The Florida Roundup - Property tax cut faces growing opposition, Florida’s child drowning crisis and more

Episode Date: August 7, 2026

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke with the president of the Florida Sheriffs Association about its official statement on the proposed property tax amendment (00:00). Then, we were joined by former state senator Jeff Brandes to talk about this week’s court ruling ordering a rewrite of the ballot language for the proposed tax cut (11:54). Plus, as the number of child drownings continues to rise in Florida, we spoke with two water safety advocates (20:06). And later, some back-to-school news including how the state and school districts are addressing the use of artificial intelligence in classrooms (37:20) and what’s behind the rising costs of school lunches (38:30).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. It is terrific to be along with you. Today we're going to talk about living around water. Now, let's face it, it's a fact of life here in Florida, surrounded by the ocean as we are and with many neighborhoods filled with swimming pools. The state continues seeing an alarming increase in drownings. More than 70 children have drowned this year in Florida. And that pace would make this year the deadliest on record. And it would come after last year's record. So why? Why is this? And what's being done to make sure Floridians, especially very young children, are protected around water and learn to swim? How did you learn how to swim? Grandparents and parents, aunts, uncles, speaking to you now, how do you keep a watchful eye on the kids around water? 305-995-1800, or you can send us a quick email radio at the Florida roundup.org. That conversation is coming up in about 20 minutes. But first, this week, the question of property taxes here in the Sunshine State. Florida voters will decide the fate of a proposed constitutional amendment that would increase the value of a home or condominium that is exempt from property taxes as long as the owner lives in the house or

condo, thereby reducing local property taxes. Now, this week, a judge ordered the language of the referendum to be rewritten. Now, we'll get to that in just a few minutes. There's a growing chorus of public safety groups across the state, though, raising concerns. about the measure. This week, the Florida Sheriff's Association said it is significantly concerned about it. Sheriff Billy Woods is with us. He is the sheriff in Marion County in North Central Florida and is the president this year of the Florida Sheriff's Association. Sheriff Woods, welcome to the program. Thanks for your time. How's it going, Tom? Thank you for having me today. It's a terrific Friday to be a Floridian, Sheriff. What are your significant concerns about this property tax amendment? You know, I'll start off by saying,

you know, that I don't think there's anybody in their right mind that wouldn't want their property taxes cut. Okay, so we have a good idea. But here's the concern. When you take such a big jump into something to cut property taxes, there are going to be services that hurt. And that's what got us, has us sheriff's concern, is because it will have damaging effects upon each and every one of our budgets.

And everyone should know that in a budget, 80% of your budget is personnel. I sit with currently, sit with 125 deputies short. I need to have that many more where they predicted within three to five years because of our population growth, not just here in Marion, but throughout the entire state. I should have another 350 deputies. That's a statewide number, sheriff, right? Not just a Marion County. Well, yeah, we all have to increase our personal.

Okay, but just making sure on that. Yeah, those are my numbers. That's what I need in Marion County. You need 325 more deputies in Marion County alone. Correct. I see. Yes. So if you look at that across the state, put that on every sheriff and with population growth the way it is, how do you get there?

you're going to do a property cut. So for myself, I have an MSTU and law enforcement. If the property tax, this amendment three goes through, automatically I will lose 10 to 20 percent of the revenue for my law enforcement. Now, let me ask you about that, Sheriff. Why do you believe that? Because the proposed amendment mandates that local governments use property taxes for certain things, including, quote, public safety. That's in the language of the proposed amendment. Why do you think your budget would fall victim if property taxes are cut? So I don't want to say that I'm the only one, because I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that if I'm not, we're rare. Okay. So I have a specific MS2U specifically for law enforcement, right? It doesn't include all the other services in which I have for my office. So

And although they want, when you put the language in there that they have to cover law, uh, cover public safety, public safety. Well, that's what that MSTU is. MSTU stands for what, sir? Miscellaneous serving taxing unit. Okay. So specifically outlined for law enforcement on the citizens of Marion County. That means that tax dollar can only be used for my office and for my law enforcement.

Roughly 90% of that revenue that goes towards my law enforcement is property tax. So there's no other services within that MSTU. It's not a county park. It's not a county building. It's not a county administration that comes out of that revenue. So it is dependent upon the property tax. And if you reduce your property tax, that means I'm going to lose revenue on the law enforcement. side. And it would be very extremely hard challenging for me to achieve those deputies that I just

told you when I have less revenue coming into the future. Sheriff, let me play for you a statement that the Attorney General of Florida, James Uthmire, made this week regarding property taxes and law enforcement spending. I in no way want to do anything to jeopardize funding to go towards public safety, to go towards our sheriffs, our law enforcement needs. And I know our legislature agrees the same way. They would never let anything jeopardize those services. So there would need to be legislative changes made to protect those budgets. So there's the Attorney General Uthmire.

Does that give you any solace, Sheriff Woods? You know, that's a hard question. You're asked me because I know the AG. Sure. And I know exactly where his heart is. So and all of our legislators. So let me make this abundantly clear. This has nothing to do with us coming out and saying,

hey, we need to hit the pause button on this because his statement is absolutely correct for him. He is dedicated to ensuring that public safety is number one. Here's some of our concerns as well is there's no set plan. There's nothing laid out to say that this is what's going to occur. Here's how we're going to ensure that you continue to generate. the revenue. What you have right now is forcing your counties, okay, because I have the same type of general fund that some of my fellow sheriffs have, is you're going to force the counties to cut in the non-essentials, first responders, let's just use those, okay, and say you've got to pay for them, you've got to pay for roads.

So it's, I don't want to say easy, but you should be able to find those cuts in those other areas that are not essential. So let's put some numbers to this, Sheriff Woods, because if passed, the Florida Association of counties, says Marion County property tax collections would drop by $60 million next year. Correct. Yeah. And so you're part of that administration, you're part in elected official there in Marion County.

Where might that $60 million be found? Is there $60 million to be found in the county budget in your estimation? So I don't put my nose into the county's stuff, all right? Okay. Independent elected a sheriff. Yes, sir. I have my own little silo. I have my own problems and issues, so I can't tell you where to cut it from over there.

Okay. Okay. It's not my business. Fair enough. Sheriff, as it sits now, are you a homeowner in Marion County? I am. Yeah. Would you, you're a voter, I suspect, you're registered to vote?

Correct. I am. Okay. Yeah, so as a constituent, how do you feel about this proposal as it sits today here in early August? So that's the hard part, Tom. I said it in the beginning. I am a property owner. I pay taxes.

Do I want my property taxes to lower? Absolutely I do. Do you think I wake up in the morning and say, hey, I look forward to paying taxes today on my property, which is far from the truth. But I also know and recognize as a conservative, because I'm pretty sure you've researched me, Tom.

You know that I'm a conservative. Yes, sir. The fact is, is I'm also known. that in order for us to function in Marion County, we have to have certain services, and that does come on, that means you've got to be taxed. That means you have to pay your dues. And when you have growth, infrastructure has to be kept up. Where are you going to get it? That's just the way that's life. You're conflicted. Yes, absolutely. Yes. I want to problem. But you got to pay for it.

And well, do you think this was, this piece was written by the legislature to appear on the ballot? We're going to get into language issues coming up in just a couple of moments with former state senator Jeff Brandis, who led the, led one of the lawsuits to challenge the ballot summary and the ballot title. We'll talk about that in the second here, Sheriff, with him. But just as a voter, and you're conflicted here with this. Is there, how would the legislature, I suppose, answer some of the concerns that you have about having a plan, having a plan in place. So the way I see it, you got the cart before the horse, plain as simple as that. And I mean, there's been many ideas.

There's been many things thrown out. You've got sales tax. You've got a... Fees or increasing the property tax rate that's left on the... That is correct. And here's food for thought. Tom. Okay. It is, you know, you got individuals out here that are just dying to have this Amendment 3 pass, right? Well, yeah, you're going to save money here, but all it ends up to being

is a shell game. You're going to have to make up the revenue somewhere. So it's going to be shoved into some other pot or be taken in another measure that you're still as a citizen. You're still going to end up paying taxes in some shape, way or form, no matter how you equate it. Um, and there hasn't been no clear direction of how do we get there. Now, the governor had an outline. Now, whether or not it was achievable, I'm not up there. I don't do those numbers. But I do know the governor had an idea.

It didn't come out that way. Legislators changed it. That's of their own choosing. That's why they're elected and put into those positions. I will say this, Tom. I do have faith in our governor. I do have faith in our legislators, both sides of the aisle. There's not a Democrat, there's not a Republican that just says, man, we just want everybody to fail.

That is far from the truth. But the question is, how do you get there? And if you're going to jump, you're about to jump into the deep end of the pool or the hole, the water. And the ladder hasn't been put up for you to get out. Sheriff, we'll leave it there. We appreciate your time, sir. Thanks. Have a safe Friday. Sheriff Billy Woods is the president of the Florida Sheriffs Association and is the sheriff in Marion County in North Central Florida. So we still right now don't know the exact question about property taxes. That'll be asked of voters in the fall. This is because this week a judge ruled the original wording of the ballot measure was misleading. Now this is the name of the amendment as passed by Florida lawmakers. Save our homes from excessive property taxes. This is a speech to text voice so we can hear it.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge decided that title was not legal. The title is more akin to a political slogan. It is not fair or neutral. It advocates a policy position. That's also speech-to-text from the judge's writing this week. The ruling, three lawsuits were filed against the amendment challenging how the amendment title and summary were worded. For example, the original language approved by lawmakers made these promises. Ensuring funding for core services, protecting small businesses, ensuring fairness for Florida residents.

And then the judge's ruling threw that out. The purpose of a ballot summary is to explain what an amendment would do, not to advocate for its adoption. So it's a rewrite. The Attorney General will be responsible for writing the new language. So would you support a more neutrally worded property tax amendment? 305-955-800. Former Tampa Area Republican State Senator Jeff Brandis was among those challenging the language, and he's with the Florida Policy Institute and with us now.

Jeff, thanks again for your time. Are you satisfied with this ruling this week? Absolutely. Listen, I think this was the best outcome for all Floridians. But this basically is built on as decades of precedent that the Florida State Supreme Court has set on multiple previous constitutional amendments. And the state and the governor's office disregarded those

as they wrote this amendment. They knew what those previous ones were. And they chose to use basically misstatements outlaw it lies and and frankly advocacy language as they built this amendment. I mean, we can look at specifically each one of those things that you just talked about. Nothing in this bill ensures fairness, right?

This doesn't ensure fairness. It doesn't ensure anything. You mean fairness in terms of the language as opposed to the consequences if it were passed? Well, the amendment says this ensures fairness for all Floridians or something along those lines. or it says it protects small businesses right there's nothing in the amendment specifically that protects small businesses there it protects businesses from additional increases it are it actually decreases

the amount of assessment that could they potentially see in the future from 10% to 5% but if their millage rate goes up well then it doesn't protect them at all because they're going to be paying more in taxes again it doesn't ensure fairness for all floridians because a third of your floridians rent and they get nothing out of this in your previous life as a legislator. You wrote laws, wrote proposed legislation. How might you rewrite just the ballot title? Well, I think they've got, they've lowered property taxes in the future, just use that same ballot title or something like that it, this is, this affects homestead property taxes, right? That it limits homestead property taxes. Just here's what it does. Not that it saves us from,

you know, excessive property taxes. First of all, you can't use the word save. The court said that multiple times. And it's, you know, it's totally subjective, whether it's excessive or not. Because if you're a long-term homestead, a property owner, most of them are not the ones complaining about the increase in property taxes. In addition to striking down the title and the summary, the judge's ruling also noted that the amendment places, quote, in the state constitution for the first time the legislature's right to control ad valorem tax spending. What do you make of that? Well, I think this is a fundamental shift. And frankly, it's a huge. shift to home rule. Prior to this, cities and counties had the ability to manage your own budgets.

Now the governor effectively becomes the mayor of small towns and counties across the state of Florida because they're effectively going to be able to, you know, potentially set tax rates in those states. Let me give you one example. The governor, the governor of Dysantis, recognized that he was likely going to bankrupt some certain cities and counties. So he suggested that the state come up with a trust fund. Well, if you apply, apply for the trust fund. It's not like the state's going to let you set your tax rates to zero and still get money from the trust fund. No, they're going to set the required local participation. If they do that, they could say, listen, you must be at X amount of property tax in order to

apply. Or you must be at the top. You must be at 10 mils in order to apply to the state, to the state fund. This is where the state now historically has never been involved and now starts to get involved with cities and counties, setting their to minimum tax rates so that they can continue to exist. Jeff, I want to squeeze in a caller. Curtis is in Port St. Lucy. Curtis, thanks for calling. You're on the radio. Yeah, good morning. How are you doing? Good. Great. Go ahead, sir. Yeah, I am definitely against Amendment 3, the property taxes being for reduced. Reduced, yes. Yeah. But the thing

only way we can solve this, if it's going to hurt us, and we all know that it's going to hurt us, because we're going to pay one way or the other, get a reduction here and then get an increase somewhere else. I mean, most of this is driven by the Republican Party. They're the ones that got it on the table. So in November, the only thing we can do is vote no on Amendment 3 and crossed the aisle, the Republicans crossed the aisle and vote Democrat. Curtis, we appreciate your voice there from Port St. Lucy. Jeff, you served as a Republican in the legislature. What do you tell your Republican colleagues about this Amendment 3 effort and how they executed it? Yeah, so my real problem was the execution. This was done without due diligence. Nobody had seen the numbers.

We know nobody had seen the numbers because the numbers didn't even come out for another month after they published, after they actually voted up to put the amendment on the ballot. Right. There was no state required economic impact report attached to this legislation when it went through the special session. Not only was there an economic impact report, nobody knew how this was going to affect cities and individual counties. Listen, when you're elected to the House and the Senate, you're elected to represent your local district, your local Senate district, your local house district. At the end of the day, how can you represent them if you don't know what it's how it's going to impact them? Yeah, it's estimated. If you don't know what the long-term consequences are.

Estimated to be about $11 billion the first year climbing to about $14 billion. Jeff, do you support the intention of the amendment? I'm all for having a conversation about lowering property taxes. In fact, I would love to have a conversation about lowering taxes overall. But this is not how you do it. You do it with due diligence up front. You do it by understanding the modeling, how it's going to impact people. This is built on a strategy of hope.

We hope it works out. We hope that we can solve these cities and counties problems. Jeff, I got to interrupt you. I apologize, but thank you for your time. Jeff Brandis with the Florida Policy Institute. We've got more to come as the Roundup continues. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Next week on our program, speech and consequences on campus at Florida's public universities.

You know, a new semester is about to begin. An appeals court ruled recently. Part of the state's Stop Woke Act restricting race and gender topics in college classrooms is unconstitutional. A group of students at Florida International University, FIU, were disciplined recently for a silent protest over immigration enforcement. And then there's a story of a South Florida State College professor, fired over an assignment. So how is free speech and academic freedom practiced and policed on college campuses in Florida? Are you a professor, a retired professor, a parent of a student, or maybe a student yourself, let us know by emailing radio at the florida roundup.org.

Radio at the florida roundup.org. That's next week. This week, Florida is on pace to see another record year of drowning deaths. More than 70 children have drowned this year across the state. A five-year-old died in late July in a swimming pool in Davenport. Four children drowned in South Florida in less than a month earlier this summer. Unintentional drowning is the second leading cause of preventable child death, according to state health data. So why is Florida seeing so many children drowning? What's being done to make sure that we stay safe around and in the water? Do you know how to swim?

When did you learn? How did you teach your kids or your grandkids, your nieces, your nephews? 305-9-5-1800, 305-9-5-1800, or send us a quick email, radio at the Florida Roundup.org. Jade sent us this email saying, my mom threw me in as a baby, and I've been a fish ever since.

Jade says, it's wild to me when people say they don't know how to swim, especially in Florida. I've even taught a few classes and spent a summer as a lifeguard. Chuck wrote, My son, who's 39 now, learned how to float, hold his breath, and dog paddle to the edge of the pool before he could walk. One of his playmates nearly drowned in their family pool.

She was young, maybe three, and her older sister, who is probably seven, saw her sister motionless at the bottom of the deep end. She dove in, dived down, grabbed her sister, and removed her from the water. And then Anne wrote us this note. When my son was born, I knew the drowning statistics on preschool children.

My son took the infant class at the Hall of Fame pool in Fort Lauderdale at the age of one, than a few weeks more to learn how to swim. At least one friend of mine, Anne writes, did not allow him to attend an adult party because of her fears about the pool, the hot tub, and the canal near her home in Davy. My policy was at that time when we were near a body of water, a pool, a canal, a hot tub, a lake, you name it. If he ever got out of my sight, I immediately looked in the water.

305-995-1800. Casey McGovern is with us now, who leads every child a swimmer. Casey, welcome the program. Thanks for your time today. It's nice to see you. Thank you so much for having me. The statistics are really alarming. here. And they had, they had been trending lower prior to the pandemic, not substantially, but

ever so slightly lower, but really in the past few years, we have seen them continue to increase. What's behind that increase, do you think? Well, I have spent the last 17 years looking at the data and watching it closely year after year and the fatalities. And there was a little bit of a drop, you know, at one point, which was promising. But since 2020, it seems like it's just on a steady increase with 120 children losing their life in our state last year alone. And actually we're up to 86 in 2026 so far. All of us in this space and in this profession, we don't necessarily have an answer, you know, because obviously there has been an increase in population, but it doesn't necessarily set the stage for the tremendous amount of deaths happening. Yeah. So I think it's just

people are not aware. And so opportunities like this where we talk about it and we provide solutions can only help. Yeah, we've got some phone callers here too. And I want to ask about solutions because the Department of Health puts out an annual report. And part of that report talks about preventable, unintentional drowning deaths is the way that the Department of Health describes it. And it talks about ineffective physical barriers and inadequate supervision continue to be the primary contributing factors to drowning incidents in young children. So there's just, there's not an object stopping them from going into the water. And the adult supervision is deficient to put it very mildly.

Well, what I always talk about is just the first and foremost things as far as preventing it. We may have multiple layers in place to prevent a drowning from happening. But the first and foremost is knowledge of the hazard. Knowing that this can happen to you, now what am I going to do to create a plan? I think about water safety very similarly as fire safety or even having a jack in the back of our car, just in case we have a flat tire. We're prepared for this incident from happening. and we're prepared for fire safety.

We're prepared that if there's a fire in our home, we have a plan, we have fire extinguers, we have smoke detectors. But nobody really talks about that great big, beautiful body of water behind your home, near your home, and having a plan. And so I think that that's one of the biggest problems is just knowledge of the hazard and what am I going to do about it? 75% of child drownings, unintentional drownings in Florida,

are in a swimming pool according to state statistics. So what are some of the hallmarks of that plan of having an effective plan? Supervision. Supervision is key. When you're near anybody of water, enjoying the water, having a pool party, be within arm's reach if not holding that child. Not even a pool party, right?

I mean, just enjoying a day, doing yard work, whatever it may be. If you have young children nearby, make sure that you're within arms reach, if not holding that child. Always assign a water watcher when you are preoccupied. However, then the other layers step into place where there's door chimes, there's fencing,

swim lessons and CPR. You know, those are all crucial layers of protection to be able to really combat it and help prevent these situations from happening. This might seem pretty elementary, but just really good adult communication while kids are around water. Who's got eyes on him or her?

Right? I got to go grab a drink. I'd go to the restroom. So-and-so is near the water or in the water, right? But I think parents feel that it's a long process. They'll hear it. And so I think the knowledge of the hazards is also like paramount

because you think you're going to run and use the restroom or get a drink, you feel like you're safe. You feel like you're going to hear it. You feel like there's going to be flailing and screaming and you'll be coming, you'll be able to run out. But in most cases, it's under 30 seconds and, you know, tragedy has occurred. Casey McGovern is with us. Every Child of Swimmer is her organization. We're talking about preventable and unintentional childhood drowning deaths in Florida, 305-995-1800. Mirren is listening here, Casey, in Miami.

Mirren, go ahead. You're on the radio. Hi, Casey. Casey's a really great friend, and she's an amazing advocate. We're a part of every child this summer. My name is Mirren Oka from Okaquotics in Miami. Thanks for calling. Hi, Maryan. Keep up the great work. Oh, well, you too. You too. I think it's so incredibly important. The work that you do, the scholarships that you provide, and the education, the water safety education that you provide.

And the one thing that we like to tell our families is that we try never to use. the word safe. We cannot make a child safe or a family safe, but we can make them safer by providing swimming lessons. Swimming lessons are a huge part of that, but it's also just one layer of protection. We need to make sure we have barriers. Just like Casey was saying earlier, we need to make sure we have constant adult supervision. Children can't gain, you know, gain unauthorized access to the pool. Life jackets when appropriate. And of course, all adults need to know about CPR and emergency preparedness just in case. And so we are huge advocates of every child this summer and the work that Casey does.

And, you know, we're just a huge fan of, I think the most important thing we can do right now is educate, educate, educate, educate, both in swimming lessons and water safety, general water safety education. Mirren, thanks for calling and joining the conversation and putting the focus on safety and creating awareness. Maritza McClendon is with us, the Olympic silver medalist in two. 2004 for the United States and water safety advocate. She moved to Florida back when she was nine years old, six-time Florida State High School swimming champion as well. Merritt, so welcome to your

time here today. Thanks for being with us. Oh, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. So you heard there from the caller and you've heard from Casey about education, education around safety, but I want to focus on the education of the child, him or herself, around swimming. What are some of the reasons that people don't provide swimming lessons or have their child in swimming lessons at a young age? Yeah, you know, I think it's spot on to what Casey's already been saying. There's multiple layers to everything, including reasons why you don't learn how to swim. It could be expensive. It could be lack of access, maybe lack of knowledge of where to go find water safety lessons at.

And I also think another big barrier, which I don't think we've talked about, is adults who live. learn how to swim. So if you as a parent don't know how to swim, there's actually only an 18 or 13% chance that your child will learn how to swim. So we always really want to say that this is a family activity and that you should, the entire family should learn how to swim. It's not just about making sure that the child is safer and in and around the water, but also making sure that if you're an adult and you're a water watcher and you don't know how to swim, that's going to be a problem as well. We had one one person ask a question off air about swim lessons for infants. like to teach infants or get them comfortable on their back, for instance, and rolling over in the water.

Maritz, any experience with that? What are your thoughts on that as someone who is advocating for swimming lessons? Yeah, I, you know, we always talk about, I do a lot of water safety clinics, I've been doing it for over 20 plus years. And one of the things that we like to do is as soon as a child learns how to sit up, they can actually learn to learn some floating skills. So meaning you can do that life-saving skill where you have the child get in the water and they could be fully close. So in case they fall in and they're a very young age, the best thing that you can teach them how to do is to roll over. So once they, you can actually put them in the water and you eventually kind of teach them how to roll over. So my kids actually did that. So we started as young as six months old for both of our kids and they did that,

that type of training. That's how they got introduced to it. Yeah, I've got two boys, Casey. And I remember being in the pool and then sitting on the edge and encouraging them to lean in and kind of fall in, get used to the water, splashing it on their face. and then kind of helping them turn over on their back. Is that the kind of interactivity that you can't start too young? Yeah, I think the more comfortable you are and they are, the better it'll be. And starting them early will allow them to not be so fearful of the water. I think a lot of times parents get their children into lessons a little late.

And so they become fearful of the experience. And so starting them early is just going to set them into a course of being successful in and around the water. Marisa, I mean, no time is too late to learn how to swim. Let's say that flatly, right? But what is that kind of target age in your experience, Maritza, as an Olympic silver medalist, a six-time high school state champion in Florida? What's that kind of target age for parents or grandparents listening now? You know, like we said earlier, I think we just want to start them as soon as possible. I think Casey's spot on. Like you kind of tend to build up that fear of water, the older you get.

So get them in as young as possible, even as young as that infant age. I wouldn't wait any later than three or four years old to actually do fulsome lessons. Catherine is listening in in Lake City, and Catherine, with the city with that kind of name, we can only imagine how prevalent water is around your neighborhood. Go ahead, Catherine, you're on the radio. Yeah, can you hear me okay? Because I was in my car. Yeah, loud and clear.

Go ahead. Okay, now can you hear me? Much better, Catherine. Thanks for taking us off Bluetooth. Go ahead. You're on the radio. That's okay. Yeah, well, I'd say Lake City.

I'm actually more rural than that even. I'm next county over Baker County. But, yeah, there's a lot of, there's lots of water up here, Lake City, Baker County, and it's very hard to find a place to learn to swim. Both counties have one pool. And so I think that's, and that's the case with a lot of rural counties. If you're going to learn how to swim, you're going to learn how swim in a swimming hole, unless you have access to a private pool.

What bothers me is we spend so much money on football in a water state. You said yourself, 75% of drownings occur in pools. Well, that means one and four happens in other places. Rivers, swimming holes, the ocean. yet Florida spends no money on teaching kids who become adults, who become the parents of the kids, on how to swim. So there is a voucher program in Florida where there is state money that is directed to help children learn how to swim. There are some tight rules around it, Catherine, but we appreciate that call. And this is a voucher program, Casey, that you have helped really champion in Florida.

and recently it was expanded. Talk about some of the intent of that, but also some of the limitations of it. Well, I think what she spoke on is absolutely accurate. There are some areas where we refer to it as dry zones. There is not access to swim lessons, and so how can we help them? And that's about educating them.

What I'm excited about is, you know, the leaders in our state are recognizing that we do have an issue. And it may not be perfect right now with the resources. And like she said, allocating enough money from football to making swimming, a priority. I agree with what she's saying 100%. However, we're now moving in the direction that they even see it as an issue. When I came to the space 17 years ago, the leaders did said that we had too small of an issue. And so there wasn't really a lot of support. There

wasn't a lot of advocacy or awareness being spread. Now, in the last three years, I have seen tremendous money, efforts being put in towards this issue. And so the voucher program is just one start. It provides one lesson or one session of lessons to anybody that makes below 200% of the poverty level. So for a family four in Florida, that's $66,000 or less. Yeah, but I recommend, you know, starting there. And if you don't, then ask if there's any other sliding pay scales, any other resources available. Every child of swimmer does provide swim lessons to families as well, but it is a low-income threshold. So there is resources out there. But like she spoke about, There are some areas in our state even that don't have access.

And so we just have to educate them on what to do otherwise. On the access and the education part, in terms of the role of institutions, even schools, teaching this, where we had an email here from a listener, I was born and raised in Jamaica on an island where the majority of people cannot swim. I attended an all-girls school. Every student was required to have a swimming lesson in the curriculum. The emailer writes, my three children were born in the U.S. and I ensure that they had swimming lessons as children. Unfortunately, I doubt swimming lessons in a school curriculum is possible today.

Maritsa, you were a high school swimming champion. When I grew up, I didn't grow up in Florida. I grew up in Iowa. We had mandatory swimming in our high school. What about putting this into the curriculum? You know, I think it actually is possible. So I've actually done a few counties, actually not in Florida, but I have done some up in in Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

They actually have it for all third graders. And then I've also seen other counties do second grade. So second grade is before you start those state testing rules. So when the third graders are going through testing, the second graders are off to learn there some lessons and they do a six-week program. So it's possible. I think it's really about now advocating to get those lessons into school programming because it is so important to get that done.

Casey, you're a little skeptical about that happening in Florida, Well, I think across the board, it's one of those things that that's our wish, that's our goal. But any time that there's funding and mandates, you know, the decision makers and, you know, they say no. However, like she said, Miami-Dade has zero drownings now. Broward County has Swim Central. There's quite a few school-run programs. However, what I see with that is they're trying really hard to help, but it's a 10 or 12 children

to one ratio. And they may get eight lessons throughout the course of that. So it's going to give that child just enough skills to be able to have fun in the water and not enough to really retain any real skills for themselves. If there's no additional education going home to the parents to say, hey, they did this, your child did this for eight lessons. Now I encourage you to take additional lessons and continue and learn a little bit more about that. However, school run school programs, I'm very skeptical on that across the board.

I think one by one, one county if they have the funding and they see the, the, the need, they'll meet that need. But otherwise, it's a funding issue. It's a funding issue. It's a time issue. Lots of pressure already on the schools. Casey McGovern with every child, a swimmer, and Maritza McClendon, an Olympic silver medalist in 2004, water safety advocate, former Floridian high school swimming champion as well in the Sunshine

State. To you ladies, thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. Much appreciated. We have more here on the Florida Roundup. Stick with us. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being here.

Monday marks the start of the school year for most Florida traditional public schools. Students going back to school next week. And as students head back to the classroom, education officials are grappling with how to address artificial intelligence. The Florida Department of Education is considering a policy that would direct school districts and other charter schools to update their internet safety policies to address AI. Under the proposal, parents would be able to opt their children in or out of AI use

in Florida classrooms. Now, the new rules would also define what artificial intelligence instructional tools actually are. Some school districts already have AI tools and guidelines in place, and others are beginning to roll out policies for the school year. For example, Orange County Public Schools now allow certain AI for research, but requires teacher permission for graded work. Orange County School Board member Maria Salamanca says writing that policy has felt like building a plane while flying. We don't know yet what this looks like, and I think this is a policy that's going to come back every single year. Now, a final vote on a statewide AI public education policy has yet to be scheduled.

And if approved, school districts would be required to implement the new guidelines by the first of the year. Nothing artificial, though, about the higher cost of school lunches. As Carrie Sheridan reports from our partner station, WUSF and Tampa, inflation is just one of the reasons. These changes come as thousands of children who need help are falling off aid programs statewide. That's because the one big beautiful bill passed last year makes it harder to qualify for Medicaid and SNAP two programs that automatically give kids free food at school. Sarah Dan is Director of Nutrition in Sarasota Schools. I know just in talking with other food service directors throughout the entire state of Florida, every school district is seeing this right now. Free lunch is offered for those earning about $43,000 a year for a family of four.

The same family earning about $61,000 a year can qualify for reduced prices. Children who are homeless or enrolled in migrant education services can also get free meals. But some won't sign up, says Sarasota School Board member Liz Barker. I have had families approach me with, you know, the changes to immigration enforcement and saying they're fearful to fill out free and reduced lunch forms. Families are urged to apply if they need help. I'm Carrie Sheridan in Sarasota. Another added cost to school lunches, online fees.

Now, if you have kids who go through the lunch line at school, you probably know about an app called My School Bucks. It stocks your child's account with money for food, but it charges you $3.50 every time you refill it. Pascoe County School Board member Jessica Wright says that adds up quickly. And if you have multiple children within the school system, that could easily be anywhere from $20 a month. to maybe $100 a month.

So last January, she floated an idea. What if Pasco County made it its own app? A one-stop shop for lunch and all school activity payments. So just in time for the new school year, the district rolled out Pasco one with no additional fees. There's other school districts across the state that also have their own mobile apps, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Indian River counties.

I'm Tom Hudson, and you're listening to the Florida Rondup from your Florida Public Radio Station. Some more now on food and the rising cost of eating, leading to food insecurity. On average, U.S. households spent 12% of the family budget on food back in 2024. For very low-income households, it can be up to a third. Central Florida Public Media's Joe Burns looked at the state of food safety net programs and how the issue is shaping one congressional race. In her small SUV with the AC Humming, Yvette Batham describes her dream meal.

Oh, I would make my family a nice seafood boil. I'd make them with corn and sausage and shrimp and crab legs. And we'd all sit around my big old table and we'd dip it in real butter. And I could just see, I can just visualize all their happy smiling faces. Batham has been waiting for hours in the car line with hundreds of other people for a food distribution event at the Ocala Rotary Sportsplex. Volunteers with Wings of Faith Fellowship Church help hand out food from a second harvest food bank of Central Florida truck.

Batham is responsible for feeding nine people at her Ocala home. She says her husband started a new business in April and they no longer have his steady paycheck. They've cut the food budget to about $200 every two weeks, which if you do the math comes to $11 per person per week. With the rising price and gas and pay, paying mortgage and electric, the grocery budget just that's where the cut had to be made. And if it wasn't for the food bank, we would just be in trouble.

We'd be in big, big trouble. Grocery prices are rising across America. They were up 2.7% in June compared to a year earlier, and some categories were much worse. Beef and coffee were up around 12%, tomatoes 19%, and lettuce, 32%. The Second Harvest Food Bank supplies pantries and distributions across seven counties. Its Senior Director of Advocacy and Government Relations, Stephanie Palacios, says families are making hard choices all over Central Florida. They're having to choose cheaper, less healthy foods.

Rent eats first. If you are housed, you have to do what you can to protect that situation. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the federal government's longstanding effort to help millions of low-income families put food on the table. Snap and the federal assistance provided through groups like Second Harvest are in the hands of Congress, though state lawmakers will have a say and how recent changes to SNAP play out in Florida.

President Donald Trump's one big, beautiful bill, which Congressional Republicans passed last summer, makes cuts to SNAP estimated at $187 billion over 10 years. It does so by adding new work requirements and shifting costs onto the states. Since then, more than 600,000 Floridians no longer receive SNAP, a 20.8% decline. Beginning in October, the state's share of SNAP administrative costs will increase from 50 to 75%. Historically, the federal government has paid 100% of SNAP benefits. Now part of the burden will shift to states if there are error rates or above 6%. In the future, the state of Florida is going to be responsible for 15% of those

benefits based on the error rates that recently came out. Estimates are that that's close to a billion dollars worth of benefits. As SNAP takes these hits, Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks confronts a growing need. It's asking Congress to double its funding for the emergency food assistance program known as TFAP and increase the money for transportation and storage. Those programs are paid for through the Farm Bill. The latest version passed the House earlier this year and is awaiting action in the Senate. It does not amp up funding for food assistance. It's a decision that I think Central Floridians should be interested in asking, what are the lawmakers' concerns about how support for neighbors facing hunger has dwindled over

the past few years and how investment hasn't increased, even though the need is? As for what Batham, the Ocala mom, would like to see from lawmakers, the registered Republican says, first of all, she's thankful. Free food's not free. Somebody's working. Somebody's paying the bill. And so I understand that SNAP has to tighten its belt. And I understand that there has to be some red tape.

Her family doesn't receive SNAP benefits. With her husband's new business, she says they can't track the household income in order to report it. Her home is in Florida Congressional District 3. Her congresswoman, Gainesville Republican Kat Kamik, will face independent candidate Mike Klein and the winner among four men in the Democratic primary. Kamik voted for the one big beautiful bill.

She also helped to shape this year's farm bill to support producers affected by natural disasters. During Florida debate, she called it a lifeline for farmers and ranchers. The men and women who wake up before the sun who work through the hurricanes and the freezes and the disease outbreaks who have been delivering for this country.

But bolstering T-FAP wasn't one of her priorities. Her campaign points to a change that would allow states to spend more of those funds on fresh produce. Klein, the independent candidate, says in an email that he favors ensuring adequate resources for food banks and protecting access to SNAP for people with genuine need. The Democratic candidates are Seth Harp, George Huback, Troy Albers, and Tom Wells. Harp and Huback have made opposition to the cuts to food assistance part of their campaigns. In a candidate survey, Huback says his number one issue is to, quote,

reverse the cuts to Medicaid food assistance and health insurance. Albers, an Army and Navy veteran, says more money for TEPAP would also help farmers and that ultimately it comes down to what Congress chooses to fund. We could have chose to put 500 million in this and just cut 12 hours of the Iran war. Wells says he finds it hard to concentrate on this issue with so many concerns, killings by immigration agents, corporate campaign finance, and quote the tyranny of the Supreme Court. Batham's SUV is finally at the end of the line. She faces backward from the front seat with her daughter behind the wheel. At each stop, volunteers pile bread, milk, juice,

pastries, chicken, vegetables, or watermelon, and boxes of food into the back. She calls out a thank you to each volunteer. You're welcome, ladies. Have a blessed day. In Ocala, I'm Joe Burns. So is food assistance or inflation key issue for you? This is a little bit? election cycle. How would you like to hear about the candidates discussing the price of life here in Florida? Email us, radio at the florida roundup.org. Radio at the floridaundup.org. Now, early voting is already underway for Florida's August 18th primary, but before you cast that vote, check out our voter guide. It's a collaboration between a half dozen Florida public media stations covering local and statewide races asking candidates about big issues, data centers, property taxes,

affordability among them. Search for it. at the website of this Florida Public Radio Station. Finally, on the Florida Rondup, there's a steakhouse in Hollywood in Broward County that invites diners to come in on the first Monday of every month and eat in the nude. Naked dining. Yeah, naked dining.

Now, it doesn't come cheap. It's about 300 bucks per couple. I'm assuming the salad dressing is included. That is our program for today. The Florida Rondip is produced by WLRN 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. Leran'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 Bissard, and Ernesto J. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at Aaron Leibos.com. Thanks for calling, emailing, listening, and above all, supporting public radio in your for the Sunshine State. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.