs pour money into midterms

Episode Date: September 11, 2026

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke with the statewide president of the United Faculty of Florida about the Board of Governors' decision to ban undocumented students from enrollment at the state’s public universities (00:00). Then, we remember the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and how Florida remains deeply connected to the events of that day (20:00). Plus, a look at how PACs are spending money in Florida’s midterm elections (37:12) and we bid farewell to longtime host Tom Hudson (45:16).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. And I'm Carlton Gillespie. Carlton, let's do first things first here before we have to talk about some really important news of the week for Floridians. But I want to welcome you as the new host of the Florida Roundup beginning next week. You're going to take over in this chair. And I couldn't be more excited for the audience to get to know you as well as for you to get to know our audience. Yeah, I'm thrilled, Tom. I mean, the cool thing about stepping into this, right?

This show is built on conversations. It's been 10 years of conversations of. learning about each other and to step in and continue to facilitate that and be here for that is it's the highlight of my professional career i'm looking forward to it it begins next week it's a new era second decade of the florida ronde we'll talk more about that later on this hour but let's get to it here because there's lots of headlines lots of important news here carlton to talk about including education and immigration because undocumented students are no longer welcome on campus at florida's public colleges and universities the governing body for the state's universities voted a week

ago requiring the state's dozen public universities to verify all their students are legally in the United States. Now, there was a similar rule that was approved approved two months ago for Florida's state colleges. This follows a vote by state lawmakers last year that repealed a 2014 law. That law allowed undocumented college students who went to high school here to pay in-state tuition for their college education. That law 12 years ago was supported by then governor Rick Scott. I want students that grow up in our state, they have the same chance to live the American dream that we all have for ourselves and our kids. And so if you grow up in our state, you're going to have, you're going to have, you're going to have in-state tuition just like your peers are going to

have. And you're going to know that your tuition is not going to be going up every year. That was in 2014. And one of the Republican supporters back then was Jeanette Nunez. It's simply a recognition that these students are here. Nunez back then was a member of the Florida House of Representatives. And she supported in-state for undocumented Florida students. She eventually became the lieutenant governor of the state and is now the president of Florida International University. Last year, she announced the law allowing in-state tuition

for undocumented students had, quote, served its purpose and run its course, end quote. She posted that on social media. But back in 2014, she was among the majority Republicans in the legislature who supported it. The vast majority of them have actually been acknowledged by the federal government under the deferred action childhood arrival status.

and as such will not be deported. They're staying here. They can work and they can become productive citizens. We reached out to Nunez's office, but didn't get a response. We also contacted current board a governor's member, former state senator Keith Perry, and did not hear back. About 8,000 students who are undocumented graduate from Florida high schools each year, according to an immigration advocacy group in higher education.

It estimates there are about 60,000 undocumented college students in Florida. That's one out of every 11 undocumented college students in the country. The ban on undocumented students from the state's colleges and universities begins next fall. But Carlton, we're going to talk about it right now here on the Florida Roundup. Who should benefit from public spending on public tuition in the state of Florida? Is it reasonable to require public college students to be in the United States legally? Who is responsible for checking that out? And will this ban deter illegal immigration in Florida and the United States?

United States. 305.995, 1800 is our phone number across the Peninsula and the Panhandle here live on this Friday. 305-995-1800. Maybe you're a teacher, one of the colleges and universities that are publicly funded here in Florida, a student, a former student, an alum, a graduate. You can also email your story, radio at the Florida Roundup.org. Joining us now is Robert Cassinello, statewide president for the United Faculty of Florida and the Associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida UCF. Robert, thank you so much for joining the Florida Roundup. Well, thank you for having me.

So Florida lieutenant governor, Jay Collins, on social media, called the decision, quote, the Florida way. But this wasn't the Florida way just 10 years ago, even among prominent Republicans who supported this initial bill in 2014. What has changed in Florida in the last 10 years to inspire this about face on the issue of undocumented students in public colleges getting in state tuition? Well, I think the partisan nature of our politics, you know, especially following the 2024 election, because we've seen the Trump administration

focus on people who are here, not just undocumented, but people who are documented and them pushing them out of the country. through a variety of means. So I think this kind of is a Florida's version of what the Trump administration is trying to do nationally. What are you seeing from students in your classes this semester? How are they grappling with this new students who may be undocumented that this affects? I mean, I typically wouldn't know if a person's legal status here who's in my class.

So I couldn't tell you how anyone feels to another, but I can't tell you that students that I've encountered are passionate about this issue because they see it as a human rights issue. They see it as an issue of compassion. And we have, you know, quite a few student organizations on our campus and a few campuses around the state who are protesting or speaking out against it. In fact, there were a number of students at Florida Gulf Coast University who spoke out against this measure when the Board of Governors. voted on it last Thursday, I believe it was.

Yeah, Robert, it's Tom Hudson. You're in the classroom at UCF. You lead statewide faculty organization. Do you expect to be responsible for knowing the legal status of an admitted student in your classroom beginning next fall? I mean, I don't think so. I wouldn't expect to be. This is sort of, you know, within the confines of the administration, probably the registrar's office or something like that.

And I would imagine in response to this policy, both in the state colleges as well as the public universities, they probably are going to fashion some kind of electronic recording a system to, you know, figure out who, you know, which students might be here undocumented and which students applying are undocumented. Would you anticipate enforcing this if a visa, for instance, expires in the middle of a semester or knowing a student who walks in on day one is lawfully in the United States, but perhaps by, you know, week 18 in the semester is not? I mean, I've seen administration not just at my university, but at colleges and universities around the state comply with whatever's coming down from the state. So I would imagine administrators are going to, you know, look at this as, you know, and fulfill the, you know, the expected obligation on the part of state elected officials who are telling them to ferret out undocumented students.

Robert, it's Carlton here. What happens to undocumented students who are partway through their degree, or like Tom said, their visa expires mid-semester or high schoolers who want to attend college? when this ban takes effect, what's the impact to them and their future prospects? Well, as I understood the policy, and I might have it wrong, but I read it right before the Board of Governors meeting, and it was my impression that not only is it going to apply to incoming students, but it's going to apply for students who are currently enrolled. So these institutions are going to figure out if they're going to comply with this policy, who is undocumented, who is not. So it's going to impact a student who might be undocumented and enrolled.

You know, their home college or university might pull them aside and tell them that they are no longer going to be allowed to attend and finish their degree. Robert, when you talk about institutions deciding if they want to comply with this policy, is it your understanding public universities and colleges in Florida have a choice? I like to think they have a choice. but I don't think they see it as a choice. I mean, I mean, I kind of like, and I don't want to like stretch this analogy too far, but there was a time, you know, in America

when public officials looked at things like Jim Crow laws and said those laws are immoral, so I won't enforce them. And I know Jim Crow laws are a little bit different than laws impacting immigration in this case, so I don't want to make a direct comparison, but there are incidences in our past, where through civil disobedience

that we look at laws that we find to be immoral or unethical, and we decide, choose not to abide by them. We're talking about immigration and education here in the state of Florida, on the Florida Roundup, the Board of Governors, the governing body for the state universities in Florida, recently approved policy banning

universities from enrolling students who are in the United States unlawfully, beginning with the fall semester of next year. 305-995-1800. And that policy would have undocumented students pay out-of-state tuition prices. They could attend school but pay much higher prices. Is that right, Robert? Yeah, that's correct.

And just to give a sense for our audience here, what is the gap there between in-state and out-of-state tuition for a student? Oh, I mean, it could be as high as like three times the amount of in-state. which is cost prohibitive, I'm sure, for many, many, many people in Florida who may have gotten here very young and attended, you know, high school for free and now, now have to pay this, this extra rate. There was a report from the Florida Policy Institute that said this could cost about $15 million in lost tuition money from the state college service. What are the financial implications this could have on universities, this loss of revenue from, as we said, Florida has quite a large. population of undocumented college students. Yeah, I mean, it's a, it's a trend that's continuing because of the policies of the

DeSantis administration onto our public higher ed system. So our public colleges and universities actually gain revenue from out of state tuition. So there's always been an incentive on the part of those institutions to admit out of state students because it's you know it's a financial gain for them and recently at least since covid you know the desantis administration policies onto higher ed have been such that it's that it has been discouraging international students and a lot of our hard sciences and engineering programs and such are filled with international students which is which which are the programs that state lawmakers, quite frankly, you know, find valuable in the state and want, you know,

want them to be vibrant programs. Yet at the same time, their policies are driving away international students and has their driving away international students, the number of students who are paying out-of-state tuition is declining. And this is being added on top of that. Robert, are those international students, are those international students crowding out Florida students in those science and engineering programs? I have not heard that.

I know lawmakers are saying that, policy makers are saying that, but I don't see that on the ground at all. In fact, enrollment is declining. And that's something going on around the entire country that we're in this kind of demographic cliff. Right, right. If high school students being less than they were in years past. I mean, there's no seats being taken up by someone and a resident of Florida, a resident. in the United States being pushed out. Robert, I just want to, it's a clarification on what this new policy is directed at. As we talked about in 2014, Florida lawmakers passed and then Governor

Scott signed into law allowing undocumented students enrolled in Florida public universities and colleges to pay in-state tuition. That law was then repealed. And then this policy, the way I understand it, is it bans public universities from accepting enrollment from students who are, quote, unlawfully, in quote, in the United States. That's correct. That a student who is not without legal status cannot enroll at all paying whatever amount to a Florida public university in college. Sure. Is that your understanding as well?

Yeah, that's how I understand. And I quite frankly, if I'm going to be honest, I don't know what mechanism they're going to have to document that person. There's a documentation question and enforcement question as well. Right, right. So it's like, I know like, you know, like now college universities just want to know your residency. You know, they're not looking to know your, you know, you don't show a birth certificate or, you know, anything like that to gain admins to a college university. But I guess that's going to change. And I don't know how it's going to change. Joining the conversation with us now is Woodrow in Tampa who is called in.

Woodrow. You're on the Florida Roundup. Hey, thanks for the time. I wanted to amplify your guest statement that. the students see this as a human rights issue. I agree. And I think opportunity is best laid at the feet of those that want to succeed. And so my question really goes back, and maybe there's evidence that DACA students, now that we have a decade of DACA students have performed well,

that they are eager to succeed. And I was curious if the panel or the guests might have any insight is do these students do well because they truly are here as opportunity is laid at their feet. And I'll take the answer off there. Robert, your response to that? Sure. I mean, you know, I, again, I don't know in my classes the residency status of students. So I can't speak to that specifically. But I can't say, you know, the students I've encountered, and I've taught on the college level now for 30 years, And, you know, students who, who most students, clear, clear majority of students who gain entrance to a college or university are motivated. And I think if we have motivated people who are here, you know, in an undocumented capacity, they are going to be students who want to learn, who want to do better.

And, you know, quite frankly, in Florida, and I would hope that Florida political appointees would want productive, residents of Florida. And I think there's nothing more productive than a young person. Robert, let's hear from a college education. Let's hear from Lori in Miami on line three.

Lori, you're on the radio. Go ahead. Hi. Well, sort of speaking to what that gentleman just said, as a fiscal conservative, I'm looking at a bunch of people who we've put all this money

into educating, adding whatever it is that we can do to put an investment into and now we want to take these people who we put all this money into and take them away, that just makes no fiscal sense. So what do you mean by investment that we've made into an undocumented student? We've put them in school for maybe up to, right from pre-K all the way through 12th grade.

That's important. And, you know, more to the point, the United States needs young people working just to fill in the gaps in the social security system. see your lawyer interesting point right robert because uh in the state of florida for a public education k through 12 uh your your your immigration status um is not required yeah man i want to thank lorry too because i wasn't thinking about that myself and i think that's an excellent point um something i will uh certainly communicate after this program to people who ask um but yeah that's a that's a very good point and you know And it shouldn't be lost, too, that, you know, undocumented residents of Florida are, you know,

a financial plus to the state coffers. You know, they're paying, they're paying taxes, but they're not, you know, they're not, you know, they're not going to be taking from Social Security or Medicare, things like that. So, I mean, you know, if it's a tax question. Yeah, that's a federal government thing. But the state of Florida argument is there is a health care, you know, there's a public health care, the state contribution to Medicaid, for instance, you know, and other types of social services that are paid for at the state level. But I take Lori's point that, you know,

that we're investing these young people, K through 12, and then we're kind of cutting them off and what happens to the investment, you know. Yeah. Thanks for joining us, Robert. Robert Casinello is the statewide president of the United Faculty of Florida and the Associate Professor of History

at the University of Central Florida. Robert, thank you for joining the Florida Roundup. All right. Thanks for having me. Hope you have a great rest of the semester, Robert, yeah, if you can send your thoughts to us, radio at the Florida roundup.org. Couldn't get to all the phone calls regarding immigration and education.

Radio at the Florida roundup.org. I'm Tom Hudson along with Carlton Gillespie, the new host beginning next week here of this program. And Carlton, we cannot let today go by, of course, without the very somber anniversary that is September 11th. We'll be talking about that anniversary

in particularly Florida's unique role in the terrorist attacks. And we say every Florida has a Florida story, but especially what happened on 9-11, there are so many interesting and unique ways that Florida connects to such a tragic story that happened 25 years ago today. Indeed. It's one of those unfortunate, awful milestones that Americans do remember where they were, who they were with, and what they were doing that day 25 years ago. If you want to share your reflections, send us a quick note. Radio at the

Florida roundup.org. Radio at the Florida roundup.org. And you are listening to this program called The Florida Roundup, and you're listening to it on your Florida Public Radio Station. This is the Florida Roundup. Thanks for being with us this week. I'm Tom Hudson. And I'm Carlton Gillespie. Next week on our program, automated license plate readers. You may know them by their colloquial name, flock cameras. Law enforcement professionals are split on the use of this technology, and it has people reigniting the age-old debate of privacy versus security. Florida has recently banned the cameras from state highways, but counties and cities must make their own decisions. Does law enforcement need this technology to keep people safe, or do you feel they're an invasion of privacy?

What do you think about having automated license plate readers in your community? Email radio at theflora roundup.org, but that's next week. This week, Carlton, we're looking back at 9-11. 25 years ago, at this hour, we were just beginning to understand the gravity of, of what the world was witnessing from Lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Florida remains deeply connected to the events of that day a quarter century ago. Several of the hijackers lived and trained

here in the Sunshine State. The history of what happened leading up to the attacks has been the subject of extensive reporting by investigative journalist Dan Christensen, editor and founder of the Florida Bulldog. And Dan recently spoke with Danny Rivera, a colleague of ours at partner station W.L.R.N. in Miami. The FBI began

by tracing their credit card use and things like that, it was known where they operated, not just here in South Florida, but other areas of the state and in other areas of the country in Southern California and in Arizona and Virginia and Northern New Jersey. What were they doing here in Florida? Well, they were preparing to commit this horrible atrocity and to the untrained eye, you would not see anything more than leading daily routine kind of lives. I live in Fort Lauderdale and Commercial Boulevard is one of the streets that I travel on a lot. They used to use that all the time. One of the local tire stores where I went to get new tire, I found out later that both

Muhammad Ada and Marwan Al-Shahey, who were the pilots of the, and I use pilots in quotes, of the two jets that slammed into the World Trade Center had been there. And they were involved in flight training programs here in Florida. Is that right? They trained on the West Coast in Venice. And as everybody knows by now, they weren't all that interested in learning how to land. They wanted to know how to fly and to maneuver. So the man widely regarded as the mastermind of the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center was Muhammad Atta.

and he lived for a time prior to the attack in Broward County. He was given a criminal violation for driving without a driver's license in Broward County, didn't show up to court, had a warrant issued for his arrest, and then separately he was pulled over, but the police that pulled him over the second time weren't aware of the warrant, and they released him. And that happened, you know, just a little bit prior to this attack. That history and the missed opportunity that the fact pattern,

and presented was a big reason for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, right? Can you tell us a little bit about how this idea that these people were living among us here in Florida led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security after the facts started to come out? The FBI put all this together at the time. They've created, and they're still out there on the web, you know, some timelines where you can see it, you know, when they'd go use their credit card at an ATM or at a target or something like that. But it wasn't until the actual attack, or attacks actually, occurred that, you know, I think the light bulb went off in Washington

that they needed to do more to make the traveling public safer, number one, and also prevent these kinds of attacks. Because what they did was they hijacked jets and they turned them into missiles. And it was a very, you know, simple idea, essentially. And it had been known that this was a possibility before that, but they never did anything to try and prevent it. There was, at the time, prior to that, private security at airports, but it wasn't very good. It wasn't as thorough as it is today. And you reported in 2011, 10 years after this attack, that a prominent Saudi family fled Sarasota in the weeks before the 9-11 attack, leaving behind a house, cars, clothes, furniture, diapers, food on top of the counter. And the FBI initially told you that the family

had no connections to the hijackers. But that turned out not to be true, right? You're reporting is really what made it public. I was working with an author, Anthony Summers. He lives in Ireland, and he and his wife wrote a book. Her name is Robin Swan. And they wrote a book that year that came out, in the summer of 2011 called the 11th day. And Tony, who I'd known for quite some time, had contacted me and said, we've learned this information about this family of Saudis living in the Sarasota area that had ties to the hijackers, and you've got the time to help me out on it.

We worked on it, developed information about how these folks had been visited in their gated community by Muhammad Ada, who was the pilot of the first. jet that hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. And it turned out other hijackers. And remember, they were all living nearby because they were training in Venice, which is about 10 miles away from the location where this house was. And we found out, too, that the FBI had done an investigation of this. We, Florida Bulldog, filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act trying to get

some of the files on this. And we did. And we found records that showed, despite what the FBI had said when we broke the story, that there was nothing to all this, that in fact documents said that they had found, quote-unquote, many connections between these Saudis who were living in the Sarasota area and 9-11. We also found out they had ties to the rural family in Saudi Arabia and a number of other interesting things. There's still an active federal civil case brought about by many 9-11 victim families involving allegations that the government of Saudi Arabia was somehow involved or implicated in the attack itself. The Saudi government strongly denies this.

What's the status of that case and how connected is that case to events that took place here in Florida? Well, I mean, that case is, you know, part and parcel of what happens. happened with 9-11. It was brought by the survivors and also the relatives of those that were killed on 9-11. And in addition to that, various corporations that suffered losses as a result of all this. It's a, you know, potentially a multi-billion dollar suit. And what they're trying to get to the bottom of is whether or not they can prove that there were people, Saudi government officials, who were actively involved in aiding the hijackers. And one year ago, last month in August, the judge in the case, the New York federal judge, found that the families had met their legal burden and developed enough information and evidence

to allow the case to go on towards trial and would also, if it upholds on appeal, would also allow there to be further discovery in the case, meaning further efforts in other cities to determine what happened in those cities with these hijacker people. That was Dan Christensen speaking with reporter Danny Rivera. While Florida was hundreds of miles away from the attacks,

a Sarasota Elementary School was hosting President George W. Bush this morning 25 years ago. The presidential visit to Emma Booker, elementary was to promote an education bill and promote reading. The president was in a second grade classroom. La Damien Smith was there too. I get in my home class, Ms. Campbell, and she's like, oh, you got to go read to the president.

That was his assignment that day. Smith told his story to our partner station WUSF on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. And at seven years old, reading to the president is like, wait, what? Isn't he supposed to be like doing some type of job or something? So I get to Ms. Daniels class and I see him for the first time and I'm like, wow, that's the actual president. So I sit down to my seat and I just pick up my book and I'm steady looking like looking at the book, looking at him, looking at him, wondering like, why is he here? Yeah, it was when he was eight years old.

The president was reading with the students when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, approached him in front of the classroom. Card remembered that moment while visiting the school this past spring. I walked up to the president. I whispered into his ear. A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack. And Smith may have just been eight years old at the time, but he could tell something had changed.

When the president's advisor came in the room, I actually looked up for like a split second, and I seen that he was talking in his ear, and all of a sudden his face had turned like a bright red. The first time the nation, the world, heard from President Bush on 9-11, 25 years ago today. It was from a room next door to that second-grade classroom in Sarasota. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.

In May, a 16,000-pound 22-foot steel beam from the Twin Towers toward the country and stopped at Booker Elementary in Sarasota. Carrie Sheridan from our partner station WUSF was there. A police motorcade escorted a beam from the site of Ground Zero to Booker Elementary. It rolled past a color guard made up of firefighters and police carrying flags. Clichet, Henry Allen still teaches at Booker Elementary and recalls the chaos of that day and a question from one of her fifth graders. And he asked me, Ms. Henry, are we going to die? I could feel his fear. It was alive in my classroom, and I had to calmly say, baby, we're safe.

We still have secret service here, so we're going to be okay. But on the inside, I felt his same feel. The stop was part of a national tour by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. It honors firefighter Stephen Siller, who died trying to save people from the burning buildings. His son, Stephen Siller, Jr., was just nine months old then. Our mission is to never forget when my father did that. that day, what thousands of brave men and women did that day, the sacrifices that were made, and what happened to this country.

Bagpipers from Riverview High School played to honor the sacrifices of those who died. I'm Carrie Sheridan in Sarasota. And I'm Tom Hudson. And I'm Carlton Gillespie. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio Station. So here we are, quarter century after the 9-11 terrorist attacks in Manhattan. in the field in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon in just outside Washington, D.C. Billy Collins calls Central Florida home for part of the year this time of a year.

He's 85 and he's a senior distinguished fellow at the Winter Park Institute. And 25 years ago, Carlton, he was the United States Poet Laureate. It was a year after the attacks when he wrote The Names, a poem in honor of the victims. Collins recalled when he was first called by the congressional committee members and asked to write a poem that could speak to the nation still reeling from the effects of 9-11. They asked me if you're a poet-loid. I'd like it to be a part of this. And can you write a poem special to the occasion? Well, I don't know. You know my poems a little bit. I mean, they're not about national events.

I don't chase the headlines. The poems are about walking the dog or eating. an apple, looking at the window at a bird, those kinds of weighty matters. And so I didn't think I could do it. I said that to them, and it was quite a long silence. And I broke it by saying, well, I'll show up. And I can find someone else's poem to read. I was thinking of Walt Woodman.

And then we left it at that. And then one morning, I woke up a barrier of fiber or something in the morning, and it must have been my mother's voice that said to get off the bench. So I figured out, lying in bed that morning, I figured out two things that enabled me to write it. One was I picked the genre of the elegy, so I made it a poem for the dead, not a poem about geopolitical affairs, et cetera. And the other thing is I thought I could use the names of, some of the dead alphabetically as kind of handholds to get me through the poem.

So I had two restraints, and as you know, sometimes restraints lead to creativity. So I got up and wrote the poem pretty quickly. It strikes me that you talked about how you write poetry about so-called ordinary things, about the beauty of ordinary moments. But that particular poem, the names, the names are woven into those. moments. Fair enough, yeah. It seems that you brought it into your sense of understanding and sharing poetry instead of you having to step out. True enough. There are a number of little, little almost one or two line scenarios of seeing the names on, this is seeing a name on a poster

on a mailbox, the name being a monogram on a shirt collar, that kind of thing. That's a very good observation. I have not made that myself, actually. And then I kind of, if you will, name drop one name for each letter of the alphabet, except X. There's no one for X. So I put a parentheses there, and the parentheses is let X stand, if it can, for those not found. And then I go back to the last few remaining letters of the alphabet. And it was very moving, going to Ground Zero much later. and actually finding the names carved there that have been in my poem.

That was former United States Poet Laureate speaking with our partner station Central Florida Public Media. His name is Billy Collins. He will read his poem The Names at a commemoration hosted by Rollins College in Winter Park this evening. It's the Florida Roundup here on the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. I'm Tom Hudson. I'm here with Carlton Gillespie. And you know, we think about Carlton, Florida's role in the attacks. We detailed some of that earlier with investigative reporter Dan Christensen as some of the terrorist attackers trained here in Florida. And certainly the president, President Bush, was in Florida at the time of the attacks.

But of course, Florida's role also was very central in the response after the attacks with CENTCOM and the U.S. military centered in the Tampa area. And, of course, a state of military veterans here across all of Florida. And it's a story that touches everyone in a, in a, bunch of different ways, whether, especially, you know, in areas of southeastern Florida where so many New York expats had family members or loved ones who were either still in New York or folks who moved out of New York because they felt unsafe. It's just something that, that touched us so much then and continues to and will continue to affect this area for many years to come. We'll talk about it again on the 50th, I'm sure, of these kind of lasting impacts. I'm sure we will. We'll talk about

it every year here, certainly, but it's ever present in our lives in Florida. It's ever present in our lives as Americans. The airport security, we don't have to look any further than that about how that changed our experience with air travel in the United States because of these attacks. Yeah, I had a situation where I was just coming back from a trip and wasn't able to get through TSA with an oversized bag because of these new regulations and just thinking about how much things have changed and how much, you know, more difficult but more strenuous the process has become. Yep, and understanding the reasons why. You can share your remembrances of this day from 25 years ago by emailing radio at the Florida

roundup.org. Radio at the Florida roundup.org. And our sincere gratitude to the military veterans, active duty, and first responders that have been revolved in that day 25 years ago and since. Still to come here on the Florida Roundup, we're going to be tackling political action committees. They are reshaping politics here in the Sunshine State. Stick with us on the Florida Rondup. from your Florida Public Radio Station. This is the Florida Roundup. Thanks for being along on our program this week.

I'm Tom Hudson. And I'm Carlton Gillespie. Big money flows through political races from your county commissioners all the way up to the presidency. Fuller's race for governor is no different. From our partner station, WUSF in Tampa, Megan Bowman reports how the money is moving in the Sunshine State. You're sitting on your couch watching your phone.

Up pops an ad for a candidate running for office. At the end, in fine print at the bottom, there's a little message that says who paid for it. Sometimes it's paid by the candidates themselves. Other times, it's paid for by PACs or political action committees. Each election cycle, packs of many flavors collect billions of dollars nationwide. David Jolly, radically liberal, radically wrong. The only way you defeat crazy is you stand up to it. That's from a recent ad sponsored by the Friends of Byron Donald's Pack.

It's an affiliated committee for Florida's gubernatorial candidate endorsed by Trump. Both Donald's and his opponent, Democratic nominee David Jolly, have two packs for the midterms, a candidate committee and an affiliated committee. Let me explain both. Candidate committees are strictly governed under Florida law. For statewide races, like the governors, individual contributions cannot go over $3,000. Aubrey Jewett, a political science expert, says the courts cap that amount, so people had faith in elections and their elected officials.

We don't want the average American to think that their politicians are for sale to the highest bidder. Donald's candidate committee has raised more than $14 million. Jolly has raised about half that. Jewett says there's always been money in politics, but in the past, elections were more like a boxing match. You have one candidate against the other and they're in the ring. There's at least a few rules. They've reached raise money, you know, and they're duking it out. and one of them is going to win. Now it's sort of like this giant free for all mud wrestling extravaganza. He says the big money is in affiliated packs like Donald's, which is raised more than $100 million.

It's a huge loophole because those have no limits and you can give however much money you want. Like in Florida, the biggest donor to the biggest affiliated pack is a $10 million donation by one person. That one person is billionaire Kenneth Griffin, CEO of the hedge fund company Citadel. He made the largest single donation to Donald's affiliated PAC, Friends of Byron Donald's. Since 2022, Griffin has dumped more than a quarter billion dollars into political races across the U.S. The Wall Street Journal reported in July, he invested 40 million into the midterms, which could double by November. In a statement to WUSF, Griffin says the people of Florida deserve leaders who will make their lives better. He says Donald's cares deeply about communities and he's proud to support his

run for governor. Jolly's affiliated PAC, Florida 2026, has raised about $6 million and he has his own share of big money donors. Two donated more than a quarter of the total amount, like millionaire and hedge fund manager Donald Sussman and attorney Charles Wall. Wall was general counsel for the parent company of Tobacco Giant Philip Morris International. Still, Jolly says he's running a different campaign than Donald's. I'm happy to meet with anybody that represents interest across the state of Florida, but they're not going to buy their way in. So we have turned down a number of offers of contributions, financial contributions,

from interest in industries within the state. WUSF reached out to Byron Donald's campaign and did not receive a response. The nonpartisan Transparency USA says more than $660 million have been donated to Florida state races for the midterms. Special interest groups tied to sports betting, data centers, and developers have donated millions to Friends of Byron Donalds. And billionaires, like Griffin, have poured lots of money into this pack too, including Pennsylvania-based Jeff Yass, who donated $7.5 million. But that's not all. Yass also donated $3.5 million to a super PAC called Club for Growth Action Florida,

which then gave friends of Byron Donald's all of that, plus some, totaling YAS's contributions to Donald's at $11 million. They're not giving their money away for nothing. They want something. So whether that's proximity to a political figure, whether that's influence,

whether it's specific policy outcomes. That's Jody McCreary, senior reporter for Open Secrets, a watchdog group on government accountability. He says super PACs have to disclose all their donors. However, they cannot coordinate with candidates they support. And more importantly, a super PAC can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. That's mostly thanks to a 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission, or FEC,

which opened the door to unlimited corporate spending and campaigns. Speech Now versus FEC did a lot of. of the same stuff. It knocked down a lot of those obstacles to corporations. And when I say corporations, not just companies, but also nonprofit organizations. In those cases ushered in the era of dark money. In Citizens United, justices said having no spending limits would not be harmful to democracy as long as the people knew where the money came from. But groups found a loophole, non-profits labeled as 501C4s. So these packs, they're called dark money, because the money that comes to them, we have no way of following that money trail any longer.

Wayne Garcia is a senior instructor at the University of South Florida and former political campaign manager. He says 501C4s are supposed to educate the public. The IRS calls them social welfare organizations. And they're not like normal nonprofits. These groups can lobby, take part in campaign activities, and donate unlimited amounts in elections. Garcia says the big difference is billionaires can anonymously give millions to dark money groups, and then that nonprofit can donate whatever and wherever, leaving no trace. You have a way to launder your money into politics that does not have your fingerprints on it any longer.

And PACs and dark money play a role in local races too. Democrat Stephanie Vasquez is running for Pascoe County Commissioner. PAC money and corporate money absolutely flows down to the local level and in massive quantity. and I believe it truly influences how people govern and make decisions when they're elected. PACs can only donate up to $1,000 at the county level. But there's a loophole there, too. Vasquez says the PACs could give her that money. Or they could just send out 20 grand worth of mailers supporting my campaign.

And so it doesn't ever hit my contribution report. PAC's influence on elections at all levels is why Open Secrets reporter Jody McCreery says political advertising is designed to conceal the true identity of who's really paying for the messages. Be aware that there are dark money groups out there, that we don't know who's funding them that are donating to super PACs that are then spending on ads that you see on TV and on, you know, on Facebook and wherever. Ad impact projects more than $11.5 billion will be spent on political ads this election cycle nationwide, making it the most expensive on record.

and nearly 60 million of that will advertise Florida's race for governor. That was Megan Bowman with our partner station WUSF in Tampa reporting. I'm Tom Hudson. And I'm Carlton Gillespie. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio Station. All right, Carlton, this week marked 10 years of the Florida Roundup. This program was born out of a call for conversation. So I think 10 years ago, the fall of 2016, an historic election is all elections.

this one was particularly historic 10 years ago. The candidates were Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Now, Carlton, here we are. A decade later, the country arguably more divided, but I'm really proud that this program is still here, still talking about what matters to Floridians and hearing from folks all across the state. And next week, I'm even more excited

to begin the second decade of the program with you, Carlton, as the host. And I'm completely thrilled for the opportunity. As you mentioned, it's the conversations that make this show so special and to be a place where people can have those conversations with new perspectives or people they agree or disagree with, I think it's just so important.

And I realize, Tom, I've got big, big shoes to fill. And it's a fact that was really crystallized for me when I heard from so many people this week about the impact that you and this show has had on them, starting with Stephen Moyer from Broward. Tom has been quite a ride. I've really enjoyed the Roundup listening to you over the years. You've even asked some of your guest questions I've submitted.

So best of luck and giddy up Cowboy on to your next adventure. Hi, this message is for Tom Hudson. My name is Kathy Driscoll. I live in Jacksonville, Florida. And I just wanted to thank you for being the host of Florida Roundup all these years. I've really enjoyed your fair and balanced reporting, the diversity of guests that you had on, and really just you were kind of a comforting presence.

I'm glad to hear that you've got a continued role in public radio in South Florida and just want you to know that you'll be missed. Hey, Tom, it's Ron McGill, formerly of Zoo Miami, retired this year after 46 years. But now happy and proud to say I'm with the Zoo Miami Foundation as its goodwill ambassador, and I just wanted to reach out and say, congratulations I'm being named the permanent CEO of WLRN.

I'm going to miss you on the Florida Roundup, but I can't wait to see what you do at WLRN. Take care, congratulations, and good luck. My name is Polly Landis, and I had the privilege of working with Tom Hudson on a few shows. that I really liked. Tom, you're exceptional. I love knowing you. I loved working with you. I was in New York and I got to work with so many people. When I came down here and started working with Tom, I realized I was working with the best. There isn't anything that he can't do. He just knows how.

And now that he's going to be CEO, I think he'll take us forward all the way. Tom, it's your old friend, Joel Waldman. And I do mean, oh, I am so proudy. I'm going to miss your the Lyft Lewis voice on the radio. However, there is no one better to be CEO of WLRN than you. You are made for this job and you are going to bring it to new heights. I have no doubt. Congratulations. This is Mary Ellen Klaus of Bloomberg opinion and formerly of the Miami Herald. I spent many Fridays with Tom as he hosted the Florida Roundup. I'll miss his sonorous voice, but I'm so happy he'll still be doing the good work of community journalism. You know, South Florida and its people are better off when we're all well-informed.

And I know Tom will always be committed to that. Congratulations, Tom. Congratulations, Tom. Thank you so much for everything you've done. Well, listen, the program is in good hands with you, Carlton. Thank you very much. Thank you for all those great voices. And thanks, especially to the audience, to the listeners, to the callers, the emailers

throughout the last decade. It's been great to get to know you and spend some time with you. Terry and Melbourne, always great to see your email in our inbox here as we have moved from the Quad Cities down to Florida to call it our home. And thanks to everybody here who's made this program possible through the years, WLRN Public Media and our assistance from WUSF in Tampa. Our program could not be possible without Bridget O'Brien, Denise Royal, Katie Munoz, M.J. Smith, Doug Peterson, Harvey Bissard, Ernesto J, theme music by Aaron Leibos, and of course, all of you. Thank you for supporting public radio in Florida.