No agreement on state budget in Tallahassee.
It appears unlikely the Florida Legislature will be able to pass a budget during the regular legislative session that’s scheduled to end next week. House Speaker Daniel Perez said last night “fast is not on the menu this session.” That means overtime (again), though the House and Senate have not decided whether to extend the regular session or to call a special session. The proposed budgets passed earlier by the House and Senate are only about $1.4 billion apart, but Perez said the difference has kept the chambers from reaching an agreement on overall spending.
"We have a fundamental disagreement on what the budget should look like for the state of Florida. The House believes we should spend less money. The Senate believes we should spend more money."
Perez also said that the House will not consider Gov. DeSantis’s legislation to make it easier for parents to not vaccinate their children. the so-called “Medical Freedom Bill” is slated to be considered by the Florida Senate tomorrow, but the Florida House won’t be doing the same.
Health First reaches construction milestone on new hospital.
Health First’s new Merritt Island hospital has reached a new construction milestone. The official “topping off” ceremony was held yesterday, when hundreds of employees signed the final steel beam to be used in the new facility. Health First officials expect the hospital to be open and running by the first half of 2027.
Florida taxpayers are likely stuck with the bill for Alligator Alcatraz.
Last October Gov. DeSantis said Florida was awarded over $600 million to help with construction costs for the immigrant detention center in the Everglades. But just a week later, federal authorities put the money on hold, as they asked questions about state expenditures. And now, new court filings from lawyers for the state and the federal government raise the possibility much of that federal grant will never be disbursed. Florida has spent over $400 million on Alligator Alcatraz, and the feds have reimbursed only $90 million of that.
Retail in Brevard is getting a glow-up.
At least three retail superstores in Brevard are getting glow-ups. The Super Target on Wickham is undergoing a major remodeling. And Walmart is spending more than $5 million on Space Coast store makeovers. Walmarts in Melbourne and Titusville are getting major facelifts.
Judge blocks DeSantis’ foreign terrorist label of Muslim groups.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the enforcement on Wednesday of an executive order issued by Gov. DeSantis that designates two Muslim groups as foreign terrorist organizations. The judge wrote that the First Amendment bars the governor from continuing to make a political statement at the expense of others’ constitutional rights. Civil rights groups sued DeSantis in December, shortly after the executive order was issued.
New mobile launch platform already obsolete.
Anyone need a mobile rocket launcher? NASA has determined it no longer has a use for the second giant mobile launcher. That’s the nearly 40 story tall platform that support the SLS rocket during transport and liftoff. When NASA revamped the Artemis moon missions it made the second mobile launcher obsolete. The construction costs are estimated to be $1 billion dollars.
Florida is the 4th most “sinful state.”
Here are the results of another questionable Wallethub study: It compared all 50 states across 54 key indicators of immoral or illicit behavior to determine the most unethical. The data ranged from violent crimes per capita to excessive drinking. The study showed that not only did Florida rank 4th most sinful overall, but it also ranked 3rd in jealousy, 2nd in lust, and 4th in vanity.
