The Florida Roundup - Florida’s property tax amendment, grads face higher unemployment and weekly news briefing

Episode Date: June 5, 2026

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about what made it to the final version of Florida's property tax proposal with Douglas Soule, reporter with Your Florida and WUSF (00:00). Then, we heard from one of the co-sponsors of the measure Sen. Mack Bernard (08:40). Plus, we fact-checked some recent claims about the impact the ballot measure would have on local governments with PolitiFact’s Samantha Putterman (25:30). We also spoke about Florida’s job market with WUSF’s Gabriella Paul (29:12). And later, we shared some gaming and sports stories from across the state (37:20).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. It is terrific to have you along this week. Floridians will decide in November if homeowners should get a larger chunk of their property taxes eliminated. This week, lawmakers approved language to raise the portion of home values that are skipped over when calculating property taxes. Now, we'll get to all the important, nitty-gritty details in just a few moments. But first, House Speaker Daniel Perez. He says if voters approve the plan, local governments will then have to make tough decisions on how to spend taxpayer dollars. The win here is that we trust our voters. We have smart voters in Florida. We have educated voters.

And they're going to have the opportunity to either vote this up or vote this down on the ballot in November. Most Democrats and some local government officials argue that these monumental changes to the state's tax structure would hurt local governments the most. Senator Lori Berman from Palm Beach County is the Senate Democratic leader. I think it could potentially bankrupt some of our local counties and cities. Big and small local governments have been sounding along. over the potential impact on local services if property taxes are sharply reduced as soon as next year. Volusia County would be looking at a loss of about $93 million, for instance, as Central Florida Public Media's Environment reporter Molly Dureg explains.

The projected loss would leave Volusia County close to $18 million short on paying for required services, like courts in the county jail. The state requires counties to use property taxes to pay for those services first. Without enough money to even pay for required expenses, the county would then be struggling to cover the cost of other key public services, like libraries and fire protection. County manager George Rectinwald says the proposed property tax cuts would dramatically reshape what local governments can do. It's not just a tax reform. It'll be a government service reform. We will no longer be able to deliver those services in the manner in which we do them today. Other counties in Central Florida are grappling with the same question.

In Orlando, I'm Molly Duregg. I'm Stryker Anderson in Gainesville. Tim Martin is the mayor of Newberry and the chair of the Alachua County Republican Party. We're going to be potentially cutting into the bone or into the muscle to find another, what looks like could be as much as 20% in our budget to cut. He says if voters do approve the idea this November, the city will prioritize services like police and fire, but may have to cut funding from places like the Parks and Rec Department.

Martin says he's concerned for Newberry, but is even more concerned for smaller towns. You have somebody like Archer that has virtually no commercial tax base at all. I mean, that could be the death nail for a small community like that or a small community like Hawthorne. I'm Stryker Anderson in Gainesville. So small town, big town, rural community, urban neighborhood. What do you make about this effort to cut some property taxes? for some Florida homeowners, 305-955-1800. From Key West, over to Pensacola, the peninsula and the panhandle, 305-9-9-8,100.

Laura, let's hear from you in Jacksonville. You are on the radio. Go ahead. Dubal County already has had millions cut from their public schools, and the budget is really suffering. This would really drastically cut the quality. that we have here and I know retired folks are worried about maybe their taxes on the homes that they own but I would ask them to consider the future the future of our children

and the quality of the education Laura for the most part they're carving out local taxes that are dedicated to public school districts this is a homesteaded piece that is going to local governments and services and even there there's some carve-outs for public safety we'll get into those nitty-gritty details here in a minute but we appreciate hearing from you in Jacksonville Laura thanks so much Douglas soul is This is the your Florida state government reporter with our partner station WUSF. And Douglas, we already heard some of that nitty gritty. School taxes here for property taxes are carved out of this exemption, aren't they?

It is. They are. So it's a little bit complicated. But in general, this proposal would up Florida's property tax exemption from 50,000 right now to 150,000 next year. And 250,000 in 2028. as you mentioned, it only exempts up to $250,000 the property taxes that go to various local government services. Lawmakers carved out the portion of the property tax. It's a big portion that goes to public schools. Yeah, I know on my bill, it's about 50% roughly of my property tax bill goes to

my local county public school district. So those taxes would not be affected by any increase in the homestead exemption. Yes, that is correct. And, you know, some is even more than 50%, some is a little bit less. Sure. But yeah, so you can't really say that this exempts the first 250,000 value of your property from taxation, because a lot of that does go to school in your area. It exempt, the exemption, I suppose, the exemption would be on the, on the non-school district property tax part. Correct. I got you. Okay. You know, that funds a lot of important services for residents, of course. And so how does this treat second homes or rental properties or even commercial properties?

Yeah. So good question, you know, emphasizing again that this exemption, this expanded exemption only applies to primary Florida homes. If you have 20 houses in Florida, well, that's a bit excessive, but good for you. But it only applied to the first one. If you have a rental home, a business, whether it's small business or a huge corporation, there are actually some benefits. It's in this case. So right now, the taxable value of such properties can only rise by about, by up to 10% per year. This amendment slices that in half.

So there would be slower growth in your tax bill as the value of your property goes up. I see. So for investment properties, apartment building owners, for instance, they would not see an increase in their exemptions, but they would see a slower allowment of annual increases in the taxes that they would have. have to pay. That's correct. It could only rise 5,000 every year. You know, and typically in Florida, prices have been rising. So the appraisal values rise. Yeah, 5%. 5%, not 5,000. Instead of 10%. Yeah. Okay. And so what rules does this put, if any, on local governments about how they can respond to the impact on their budgets? Yeah. So it does say that the money they do again through the

property tax can only go to a list of specific core services. I say a list is specific. It's actually kind of a broad list, but it does stymie local governments in some areas. The funding can only go to things such as public safety, infrastructure, and I could go on. But yeah, it puts more limits and more caps on the flexibility of local governments to use the specifically to use revenues garnered through the property tax. Douglas Saul is the Florida State Government Team reporter in Tallahassee with our news partner, WSF. Thank you, Douglas. Let's hear from Randy and Heathrow in Seminole County. Randy, you're on the radio. Go ahead. Yes, thank you. Let's not forget that all of these new people, new residents the last 20 years,

have moved to Florida because of the quality of the cities and the quality of the services that they couldn't find back in Ohio and other places where they've beat up on the taxes. all run over and over. And please don't forget that this is a political fund move by the governor. It's his attempt to try to control the direction of communities instead of having their own personalities. Please, folks, don't fall for it. If somebody has the money to buy a big mansion on the coast of Florida, they got the money to pay the taxes. Randy, we're going to mark you down as a no vote on.

this proposal in November. We appreciate hearing from you from Heathrow. We invited the two Republican senators who sponsored this legislation, Brian Avila and Debbie Mayfield to our program. Senator Avila did not respond to our invitation. Senator Mayfield had a prior commitment. But a senator did accept our invitation

to appear. Senator MacBernard, a Democrat who represents District 24 in Palm Beach County. Senator, welcome to the program. Thanks for your time today. I appreciate you. Thanks for having me. You're a Democrat, but you voted in favor of this. 30 senators voted in favor of it. but a few Democrats did. You were one of them.

Why? Well, Tom, we can all agree that in Florida right now, we're facing an affordable crisis, where gas prices are going up, insurance prices. And so going into this legislative session, my main priority was, we're going to tackle affordability.

And I had two criteria, which was we're going to put everything on the table, and then also to figure out how we can give Florida, is a break. And so this legislative session, I filed a property tax legislation. And one of them was to provide an exemption for seniors, provide exemption for first-time home buyers, and people who've lived in the state of Florida for a long period of time and also are small businesses. And so I went into this session wanting to give Floridaans a break. And so because of the fact that we went into an extended session.

Yeah. My bills weren't able to be heard. But the governor, we, everyone knew that the governor wanted to do a special session on property tax. Sure. Why is this version that came out of the Senate in the House this week, this version of property tax reduction, the one that got your support, given you, seems like you were wanted more targeted property tax reduction.

This one's general for all property owners who have primary homes. Yes. I wanted a targeted approach, but this was a general that could provide relief. Was this the perfect bill? It was not the perfect bill. But we have to provide fluid and the opportunity to have relief. And so what this does is this year, the voters will get that chance. We're in a democracy.

And for me, I felt like it was so important for us to give the voters this opportunity to vote. We're speaking with Senator McBinnard from Palm Beach County. Let me dig into just that distinction here, Senator. As a lawyer, perhaps you'll appreciate this. You support, I think I hear, you support the ability for Floridians to decide this. I do. So you support this legislation that puts it on the ballot. Do you support the intent of the legislation?

In other words, the increase in homestead exemptions to 150,000 exempted from property taxes beginning in January of 2027, up to 250,000 a year later? Yeah, I do support the increase for the $150,000. and the 250,000 and the $250,000. And the reason why is when the governor started this conversation in March of last year, the governor wanted to eliminate

homestead exemption for Floridians. This would cripple the cities and the counties. And the initial bill that the governor had proposed last week, it had where it impact the public schools. And so as Democrats,

we worked diligently to fight against, let's make sure we're protecting the public schools. And also there were other parts in the bill that would cripple local government, the schools, the counties, and the municipalities. And so we made changes to that bill that we felt like, you know, even though it wasn't a perfect bill, but we made changes as Democrats to make sure that there are some things that we could protect. Palm Beach County, which you represent parts of it along the shorelines and then west of I-95, Palm Beach County as a government would lose about

$357 million when homestead exemptions are allowed up to $250,000 of a home's value. This is from the Florida Policy Institute estimates. So let's call it $350 million, not an insubstantial amount for the home county that you represent. How might the county come up with, close that budget gap that may present itself in two years? Well, Tom, we have a new county administrator, Jerobuso. I'm sure that he's working with his staff with the property appraiser. and so that way they can come up with ways that they can kind of like help close that gap. And we have municipalities who are also looking at that.

And this will not, I believe that there are some cities that are going to be impacted. But everyday Floridians right now are making tough decisions and they're tightening their belts. And so some of the cities and some of the counties will have to do the same thing. Will it lead to cut in services? Do you anticipate for some cities, some counties? I think that there may be some cuts in services, but I believe that there will be opportunities for shared services between cities and the county, so that way they can deliver the best services to the residents. And at the end of the day, Tom, we have smart voters who will make that decision in the city, the elected officials and residents, they're going to look at this proposal, and they will make that best decision. And at the end of the day, in November, if the voters vote no, then guess what?

This bill dies. Indeed, it does. Yes, let me ask you about some comments from a Palm Beach County Commissioner, Republican, Maria Marino. She voiced her concerns this way this week. It's just going to be the folks that are homesteaded who think that this is such a great deal and not realize that, you know, if you want to go to the beach, go ahead, but there won't be any lifeguards there to guard you. Or if you want to go to a park, there's not going to be, go ahead, but there's not going to be any maintenance on that park. and I think people need to realize that there's a huge heavy impact on this,

and I hope our legislators understand the impact. So do you get a sense that you understand, and your fellow legislators understand the impact here? I served on the county commissioning with former mayor, Marie Marino. She's a great county commissioner, and so, of course, she has some concerns in regards to this bill, but I believe that the administration and the administration, and the commissioners will look at ways that they can deliver better services for the residents.

Might that lead to job cuts? Well, I think that we're in a new environment where you've got AI that's impacting the county. And so we have to figure out how we're going to deliver better services to our residents. And this is forcing that conversation right now. Yeah, indeed it is. Christina has been listening in in Orlando. Oh, we just lost Christina. Let's go to line one.

Ed and Orange Park. Ed, thanks for your patience. It's your turn. You are on the radio. Okay. Ed, go ahead. All right, thanks. No, but first of all,

thank you for clarifying this little bit of this specific because some of the prior folks are talking about people with a million-dollar house or not paying any property taxes. That's not correct. Can you be more specific

on my understanding is that you have to be a resident for so many years before you qualify? Yeah. And also that second homes or vacation homes don't qualify for the lower property tax. Yep, yep. That's right, Ed.

So I'll tackle the secondary home, Senator, and I'll let you deal with the residency requirement here. On the supersized exemption, beginning on January 1st of 2027, if you've lived in the state and you've owned a home, then you'll have the 150,000 homestead exemption. and then in 2028, you'll get the 250,000. But this is for residents who've lived in the state before December 31st of 2026. Right. For residents who move after December 31st of 2026, they would still get the 50,000 regular homestead exemption,

but they would have to wait five years before they can get that super exemption. What about the renter who has been renting and is a resident in Florida and has been for a decade or so, and then buys a home for the first time in January of 2027. Well, for that resident, they would have to wait five years. But what we've also added in this bill is that in 2030,

we're giving the cities and the counties, they can make that decision by a two-thirds majority to reduce that five-year period that they can get that supersized homesit exemption. So you may have different rules in different, municipalities then. That is correct. That will be interesting. And then in the secondary home at an Orange Park to get homestead exemption in Florida, that must be your primary residence. In other words, that must be legally you have to attest that this is the place where you live. This is the address.

That is correct. But also what's important is that with this bill, instead of that renter getting that 10% increase, if the value goes up, that renter now can potentially get only a 5% increase. Right. So this is on commercial properties, investment properties. They had been capped at no more than a 10% increase in property taxes. This piece of legislation should it be approved will limit that to just a 5% increase. Christina in Orlando, you are back. I want to hear from you before we have to go to break. Go ahead, Christina. Hi, Tom. So I have two thoughts. I am, I sell books to public libraries. And they have been steadily getting their budgets cut year over year. And if we cut, we cut, property taxes, their funding goes away. They get very little money from the state. So how are we going to provide library services? Storytime for kids. Some are reading programs. Any of the services that they provide to seniors, especially during tax season, all of that goes away. And so my thought is, Christina, just to be specific, it may go away. It may not go away. It depends upon how the county

government allocates the dollars that it will have. Right. Fair enough. But if you're cutting, if you're cutting, you know, libraries are not necessarily considered number one essential service. Yeah. So what's going to get cut, it might be the libraries. And so, you know, my, and the larger, the larger question is, if this is addressing

the affordability crisis in Florida, why are we talking about eliminating government funding? Christina, we'll get to that question after this break here on the, Florida Roundup. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. We will be broadcasting this program live in front of an audience in Fort Myers with our partner station WGCU at the end of June. We'd love to see you if you're going to be in Southwest Florida. It's Friday, June 26 at the Tribby Arts Center at Shellpoint Retirement Community. One of the things we're going to be talking about is your health span. Now, have you ever heard of your health span? You've heard of a lifespan, certainly, how long you live. But a health span is how long you live healthy. And there's an effort to extend the health span of folks in

Southwest Florida by seven years, seven more years of healthy living, mobility, getting around and doing the thing that you're doing. How about it? We'll talk about that. And we'll also have the Hartley Jazz Trio with us for some live music. So it's all live in front of an audience, June 26th in Fort Myers. It's free, of course, here being public media. But seating is limited, so we want to make sure you get your ticket so that your seat is reserved. So RSVP now, WGCU.org slash events. WGCU.org slash events. We'll see you live in Fort Myers on June 26th. Today we're continuing our talk about property taxes here in the state of Florida. Senator McBinard is still with us, a Democrat representing parts of Palm Beach County.

Senator Bernard, we just heard from Christina in Orlando talking about specifically libraries and the larger question here. How might, given your experience in county government, served in a county commission. How might these county commissions approach library spending, given that there are probably fewer dollars to spend in libraries? Well, you know, first of all, in order for us to maintain a good community, you need to have libraries. And so in Palm Beach County, we have a library taxing authority where you make sure that you're protecting the taxing for the libraries. And what I would hope is that the state do fund libraries. You know, they're still funding from the state for libraries,

and we will continue to work with the municipality. So now if they need to create a taxing authority to make sure they protect that service, that's important for the residents. So it might be open for local governments to perhaps shift a taxing authority to a new agency that is dedicated revenue stream for libraries. Might that be the case for other types of services?

Well, this is what each city and municipality will have to look at, at what, of course, what do the voters decide in November? But as cities and counties right now are preparing their budget for this fiscal year, you know, I think that they do need to make sure that they're preparing for if this is passed and, you know, that they don't have just a big, you know, fall, you know, a cliff. And how about to Christina's larger question is, if affordability is the challenge. Why is eliminating some property taxes the solution?

Well, right now, we decide, I know for me, which was to make sure that we were going to put everything on the table to help our residents. And, you know, for some residents in Palm Beach County, it may save them $1,500 to $2,000. And guess what? If the residents, some of my seniors in Palm Beach County, if they cannot afford their taxes, then they're going to lose their property. So any help that we can provide, specifically our seniors who cannot afford the property taxes, I think that

we have to put on the table. And just for the record in November, it sounds like you're a yes vote for this ballot language. I am a yes vote for this ballot initiative because, you know, I believe that we should give our voters this opportunity, the voters a chance. But that's not what you're voting on in November because the voters will have that chance. You're voting whether or not to increase the homestead exemption. Yes, I support increasing the homestead exemption. Senator Bernard, thank you so much for coming down. We appreciate it. Thank you very much, Tom. Mack Bernard, a state senator, Democrat, representing parts of Palm Beach County.

Let's hear from Gordy, who's been listening in in Gainesville. Go ahead, Gordy. It's your turn. Hey, thanks for taking my call. I think this is a Trojan horse. You know, the Republican agenda has been to privatize public schools and move away from school systems that eliminates Department of Education, DeVos's agenda, Trump's agenda, McMahon's agenda. I hear you, Gordy, but again, this property tax proposal does not affect

the property taxes that are paid to public schools in Florida? That's what we're told up front, of course. But, you know, it's a Trojan horse. It feels good, and it's going to look nice rolling in. But it's the beginning of, I think, the degradation of the tax base for public schools and public services. And that will give the government an excuse to move towards privatization of public schools first. Second, Senator Bernard seems like a nice guy. But once again, this is a shoot first-first aim later circumstance where we should have real solutions.

before we make cuts that will diminish services publicly and before we implement those. Let's get solutions first. Combech County also does not represent as a whole the state. That's why these issues should be voted on at the local level and not at the state level, in my opinion. Gordy, well, I understand property taxes appears in the state constitution. That's why this particular ballot referendum is appearing on the statewide ballot for folks to decide. Ken, in Lake Worth Beach. Go ahead, Ken.

Palm Beach County resident, go ahead. Hey, how are you? So, you know, there's a couple different ways that the property tax you were calculated. Obviously, you have your assessed value. But you also have your millage rates. So what's to stop the, what I foresee happening is that the counties and the cities and the other taxing authorities will eventually raise these millage rates to make up for the shortfall. And then that will just be an extremely more progressive task effectively. But it could effectively be even more of a problem for the people, the people,

the renters and the business owners that are not getting the homestead tax. Yeah. Well, the property, the commercial taxes, as we have said, are limited to only a 5% increase down from the 10% increase currently from what we've understood here. But that's an interesting concept, Ken, is local governments may go after that the tax percentage rate since they may be limited on the actual underlying value. Ken, we appreciate that phone call. Let's continue to separate fact from fiction here with Samantha Putterman, our Florida reporter with our news partner, Politifact. Sam, always a pleasure. Thanks for being with us. Yes, happy to have you here.

Lots going on here. Let's start kind of with some big picture claims. The special session, as it was about to begin this week, the Florida House Democratic leader, Fentress Driscoll, made this claim. Eliminating property taxes is not a tax cut, but a tax shift. Local communities would have to offset this loss in revenue by increasing taxes and fees for public services and potentially making budget cuts. So will counties and cities have to increase taxes and fees? Is this as tax shift as she claims? Right. So experts said it's, you know, it's going to vary widely by county and city because each varies very much in terms of how and from where they collect taxes. So they're all going to get hit differently and they're all going to respond differently.

But since all local governments, you know, are going to stand to lose some revenue here, they will likely raise military rates, as your caller just said, which are used to calculate property taxes or issue new taxes and fees to offset losses and keep local services at their current levels. Some of these other taxes, impact fees and special assessments, those aren't subject to homestead exemptions. And they can include new local sales taxes, motor fuel taxes, tourist development taxes, and so on. So those are some of the options, right, in front of local governments as they look to close the gap that might be created by a drop in property tax, homesteaded property tax revenue. The governor and other supporters will also point to just overall spending is another way to close that gap. Yes, you increase revenue in other places, but you could also just go after the operational spending. Right, right. And, you know, there, he's talked about this, you know,

this big increase rate since 2019 coming from, you know, about 33 billion annually to nearly 60 billion, but also reducing spending, again, very much depends on the county, whether or not they have more primary, primary residences in that county. And then thus will get hit much more, if that county hypothetically is much more efficient and has already trimmed a lot of fat. And there's not more, a lot more fat to trim. And thus could result in either the tax shift or possibly cutting certain services that they can't afford anymore. Governor DeSantis was talking about this recently, and he said the claims that this proposal would defund local governments. He says those are false.

They say you're a bankrupt local government. I think if you look at the figures, you can see there's not going to be a single local government that's going to be, you know, certainly worse off than they were five or six years ago. So what does it mean, Sam, if local government tax revenue returns to, pre-COVID levels. Right. So again, it depends on the local government. You know, DeSantis obviously has, as you said, has pointed to that about absorbing the loss. And there are studies that certainly show some Florida counties getting tax revenue that exceed inflation and population growth, but not all do. And some have trimmed a lot of fat. Some policy experts also say that governments

are contending, you know, with increased expenditures for things like public safety, utilities, maintenance and construction, and that forcing local budgets to collect property taxes at those 2019 levels could essentially defund them because these costs still remain. Everybody's subject to inflation, right? Even local governments indeed, right? So goes on the ballot in November, 60% of those who vote need to vote in favor of it in order for it to be adopted. Is that the accurate math here?

Yes, correct. And it obviously will depend about the amendment in case there are any legal challenges about the ballot language so we can see. But yes, it does require at least 60% of approval to pass. Sam Putterman, our Florida reporter with our news partner, Politifact. Always a pleasure, Sam. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me. Let's hear from Doug in Orlando. Go ahead, Doug. Doug, you are now on the radio. Yes. You know, ironically, Rhonda Sanis is trying to defund the police and the fire department and everything. How so, Douglas? Because the growth in these counties and population, Florida is a huge growth state. The reason the tax revenues have gone up

and it's because of the population increase and the spending has had to go up to match the population increase and to match the inflation that goes on. So it's not, it's not like these county governments have got some windfall and they're running away and just spending it on luxury vacations to Tahiti. But help me understand. They're paying for the fire department. I mean, Okay, but help me understand your claim that the governor is trying to defund first responders. Because what's going to happen is that you're not going to have enough money to provide the services to the increasing population of the state of Florida. Well, as I understand it, one of the rules put on the response to local governments is that the money that is collected, that would be collected if this is approved, has to go to public safety. Yeah, then what?

We don't have sewage or we don't have water. Something's got it. There's somebody who's going to end up. paying for it. We're not going to have street lights. We're going to have something that's not paid for. And, you know, and the end result will be, this is the classic Republican, let's make government small enough. We can drown it in the bathtub, okay? They're trying to cut back on government spending, and they're trying to make, they're trying to make urban and suburban voters who are represented by

Democratic Big D government in the cities unhappy with their leaders so that they'll vote for Republicans. It's a scam and the people who are going to pay for it. The poor people who don't get, who rent,

okay, who don't own, it's not going to be and the people who don't have big houses. You know, yeah, sure, there's a lot of people in Palm Beach near the ocean who have million dollar houses, multi-million dollar houses that their taxes have gone up a lot. But most people's houses aren't worth as much as they're saying, you know, they're not going to get a huge tax. Sure, sure. If your home is

if your home's worth $150,000, that exemption then goes up and you will have no property taxes in terms of this part of your property tax bill. Doug, I want one more caller here. We appreciate hearing from you from Orlando. Tom and Jacksonville, you'll be the final word on property taxes. Great to hear from you. Go ahead. All right. Outstanding. And thank you. I just want to say that, you know, I'm an hourly worker and I pay probably too much in property tax. But when you take it past 150, that puts me at paying zero property tax. And that's not fair either because I do benefit firm city services. So this is just too much money to need a more realistic plan that takes into account the needs of the individual cities.

and this is just disfant this trend, usurp the power of city government to even fund their services. Tom, I'm glad we heard from you in Jacksonville. Thanks for lending your voice to us. And I know for folks that were sitting on hold, I'm sorry we couldn't get to all those callers. We do thank you for participating in the conversation statewide.

It's one of the things we do best that you do best here is the audience of the Florida Roundup. Of course, the inbox is always open. Radio at the Florida Roundup.org. Radio at the Florida Roundup.org. I'm Tom Hudson, and you are listening to the Florida Rondo from your Florida Public Radio Station. Well, you just heard from Tom in Jacksonville describing his work scenario. Yeah, it is graduation season. A whole new class of graduates are entering this job market here in the United States. Employers added 172,000 new jobs last month. The national unemployment rate

4.3%. Looking pretty decent here, but in Florida, it's somewhat of a weaker market. The state unemployment rate is higher here in the Sunshine State, 4.8%. Edric Johnson emailed us saying, I'm a recent graduate from Florida Memorial University with a BA in religion and philosophy. First, Edric, congratulations on the diploma. He writes, my next steps are to get my master's at Emory where I have a full ride. I wanted to become a teacher, however, in Broward County, but there's a freeze on teachers, so currently looking for a part-time job. 305-9-9-8-800 is our phone numbers. We talk about the job market here this graduation season with Gabriella Paul, reporter at our partner station WUSF. So Gabby, how about the job market? What does it look like

for folks with a newly printed college graduate degree? Yeah, happy to be here. Well, you know, as we kind of heard, it's a weaker market. And although we did add those jobs, those about 170,000 new jobs, it's important to zoom out. And if you're going to look at, you know, Florida's jobs as a graph, it was growing significantly, and then now that has flatline. So while we have gained, it is weaker comparatively. And that unemployment rate, while we're now outpacing the national average, that's the first time that's happened since about 2021. And when we're looking at our major industries, last month, seven of ten of our major industries actually posted net losses year over year last month. So a little bit different industry by industry, but generally, college grads are

entering a weaker market. Well, let's talk about the good news, I suppose. What industries are hiring or looking for people? So in Florida, we've got health care and tourism, propping us up, and education with an asterisk there. This is not public ed jobs or government jobs. This is exclusively private ed jobs. And then we've got, you know, this is an interesting one within retail trade, which is just very, very poor. There's just one place where it is really propping up. That that industry and that's Costco and other warehouse supermarkets. So take that with what you will. I think that's a good pulse on our cost of living here.

And then while our trades, so our construction and manufacturing are posting some losses, there is a resilience there and some stuff to note about consumer sentiment and some more interest and demand in those trades as it compares to some fears folks are having specifically college kids I talk to when it comes to AI and demand for some other jobs.

Yeah, how is artificial intelligence really affecting the job prospects for new graduates? I know that there's the existential concern, but what about the real concerns? Yeah, so to kind of right-size these concerns, with the economists I spoke with, AI has not shown signs of replacing people in job industries in Florida yet, partially because that's really hard to track, and also because there's, companies are, you know, still trying to figure out whether efficiency is in replacing folks or if it's, you know, and hiring more people to babysit AI. But the one thing I can tell you in the labor market data specifically is that the only boost that's been tracked is in the infrastructure to build data centers. And something to

note here, these are not local jobs. The building of this infrastructure travels with these companies. And also, it doesn't create more jobs to maintain them once they're built. It's simply the infrastructure to obviously keep AI up and running. Fascinating. Gabriella Paul watching the economy as a reporter with our partner station WUSF in Tampa. Gabby, thanks for sharing your reporting with us. Appreciate it. Yep, thank you.

You want to shout out a new graduate, maybe in your family or your neighborhood. We'd love to hear that story. Just go ahead and drop us a quick email. Radio at the Florida Roundup.org. Radio at the Florida Roundup.org. And don't forget if you're in Southwest Florida, will be live June 26th at the Tribby. Center at Shellpoint Retirement Community. Be sure to RSVP now, so your seat is reserved at wGCU.org

slash events. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. We are glad to have you along. Summer is right around the corner, at least on the calendar. I'll have to tell you here in Miami, it already feels like summer. Well, it means, of course, time for some recreation. Some outside, maybe if it's not too hot, and some inside to cool off. So we've got a couple of stories about games. here in the Sunshine State for the summer. Let's start in the Tampa Bay region and Mahjong. The Chinese tile game is having a major cultural moment.

From our partner station WUSF, Nancy Guan spoke with some local groups about why it's such a popular pastime. The familiar sound of mahjong tiles clacking against each other signals the start of a new round. After shuffling, each of the four players begin to stack them into rows, then draw 13 tiles for themselves. The game is a combination of the combat nation of strategy and luck, where players take turns picking up and discarding tiles until they get a winning hand.

And boy does it feel good to win. Jacob Chang is the founder of Red Eye Majong, the group hosting this event at the Commodore in Ibor City. It started just as a game night at my friend's apartment. Then more and more people showed up. Then at some point it just like outgrew their apartment. Now Chang and his friends host these open play events in the Tampa Bay region. several times a month, teaching the Hong Kong style of Mahjong. I'm half-Chinese, half-equadorian.

He said he learned the game from his Chinese grandmother. But it didn't really, like, grab me and sink its teeth into me until about, like, two years ago. The game pulled him out of a period of isolation, Chang says, and also reconnected him with his Chinese heritage. I think it's found new life in the younger generation because we're all, like, searching for this, like, more social aspect of life that isn't just going out to the club or going out to the bar. Mahjong events are popping up all over the country. On Yelp, searches for

mahjong clubs increased by more than 4,000 percent last year. Searches for lessons surged more than 800 percent. We're not looking to pick a specific hand. Judy Serapica teaches the American style of Mahjong at the Jewish community center in Tampa. We've noticed probably in the last two to three years has taken off even more so. She's the co-founder of Dragons on the Green, which donates all proceeds from Mahjong tournaments and lessons to charity. Mahjong has always been around. I grew up with the game. Jewish women in New York took hold of the game after it was brought to the U.S. in the early 1900s. They created the American Ma Jong League, establishing this new style.

Sarah Pika says recently, It just spread out. We don't teach just Jewish women anymore. It's not just a Jewish game. It is an everybody game. If we're counting, more than 40 different variations of Mahjong exist. There's the Japanese Rishi style, Filipino, Singaporean, Taiwanese styles. The list goes on, each with their own unique histories.

But perhaps now is when people are paying more attention than ever to how the game came to the U.S. We have reached a tipping point. Annalise Hines is a historian who asked the same question almost 20 years ago. And it turns out that history is complicated. The 1920s was an anti-immigrant time period. The Chinese Exclusion Act barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to this. the U.S. But this is when the Mahjong fad began. An American businessman called Joseph Babcock, who spent time in China, saw Ma Zhang as a money-making opportunity. There was a lot of racist humor about

Chinese people and Chinese culture. That is built into how most Americans first encountered this game. Heinz says advertisements portrayed American purveyors of the game as superior. At one point, Babcock even claimed he invented the game. Chinese Americans spoke out. against this. And today, people are speaking out again against entrepreneurs who are selling luxury tiles that they believe erase the cultural origins of Mahjong. Who gets to make money off of Mahjong and how much? I think that these illuminate these much deeper, very painful kinds of questions and experiences about race. At the red eye event, Chang says he sees the game's popularity as an opportunity. As much as there is strategy and like fun gameplay behind it,

it's such a fun way to also like immerse yourself in Chinese culture. People of all backgrounds come to his events. We all have a good time like no one is barred and that's exactly what I wanted it to be. And that he says is worth celebrating. I'm Nancy Guan in Tampa. From tiles to the pitch now, final preparation. are underway for the 26 FIFA World Cup, Miami. We'll host seven matches during the tournament with events planned throughout the region. And it's all happening during the hottest, most humid time of the year. So what does that mean for soccer fans crowded by the tens of thousands into a stadium?

Here's Environmental Editor Jenny Stolovich with WLRN, our partner station in Miami. For this heat season, the Miami Office of the National Weather Service is adding a whole new target for forecasts. The World Cup. We're going to be deployed to the Miami-Dade County Emergency Operations Center. Robert Moueda is the chief meteorologist for the National Weather Services Miami Office. We're going to have meteorologists deployed to the city of Miami's command post at Bayfront Park, where they're having a fan fest almost on a daily basis for June and parts of July, and we're also going to be at the stadium on game days.

Moeda says to keep up with the additional workload, the weather service will be sending reinforcements from around the country. Going out into the field is a little unusual for meteorologists, but not unheard of for big events, like the Super Bowl. What makes the World Cup different is the scale and timing, in the dead of summer, not winter, and for seven matches, not one big game. Here in South Florida, we're used to steamy weather, but a few years ago, scientists and weather forecasters realized conditions were getting worse,

thanks to climate change. And tonight, changes are coming to Miami-Dade's extreme heat. action plan. Heat index topped 110 degrees today putting South Florida under its first ever excessive heat. Now for our favorite part of the day we get to ask the question how hot is it? More intense rainfalls coupled with just a fraction of temperature increases means that feels like temperature is rising. So a few years ago Miami Dade County started a heat season. In Miami we've moved away from this idea about heat waves because heat doesn't come in waves here. It starts in May and

ends in October. Amy Clement is an atmospheric scientist at the University of Miami Rosensteele School who studies heat. I went to see Clement to find out if a stadium full of enthusiastic soccer fans might have special risk from the heat. But she says for many different reasons, heat produced by pavement, air conditioners, car exhaust, even by people in crowds like the World Cup, it can be difficult to predict just how much heat can be experienced in a specific place at a specific time. It's a real gray area of what the thresholds. It's a real gray area of what the should be. It's an important question to answer because for weather service warnings to be effective

and protect people, there need to be thresholds. But unlike flooding or lightning, how someone experiences heat has a lot of variables. FIFA, soccer's international governing body, has rules about heat for players. It's based on what's called the wet bulb temperature, which combines temperature with humidity to determine whether sweat can effectively cool the body. In December, FIFA announced it would impose water breaks halfway through each. each half of the matches, regardless of weather or location. Moeda, the forecasting chief at the Miami Weather Service, says meteorologists will be posted

at player training facilities to help track the heat risk to players. But what about fans and all the workers? Great that the athletes will be kept, that they should be kept healthy. But I think the bigger risk here is the fans. Besides the stadium and training facilities, Moeda says meteorologists will be stationed at places where fans gather to provide information. to soccer officials and emergency managers. They'll also be at transportation hubs.

For a critical event like this where, you know, tens of thousands of people, safety is super important. As for cooling stations or other measures to address heat, officials at Hard Rock Stadium referred questions to FIFA. FIFA did not respond to WLRN's request for comment. Miami's local host committee is overseeing events in downtown Miami and at parks all around the county. In an email to WLRN, a spokeswoman said, said, Shade, access to water and hydration and cooling features will be available. The nighttime matches mean stadium temperatures will be slightly cooler, but Clement says out-of-towners might be caught off guard by how hot it can be at night in South Florida. At nighttime, when the sun is not shining, the earth is

radiating heat away to space, and that's why in a desert it's cool because it's so dry, all that heat just goes right out to space. But here in Florida, at nighttime, there's a layer of humidity that traps the radiation. So she says fans need to remember to be proactive. Stay hydrated, find shade when you can, and be aware, it's going to be hot. That's my prediction. And remember, in the words of Shakira, the sun comes out when you least expected. I'm Jenny Staleditich in Miami. And I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Ronda from your Florida Public Radio Station. Finally in the roundup this week, there's this. The Goat and the Hawks, the Seminole Ridge Community High School Hawks.

The Goat is Tom Brady. Congratulations to the Hawks. Brady posted this video on social media this week after the Hawks won a state flag football championship. Winning back-to-back state championships is no joke. It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of commitment. You guys obviously have a great connection, all of you guys. The high school is near Loxahatchie in Palm Beach County. Now, Brady sent the Hawks a similar message when they won their first state championship last year.

And the goat wants the Hawks to do it again next year. The only thing I'll say is we've got to run it back in 2027. Make it a three-peep. I'm cheering for you guys. Let's go. The Hawks were ranked number one in the country for flag football with the 20-and-two record. In the end of the season with a nine-game winning streak, Congratulations to the Hawks. That is our program for today.

It is produced by WLR Public Media in Miami with assistance from WUSF in Tampa. The show is produced by Bridget O'Brien. Denise Royal is W. Lerin's senior producer of content streaming and news products. W. L.R.N.'s director of live original programming is Katie Munoz. And the vice president of radio is Peter Merritt. The program's technical director is M.J. Smith. Engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson, Harvey Bessard, and Ernesto J. Our theme music is provided by Miami Jazz guitarist Aaron Libos at Aaron Libos.com.

Don't forget, we'd love to see you in Southwest Florida, a live broadcast from Fort Myers, June 26th. Our trip to Fort Myers is going to happen. June 26th, it's a free event, but seating is limited, so be sure to grab your tickets now, RSVP, by going to WGCU.org slash events. We'll see you in Fort Myers live on June 26th. Thanks for calling, emailing, listening, and of course, supporting public radio here on the Sunshine State. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.