The Florida Roundup - Taxes on social security, new college accreditor, flash flooding and weekly news briefing

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

This week on The Florida Roundup, we talked about President Trump’s new tax and spending plan and what it means for Social Security benefits with PolitiFact’s Louis Jacobson (00:00). Plus, WUSF’s Douglas Soule joins us to tell us about an effort by Gov. DeSantis and the state to change the way education standards are set for Florida universities and colleges (20:04). And later, we check in with Megan Borowski, meteorologist for the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network after a week of heavy rain and flooding (32:24). Plus, some education news from around the state including how one school district is bracing for federal funding cuts (39:02) and a group of 5th graders who are unplugging (41:48).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being company with us here on this Friday. If you are 65 years old or older and living in Florida, odds are you are getting a Social Security check each and every month. More than 8 out of every 10 Floridians in that age group get a Social Security check, 85 percent in fact. Florida has one of the highest numbers of people receiving Social Security benefits each month. More than five million people get some income from the safety net program. That's one out of every five men, women and children calling Florida home. So a lot of people heard President Donald Trump when he made this pledge to a joint session of Congress in early March.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States of America I'm calling for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors. AARON MATE, Former President of the United States of America He was laying out three of his tax cut demands. And four months later, congressional Republicans passed his tax and spending legislation by his imposed deadline of July 4th, and the president signed it into law at the White House. We've delivered no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great

seniors. We are going to focus on that last part to start our program today, income taxes on Social Security beneficiaries. Floridians have a lot riding on this and the Florida economy does too. Social Security payments pump almost $100 billion a year into the state's economy. So what questions do you have about Social Security and the new tax law? How much do you rely on Social Security each month? Maybe you've got a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, a neighbor relying on that Social Security benefit each month to make ends meet. Share your stories with us and are you considering claiming

Social Security soon and have questions about the new tax law. Here's our number statewide live on this Friday 305-995-1800. It's 305-995-1800. You can also send us a quick email. Get right to your question in the email so we have time for it. That address is radio at the floridaroundup.org. Our inbox is open now. We're monitoring it radio at the floridaroundup.org. Lewis Jacobson is with us now, chief correspondent with our news partner, PolitiFact. Lew, welcome to the program. Nice to have you. Hi, thank you. Calls are already coming in. We've got an inbox that's filling up here, Lew, but a couple of foundational questions. The president claimed, you heard him, that the new tax law cuts taxes on Social Security

benefits. Is that accurate? Not exactly. Because of a procedural quirk in how the Senate operates. The bill that they passed through, the big, beautiful bill, as President Trump called it, they couldn't specifically do a Social Security tax cut. They did kind of the next best thing, which is to give people who are 65 and over an increased deduction. People already got a deduction if they're 65 and older

of a couple thousand dollars. It was two thousand dollars if you're married and 1600 if you're unmarried and are not a surviving spouse. On top of that they now as part of the new law are giving an additional $6,000 tax deduction for people who are age 65 and older. So it's not based on whether you get social security benefits or not. In fact, there are some people who are younger than 65 who actually get social security benefits and they don't get this tax break. And there are people who are 65 and older who don't get social security yet because

they're putting it off a little bit. and they actually do get the tax break. So if we can imagine the Venn diagram, right, of people 65 years old and older, and the Venn diagram of people who get just the standard social security benefit, it's not perfect, but it captures most. That's essentially the argument that the president and his supporters make that, yes, they cut taxes for social security benefits. Correct. It's a pretty big overlap, but it's not strictly, as he said, no taxation on social security

benefits. So the distinction here, is there a difference between no taxes on social security benefits, as the president claimed and you've described for us here accurately, or the $6,000 new deduction for people 65 years old and older. Is this a distinction with not really a practical difference or is it an important difference? It is an important difference, but it is a limited difference. Right off the top, wealthier taxpayers do not benefit from this. The tax break phases out starting at $175,000 income for single filers and $250,000 for joint filers. But if you're below that, you get the whole thing. But, you know, if you are... There are certain categories, as I said, which you

don't get it because you just don't qualify. Right. Lou Jacobson is with us, chief correspondent at PolitiFact, who has spent many years reporting on Social Security and other entitlement programs from the federal government, sorting through the new tax and spending law and particularly what it means for Social Security beneficiaries here in Florida. Leo has been listening in. Leo, meet Leo. Leo, meet Leo. Leo is in Orlando.

Go ahead, Leo. Hi. Yes. How you doing? This is Leo Paula. I just thought a quick question. I mean, how does that $6,000 work? Is it going to be a credit or is it

going to be something that I mean when we file our income taxes, do we get that $6,000 back? Like I said, I didn't make enough money. I mean, I'm just confused because when you talk about a credit, you know, it's happened to me before, oh that's going to go against your future taxes. It will be about $6,000 that you won't have to pay anymore. Or is it going to be realized right on my income tax check? Yeah, right. Important question. Let me start by saying I'm not a CPA, so you know I can't validate this question and answer, you know, 100 percent. But my understanding is this is a tax deduction. So you put together all of your income from the year. It could be from, you know, dividends. It

could be from Social Security. It could be from all kinds of different things. If you're still working at 65, then your wages would go in there. You would get to basically subtract $6,000 if you're an individual, and then calculate the tax based on that post subtraction of $6,000. Yeah. Leo's question in Orlando is an important one, and it gets into all the glossary of tax terms here, right, Lew? A tax credit versus a tax deduction. This is a tax deduction. So it is literally a negative number that you can subtract out of your income on your tax form, on your 1040.

It's not money necessarily that winds up in a check to you or more money in your check each month unless you kind of manage your own withdrawals, your own deductions. But it's something really at the end of the year that winds up getting capped. And when does this come into play, Lou? Is this for this tax year? Yeah, it's for tax year 2025 and the subsequent three tax years, so 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028. Okay. Lou Jacobson is with us, Chief Correspondent at PolitiFact.

We are walking through the weeds of Social Security and the new tax and spending law. Your questions live on this Friday, 305-995-1800, 305-995-1800. We had a question, Lou, from Dusty in Gainesville. He was asking about withdrawals from a 401k plan. Does the $6,000 deduction for folks 65 years old and older offset that income if it shows up on someone's 1040 tax form? Not directly. This all plays into whatever your taxes end up being. up on someone's 1040 tax form. Not directly.

This all plays into whatever your taxes end up being. But there's nothing in the Social Security provision of this new law that directly speaks one way or another to the 401k. It would be how Dusty, I suppose, reports the income from his 401k on his tax form. Right. Yeah. And of course, everybody is in a different situation in terms of their taxes. So there's no single way of explaining exactly how that would work. And important to note that Lou and I are journalists. We are not tax advisors

or tax experts, but we certainly are in the minutia of tax here. Certainly. Who pays taxes on Social Security benefits now or who did did before this new tax and spending law? Yeah, so since 1983, there has been taxation of social security benefits. It didn't exist before then, but it started in 1983, and it was actually designed to help support the social security program going forward by making it more solvent.

And unless you had benefits that were less than that $2,000 or $1,600 pre-existing credit before the law, then chances are pretty good you would have paid some taxation on your benefits. Yeah. Speaking about the longevity of the program, Herb sent us this note. There's been talk of extending the solvency of Social Security by removing the cap on income subject to the tax. So what Herb is referring to there is on your income that you earn from a job, for instance, Social Security taxes phase out after a certain level if you make so much money. Herb goes on,

is this a legitimate solution to the funding of the program or is it merely a method of making the burden of funding the program more equitable? He asks, how long would it extend the program before the need to reduce benefits if this cap on Social Security taxable income is lifted? Great question. Just as far as background goes, for the current year, 2025, wages up to $176,100 are taxed. If you earn more than that at any age, then you don't get taxed on the sort of dollars above that for social security purposes.

It's a 6.2% tax for the person and a 6.2% tax for the employee. These are taken off of wages. So this is kind of a gift to the wealthy. And for a long time, people have criticized this and say, you know, why can't we make this more equitable and, you know, tax people who are earning more than $176,000 and maybe put that money into the Social Security Trust Fund and make it last longer? And in talking to experts on this topic, they definitely say it could be part of the solution. Right now, basically, Social Security is on track to be exhausted.

Sorry, I should say the trust fund, which funds Social Security, is scheduled to be basically exhausted in 2033. And actually the Trump tax law that just passed. It moves it up by a year, doesn't it? By at least six months or so, yeah. So basically it's 2032. We're talking seven years from now.

And what that would mean is a pretty steep cut in terms of the benefits if that happens. By law, I think. By law. Right, there's no way around it. And it would basically be a 24% benefit cut is the last estimate that I've heard. So basically people are saying, look, we could kind of kill two birds with one stone here. We could tax people who are wealthier anyway who are getting this break that ordinary people don't.

And we could save some more money and make Social Security last a little bit longer. So when talking to people, I was kind of running this by them and try to get a sense of the impact this would have. And they say it definitely could be part of the solution. One guy who's a budget expert that I spoke to so that it could extend by up to 20 or 30 years. Oh wow. Closed between a third and three quarters of the funding gap that we currently have depending on how it's designed. Yeah. Some of the technicalities of it. So it could be a policy win, but I will say that the sort of problem here is not the math, it's the politics. This concept has been around for years and years,

and it hasn't really gotten to the finish line. So don't hold your breath about it happening, but it certainly could be a positive step in terms of solvency. Yeah. Well, we'd have to hold our breath for seven years here. We don't want to do that, but seven years is not too far away, right? Not too far away. The days can be short, but the days are long. The years are short sometimes in all of this.

Exactly. Lou, we've got Mary and Bonita Springs listening in. Mary, thanks for your patience and calling. You are on the radio. Hi, this is Mary. I'm here with Bonita Springs. I just tuned in a little later than you started, but I got in on the Lou and Leo conversation where there was confusion about the difference between the credit and the deduction, whether

or not it would be credited and you would automatically take that off or whether it would be a deduction. Now for a lot of seniors, me included, that deduction doesn't work out at all, doesn't become anything for me because I don't do the direction on my income tax return a lot of your no longer have mortgage interest car and like that and pro they take standard action yet and if you and that means that the six thousand dollar uh... deduction pristine years is

meaningless for a huge percentage and that's where the $6,000 deduction being somehow or other paralleled with not having to pay taxes on social security is ludicrous. Mary, your point, hugely important point. I'm so glad that you called, Mary, for further clarification. So this is the itemized deductions versus the standard deductions. Do you take the so-called tax schedules with the 1040, or do you just take that standard deduction

that Congress has approved there? Get into that a little bit, Lou, and walk through some of what Mary's talking about. Yeah, that's a great point. And that definitely will be a problem in terms of actually utilizing this deduction, because you do have to do the itemization. And the way the tax policy has been going in the past couple of years and in addition

in the bill that just got signed is that they have tended to raise the standard deduction and try to encourage people to take that instead of itemizing. It's a little bit less complicated. I'll just share, Mary, just personal experience. My mom is in her mid-80s, and I happened to be back home visiting her last spring before tax day, and she wanted me to go through her taxes to make sure everything was prepped for the accountant. And she's got her... it wasn't a literal shoe box, it was a manila folder full of receipts and whatnot. We went through everything, and at the end of it, I said,

Mom, you're good on the standard deduction. You're going to save more money than going through the itemized deduction. And Lou, my mom, she's with it. She's got all her wits about her, but she had such a difficult time setting aside all those receipts she'd collected throughout the year and to say, what do we mean? I don't need these anymore? What are you talking about, Tom?

And I said, sure enough. Right, no, that's totally true. Yeah, totally true. It'll depend on exactly how each person's taxes and situation is, but they have increased the standard deduction, and so it may end up for some people that actually standard deduction is better even than the $6,000 social security credit. It just depends. Allen and Koca, I couldn't hold than the $6,000 social security credit. It just depends.

Allen and Koca couldn't hold on the line, but he had a question. He's 72. His wife is not retired yet. I don't know how old she is, but I'm going to guess older than 65, Allen. If not, I'm sorry, but we're going to guess that based upon the context here. How does this impact him? He's 72, wife not retired yet. Okay. So, if she's over 65, she would get the tax deduction.

And he's over 72. And he would as well. Correct. So they would both get it, 6,000 times two. And it doesn't matter at all if she gets Social Security or not. If she's 90 and is still working and has, I guess, chosen up to take Social Security, she would still get the seduction. Right. Right. It has nothing to do with whether or not you receive Social Security benefits.

It has everything to do with your age and then if you itemize your taxes. Correct. Yes. Right? Those are kind of the two tent poles here to take away from Lou. Exactly. Okay. Exactly. Very good. We've got one more question here. I've heard through, this is an overtime question. I've heard that although overtime received will not be taxed on people's wage checks,

it'll appear in their annual W-2s. So this is part of the overtime tax cut as well. Is this true, Lew? Yeah. So that's also a great question. So there are lots of things on your W-2s that are not taxed. It's there kind of for informational purposes. You've got your 401k, a line for that. You've got your health insurance, got a line for that. If there's a flex spending

plan, it might have a line for that. So just because it's on your W-2 doesn't mean that it's taxed. So on the overtime question, we rated that a compromise. We didn't say that was fully kept. Because basically, there are limits on how much you can get tax-free out of overtime. And they're basically counting the additional amount for the overtime pay, not the entire overtime pay, but what you get above and beyond your regular wage for that overtime period.

And so that is basically, it's like a time and a half situation, so that's the half portion. Okay. And the limits they have. Sorry to interrupt, but we've got to leave it there because we are up against the clock, but we've got a lot more. No problem. We'll have to come back. If folks, if you've got a question you want to pull it a fact, checked by Lew and his

team radio at thefloorderoundup.org. This is the Floor to Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Next week on our program, we are going to be talking a little bit about ourselves and you. This week, as you may know, Congress voted to claw back more than a billion dollars that were for public media throughout the country, including millions of dollars for public television and radio stations here in Florida. So what do the funding cuts mean for public broadcasting here in the Sunshine State? Are you a donor? Well, first of all, thank you

for being a supporter of public media. How does this affect you? How do you use public media in your community? We want to hear your stories now. You can email us radio at the floridaroundup.org. Radio at the floridaroundup.org. We'll be talking about public media and public funding next week on this program. Now, in late June, Governor Andres Santos launched a new tactic to reform higher education. He has already begun to reshape through policies and people. Several of his allies have been hired as presidents at state universities. Less than a month ago, he announced a new effort to change a fundamental standards-setting

process called accreditation. It'll upend the monopoly of the woke accreditation cartels and it will provide institutions with an alternative that focuses on student achievement rather than the ideological fads that have so permeated those accrediting bodies over the year. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has been passing judgment on public colleges and universities in Florida for more than a century. It evaluates a school's curriculum for credibility, consistency and quality. The accreditation of UF and FSU, for instance, were both reaffirmed by that agency just last

year, but the governor wants to drop the current accreditation organization and form a new one in partnership with five other states. year, but the governor wants to drop the current accreditation organization and form a new one in partnership with five other states. Anita Levy of the American Association of University Professors is skeptical. I would say that DeSantis is not so much looking to divest higher education of politics, but rather to insert his own politics into higher education. Now, the new group is called the Commission for Public Higher Education. Florida expects public university systems in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas A&M University to join the group.

Ray Rodriguez is the chancellor of the State University System of Florida. The Commission for Public Higher Education will offer an accreditation model that prioritizes academic excellence and student success while removing ideological bias and unnecessary financial burdens. Accreditation plays a critical role in making schools eligible for students to receive federal financial aid. Florida's Board of Governors approved creating this new agency, the first state to do so. It still needs to be approved by the U.S. Department of Education. And there's lots of more questions about how exactly this new organization would work. Have you been involved in universities accreditation process?

What's that been like? What can we learn from your experience? How could changing accreditation organizations impact the rankings of Florida's public colleges and universities? And how does this effort play into the governor's broader goals of remaking higher ed here in the Sunshine State? So our phones are open on this Friday on this 305-995-1800. Douglas Soll is with the state government reporter for WUSF and our Your Florida Project. Douglas, always great to have you on the program.

No, it's always nice to be on here. So the Board of Governors of Florida met one week ago today on this Friday. What did it decide? So last week, as you mentioned last Friday, the Florida Board of Governors voted to approve the creation of this new creditor called the Commission for Public Higher Education. Also approved with that is $4 million to get this accreditor up and running. I'll quickly note right now that the US Department of Education also has to approve this accreditor before it can be used by universities. Now, the yes vote from the Board of Governors was expected.

DeSantis wanted it and most of the board members are appointed by DeSantis. But I'll say this, there were points in that meeting where I became less than convinced they were going to vote yes. Well, some of skepticism we heard about how exactly this new accreditation agency will work really filling in some of the blank spaces here. Eric Szilagyi is a former president of the electric company FPL. He's a member of the Board of Governors. I think there's just a huge number of risks that we haven't necessarily addressed or identified. And maybe they have been, and I've just missed it somewhere in the materials. But I'm really concerned about the structure not being in place from day one that will mitigate undue legal risks. So Douglas, did Eric miss something in the documents that were given to him and the board

about the structure here, or was it just kind of a lot of trust and verify later? Well, Eric certainly wasn't the only board member to have that concern. As listeners can see, or in this case here, board members asked some critical questions, including Eric, for a long chunk of time of that meeting. This accreditor has come about pretty quickly. And I don't think anyone can say that there's a ton of details about how it's going to operate. And a lot of the concern also from that meeting was related to Florida leading this effort, as we've mentioned, $ million dollars in the pot already. Board members wanted to make sure and

want to make sure that the state university system and the accreditor have independence, both for liability and appearance reasons. And you know, once again, a lot of that is also because Florida, once again, is devoting four million dollars already to this. And another note, as I've already mentioned, the federal government also has to approve the creditor, which is a ways out, but not having the independence could affect that approval. Some board members also mentioned wanting to make sure there aren't any controls on curriculum in the universities.

Yeah. I want to ask about that in a second. The board specifically approved a business plan for this new agency, bylaws for the new agency, and articles of incorporation. Really kind of fundamental bedrock things that need to happen before any government agency, quasi-government agency, or even any business gets officially recognized. But what is known to Eric Szilagyi's kind of curiosity, to put it kindly, skepticism, perhaps more directly about the actual structure of the commission.

Yeah. So kind of a point here, the university leadership, you know, kind of in response to that concern about there not being many details pointed out, you know, this is the beginning process and it's not rare or unexpected that there's not a lot of details. There are certainly some details and here's some of what we do know. Florida, of course, is currently leading the effort right now. This accreditor was incorporated in Florida, but the board of directors of this accreditor will be made up of representatives from all six Southern State University systems that want to be involved. That includes, of course, Florida, but also Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. This board of directors will ultimately decide a lot of important stuff like the

accreditation standards. There will also be an interim review committee made up of experts who will review universities and make recommendations to that board of directors. So one member of the board ofors last week, Ken Jones, also echoed similar questions about structure and kind of what comes next. But he was confident that answers would be coming. We're breaking new ground here. We're doing it for the right reasons. But I want to be sure that when the questions come and they I'm sure they certainly will, that we've got the right answers. And so I just want to really understand what is it that we're putting on ourselves as a bog from a governance standpoint, and

that we are doing it the right way. So what are the next steps here? You mentioned, obviously, the federal government has the ultimate say in whether or not this accreditation agency is accredited itself to do the work. But kind of now Florida has approved this agency and basic concept, the bylaws, the articles of incorporation and $4 million. So what's next? Yeah. So some of the bylaws need to be approved pretty soon. But so as mentioned, there's this business plan for the accreditor. It's even on the state university system website. If any listener wants to go to that, it's pretty didactic in parts, but the plan has the next steps outlined all the

way out to mid-2028. So we're looking at a few-year process here. We need to see eventually an initial budget. We need to see the actual leadership structure that has to be fleshed out in the coming months. And the leaders that are added to that structure have to figure out and improve the standards and the policies and procedures for the accreditor that all leads to the push to get the federal government to approve it. Yeah. So this is all process and it's important here, but you mentioned the standards because

that's ultimately what the accreditation system is about is assessing standards at institutions of higher learning. The business plan for this new group says that the founding university systems quote have collectively recognized growing concerns over the quality efficiency and poor return on investment with respect to the current marketplace of accreditors. This is the chancellor of the board of governors or the state university system in Florida Ray Rodriguez. He described the approach this way. The Commission for Public Education will offer an accreditation model that prioritizes academic excellence and student success while removing ideological bias and unnecessary financial burdens.

Kimberly Dunn is the faculty representative on the Board of Governors, and she wants to make sure that any new accreditation group stays away from specifics in the classroom. I think it's important that we be very clear that establishing the curriculum is in the purview of this, that institution in the state university system and that we are not allowing an accreditor to impose or prevent any content. Michael has been listening to our conversation here, Douglas Michaels in Orlando. Go ahead, sir. You're on the radio. Yeah, I just, my issue is kind of sort of like the Republicans at one point were complaining

when the COVID vaccines were being rolled out, that the whole process was rushed. This is kind of the same issue. They're rushing the whole accreditation process, and you can't compare it to sort of the reputability of the organizations that have been doing this for over a hundred years. Not to mention, you know, Ron DeSantis is kind of doing what he's fighting against, which is inserting his own ideology instead of working with the organization, you know, and trying to come up with something that's more proven rather than

something that's based on ideology alone. And this is going to interfere, I think, with a lot of maybe like the job prospect for people who are trying to get their degrees at these institutions, because, for example, if you're trying to become an engineer at one of these institutions, the accreditation matters, right? And if he's not doing something that's respected, then how are you going to get a job with a degree from one of those institutions? Michael, great point from Orlando. Thanks for joining the conversation. Douglas, what about to that point about recognition of an accreditation system and, of course, the employment

prospects? We've seen Florida's public universities really rise in national rankings in the last several years. How could changing accreditation organizations impact that? Yeah, so that concern for Michael is actually a concern you'll hear. We've already heard a lot and we're going to continue hearing a lot. Now, how exactly changing accreditation organizations will impact the rankings? It's impossible to know for sure right now. There's a lot, as mentioned,

we don't even know about this new creditor. A lot of development still needs to happen, but critics, including the United Faculty of Florida, accuse it of being politically driven, and they say that's going to damage the reputations and credibility of state universities. Of course, we've heard from Chancellor Ray Rodriguez, who says they're wanting to remove politics from the system and they say the current accreditor suppresses innovation and this new one's going to focus on things like outcomes. So, you know, you

know, the university system of Florida's involvement is from the lens of you want to boost our rankings and all that. But, you know, there are very loud concerns from people like Michael and way more about what the end result will actually be. And when we talk about outcomes, we're talking exactly what Michael and Orlando is talking about, which is usually jobs for graduates, right? The jobs as well as the income that those jobs pay. Douglas, thanks so much for sharing your reporting with us. It's always great to have you on the program. No, it's always great to be on it. Thanks for having me. Douglas Soll, a state government reporter for our partner

station WUSF and Your Florida. If you have a question about state government policy agencies, just send us an email radio at the floridaroundup.org. I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio Station. We are in the wet season, so an afternoon shower or two should not be a surprise for any of us, but we have seen some substantial rainfalls this week in some areas of Florida. Megan Borowski, meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network is with us now. So Megan, take us to eastern Hillsborough County earlier this week. A foot of rain in six hours. Unbelievable. Absolutely. Yeah. And that was all thanks to low pressure that we were

watching off the space coast. It moved across the state of Florida. We had plenty of moisture in place. And really it was just the afternoon thunderstorms plus that extra upward vertical motion from that area of low pressure. And it all seemed to just collide in Plant City so to speak where we got upwards of 10 inches of rain just to the east of the Tampa metro area. The National Weather Service called it a one in one thousand year rainfall amount in Plant City. Explain that ratio for us. Right so it all comes down to statistics of course we don't have a thousand years of rainfall data on record, but if you get out your pencils,

you can take the 80 to 100 years of data that we have. You can create a frequency distribution, calculate standard deviation, and then you'll see the 10 inches of rain is three standard deviations away from the average. So lots of statistics talk, but it all comes down to that. Yeah. All right, so we're going to move away from the algebra

or the statistics. But the 1 in 1,000 years sometimes is what gets people caught up on to say, well, wait a second. Didn't this happen last year? Don't I have 999 years to go for another one? Not necessarily, no. It all depends on if things are changing, if the environment is changing, right, number

one. And then number two, we have all the things that would contribute to heavy rainfall all coming in at once. So you have the low pressure, you have the normal sea breeze thunderstorm season that we're in. And so it doesn't necessarily mean that we've got to wait another 999 years to get these events. We might see them happen more frequently. Megan, the disaster in Texas Hill Country is just an awful reminder of how dangerous

flash floods can be. So what's the definition of a flash flood warning? Right. So it's letting folks know that it's an extreme flow or an extreme rise in creeks or local waterways due to very heavy rainfall. And really the flash flood warning is telling us that it's going to be happening soon. Typically the National Weather Service will issue a flash flood warning within three to six hours of that rapid rise in those creeks and streams. It certainly is about the amount of water in the clouds and these storms, precipitable water, PWAT. Is that an acronym in your world?

Yes. Explain that to us, us civilians. So that pretty much means if you go through the column of the atmosphere, right, we're standing on the surface of the earth and you look up and there's the column in the troposphere, the lowest level of the atmosphere where weather happens. It's if you took all of the water or the water vapor in that column and you condensed it, that's the amount that would turn into rain, right? So measurable rainfall. And then also, you know, if a lot of that moisture is actually contained to the lower level of the troposphere, you certainly will feel it and that will contribute to excessive heat

index value as well. Well, speaking of heat index, we've got an advisory that covers a good chunk of the peninsula today on this Friday from Lake Okeechobee South. Feels like temperatures up to 111 degrees. And we do expect that to continue through the weekend as high pressure starts to build on and we'll get plenty of sunshine each afternoon. Of course, we're sitting in Florida in the summertime, so it is humid. Of course, it's going to be dangerous, especially during the early to middle portion of the afternoon with

those heat index values near 110. In the tropics, pretty quiet. So far so good. We're pretty quiet. We were watching that area of low pressure. Does look like it might actually almost loop around and potentially enter the Gulf Stream and maybe this was the one over Louisiana just a couple days ago. Yes Okay, so we're watching I don't anticipate anything tropical from it, but it might reintroduce some some more humid air over at least parts of the state early next week, which will drive up rain chances. We'll see what happens. But as far as the wide scale Atlantic basin goes, all is quiet for now. Let's hope that continues.

Megan Morowski, meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. Always a pleasure, Megan. Thanks so much. Absolutely. Thanks, Tom. Still to come here on the Florida Roundup, the most boring city in America here in the Sunshine State. That and plenty more still to come. Stick with us. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Terrific to have you along with us. Governor Ron DeSantis filled out his cabinet this week. He chose Republican State Senator Blaze Ingolia of Sarasota to be the state's chief financial officer. Now the governor's pick is not the guy who President Donald Trump

endorsed for the job though. Here's Tristan Wood from our partner station WFSU in Tallahassee. Ingolia has been one of DeSantis' closest allies in the legislature. He's one of the few Republican lawmakers this session to back almost every issue DeSantis championed. At the announcement, Angolia pledged to take up one of DeSantis' policy priorities over the next year, property tax reductions. I am going to work hand and glove side by side with this governor to make sure that we get rid of property taxes on homestead exemption and offer real property tax relief to the people of the state of Florida. DeSantis also said during the presser,

Ingolio will take the helm on his Florida Doge efforts, looking to cut what the governor calls wasteful spending at the local government level. He's gonna have the authority to go in and audit all those local governments and really hold them accountable in addition to everything that we do. DeSantis' decision comes after President Donald Trump has already endorsed Republican state Senator Joe Gruters for the job. DeSantis says he didn't tap Gruters because he wanted to pass an immigration enforcement bill that would have stripped some powers from the governor.

So if George Washington rose from the dead and came back and tapped me on the shoulder and said, will you appoint Joe Grutter CFO, my response would be, no, I can't do that without betraying the voters that elected me to lead this state in a conservative direction. I'm Tristan Wood. Some more education news now for you. Tens of millions of dollars of federal funding for public schools in Florida is frozen and school districts are cutting programs

as a new school year approaches. Carrie Sheridan starts our reporting from our partner station WUSF in Sarasota. On June 30th, a day before the fiscal year began for Florida schools, the Trump administration froze nearly $7 billion in federal grants to schools nationwide. Pinellas County Superintendent Kevin Hendrick says that amounts to four hundred million dollars in Florida and nine million dollars for his district. The

lack of timing and transparency regarding when or if these funds will even be released is completely unreasonable. He says Pinellas has to cut some programs but will reassign staff rather than lay off people. Programs affected will likely include support for English language learners, mental health services, arts and STEM enrichment, and after-school programs. I'm Kari Sheridan in Sarasota. I'm Natalie LaRouche-Pietri in Miami. The funding would have supported migrant education, teacher development, and English language instruction

in the district. That amounts to more than $45 million in cuts. In place of these grants, a new initiative will distribute $2 billion in flexible block grants to states. That's according to the Miami Herald. The change is meant to give states flexibility in where to direct the money. In a statement, President of the United Teachers of Dade, Tony White, said the government is compromising the district's ability to retain

high quality educators and improve student achievement. The Department of Education made another cut to Miami Dade schools earlier this year. A roughly $9 million grant under the Teacher Quality Partnership Program. Orange County School Board member Angie Gallo says that district stands to lose $11 million. Money that she says was meant to support things like English as a second language education in the district. Let me be honest, these cuts don't shim budgets.

They create voids. Voids in classroom and student services and family supports and they disproportionately impact the students who need the money's help. In the Tallahassee area, Leon County schools face a 12 and a half million dollar budget shortfall from the frozen money. Superintendent Rocky Hanna says the district will protect its classrooms from cuts as long as possible but acknowledges everything is on the table. There are going to be some hard decisions that will have to be made over the course of the next several weeks and several months to make up for the loss of revenue, both at

the state and the federal level. I mean, the increase statewide to the base student allocation was less than 1 percent, but our cost for services has increased drastically. As districts scramble their budgets for the school year to come, a group of incoming sixth graders at a private school may be on their phones a lot less when they're not in school. Last spring, as fifth graders at KLA Academy in the Brickell neighborhood of Miami, the students were challenged to stay off their devices for twenty-one days.

And it was a student-led experiment. Carla Mendez has their story from partner station WLRN in Miami. On their last day of school, students at KLA Academy in Brickell headed into summer break with a new perspective on technology and how to use it. The struggle is real guys. Some days I actually really feel like I'm about to quit. It's kind of hard with all these devices around us. Our world is just turning into devices. I'm a kid and I'm supposed to be like having like interactions with my family and my dad told me that he felt more connected to me. Now I just want to use my device for like texting and taking selfies with my friends.

Those are fifth graders Elena, Maggie, Ava, Olivia, and Penelope. Just a few of the 19 students who took part in what they called the Digital Detox Diaries. These were some of their comments recorded during the detox. For 21 days, they gave up their devices, no phones, no video games, just TV and a no-screens rule one hour before bed. It was part of a classroom experiment led by their teacher Amy Krehor after students started questioning what all their screen time might be doing to them. So as teachers, we're more facilitators of learning, so we pay really close attention to what the students are interested in, what they're doing.

Creehor noticed how often the students were on their screens. So, they studied how technology works, how it has evolved over time, and how it affects our health. Students were split into two research teams. Engineers focused on the mechanics of technology, while the social scientists studied the human side. The experiment was voluntary, but every student took part. Ava O'Brien and Alana Contese-Quintero emerged as class leaders. Together, the class agreed on the rules. Parents were instrumental in the process too,

offering their support and keeping record of weekly reflections as their kids adjusted to life offline. Then came the hard part. Oh my God, I can't survive. Like Ava, Elena says she was tested in ways she didn't expect. Patience? I don't have patience for anybody. Others like Maggie noticed a change in her behavior after just a few days without devices. Before I would get mad and get mad and like destroy everything around me, but this time I know how to control myself and I know how to like stop. So I feel like the doctor's

really helping me. By day 15, know how to control myself and I know how to stop. So I feel like the doctor's really helping me. By day 15, Maggie had picked up a new hobby. I started a book, like a book from my house. I would have never done that if my iPad was here. I started a book. Students like Alana reported better sleep, clearer focus, and more time spent socializing or trying new things. Also recently had a play date with Vale. We just went outside and we talked for like four hours. We were so with that same.

At school, Crihor and her colleagues noticed shifts in the classroom dynamic. One student who would come in in the morning and barely say hello to us started to hug us every morning. For many of the kids, the biggest insight came not from quitting screens, but understanding what makes them so addictive. Before I started learning about this stuff, I would really not care if I was scrolling the whole day. And then I learned about oxytocin,

then I learned about dopamine, and I learned what phones can do to you. And so then I was like, why am I doing this? Alana also says the detox strengthened her bond with her brother. We would like watch movies together, like I felt like we were way more connected and I like love my brother when I see him like that. The goal was never to abandon technology. It was to have a better understanding of the science behind how it shapes our brains, our relationships, or even how it can be

isolating. And for Alana and Ava, they plan to take these new habits with them into middle school. Because I do not want to go back to my screen and be addicted on it again. It's amazing how three weeks can change your whole life. I'm Karla Mendez in Miami. And I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup

from your Florida Public Radio station. Finally on the Roundup this week, bored in Jacksonville. Florida's largest city was ranked as the most boring city in America by a digital branding and investment advisory company called Finance Buzz. It says it evaluated more than a dozen criteria to come up with its list.

Stuff like the age of a city's population. By the way, older meant more boring. They looked at the culinary scene, nightlife, outdoor activity, and generally things to do. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Now Sioux Falls, South Dakota made the top five most boring, probably not a surprise. Wichita, Kansas was also in the top five. But the number one most boring city, Jacksonville. I love Jacksonville and so I take some offense at this most boring city ranking.

Tanner Pletsky blames the dependency on needing a car to get around for giving Jacksonville a boring feeling. Chelsea Hart-Kentabeneh says Jacksonville is plenty exciting if you know where to look. Maybe you weren't cool enough to get the invite, or you didn't try to. You didn't consider that there are a lot of creative people here who are making things all the time. My name is Lynn, Lynn Jones, the one and only associate editor

of the Jacksonville Free Press News here in Jacksonville, Florida, one of the more than 230 African-American newspapers still printing in this country today. I've been in Jacksonville since 1994. Now when you talk about Jax being ranked as the most boring city in America, issue is not that it's boring. There's a lot to do here. This is a most magnificent city.

It's not a Miami or Orlando where you get off the plane and boom, you go here, you go there. So you have to do your research. But at the same time, when you talk about boring, there's a lot of transplants here. So they own the load. They've retired. Even a lot of the business people here. It's a working town.

You're on the low. Getting plan on hanging out in Florida Man, bottom line is, come on down. Matter of fact, call me. Lynn Jones, Jacksonville Free Press. We'll take you around. Car Blanche. Alright, take care. Suddenly it's looking like I'm gonna

kill a few more days in Jacksonville. The River City, the First Coast. Several years ago, the city decided on a new slogan, Jax, it's easier here. On our next trip to Jacksonville, we'll take Lynn Jones up on our invitation. That is the Florida Roundup this week. It is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF in Tampa by Bridget O'Brien and

Denise Royal. WLRN's Vice President of Radio is Peter Merz. The program's technical director is MJ Smith. Engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson and Ernesto Jay. Our theme music is provided by Miami Jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at aaronleibos.com. Thanks for emailing, calling, listening, and above all supporting public media in your neck of the woods. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.

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