The Florida Roundup - Florida’s tax cut proposals, economic uncertainty, ‘Your Florida’ legislative session week 6 and weekly news briefing 

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about a measure to cut the state sales tax with Rep. Tom Fabricio (R-Miami-Dade) (03:25). Then, we opened up the phone lines and email inbox to hear how you are navigating economic uncertainty after a tumultuous week for the stock market (19:00). Plus, another look at this week in the Florida Legislature with WUSF’s Douglas Soule (31:46). And later, higher education news including proposed changes to how university presidential searches are conducted (37:10) and the arrest of an international University of Florida student by federal immigration agents (41:18).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Well, what a week. The tariff talk, the stock and bond market moves. This has been a week unlike any other. Now, Florida does a lot of business with the world. Billions of dollars of imports and exports move through our ports. We are a consumer dominant and dependent economy. And with a lot of retirees, we can be particularly sensitive to big swings in the stock market. So in a few minutes, we're going to do something a little bit different for us here on the Roundup. We're not going to talk to an economist or an investment advisor. We're going to open the phones and our email inbox and we want to hear from you. How have you weathered this week's crazy ride in the markets?

It's all anybody's been talking about, at least in our office, probably yours as well. Are you stocking up on stuff before the tariffs hit? How worried are you about your job or about an economic recession? 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. Or send us a quick note radio at the floridaroundup.org. That's coming up in a few minutes. First, 75 cents. Spend $100 and save 75 cents. That's one of the proposals to cut the state sales tax that is making its way through the state legislature. Here's how House Speaker Daniel Perez described his effort last month. This will not be a temporary measure, a stunt, or a tax holiday. This will be a permanent, recurring tax reduction.

This will be the largest state tax cut in the history of Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis, though, is not on board. He argues an across-the-board sales tax cut of three-quarters of one percent would help tourists more than residents. He instead wants to cut property taxes. The tax relief needs to be Florida first. We need to focus on our Florida residents.

We need to focus on, in this case, Florida homeowners, particularly our homesteaded homeowners. How would a sales tax cut affect your household budget? It seems lawmakers are poised to cut taxes one way or another. Which would you prefer? A cut to property taxes or a cut to sales tax? 305-995-1800, 305-995-1800,

email radio at theflorid dot o RG Eddie s is in Lutz. I think it'd be a good idea. It'll keep money in the consumer's pockets. But how's that going to affect overall? What the sales tax goes to the health fund. On Wednesday, Senate President Ben Albritton proposed a compromise of sorts getting rid of the sales tax for clothing that costs less than $75. We're not talking about, you know, folks that are tourists that may come in and go buy, you know, a $300 jacket or, you know, things like that. We're, we've aligned this, we believe,

at the $75 to where it can help the most number of Floridians. So how about that? How about no sales tax on a t-shirt or socks? Email us radio at the Florida Roundup dot org. We're monitoring the inbox right now live on this Friday or call 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. The Florida House unanimously passed the largest or the larger three quarters of one percent sales tax cut proposed on Thursday. Tom Fabricio is with us, Republican member and vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee in Tallahassee. He represents Miami Lakes. Tom, welcome back to the program. Nice to have you, representative. Thank you so much for having me. Of course. So why do you support this across-the-board

reduction in the state sales tax? Well, we all voted for it. I will tell you honestly, and you didn't mention this, because this may be a little bit in the weeds. But I think one of the most important parts of the bill that the Florida House passed this last week was the lowering the business rent tax from 2.0 to 1.25. That's huge. That's huge for commercial real estate. That's huge. That's huge for commercial real estate. That's huge for the cost of goods. That business rent tax is honestly an anomaly nationally that we have here in Florida.

I would love in my time in the legislature to be able to fully eliminate the business rent tax. This has been a sore spot in the commercial real estate for a good long time in Florida, as you know, and it does add to the cost of business, retail, office, you name it. But it pales in comparison to the potential impact in terms of hitting every Floridian directly in what they're spending at a checkout counter, for instance. It is. I mean, look, the sales tax, the one quarter on $100, I mean, it's just not it's great. I like it and I like that it's permanent versus the tax holidays that we've been having. You

know what I'll tell you is I do get a lot of calls for property tax reduction. That we don't have a bill on property tax reduction and I agree with the Speaker of the House that anything that would occur with lowering property tax in Florida would require a constitutional referendum and we won't see those savings until 2027. But that's what my constituents want. That would be wildly popular. I get tons of calls of folks and the idea is, and one of my views on that idea is a situation perhaps kind of like a mortgage. You buy a house and you pay up front and you pay down that property tax liability on the property over maybe 30 years, but at the end of paying that down, then it's your home.

It's your land. And that's what my constituents want, So would you would you would they will of course take the the sales tax reduction? Yeah. Well, and you voted for it out of committee, you voted for it on the house. So clearly you support the idea of cutting the state sales tax for retail from 6% to five and a quarter as well as other sales tax reductions. As you mentioned, the tax reduction on commercial rent. There's a sales tax reduction on electricity, on the sale of new mobile homes, and even on coin operated amusement machines. All of those are included in the sales tax proposal. The governor, similarly to many of your constituents, prefers a property tax cut as opposed to a sales tax cut. Do you believe that the sales tax cut favors tourists more than Floridians, as the governor has argued?

I don't think anybody's arguing that the sales tax, there's a percentage, and I think it was like 30% of that number, and I could be wrong on that. But there was some percentage of the sales tax that we know that it is really dollars that the tourists are paying. And then sure, that's the issue. And I mentioned, of course, I support this lowering the sales tax, but the home run down the road and what I would like to continue to work for here in the Florida House would be to find a way to get

to the governor's vision of lowering property taxes. There was a bill in the Senate that I don't think has moved in the house at all that would lower the homestead exception. I thought that's not a bad bill. There's been other ideas of a $1,000, I guess, credit back to homeowners on their homestead. That's interesting.

But I think the sales tax package and lowering the BRT is huge. By lowering the BRT down to 1.25, that keeps the momentum on that. As you'll note, about four years ago, when I first got here to the Florida House, we were able to lower the BRT down for the first time in many years. The BRT is what again, Representative? I'm sorry, the business rent tax. But it's just the commercial rent, the commercial lease tax. Gotcha.

I want to get back to this idea, the focus on cutting taxes. Right now what's been passing is, of course, the sales tax reductions. As mentioned, any property tax reduction would require a much more significant statewide referendum. Property taxes, of course, are collected and used mostly at the local level. Sales taxes are collected both at local and state level, but it's primarily how the state government funds itself. How do the tariffs that were put in place this week by President Trump impact your thinking of a sales tax cut for Floridians versus a property tax cut?

Well, I'll tell you first. When I was listening to your lead in, I made a decision to go out and get a piece of Bordeaux immediately after your show. OK. Fair enough. I'll bring over some Italian cheese, representative. Thank you.

But yeah, no, it's been spoke. I mean, we've been talking about it, we've been watching the markets like I'm sure you have and everyone else has. And what I'll tell you is, initially when the markets dropped dramatically, it was scary, but I think we've seen some swing back. And I believe adamantly. I've supported Trump on this issue and this is not a surprise. Trump campaigned on this. There's no surprises. But my question though is, right, so the tariffs arguably are going to be a tax on consumers one way or the other. And so doesn't that perhaps put a little more wind in the sail of the effort

to reduce sales taxes in Florida as opposed to the effort to reduce property taxes? It does to some degree. I know Ben Albert made, the Senate president made some comments with regard to specifically that. But what I was getting at, Tom, was that Trump knows that he has two years to make this economy work. Because if he can't make the economy work by the midterms, it's going to be problematic. And that'll be effectively the end of his time that he'll be effective in office. And I do believe, and we have seen countries come to the table to negotiate. So I'll tell you, at this point, and I am support, well, I am ardently supporting the Trump tariffs, and I believe that the countries are going to come to the table, and I think

these aren't going to be long-term issues. I think we're going to have a good, strong, balanced economy, stronger than it's been for many years. Mike sent us this email, Representative. Cut the sales tax by three quarters of one percent will not help consumers. Businesses will just raise prices by three quarters of one percent. What kind of assurance is there that consumers would find relief if the state sales tax is actually reduced come July 1?

Well, the market will control. We do believe in the free market. I don't expect that businesses will want to compete and by raising prices at that rate, unless there are other inflationary factors, like you're suggesting. I don't buy into exactly what Mike is suggesting that, well, you know, the government lowers taxes so we're going to keep the prices same, so we're going to raise the price. You know, I'm not cynical like that, but I do believe that there are potentially other

inflationary causes that may cause prices to go up otherwise. We're speaking with Tom Pobrecio, Republican member and vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee in the Florida House about efforts to cut taxes in Florida. We'll be taking your phone calls about what's been going on with tariffs in the market and Florida's role in this economy and all the uncertainty that's out there.

We'd love to hear from you. 305-995-1800. Let's go to Daniel in Tampa has been listening in. Daniel, thanks for your patience. You are on the radio. Hi, how's it going? How are you doing? Good. Go ahead, sir. Well, I am 22 years old. I'm a college student out of Tampa, University of South Florida. And my first initial reaction to the proposed, or not the proposed, has

it passed already? The property tax cut. Nope, has not passed yet. It would take a constitutional amendment, statewide constitutional amendment for it to go into play. All right well in the scenario that is passed I believe that as someone that is just starting out I do not yet have a career yet where I am significantly contributing to the state's GDP. It would because presumably the taxes have I mean you have to have the taxes go somewhere. I mean The school bus is gotta get paid local government officials gotta get paid road workers gotta get paid And that's channeled through property tax. So the only conceivable way which is why I don't necessarily agree with the representatives point of view that

it's which is why i don't that they agree with uh... the representative point of view that that people are cynical for white doing i might not have misunderstood but increase prices any it's only it watch one if you believe in the free market so much that you would know that inevitably that means that uh... for people like me that not own property not own property in the state and are being slowly squeezed out of the prime real estate market because my generation does not have enough

accumulated wealth nor are there enough people in my generation that equate that wealth. I hear you. I want to hear from the representative on this. I appreciate it. By the way, when's graduation for you, Daniel? Daniel, we lost Daniel. All right, so soon to be a college graduate representative. How about that for a younger consumer, right? Just entering the workforce, the impact of the sales tax cut

would be much larger. And certainly anyone that's on the lower end of the income spectrum, that sales tax could deliver immediate savings versus the potential of a property tax cut. Sure, I hear you. And like you've discussed and we've talked, I've supported the sales tax. And that's something that we're looking to.

We've certainly passed it off the House floor. The issue at hand is whether what the Senate's gonna do, if they're gonna match us or they're gonna do something different. But what I'll say with regard to the folks who are not homeowners, the folks that are getting ready to start out in life, cutting the property tax would create more liquidity in the market across the board.

It's a more complicated economic concept than just simply cutting the sales tax. Sure. But doesn't cutting the property tax, that would benefit the existing owner, right? But a new owner would still potentially face some kind of tax, no? Of course. It would favor the current homeowner, but it would inject more liquid capital into the economy because now you as a property owner have more expendable income. There is an overall effect that occurs there.

So the savings on the... Sorry, just interrupt to make sure I understand this, Representative. The savings from a Florida consumer who also happens to own property as a primary resident, the savings from a property tax cut would be larger impact on their household budget, positive cash flow, as opposed to a three quarters of 1% tax cut to sales taxes. Is that what you're saying? That is one of the views with regard to the property tax cut. But the other side of it is perhaps not necessarily Daniel as the target market. The other side of it is folks who

have owned their homes for many years. Sure. Yeah. And folks who have been paying these taxes for many, many years. And folks who have been paying these taxes for many, many years. And folks who, for example, have been paying school board taxes as part of their property taxes for many years and their children have graduated and moved on and they're elderly and they may not be able to afford because of other issues those property taxes anymore. And they're facing losing their homes. Yeah. Sure. Lots here to talk about. We've been talking about the revenue, the top line, the income side here for the state. What about the spending side with these tax cuts? The

state sales tax cut that you approved out of the House is estimated to cost the state almost $5 billion in the next fiscal year, less revenue coming in. Property taxes wouldn't cost the state government all that much money at all. It would cost local governments and school governments the money. But on the state side, with your support of the sales tax cut representative, are there going to be, is there a need now for some spending reductions? Well, there have been. I mean, if you've been following, and I'm sure you have, Tom, if you've looked at the initial budgets that have come out of the House and the Senate and the governor's budget, all of the, all three are competing to see which is going to be the lowest budget. So, and

I think at this point, the House budget is the best, the biggest cut of the three. But you'll see that we are slashing government spending quite a bit. I've been a member of the State Affairs Budget Committee where we've been looking at actual government spending here in Tallahassee and throughout the state with different agencies. We have been ardently looking for efficiencies. Yeah. I think we're finding- What do you make of the Senate President's proposed narrower sales

tax cut of eliminating the state sales tax on clothing for $75 or less? I think it's, look, I think what we're seeing, well, number one, I respect the Senate President a heck of a lot. I think he's doing a great job over there. What I'll tell you is that I think that, a lot. I think he's doing a great job over there. What I'll tell you is that I think that if you look at the actual bill, which is SBB 7034, it's actually a shell bill. Right. Yeah. The details aren't in there just yet. Yeah. Right. So I like the concept of basically the $75 or less, that's the back to school sales tax holiday basically for clothing, and that's making that permanent. I love that. And I believe his comments indicated that he would continue the tax holidays that we've been seeing over the last couple of years. Those are very good

as well. But the rest is yet to be seen. It does. Tom, we have to leave it there. I apologize, representative, for interrupting you. We're up against the clock here for the radio program. Great to have you though from your office in Tallahassee. Much appreciated. I look forward to the next time. Tom Fabricio, member of the Florida House of Representatives. Your phone calls, we've got Eric, Catherine, Darrell, Isabel, Ann, all coming up next on the Florida Roundup. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Great to have you along this week talking about taxes, tariff, the ups and downs of

the stock market this week. Florida's got a lot at stake. We are an import-export global center of trade here with our more than a dozen seaports. We have a consumer-dependent economy here, not only buying new cars maybe in Tallahassee or washer and dryer in Jacksonville, but of course all those tourists up and down the peninsula in the Panhandle. And of course looking at those tariffs, looking at the consumer confidence, and lots of anxiety has been building in consumers nationwide, but also here in Florida, where we've seen a significant drop in consumer optimism when it comes to your own financial

outlook in the next six months and over the next five years. So let's talk about it more here as taxes also on the minds of Florida legislators, property taxes or state sales tax cuts, 305-995-1800. We're going to start with Isabel, who's been very patient in Naples. Great to hear from you, Isabel. Go ahead. You're on the radio. Thank you. I would like to start off by saying that your guest, I don't understand how you can say he favors free markets, and yet he is in favor of tariffs. It's a non-secular to me. I can't wrap my head around that. Well, to some degree, the president has talked about fair markets as opposed to free markets. Well, your guest talked about free markets, but regardless.

Okay, but looking at the sales tax, property taxes, all of that, I'm a well-to-do Republican Floridian property owner. What we need to do is stop looking at it from our personal perspective. Okay, unless all of us thrive, none of us will thrive. Okay, sales taxes are regressive. The poorest among us pay the most percentage of their income with those. Property tax, property owners, they are already well enough off to own property. I own property. My property is homesteaded. I'm happy for that. I get a bit of a reduction. We can increase the taxes on second, third, fourth home owner property. I mean, we need to get a handle on this. For money that rich people keep doesn't necessarily get spent in the

economy. Money saved and given back to the poorest among us, they spend every single dollar of it. Isabel, I appreciate you giving us your thoughts in Naples. Yeah, it's the velocity of currency. We learned that in the Great Recession and the housing crash. it's the velocity of currency. We learned that in the Great Recession and the housing crash. It's the velocity of money. How often does that money change hands and get pushed into the real economy that really counts? Al has been listening in Orlando and Central Florida. Al, go ahead. You're on the radio. You know, I think we're really struggling. We have a crisis of leadership. That last representative you have on illustrates exactly why we're in the situation we're in because these folks just don't know

anything. I'm a business owner, I source my products from overseas, right now the tariffs are causing a disaster. So for folks that have ordered products from me over a month ago, they cannot get their products, they are not moving from the ports because the tariffs are too high and for business owners Like me you have to pay extra on top of what you've already paid to get it out So my revenue is already gone if I go ahead and pay those tariffs. It's already gone I do have to pass that on to the customer So it's a tax increase for the customer bar none. End of story,

period. I wish these guys would stop talking about it like it's, oh, it's just a one-time or it's just a bit, and it's not that big of a deal. It's a big deal. Tell us a little bit more, Al, about your products. Products are, they're medical devices. They're for the hospital systems. The hospital will pay more. The patient will pay more. And if they don't, I have to start looking at potentially laying people off. And so, I mean, it's just across the board, this is a disaster. And representatives like this and then, you know, leaders, so-called leaders in Congress,

they just don't understand what we have to do to get products on the street and into the hands of the people who use them to save people's lives. This is a mess, a complete mess. Al, I can hear the passion in your voice. Thank you very much for sharing your perspective as an importer there in Orlando. Let's go up the coast of Jacksonville. Anne has been patient. Go ahead, Anne. You're on the radio. Nope, Ann, I think your cell phone's breaking up. We're going to try to put you on hold and come back to you here in a couple of seconds. Gina sent us this note on Facebook through our partnership with Your Florida. She says, I believe that lowering sales taxes would bring greater benefits to all people.

Not everyone is a homeowner. Gina says, I'm a homeowner. I know the property taxes go to fund vital services. I know that people who still pay rent pay property taxes through their rent to the property owners. Terry, our friend in Melbourne, great to hear from you, Terry. Thanks for listening today. Sent us this email as a homeowner. I oppose a property tax cut. How are you going to get money for public services? Cut my services and you'll hurt me as a homeowner. And then on Instagram through our Your Florida partnership, we had this note from Brianna who says, why can't we do both?

And let's try again and see if that cell phone cleared up in Jacksonville. Go ahead. Okay. There you are. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Go ahead, Ann. All right. I'm at the other end of the spectrum and the college student who spoke earlier, and the college student who spoke earlier, I have lived in Florida for 85 years and I'm a homeowner. The sales tax and the recent dramatic increase in insurance premiums have really made a dent

in people on fixed income and I would prefer a property tax cut to a sales tax cut. We do have some control over sales tax when we decide how much we're going to spend. Yeah, indeed. You have perhaps a bit more control over your shopping habits and your consumer habits. And maybe you could trade down from the premium fancy frozen pizza, and maybe the more generic frozen pizza, right?

Right. Whatever. Right. Yeah, yeah, whatever it may be. And I appreciate you holding on. Thanks for your perspective from Jacksonville. Wonderful to hear from you. In Lake Worth in South Florida, Darrell has been patient.

Darrell, you are now on the radio. Your turn. Hi, I'm so glad that a couple of your previous callers mentioned that the high sales tax is regressive and that the property tax would create liquidity, but really only for the rich. And that just increases the wealth disparity because we, I think any historian of economics would agree that it does not trickle down. We found that out. But I think the whole thing is being framed, especially by the governor, in the wrong sense. He's framing it as that the sales tax would help the tourists more than it would help Floridians, not individually. It would help each individual Floridian so

much more. And I think that's the wrong way to frame it. It's either take money from the, take money from, or not, not save money for, excuse me, by not lowering the sales tax from the lower income Floridians, who are renters with the rent increasing all the time, more of their, more, a bigger portion of their income is going towards those things, or hurt the schools. The property taxes, that's one of the main things they fund is the schools. So it, John Green, he's an author, he said, the reason that I don't mind my taxes going towards schools, even though I don't have kids, is because I don't want to live in a country with uneducated people. Yeah. I suspect Florida is going to be having this debate around property taxes and as John Green, the author mentioned for those that don't have children, this debate about what should

they be contributing if anything toward property taxes toward schools. But we extend that out, right? Think of the services that you pay for that you may not utilize, the roads that are paid for via the gas tax, for instance, that you don't drive on. So it's an argument and a perspective, I think, that we have to explore even further as a state. Listen, I appreciate the conversation there, Darryl, from Lake Worth.

Coral Springs in Western Broward County in South Florida. Catherine, you've been very patient. We want to hear from you. Go ahead. Thank you. I am actually in agreement that a sales tax is better than a property tax just because it doesn't fit. I mean property taxes take the needs of property owners into account. If you get rid of a property tax though you've got all kinds of people who aren't going to get the services that they

need, like the school. And you end up, I'm originally from California and by way of Texas. And I can tell you one thing that happens when you rely on sales tax exclusively, the thing goes through the roof. The thing being what? The tax, the sales tax. They decide one day that it's not enough and they're going to raise it. Yeah. Well, we're having quite the different debate here in Florida where the last time

the sales tax was raised in Florida was from 5% to 6% in 1988. 1988. Not a lot of us, Catherine, can remember 1988. I'm thinking you and I can, though. Yes, I can. But think about that. That is better than a generation where the sales tax in Florida has been at 6%. Meantime, the dollars have changed quite a bit with that. Uh-huh.

Yeah. And then you have all kinds of situations where property taxes end up getting capped like they did in California. That's right. And the increase is capped here in Florida as well, and Homesteaded, of course. Catherine, thank you for your perspective in Coral Springs. Frank in Orlando sent us this email. Keep taxes for garbage collection, fire rescue readiness, maintenance for roads and storm damage,

storm drainage for property. Increasing assessment that increases taxes without a wage increase consideration burdens the homeowner, especially for fixed income seniors." Yeah, certainly that's true. Frank continues here, how about no sales tax on used goods? Tax was already collected when it was new. Yeah, how about that? For those of us who like to go garage shopping, maybe that could be an opportunity there, Frank. Let's finally hear from David in Tampa. Go ahead, David. You're on the radio now.

Wow. Hey, thanks a lot, and I appreciate you putting me on. So I'd like to address the concept of the chaos that we're experiencing regarding tariffs, and I'd like to give a shout out first off to Al because he hit most of the high points. It absolutely is going to be a giant sense of chaos for everybody out there that has elements of their business that have international connections.

And what's happening is absolutely horrifying. It's making life for guys like him terrible. But oddly enough, that's not the point that I wish to address. I have noticed across all of America's media, both right and left, and I'm one of those ground news people and I'm always very interested in what the slant is, that the part of this that's not really being discussed is the fact that Trump and the people in the Oval Office are obviously doing insider trading. That they're causing chaos in the market.

They know what the chaos is going to be before they cause it. And they give ample warning to those in their circles to do the trading, to short sell and profit when the market goes down and to profit when it goes up. Yeah, I understand what you're saying there, David, and I've heard rumors and fears of just that as well. I do want to be grounded in facts and evidence, and we haven't seen the evidence of that. Not to say that it doesn't exist, but I just want to caution there, but I certainly understand your point of view, David, and the concern is voiced by you and by others. I appreciate you hanging on and joining the conversation there from Tampa. David, joining here us on the Florida Roundup

from Tampa. I'm Tom Hudson, and you are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida public radio station. Now each week of the legislative session we're talking about some of the issues that you have told us matter. It's part of the Your Florida project connecting you with state government and policies that affect your life. While pickleball is arguably now the state sport here in the Sunshine State, the idea to build pickleball courts in some state parks last year was a huge dud proposals to bring hotels and golf courses to parks were scrapped. These parks are meant for

conservation, not concrete. Maya Schoenenfeld is a student at FAMU legislators need to do their job and protect our public grounds. She was speaking at a youth climate press conference last month. More than a dozen so-called love fests were held at parks last week across the state in support of legislation designed to protect parks from development. Sherry Anchor organized one near Port St. Lucie.

I have nieces and grandnieces that like to go to the state parks. They're over on the west coast of Florida. I want them to experience at least a little bit of what I experienced when I was growing up in Florida. And there's something very distinct that you can't get from Disneyland. You just won't get it. Douglas Soll is back with us, state government reporter from Tallahassee. Douglas, welcome back. So how would these bills that are under consideration protect state parks from the kind of ideas that were floated last year? Yeah, so a quick note that the House version of this legislation actually passed its last committee stop earlier this week, now poised for a final vote on the chamber floor.

It's aimed at protecting state parks from, as you said, things like pickleball courts, golf courses, and big lodges. Specifically, it's wanting to prevent significant harm to natural resources, native habitats, or archaeological or historical sites that are preserved within state parks. 05. Some people argue the bills are not strong enough though. What are their objections? 05. So environmentalists have actually liked a lot about this proposal, but they've also said it doesn't go far enough and has loopholes that could lead to unintended and possibly unwanted development. That being said, the House bill that was approved recently was approved

unanimously. It notably included an amendment geared at addressing such loophole concerns and environmental advocacy groups are a lot, lot happier with the House product. Presumably this proposal came out of Republicans in Tallahassee. Is that right, Douglas? Yes, yes. You know, this is a bipartisan effort, something that both Republicans and Democrats are on the same page about.

The plan that was announced last year that would have significantly developed parks with things like pickleball courts, received an unbelievable amount of outcry and lawmakers are really stepping up to address it. And that plan came out of the governor's office. The governor backtracked pretty quickly saying that it wasn't for prime time back then. That's correct.

That's correct. And it is important to point out the Senate version of this hasn't gone quite as far, though it is being heard next week in a committee meeting as well. So we're at the see how the effort of the Senate side goes. There is a wide ranging agriculture bill that's making progress in Tallahassee as well, Douglas, and among the many issues it tackles is a whole laundry list. But a big one is that it would prevent public water systems here in Florida from adding fluoride. Cecile Schoon is the co-president of the League of Women Voters of Florida.

She opposes a statewide ban. Instead, she thinks it should be left up to local communities. It should be something that local authorities should be able to determine without preemption because they might have a large portion of citizens who need that additional assistance. So Douglas, tell us more about this legislation that would put a state ban on fluoride in drinking water. Well, as many listeners probably know, fluoride is a mineral used to prevent tooth decay. And according to a bill analysis, at least 29 counties in the state of Florida have it

in their water supplies. That being said, a multitude of local governments have already opted recently to remove it from their water. Supporters of such moves commonly say that people shouldn't be medicated if they don't want to, especially with fluoride already in things like toothpaste and mouthwash. Florida's own Surgeon General has already recommended against it in water supplies, citing concerns with potential negative health risks. Now, of course, that was a recommendation. This bill would be a mandate restricting it from public water supplies. And that's something that dental groups do not want to see. They

talk a lot about the dental health toll of removing it, especially for those who do not have access to fluoride treatments that others might have. Douglas Saul covers the Florida legislature for Florida Public Radio. Thank you so much, Douglas. Appreciate it. No, thanks for having me on. Community engagement reporter Megan Bowman contributes to our reporting as well. And you can add your voice to the Your Florida Reporting Project. You can visit WUSF.org

slash your dash Florida. Stick around. Plenty more to come, lots of news from around and about college campuses in the Sunshine State. That's next here on the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Great to have you along this week. We have several stories now from and about Florida college campuses. We'll start here. Lawmakers may change some of the rules about the hiring process for university presidents.

Now, it was just a few years ago that a law was passed allowing the look for new university leaders to happen largely behind closed doors. But lawmakers are pushing forward a bill that aims to bring more transparency to the hiring process. Tristan Wood reports now from our partner station WFSU in Tallahassee. Since Florida lawmakers made the process private in 2023, Republican politicians with a limited university administration experience have been selected to lead the University of Florida, Florida International University, and the New College of Florida. And concerns about political intervention stalled the hiring process at Florida Atlantic University.

Escambia Republican Representative Michelle Salzman says how the state's university system implemented the public records exemption went beyond what the legislature intended and should be reversed. One of the biggest decisions made was made in the shade, a part of one of the biggest parts of Florida's budget. So this bill is taking it out of the shade and putting it back into the sunshine so Floridians no longer question or don't understand how the university searches are made or how presidents are selected. The bill doesn't just make the university presidential search public again.

It gives control of the process to each individual institution's board of trustees instead of the state university system board of governors, whose members are mostly appointed by the state governor. The bill also prohibits the governor or any executive branch employees from discussing a presidential vacancy or supporting a candidate for the job. Solzman's proposal has support from groups that are often critical of the legislature.

AFL-CIO Policy Director Rich Templin says he thinks the bill will return independence back to universities. So much of the process was self-governance of faculty and input from all of the different stakeholders, the students, the community, the business leaders, and that was taken away a few years ago. And we want to thank Representative Salzman for putting them back.

Other elements of the bill also institute term limits on members of the Board of Governors and University and College Boards of Trustees. It also requires people serving on those boards either live in Florida or be a graduate of a Florida college or university. And board members will be required to file financial disclosure forms. Those rules would impact several current members of those boards that were appointed by DeSantis. For WFSU News, I'm Tristan Wood. Ray Rodriguez was in the Florida Senate back in 2022 when that law was passed shielding university presidential searches from public scrutiny.

Today Rodriguez is the chancellor of the state university system. The theory behind the legislation was if you put the search in the shade, they can apply and know that they're not going to be outed as an applicant. You'll draw more sitting presidents who will apply to be president. And I think that portion of the bill has done what it was intended to do. Trevor Burrus Rodriguez appeared on the Deeper Dive podcast from the News Service of Florida. While the current law keeps secret who is applying for the job of a university president

here in the Sunshine State, a separate law requires three finalists to be named before one is chosen. And Rodriguez said naming the three finalists has deterred some candidates. If they're one of three names and there's a chance they may not get the job, they don't want to be publicly identified. So that's the wrinkle in the process that we're seeing today. Now there's a long history of politicians moving from the State House to campus. Jeanette Nunez is just the latest example. She was the lieutenant governor until February when she resigned to become the interim president of Florida

International University. Former House Speaker Richard Corcoran has overseen the entire restructuring of New College in Sarasota and former Republican legislator Adam Hasner is the president at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. The University of Florida, the flagship university here in the Sunshine State, is still actively looking for a permanent leader. Now there were two big stories out of Gainesville this week. The first is that we learned that a UF student was arrested by immigration authorities last month after a traffic stop. This is audio from the police body camera. The arrest happened in late March in Gainesville, near UF's campus.

The student was handcuffed and taken to the Alachua County jail for driving with an expired car registration and having a suspended driver's license. Here's reporter Ailey Shains from our partner station, WUFT, in Gainesville. Felipe Zapata Velasquez is a third-year resource economic student from Columbia. He was in the process of renewing his visa when he was detained, thus after he was arrested for driving with an expired license. Zapata Velasquez has an F-1 visa, which allows foreign students to attend a university in the United States.

But according to the U.S. Department of State, it could get taken away for certain driving offenses and criminal activity. I'm Ali Shains in Gainesville. Velasquez is from Colombia. He was eventually taken to an immigration detention center near Miami. His mother Claudia Velasquez spoke with NTN24 News in Colombia. She says he was arriving home when the police stopped him, that his license had expired. She said unfortunately he made a bad decision.

She says her son has since returned to Columbia. Velasquez was a junior studying food and resource economics. On Thursday, UF confirmed its police department signed an agreement with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. The news of the student's arrest came as the UF campus was gearing up for the NC2A Men's Basketball Championship game Monday night. The Florida Gators are national champions. The team won the school's third title when it beat the University of Houston.

It capped a season that started with plenty of doubt and controversy for the team and its coach. Noah White is the assistant sports editor of the independent Florida Alligator. Let's start with the end of this story, which is the championship win this week. It was not a pretty game at all for the Gators. It was low scoring. The star Walter Clayton Jr., was shut out in the first half. How did the Gators pull out this win? Well, I think you always could have kind of expected the game to go this way. What allowed Florida to stay competitive in that was really the coaching dynamic that Todd Golden has developed here at UF because you have a team that's typically very fast-paced,

it's pushing the ball down the court. They're designed to score and score and score, but what Golden had always done is when you got into these murkier games, these slower, uglier games, he was able to put out a lineup, especially with guys like sophomore forward Tommy Hawk and sophomore forward Alex Condon, they could just elbow in there and get the job done. I think you really saw that on a Monday night. It was kind of an ugly game. Technical fouls, a lot of fouling on the court, a lot of literal elbows being thrown, as well as, of course, the low score. And this season, kind of an apt ending maybe to this season, which began with not high hopes. So what were the ingredients that built into this championship season then?

They started this year at number 21 in the nation, I think both in the coaches' poll and the AP poll. And so you really didn't have this expectation, but I don't think it's hard to look at the way they structured the roster and imagine them getting to this point. I mean, Todd Gould was entering his third year here at UF. There was obviously a lot of controversy swirling around with that at the beginning of the year.

I'll ask you about that in a moment. Yes. But he had structured a roster, despite that, that was made up of a couple of different pieces. I mean, you had these returning guys like Clayton and Will Richard you added the guys like Elijah Martin this year To kind of add those additional pieces You had this mix of pieces that was designed to hold well in the modern world of college basketball because what we're seeing these days Is teams leaning a lot more into like you have to roll your roster over every year when they lost

They knew they needed someone like Elijah Martin because they didn't have that. So it wasn't hard at the gate to see that they were going to get here. They had the roster to do it. You mentioned some of the troubles that the coach was under as the season was just beginning. Complaints were filed, essentially. Sexual harassment complaints, stalking complaints were filed.

We learned about this in November that the coach, Todd Golden, faced these complaints on behalf of multiple women, including some female students. The university investigated what happened and how did this influence perhaps the first few weeks or first few months of the season. You just had this kind of murkiness floating around the team for a while there where you didn't really know what was the case. And we get to January 27th and it's announced that Monday morning that the University of Florida couldn't find any evidence to uphold these claims. They reached out to all the involved members.

They went through the investigation process thoroughly for what was four months, and they came back and they couldn't find anything to prove what was claimed and those claims specifically. Noah White is the Assistant Sports Editor of the Independent Florida Alligator. Noah, thanks so much for sharing your reporting with us. We really appreciate it. Congratulations. Of course. Thank you. And I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio Station. Finally, in the Roundup this week, this week's big win by the Gators now means the UF

stands alone. Yeah, certainly among college men's basketball for this season, but also Yeah, certainly among college men's basketball for this season, but also the first Division One school to win three national championships in basketball and three in football. Now just in case you missed it or would like to relive it, here are the final seconds of the game on CBS. He can't touch it. He can't. One second. And it's over. Florida is back on top of the college basketball world. Championship madness. Jack Gordon is a sophomore at UAC who watched the championship game Monday night. I mean this is incredibly special. I don't expect to see anything of this magnitude while I'm here again.

I can't count myself lucky enough to be here for this. Fans turned out Tuesday when the basketball team and their new trophy returned to campus. I'm Brady Kerman. I'm here at Flavitt Field in a sea of orange and blue as faculty, alumni, and students have gathered in the hundreds to come support their men's basketball national champions. I spoke with one student, Louis Keller, a fifth-year senior who happened to still be in his pajamas. I got here in 2020. Best sports team I've ever seen in my entire life. So it means a lot and in my last four weeks of school I get to experience something like this.

Ah yes, springtime on campus, celebrating a national championship in PJs. That'll do it for the Roundup this week. It is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF in Tampa by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter with assistance from Denise Royal. WLRN's Vice President of Radio is Peter Merz. He's also a birthday boy this week. Happy birthday Peter. May the back beat always be with you, brother. The program's technical director is MJ Smith. Engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson, Ernesto J, and Jackson Harp. Katie Munoz answers the phones. Our theme music is provided by Miami Jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at AaronLeibos.com.

We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line, will you? Our email address is radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Thanks for emailing, calling, listening, and above all, supporting public media in your community. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.