The Florida Roundup - State drops controversial parks plan, Florida jobs outlook and weekly briefing

Episode Date: August 30, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we talked about a proposal to add new development to several state parks with WLRN environmental editor Jenny Staletovich and WUSF reporter Steve Newborn (00:10). Then, we spoke with Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su about the jobs outlook for Florida ahead of Labor Day Weekend (20:35) and later, we cover a series of court hearings and other news from across the state (37:12).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being along with us this week. How about this in a state park? Ah, the slap and tock of pickleball. If you know the sound, you know that sound. Pickleball courts were included in plans from the State Department of Environmental Protection for seven state parks. It was all part of what the agency calls its Great Outdoors Initiative. Great Outdoors Initiative. Now, there are nine parks in all included in the initiative, from Anastasia State Park near St. Augustine to Topsail Hill Preserve and Camp Helen State Parks near Destin in the Panhandle to Jonathan Dickinson State Park north of Jupiter. In addition to the pickleball courts, there were proposals for Frisbee golf courses at five parks,

lodges with up to 350 rooms in two parks, and a golf course at one. It was not a popular plan, to put it mildly. So much so that by Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis said the state is going back to the drawing board. Nothing has been approved, and they are going to go back and listen to folks. And as I said, as governor, I am totally fine to just do nothing and do no improvements if that's what the general public wants. And that's fine with me. Republican and Democratic politicians alike criticized it and protesters marched in four of the parks targeted in the proposal. We begin with reporter Steve Newborn from our partner station WUSF, who is at Honeymoon Island State Park on the Gulf Coast.

The protesters chanted. Keep Florida wild! Keep Florida wild! Weaved signs and vowed to keep the heat on the governor. Kira Barrera is with the Suncoast Sierra Club. She says people should contact the governor's office to kill the plans. Development doesn't belong in our state parks. Our parks were created to protect these special rare resources. We love outdoor recreation, but there's a place for that. These areas were set aside for future

generations and for natural resources. Pickleball courts and a disc golf course were also proposed for Hillsborough River State Park. The state postponed public hearings this week after a groundswell of interest in the plans. I'm Steve Newborn in Dunedin. I'm Jenny Stiletovich in Miami. A sudden rainstorm interrupted the start of the rally, but it couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the dozens of kids, parents, and teachers who showed up to say how they feel about the state's plans to add glamping, pickleball, and frisbee golf to Aledo River State Park. It's just going to be another place of a city, and we don't want that to happen. If they destroy their home, the turtles are going to be sad and they don't have anything to eat.

Aledo is the place where nature gave this to us. When I lost my brother, the first thing I did was go to a park. When it was his year anniversary, what did I do? I went to a state park. I know that so many of us heal here. Catalina LeMaitre is a mom and a teacher. She organized the rally after reaching out to a network of parents and schools where she teaches art and two other nonprofits, Clean Beach Miami and Urban Paradise Guild. We go to these places for the environment but also to learn our histories, how my kids have learned about the Calusa Indians,

the Tomoka, how we learned about the French in Florida. It's how we learn living history and past history through seeing it in the place where it happened. At the rally, LeMaitre gave the kids big bundles of yarn so they could spread out over about an acre to mark the sprawling boundaries of four proposed pickleball courts on an open field. So this is an example of a way to do protest art. Today I'm going to invite you to think about how your state parks make you feel

and create art based on that. As the kids lined up to get their yarn, she got her answer. On Thursday, the state environment agency made it official. It withdrew all of the proposals and said it will revisit any park changes next year. Jenny Stoletovich from our partner station WLRN in Miami is with us now. So, Jenny, describe Olita State Park, first of all, for those who have never visited. So Olita sits at the mouth of the Olita River, which is remarkable because it's the only undredged natural river left in Miami-Dade County. It has bike trails, jogging paths, camping. There's a beach. There's a pier.

And it's very urban. You know, it's surrounded by this urban area, and it is just an oasis of wilderness, I mean, in quotation marks. Some of the best mountain biking in South Florida is there as well. This proposal that was out last week called for more cabins, new restrooms, more parking, a Frisbee golf course, and yes, even those pickleball courts at this Alita State Park. Now, in his comments on Wednesday, Governor DeSantis said any changes would not take away park space. On the state parks, you know, if there does need to be improvements, we're not going to take away any green space. You know, we're going to we have an existing footprint.

Is this what the plan called for, Jenny? The plan called for keeping the green space, but somehow also creating essentially new asphalt parking lots and pickleball courts. Well, so at Alita, the pickleball courts, I assume, would be paved, and they were planning them for an open field that sits right alongside the river. It floods, it king tides, heavy rainstorms. So that would eat up green space. Another park that was targeted for possible pickleball courts was Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County. Reporter Steve Newborn, you heard him earlier from our partner station WUSF, was there this week. Steve is also

with us here on the Florida Roundup. Steve, describe Honeymoon to us. Yeah, it's like an oasis, like Jenny just said as well. It's an undeveloped barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. Basically only has parking lots and picnic shelters along this undeveloped beach. There is an extensive trail network along the north end of the island. And you could really feel like you're the only one out there, even though this is in the middle of the most densely populated county in Florida. Yeah, that location has made it the most visited of all the state parks. It had a million people coming last year. And the people I've talked to treasure that slice of nature, that kind of old Florida that still exists, just a few minutes away from these huge touristy areas like Clearwater Beach. It was another place where these

plans called for pickleball courts. And lots of people in Florida love pickleball. Some of us play pickleball badly, but still play it. Kira Barrera is with the Suncoast Sierra Clubs Conservation Group. She's the chair, and she recognizes the sport's popularity. Pickleball has certainly a place for recreation. There's a lot of places people can do that in Pinellas County. We're not opposed to people enjoying the outdoors, but it needs to be in a place that's appropriate, and that is not our state parks. So, Steve, as you describe Honeymoon State Park there,

has there been a demand by park goers to play pickleball out on the barrier island? Not at all. So I went to this protest visual Tuesday at the gates of the park. The atmosphere was electric. People were cheering the speakers. You know, a guy played This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie on his guitar. It's kind of like an environmental revival. It shows you how much people love these parks.

And the mayor of Dunedin, where the park is located, told reporters after this meeting that the city is building 10 pickleball courts right down the street from the park. So, you know, there is a demand, just not there. So let's take a step back here, Steve and Jenny, about this great outdoors initiative that came from the state agency, the State Department of Environmental Protection. Jenny, how did this come about? So this was the result of an executive order that the governor signed last year,

and it was aimed at increasing park attendance, but all it did was cut admissions fees by 50 percent and hunting licenses. It didn't talk about increasing amenities or putting in pickleball courts or doing any of the things that we saw this year. Or improvements, as the governor referred to them. And I want to ask you about the language being used here in a second. But, Steve, how are the parks that were targeted in this proposal chosen for these kind of improvements? Because it's not all state parks that were included in this. It's just a few.

It's a really good question how these parks were targeted. We really don't know. The State Department of Environmental Protection has offered just a little information about the background of this great outdoors initiative. It was introduced a couple of weeks ago very quietly, seemingly out of the blue. But regarding the plan to build golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the Tampa Bay Times reported that a plan was hatched about a year ago to build three golf courses there. It was from a nonprofit called Folds of Honor, had approached the state senator, Gail Harrell of Stewart, to draft a bill. Harrell shut it down, saying it shouldn't be built in a state park. The group had ties to Jack Nicklaus, the famous golfer. And the same plan has resurfaced in this great outdoors initiative plan.

There was also this out-of-state nonprofit, Steve, that you mentioned, Folds of Honor, and a group it works with that presumably would operate this golf course or a golf course in a state park for the benefit of charity, of philanthropy, that helps support veterans and military families. Jenny, what more do we know about this possibility and why Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County? Well, so DeSantis said during his press conference that Folds of Honor, the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, had pitched the idea to him because inside the park is an old World War II military base, Camp Murphy. DeSantis says there's still remnants of old buildings there. And because of that military connection,

they thought it would be a good idea to put in public lower fees, you know, greens fees, golf course, so that they could increase recreation. We don't know much about these foundations. The Folds of Honor was started by an Oklahoma Air National Guard lieutenant colonel. And DeSantis also pointed to a similar golf course project in West Palm Beach that some vets got behind. that some vets got behind. And that there were local donations in this case, not state money, but local donations in order to take this, what I think was almost a fallow golf course, right, and make it active again. Right, right. And he said very clearly that was going to be the plan for Jonathan Dickinson State Park, but then said the state of Florida is not going to get into the golf course business.

He said that sort of emphatically. then said the state of Florida is not going to get into the golf course business. He said that sort of emphatically. We got a lot of emails from listeners, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Lisa sent us this note writing, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, to think this oasis and home to many endangered species is potentially going to be turned into a golf course is utterly disgusting. Lisa writes, some of these species only exist here. Why would anyone want to infringe upon and destroy this ecosystem? Now, Jenny, you mentioned the governor talked about

how this particular state park used to have a military installation. And the governor said, dismissed some of these criticisms saying, you know, it's not as if this was unspoiled, natural Florida that had never been touched. Well, we know the state is spending millions, billions of dollars to restore the St. Lucie estuary. A golf course produces some of the pollution that the state is now trying to undo in the estuary. Fertilizer oftentimes. Fertilizers, the irrigation it would take for a golf course.

I mean, they're battling algae blooms in the St. Lucie estuary that die off of seagrass. We had manatees die in record numbers because of the loss of seagrass. So a lot of conservationists, environmentalists say putting a golf course next to this fragile estuary just is counterproductive as putting it mildly. There was also plans here for, at least in two state parks, Steve, for pretty sizable lodges. They called them lodges, but these are really, you know, 350 room hotels, whether or not it's a lodge or a hotel, I guess, is in the eye of the beholder. But what can you share with us in terms of the potential development of those plans within this

strategy? Right. So they were proposing lodges with up to 350 rooms. That's pretty big size at both Anastasia State Park near St. Augustine and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Walton County. And the Topsail Hill plans also included more pickleball courts and a disc golf course. So, you know, people told me that they can understand the need for these kind of lodges in national parks, right? If you think about some of the grand lodges in national parks, beautiful places, they're, you know, they're destinations in itself. But those are in the middle of nowhere. I mean, it takes hours to get anywhere. And these parks are in right next to urban areas. So it's like you go 15 minutes this way, 15 minutes that way, and you're going to be

at a hotel. So they're saying there's no need for this. Karina sent us this email. She wrote us, what does it mean for an area to be designated as a state park if they allow commercial development of it? Is there no part of Florida that is sacred anymore, she wonders. Jenny, how environmentally sensitive are some of these areas in these state parks? Right. So Alita is part of the Biscayne Bay National Aquatic Preserve or the State Aquatic Preserve. It's celebrating its 50th anniversary

this year. Like the St. Lucie Estuary, Biscayne Bay is in kind of a fragile state where they're fighting pollution. So these landward areas that can hold wetlands for draining and filtering water, We hold wetlands for draining and filtering water. Wildlife, we're on the Atlantic Flyway for migratory birds. They are hugely important to wildlife and for our own survival with clean water. Allison sent us this email, guys. She writes, has Governor DeSantis gone mad? I don't understand the rationale for his proposal. He writes, has Governor DeSantis gone mad?

I don't understand the rationale for his proposal. There have to be dozens of other uses for the funds. Storm drains, evacuation routes, traffic improvements, state troopers, evasive species eradication. Allison writes, leave the parks to the hikers, birders and kayakers. Now, this is how the governor put his response to this plan on Wednesday. Here's the thing. I'd rather not spend any money on this, right? I mean, if people don't want improvements, then don't do it.

So, Steve, how does framing this, first of all, as improvements potentially impact the public input and process next year, as the agency says it's going to revisit it if it decides to? Yeah, that basically means there has to be a lot of public hearings and a lot of debate involving a lot of people, which means it's going to be very visible, a lot of news about this. I think a good analogy to this was a plan from state lawmakers just a couple of years ago to build several toll roads through the most rural and undeveloped parts of the state. Now, that plan generated a firestorm of opposition. It got passed, but eventually the plan died on the vine. I think this might be a roadmap of what could possibly happen here, too.

Drew sent us this email writing, Governor DeSantis is a hypocrite at best when it comes to saving the environment in Florida. He ran on the topic to help save it. He's proposed billions of dollars to restore waterways in the state treasuries like the Everglades, but has also pushed legislation banning local environmental regulations. Jenny, what do you think this does to the governor's conservation credentials? I mean, I think he's taken a hit on this. People love their state parks.

And he has campaigned and presented himself as this green governor who's spending billions of dollars to save the Everglades. It is a story that gained a lot of steam very, very quickly. We here at the Florida Roundup were receiving listener emails even before we ever spoke about it on the radio, which is a very rare case. We'll normally get a lot of listener emails, Steve and Jenny, but it's usually after we spoke about something and folks want to pick it apart or add their contribution to it, which is always great. But this was even before the fact folks wanted to talk about this. They wanted the disinfectant of sunshine in the case of this plan.

Steve, you experienced some of that on the ground at Honeymoon State Park when you were covering the protest, and you've covered the environment for a good long time. Both of you are veteran reporters here. What do you make of the public outpouring, the speed, and the volume at which that happened to this plan? There's so much partisan divide out there. The one issue that both conservatives and progressives or liberals,

whatever you want to call them on the other side, agree about is preserving what's left of Florida's environment. I mean, when this was announced, you had a lot of state lawmakers, even both of our U.S. senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, came out against it. When you know that's happening, you know it's not going to happen in reality because there's so many hands at play here and so much opposition. So I think he bit off a little more, the governor bit off a little more than he can chew here. How did this come about, this story come about? Because this was a proposal, all the documentation that's come public here, Jenny, does say draft on it.

But boy, there was a really loud uproar very quickly, even though this was simply a proposal in a proposal stage. And the governor tried to make that point this week. Right. Well, I think it was quietly announced. DEP posted a press statement or a press release on its website. It didn't send it out. The leaked documents were a memo that somebody had put together with instructions for how the staff was supposed to conduct meetings that were with a pre-recorded taped explanation, supposed to conduct meetings that were pre with a pre-recorded taped explanation but was not going to answer questions and i think that people thought this is something that's being fast tracked we're not going to have a say in it you know like steve said public parks locals drive what happens in in their parks they are beloved places we take our kids there. Just it is a don't touch our public parks. And it really goes toward the bottom-up idea of discussing what kinds of amenities folks want in their state parks and public parks.

And the mission statements for many of these parks is whatever recreation is there, it has to advance the wilderness. It has to showcase nature. And people just don't think that pickleball, Frisbee golf, regular golf showcases nature. Jenny Stoletovich covers the environment for our partner station WLRN in Miami. Steve Newborn does the same for our partner station WUSF in Tampa. To each of you, thanks for sharing your reporting with us. Thanks, Tom. Much appreciated.

Thanks, Tom. Appreciate it. Still to come on our program, the state of the job market heading into the Labor Day holiday. Stick with us. You are listening to The Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is The Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being with us this week. Next week on our program, polls and

politics. The election season is in its last two months. Vote by mail ballots will be in the mail very soon. The advertising is going to ramp up. So will the rhetoric and so will the opinion polls. This is a state opinion I received just this week. You click on the link and you get questions like, how likely is it that you will be voting? And how excited are you to vote for your preferred candidate for president? Pretty common questions in a poll. It also asks about local elections and what my political party voter registration is.

Now, there's going to be lots of these kinds of surveys in the days and weeks ahead trying to quantify what you think and why you think it. Have you participated in a political poll? What do these kinds of surveys really tell us about voters? And how can we judge the reliability of them? Email us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. We may share your story next week. This week, it is the Labor Day weekend ahead of us. There are about 20,000 more Floridians considered part of the workforce this Labor Day compared to a year ago, but less people

are considered working this year versus the last Labor Day. Now what that means is there are more people considered part of the job market, but not as many actually working. The result is the unemployment rate has been creeping up. The national unemployment rate has gone from 3.5% to 4.3% this past July. The jobless rate here in Florida has risen from under 3% a year ago to 3.3% this summer. Unemployment has been moving higher. Still, there are more jobs in Florida compared to a year ago, even as the unemployment rate has risen. The difference is because of how the data is gathered. The job count number comes from payroll figures, so more traditional jobs. Temporary and freelance jobs are not counted.

Here's how Chief of Workforce Statistics for the state of Florida, Jimmy Heckman, explained it to me earlier this month. Gabe workers or contract workers are not included in some of that job number. put in some of that job number. So you might be seeing a shift from some of that kind of non-traditional employment back to employment as employers that keep people on payroll. Now, in terms of pay, wages nationwide have been growing up 3.3 percent. That's faster than inflation now. So workers getting those pay increases are actually realizing more money. State data on pay is not as up to date-date. Last year, the average annual wage in Florida was just over $66,000. That was up about 4% from a year earlier. But inflation was a lot higher last year, eating into those bigger paychecks. Now, all of this data paints a picture

of a strong job market and one with rising wages. Average pay is higher and the unemployment rate usually is lower in the higher populated areas, which also are the places here in Florida that tend to be the most expensive to live. Now, the job market may be the most important factor in an election. The economy in general usually is the number one issue for voters, and usually the economy means jobs. Ahead of this Labor Day holiday weekend, we spoke with Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Hsu. We asked about price gouging, which is a focus of Vice President Kamala Harris's White House economic agenda, inflation, and jobs. Acting Secretary, thanks for joining us. How would you describe the state of the American

job market today? We have had a historic recovery in the last four years from the economy that we inherited when President Biden and Vice President Harris first came into office. The unemployment rate is at historic lows. In fact, many people predicted that it would take much longer to get to an employment rate. People weren't even talking about 4%. Hopefully, we would start to bring it down. But we actually had the longest stretch of the lowest unemployment rate at or below 4% for the longest stretch since Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon. I mean, this has been an economy that has been, as President Biden says, the envy of the world in terms of the recovery that we've seen.

Now, of course, we want to make sure that everybody who wants to work can get a job and not just any job, but a good job. That's why our focus has really been on ensuring that the historic federal investments that are being made under the President's Investing in America agenda, and that all of our work is about ensuring that jobs provide real security, provide, you know, health and safety, allow workers to come home healthy and safe at the end of each workday, and, you know, save for retirement. So we know we have more work to do on that, but the unemployment rate is really, you know, one indicator of the overall strength of the economy. And it has been moving up, the unemployment rate, still off of those historic lows. Another indicator is, of course, the number of jobs that companies create each month. American companies adding about 200,000 jobs each month on average this year.

A year ago, through July, it was 274,000. So a fairly sizable slowdown in the growth rate. What's contributing to that slowdown, do you think? So this is part of the transition to a more stable and sustainable level of growth. You'll remember that back in 2021, when the president and the vice president first came into office, because of the policies and the investments and the leadership, of the policies and the investments and the leadership, we saw really very high levels of job growth. In fact, many people said that was too hot, right? That it would come to a halt and that we were headed for recession because of that. That did not happen. In fact, what has happened is exactly what the president said we needed to do, which is transition to a more sustainable level of growth.

And the numbers that we're currently seeing are still above the numbers that are needed to keep pace with the number of workers that are in the workforce. And so it demonstrates that the policies that we've put in place are working. The investments are making a difference and we have to stay consistent to keep this progress going. Where do you think credit lies between state policies and federal policies for industries that are making changes to payroll, that are adding jobs still in this economy? I mean, I think that they are both necessary, right? This leadership matters. The federal government, especially now, the kinds of investments that are coming from the federal government, we just haven't seen these really in a very, very long time. system. And those investments are not just fixing roads and bridges and ensuring that every family has clean drinking water and expanding access to high-speed, reliable internet. It's also, they're creating good jobs in communities that need them the most. I travel the country

and I see that there are apprenticeship programs bursting at the seams, union hiring halls that are seeing job opportunities like they haven't seen in a very long time. So federal investments matter. But states matter too. And, you know, much of the federal dollars, first of all, go through states. So the partnership is really important. have added to the investments, who have said, we want to make sure that everybody who lives here has access to a good job, that the partnership is really what makes a difference. The reason why I asked that question, Acting Secretary, is at least here in the state of Florida with the monthly state employment numbers, when they're released by the state agency where that data comes from, they are compared to the national numbers. Is that a fair comparison, do you think? I mean, I think that all of it is, right, the real question is how does this impact

everyday people, right? How does it impact the worker, the family who at the end of the workday wants to know that, you know, they put in a hard day's work, they should get a just day's pay. Know that when they come home, put their keys down the table, they can feel a real sense of security. They can meet not just their basic living requirements, but have a little bit of, you know, what President Biden calls breathing room. And so all of these matter, right? They're not just numbers. Every job represents a working person, a head of household, a family member, right?

So I do think they all matter. A lot of times the comparisons are really just to give us a sense of how are we doing relative to something else. But at the end of the day, what matters to the individual is when they go out in the job market, knowing that they can find a job that is aligned with their talents and skills and interests, and one that allows them to make a decent living and put away a little bit and even take some time to rest and enjoy. The people behind the statistics are awfully important. The statistics are important as well, because policy is often resting on those statistics. The department recently revised 12 months worth of jobs data, which it does on a regular basis,

but it erased more than 800,000 jobs that had previously reported. The net result is that fewer jobs were created. Is this a sign of a faster deteriorating job market, do you think, Acting Secretary? No. I mean, the numbers that we put out every, that I talk about in order to assess the state of our economy, whether our policies are working and how they've been working overall, have told a consistent story that over the last now three and a half, almost four years, we have steadily gained back the jobs that we lost in the pandemic and then some, that we have steadily seen workers come back into the labor market, especially women, right? Women were devastated during the pandemic. It really laid bare what happens when you have an economy in which paid leave and care infrastructure do not exist,

right? Just how horrible that is. You remember the word she-cession was used for that period, right? Not recession, but she-cession. And we've seen women enter the labor market and stay in the labor market at record rates. All of these are part of the reality of what we've seen. Now, the numbers, the adjustments are, as you suggested, Tom, they're part of the, they're part of the, what happens always, you know, there's always, we put out numbers monthly so that we can get that sense. But in order to do them that quickly, we always have to make adjustments based on information as we get it. So that's what this is. It's very much part and parcel of the jobs data that comes out. It happens under every administration, every time.

The Trump administration, for instance, saw a revision of about a half a million jobs when it was in power. How reliable, though, Acting Secretary, is the original data as it gets widely reported and oftentimes is relied upon by, for instance, the Federal Reserve to make policy regarding interest rates? It is definitely very reliable. The corrections, the revisions are part of the, everybody who relies on them knows that that's what happens. And we do the best we can with the information we have when we get it. And that allows us to put out monthly information. And then we do revisions because transparency and accuracy are very, very important. Again, it's what happens through every administration. And the reality is the overall job creation over the last now nearly four years has been nearly 16 million jobs. That's the most jobs created under any president in that same time period in history. By contrast, the last administration actually ended with fewer jobs than when they

started. There's only two administrations in which that's happened, right? The last one and Herbert Hoover, and we know what happened then. So overall, the story is one of real job growth and real wage gains. Working people are doing better in this economy than they were before because we know that when working people do well, it's better for employers, it's better for our economy, it's better for our country. Consumer inflation has been falling, Acting Secretary, now below 3% over the past year. It's a little lower in Tampa, it's a little higher in South Florida. How confident are you of the pace of inflation that it will continue to cool? How confident are you of the pace of inflation that it will continue to cool?

Well, we are very happy to see that since President Biden came into office, we have seen, as you say, you know, better inflation numbers, meaning that the cost of things is getting more affordable for working families. But we also know that there's more work to do on that, right? more affordable for working families. But we also know that there's more work to do on that, right? I mean, what we have done is negotiate the cost of prescription medication, for example, right? Capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month, bringing down the cost of healthcare overall. We know that we have to address the cost of housing, right? That is a serious issue. And we know that cost of gas, cost of groceries, those are things that we've been combating since we came in. But there's nothing inevitable about inflation either. That's why we've really prioritized this notion of price gouging, that companies that raise prices because they can get away with it and then try to blame some supernatural force really we really shouldn't get away with that. You mentioned price gouging. How do you define that?

Well, this is a practice that we have seen, unfortunately, in the last few years, but even before that, where companies recognize that because they can get away with it, they raise prices, and this has a devastating effect on working families. But is there a definition of price gouging versus price competition?

Well, I think when you raise prices and basically create a situation where the price of basic goods, the price of groceries, the price of fast food, right? These things become, you know, really a stretch for working Americans. And where you see major growth in CEO pay, right? Like where this money goes to increasing CEO pay, which has grown dramatically since the pandemic. That is our definition of price gouging, where you're putting CEO pay and profits above the well-being of working people and working families. Acting Secretary of the United States Department of Labor, Julie Hsu. Acting Secretary, thanks so much. Thanks so much, Tom. I'm Tom Hudson, and you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station.

One profession with tens of thousands of Floridians that is changing is the realtor profession. There are more realtors here than any other state, and some new rules went into effect this month. The changes are over how realtors get paid for helping people buy or sell a home or condo. First, an agent's commission cannot be listed on the MLS, the Multiple Listing Service. That's the database where most homes and condos appear for sale. Second, if you are buying a house and working with an agent, you will now have to sign an agreement with your agent about how they will be paid. The industry is putting a positive spin on all this, pointing out that commissions have always been negotiable. David Serrell is the president of the Broward, Palm Beaches, and St.

Lucie Realtors. It's the third largest local realtor association in the country. These are the changes we are faced with, and we need to embrace and lean into this and not try and circumvent the rules. Our job is to make sure that it's more transparent to protect the consumer going forward even more than we had in the previous years. Ines Higuera-Garcia used to lead the largest realtor association in the nation. She's the immediate past chair of the Board of Realtors in Miami. What excites me about the whole process now is that value-driven conversation of what does a realtor bring to the equation and what value they bring to the consumer throughout the transaction, whether you're a buyer or whether you're a seller. Now, the big unknown is how could it change paydays for agents?

For decades, the common way agents got paid was by splitting a sales commission, usually 5% to 6% to the sales price of the home or condo. It was called the cooperative commission, and it was included in the listing of the house. Well, a big lawsuit argued that the industry conspired with this fee, but the National Association of Realtors and David Serrell with the Broward Palm Beaches Group says fees were always negotiable. I can't remember the time when I met with a seller or a buyer where they said, Hey, will you take this? Will you do this? Will you credit back this? Will you buy me a refrigerator? I mean, there's always been

something that we've been able to negotiate into a deal. Negotiating a new kitchen appliance or overclosing costs may impact what an agent makes on a deal, but it's not the same thing as negotiating the underlying commission percentage. The changes put in place this month set the stage for a more robust negotiation over realtor compensation. Still to come, an update on two federal court rulings this week involving Florida. That's next on the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being with us. There were two federal court rulings this week involving Florida that we want to get you caught up on. The first is on immigration. A federal judge in Texas this week put a pause on a new Biden administration immigration policy that

began just last week. The policy gives undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens legal status without having to first leave the United States. Now, the judge's stay this week comes from a lawsuit filed by the Republican attorneys general of 16 states, including Florida. They argue that President Biden overstepped his authority in issuing this policy. But immigration attorneys here in Florida, like Patricia Hernandez, say their clients are confident the president's reform will be upheld. president's reform will be upheld. We all knew chances are a lawsuit was going to come. We were expecting it. And the clients also knew that it was a matter of time. And I believe it has everything to do with politics. And it is election year. The judge's decision to pause the policy relates only to approvals for acceptance to the new policy, not applications. Still, immigration attorney Alina Santana in Miami says many applicants feel frustrated. There's a lot of confusion now about whether they can continue to file, and they should still file applications because it helps with showing we do want this program

to move forward. The program requires a spouse who is not a citizen to have lived in the United States for at least a decade and to be married to a U.S. citizen for at least a decade. Now, both sides in this case are due to file their arguments with the court by October 10th. In a separate case, a federal appeals court this week ruled Florida can resume restrictions on transgender health care for children. A state law that prevents kids from starting puberty blockers and hormone therapy is back in effect now while the appeals case moves forward. The law also requires transgender adults receive treatment from a doctor, not some other qualified medical professional. The ruling by the federal appeals court in Atlanta this week means federal rules, which would have protected transgender children seeking gender-affirming health care, are blocked from taking effect in the state. Stetson University law professor Peter Lake says

it's left children and their families in limbo. I think for students and families right now, it's a bit of a ball of confusion. It's really going to matter where you go to school, what type of school you go to. Attorney Simone Cr Chris represents trans plaintiffs in the case. Within hours of the order coming out, I heard from, I can't count the number of people who reached out via text, email, calling, asking, what does this mean? How could they do this? And I wish I had better answers for these folks. Reporter Stephanie Columbini from our partner station WUSF has more. Shannon Minter represents the plaintiffs in the case. He says they were relieved earlier this year when a different judge blocked Florida's restrictions,

saying state lawmakers showed prejudice against trans people. Minter says even a temporary rollback is a cruel blow. We will do whatever it takes to get this decision reversed and to get people back in the position where they are treated as equal members of this society and can get the health care that they need. Minter says care will be disrupted for some trans people while the appeal is underway. Those exempt from the ban can continue treatment. I'm Stephanie Colombini in Tampa. Osceola County School Board is among the first in the state to turn away from a new state law allowing chaplains in public schools. This week, the board voted against implementing the voluntary program. Reporter Danielle Pryor has more from our partner Central Florida Public Media.

Reporter Danielle Pryor has more from our partner Central Florida Public Media. Only one school board member, John Arguello, voted in favor of the program that would have allowed chaplains to act as school counselors with parental permission. All other school board members voted against approving the program, including Governor Ron DeSantis' pick for the school board, Scott Ramsey. Ramsey said he agrees with chaplains and schools, but says the policies the board was voting on didn't address the public's First Amendment concerns with the program or how to implement it. But I would like for us to have an airtight proposal and policy that keeps us from lawsuits. School board member John Arguello says he plans on reintroducing the program for a vote again at the next school board meeting. In Orlando, I'm Danielle Pryor. This new law has been a lightning rod of controversy. A group that challenges laws it thinks do not support the free expression of all religions threatened to, quote, raise hell over the Florida law.

The name of that group is the Satanic Temple. Last week, the State Board of Education released its version of how public school districts could implement the chaplain law. And those guidelines define a chaplain as someone who's officially authorized by the leadership of a religion. someone who's officially authorized by the leadership of a religion. A religion is defined as an organized group that, quote, acknowledges the existence of and worships a supernatural entity, end quote. Lucian Greaves is the co-founder of the Satanic Temple, and he was at the Osceola County School Board meeting on Tuesday this week, arguing that the state definitions try to exclude Satanists.

The reality is you'll have to accommodate religious identities you may not agree with. You will end up with Satanist chaplains. He ended his warning to the school board with this. God bless. Many of you have been sending us emails about past programs, so we thought we would check our inbox this week. Regarding our recent program about partisanship and school boards, Jim wrote us, Yes, my wife and I voted.

We looked to make sure the candidate was not endorsed by Governor Ron DeSantis or would follow his agenda and policies. Our education system is not a place for politics, Jim writes. He says if the idea is freedom, allow parents and their children the freedom to choose what books they want to read. Mike wrote, I have a lot of respect for your host, but he really needed to press Representative Spencer Roach on the loophole in Florida law that allows a write-in candidate to close what should be an open primary. Mike says, because I'm a Democrat in deep red St. John's County, I was unable to vote for a county commissioner in my district because there was a write-in. This is an epidemic in races throughout Florida, Mike says. You guys missed an opportunity to drill down on that.

Maybe you'll get another one. Thanks, Mike, for the critique. We appreciate it. Allen in Melbourne had this critique. You allow these DeSantis sycophants off with fiction. The election count was 22 percent participation, not 26 percent. Allen writes the electoral apathy is because we have a closed primary and that has led to a why bother electorate. Well, Allen, let me fact check you here. This is what Representative Roach said on our program.

I mean, you look at the average primary turnout in the last four cycles is 26 percent. And in a general election, I went back and did the math. Representative Roach is correct. The average turnout for primary voting over the past four primary elections is 26%, just as he said. By the way, the subject of Allen's email was, quote, Friday lunch, stop being such a blank. Now, Allen, we do appreciate the critique and the fact check. That's fine.

But come on, man, keep it classy, will you? Erica in Duval County wrote us, This quote from former New York City Mayor LaGuardia bears repeating because this should apply to school board elections. There is no Democratic or Republican way to fill a pothole. Now, for what it's worth, Mayor LaGuardia is quoted as saying there's no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets. But we get the gist of it, certainly. Regarding our segment on more school districts banning students from using cell phones during the entire school day, still a lot of emails coming in here. Sunitha wrote us,

I wrote in IT. I like technology and am a programmer. I have nothing against it. It is my living. In my house, the use of technology is banned unless it is for school. Marie and Loxahatchee said, my daughter just started kindergarten and I'm very happy about no cell phones. The less she sees kids with one, she won't feel left out for not having one. And Martina wrote, I believe this is great. Any parent or student with an issue is always welcome to homeschool. LOL. Martina ended her email to us. You can send us your thoughts anytime, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. I'm Tom Hudson, and you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Finally in the Roundup this week, a couple of stories about Florida wildlife and natural disasters.

First, an owl and what was then Tropical Storm Debbie. Before the storm became a hurricane, it blew through Brandon, just east of Tampa. That's where Charlie the owl lived. Reporter Carrie Sheridan from our partner station WUSF picks up the story from there. Charlie was blind in one eye. He couldn't hunt on his own. He was raised in captivity, and when he disappeared, he was all over the news. This morning, crews are continuing to search for a great horned owl that escaped his enclosure during Debbie. He had straps on his legs, falconry equipment, and he couldn't fly far. The Raptor Center of Tampa Bay knocked on hundreds of doors, handed out 2,000 flyers and posted videos.

You could see Charlie's big yellow eyes and hear him vocalizing in a mellow way as he perched on a branch and spread his wings. Almost two weeks passed. Tips poured in. People found other kinds of owls but no Charlie. Then Bethany Mattachione spotted the big brown owl on the ground in her backyard. His owner came running. She offered him a rat and wrapped him up in her arms. It was the sweetest thing. Like he was a little baby and he just kind of rested in her arms. She could tell he was very weak and it was really moving. Back at home, Charlie did better for a couple of days, but then he died in the middle of the night, just slipped away. Sometimes that happens when an animal's been through so much.

Mattachione wishes she'd found him sooner, but she marvels at how his disappearance brought so many people together. It was sweet. It makes me feel like I'm in the right community. The Raptor Center of Tampa Bay says if you ever see an injured bird on the ground, call a wildlife rehab. They'll be there to help that bird in need. I'm Carrie Sheridan in Tampa. Our condolences to Charlie, his family, and fans. Now our second story about wildlife and natural disasters plays out Saturday afternoon on a patch of grass in Gainesville. Okay, maybe it's not real wildlife or a real natural disaster. It's the University of Miami Hurricanes and the Florida Gators, the first game of the college football season for both of them.

The Canes are ranked number 19. The Gators a top 40 team in some polls. And for what it's worth, Florida is well represented in the polls before the season kicks off. The University of South Florida Bulls are a top 75 team. The highest ranked college football team in the state is Florida State. The Seminoles are number 10. That'll do it for the Florida Roundup this week. It is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF in Tampa

by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter. WLRN's Vice President of Radio and the program's Technical Director is Peter Meritz. Engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels, and Jackson Hart. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at aaronleibos.com. Thanks for emailing, listening, and supporting public radio in your community. I'm Tom Hudson.

Have a terrific weekend.