In this episode : In recent weeks, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — and aides he installed as attorney general and education commissioner — have bent local leaders in Orlando and Tampa to their will in disputes over mass deportations and book bans. They’ve done so by twisting laws and then threatening punishment under their twisted interpretations. But there are ways communities can fight back. Show notes 908.104 — Cooperation with federal immigration authorities 908.102(6) — Definition of “sanctuary...
Aug 14, 2025•31 min
In this episode : In February 2024, a pair of animal-rights groups used drone recordings to expose a massive pigeon-shooting event at a ranch in Okeechobee, Fla., owned by Troy Link, the CEO of Jack Link’s Meat Snacks and a major donor to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican politicians A little over a year later, DeSantis signed a new state law that criminalizes the use of drones to record people on private property. That law, records show, was written by lobbyists hired by Troy Link....
Aug 12, 2025•25 min
In this episode : Late last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 180, a sweeping new law intended to help communities better prepare for — and recover from — hurricanes. But developers around the state are now trying to use the new law to undermine local rules that help slow suburban sprawl. One industry group used Senate Bill 180 to sue a county in southwest Florida that raised fees on homebuilders. Another developer is threatening a similar suit in Orlando to eliminate protectio...
Jul 31, 2025•21 min
In this episode : Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is hiding $250 million in taxpayer-funded contracts tied to the new immigration detention camp Florida just opened in the middle of the Everglades. His hand-picked attorney general is showering public money on $875-an-hour lawyers. And his administration has been ducking auditors for nearly three years now. But Ron DeSantis wants you to think that its your local town council that needs to be audited. Meanwhile, the governor just did a big favor for a b...
Jul 23, 2025•23 min
In this episode : Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just slashed millions of dollars in funding for river restoration, public radio, and well-behaved inmates who want to phone their families. But the Republican governor also approved pork-barrel projects supporting the Inter Miami Major League Soccer team, owners and breeders of thoroughbred racehorses, and a giant real-estate developer near Daytona Beach. We take a closer look at what DeSantis decided to veto — and, more importantly, what he chose to a...
Jul 09, 2025•41 min
In this episode : In the morning, Ron DeSantis celebrated the opening of an immigrant detention camp built on Everglades land he commandeered using emergency powers under what is now a nearly three-year-long “state of emergency” in Florida. In the afternoon, he vetoed a bipartisan bill intended to limit corruption in his administration by stopping him from interfering in future elections and making it harder for his aides to squeeze lobbyists for cash. It was a day that underscored just how much...
Jul 02, 2025•29 min
In this episode : Florida’s attorney general defied a federal court order and bragged about it on TV. A trio of appellate court judges colluded to strike down a state law. The board of education ordered a school superintendent to break the rules and ban more books. And the governor seized property to build an immigrant prison in the Everglades. Each of these would be an extraordinary story on its own. But taken together, they show just how far the authoritarian state has expanded in Florida. Sho...
Jun 24, 2025•39 min
In this episode : They say a budget reflects your values. And if that’s true, state lawmakers in Florida sure do value culture wars. The new state budget pours more than $100 million of taxpayer money into culture-war crusades — including cash for anti-abortion activists, new book-banning software, and an “economic freedom” center that invented an award for Ron DeSantis and praises Donald Trump’s tariffs. Show notes A few recent Seeking Rents stories on Florida’s new $115 billion budget: In Tall...
Jun 19, 2025•41 min
In this episode : Florida lawmakers are springing some last-minute surprises as they inch toward a final budget deal — including a potentially massive charter school expansion. An update from Day 100 of the Florida Legislature’s 60-day-session. Yes, you read that right. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: House Bill 1267 — Education Senate Bill 1708 — Education House Bill 1115 — Education (specifically this amendment ) House Bill 1427 — Nursing Education Programs (specifically this a...
Jun 11, 2025•23 min
In this episode : Across the country, state-level politicians are hollowing out home rule, robbing communities of the freedom to make their own choices, and seizing power for themselves. They are doing it by weaponizing a legal tool known as “preemption.” Katie Belanger of the Local Solutions Support Center, an advocacy group that fights for home-rule rights, joins the show to talk about what preemption is and how states are abusing it. Show notes LSSC’s roundup of some of the most egregious pre...
Jun 10, 2025•48 min
In this episode : Ron DeSantis made a college lower its standards so he could make a middling politician its president. He tried to use a university presidency as a dumping ground for another politician no one liked. It was just a matter of time before political goons came for the state’s most prestigious school, too. Meanwhile, in Tallahassee: Lawmakers are finally negotiating a new state budget, while the governor flails away online. Show notes Maxwell: Politics at Florida universities is real...
Jun 07, 2025•43 min
In this episode : The Florida Legislature has agreed to give giant tax breaks to businesses — and table scraps to everyone else. The Republican Party of Florida is defending a law that takes rights away from its own voters. And Florida’s governor is cashing in on his veto power. For show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: House Bill 1205 — Amendments to the State Constitution House Bill 6017 — Recovery of Damages for Medical Negligence Resulting in Death House Bill 105 — Pari-mutuel Wage...
Jun 02, 2025•24 min
In this episode : Ron DeSantis is once again flexing political muscle in Florida, seizing control of more state universities and joining forces with the state’s Big Business lobby. But after yet another attempt to develop conservation land collapsed in controversy — and amid a new criminal investigation into DeSantis’ “Hope Florida” charity — it’s clear that Florida’s governor can’t get away with everything any more. Show notes : The Florida Senate gave Ron DeSantis an inch. He's taking a mile. ...
May 27, 2025•30 min
In this episode : Well, everyone knows the Florida Legislature’s 2025 session broke down in dysfunction. What this podcast presupposes is…maybe it didn’t? Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 1620 — Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders House Bill 913 — Condominium and Cooperative Associations Senate Bill 56 — Geoengineering and Weather Modification Activities Senate Bill 1388 — Vessels House Bill 1205 — Amendments to the State Constitution Senate Bill 498 — Trust Fund...
May 01, 2025•29 min
In this episode : All of a sudden, nobody knows when Florida’s annual legislative session will end. But lawmakers are still racing to finish up a few big special-interest favors before it does. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 492 — Land Development House BIll 1609 — Waste Incineration Senate Bill 700 — Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Florida lawmakers may help a mining giant fend off lawsuits Questions or comments ? Send ‘em to Garcia.JasonR@gmail.com ...
Apr 29, 2025•28 min
In this episode : After key players in a scandal roiling Ron DeSantis and his closest allies refused to answer their questions, Republicans in the state House decide to end their hearings rather than escalate even further. So what’s next? Plus: Bills to help banks earn bigger profits, hedge funds bind workers to longer non-competes, and Success Academy charter schools set up shop in Miami. Show notes : The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 498 – Trust Fund Interest for Purposes Approv...
Apr 24, 2025•32 min
In this episode : Some bright-red warning flags just began waving in the Florida Legislature, suggesting that top lawmakers are about to spring some last-minute surprises. Meanwhile, Florida’s attorney general has some explaining to do as the Hope Florida scandal roiling the DeSantis administration continues to deepen. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 492 – Land Development House Bill 1225 – Employment Senate Bill 676 – Minimum Wage Requirements Senate Bill 1672 – Labo...
Apr 23, 2025•26 min
In this episode : Republican lawmakers are digging deeper into a scandal in which the Ron DeSantis administration may have used a Casey DeSantis charity to turn $10 million of Medicaid money into funding for TV ads in a political campaign that was important to the governor. It’s obviously bad — and potentially illegal. But it’s also part of a broader pattern of abuses. Plus: Is the Florida Senate getting ready for war? And a good day for an environmentally destructive mining giant. Show notes Th...
Apr 16, 2025•34 min
In this episode : Florida lawmakers may shower millions in taxpayer money on the beef-cattle industry — while also passing laws to obstruct potential lab-grown and plant-based competitors. Plus: Subsidies for the horse-racing industry; a money-losing incentive program written by a company that profits off of money-losing incentive programs; and a corporate tax break for a national funder of conservative causes. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 700 — Department of Agric...
Apr 15, 2025•25 min
In this episode : The state House has suddenly gotten very aggressive with Ron DeSantis, as lawmakers probe ever-deeper into his administration’s spending. The enraged governor has responded by accusing House Republicans of betraying GOP voters. The Florida Senate has avoided taking sides — for now. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: House Bill 1445 — Public Officers and Employees Senate Bill 1760 — Public Officers and Employees House Bill 1321 — Higher Education Senate Bill 1726 — ...
Apr 14, 2025•33 min
In this episode : Republicans in the Florida Senate are trying to pass a bill that would help everyone from farmers to cellphone owners find affordable repairs when the stuff they buy breaks. Why are Democrats in the Florida Senate trying to stop them? Plus: New records reveal that Ron DeSantis is secretly behind a bill to weaken child-labor laws. And the charter-school industry is having a very good session. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 1132 — Consumers’ Right to ...
Apr 09, 2025•16 min
In this episode : Florida lawmakers are working on changes that could stop staffers in the Governor’s Office from squeezing lobbyists for campaign contributions and interfering with university presidential searches. Meanwhile, a bad bill written by lobbyists for car dealers has been gutted. And good bills giving people the power to fix broken tractors, wheelchairs and cell phones are inching closer to passing. A look at some of the positive things happening in Tallahassee midway through the Flor...
Apr 08, 2025•26 min
In this episode : You won’t find the word “abortion” anywhere in them, but two bills that just passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in Florida may ultimately amount to a backdoor expansion of a statewide abortion ban that is already one of the strictest in the nation. Plus: Bills that would make it it harder for college students to vote and easier for billionaires to suppress worker salaries. Show notes Senate Bill 1288 — Parental Rights House Bill 1505 — Parental Rights Senate Bill 1284 — Civi...
Apr 02, 2025•25 min
In this episode : An investment company with a history of peddling poorly performing tax incentives is back in Tallahassee, trying to attach itself to the “rural renaissance” movement in the Florida Senate. An update from Day 28 of the Florida Legislature’s 60-day legislative session. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 1322 — Tax Credits for Investment in Rural Communities Senate Bill 1238 — Fraud in the Reemployment Assistance Program House Bill 1157 — Verification of R...
Apr 01, 2025•11 min
In this episode : Republicans in Tallahassee want to punish the state’s chief economist because she refused to bend to political pressure during a debate last year over an abortion-rights ballot measure. Meanwhile, the speaker of the state House calls for a historic tax cut for consumers. It’s an idea with a lot of promise — but a lot of peril, too. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: House Bill 1205 — Amendments to the State Constitution Senate Bill 7016 — Initiative Petitions Propo...
Mar 27, 2025•25 min
In this episode : Republicans voting against Republicans, Democrats fighting with Democrats, sick-and-tired-of-it public testimony in every hearing, and a long list of bad bills on the move. But also a public execution for one particularly controversial piece of legislation. An update from Day 22 of the Florida Legislature’s 2025 session, one of the wilder days we’ve seen in Tallahassee in years. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 814 — Weapons or Firearms at School-spon...
Mar 26, 2025•23 min
In this episode : Philip Morris, the Big Tobacco giant best known as the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, helped Ron DeSantis defeat ballot measures last fall that would have legalized marijuana and protected abortion rights. A few months later, the Florida governor did a favor for Philip Morris: Allowing the company to sell its IQOS product line free of state tobacco taxes. And now Florida lawmakers are advancing company-backed bills that would cement that decision into state law. Show notes The b...
Mar 25, 2025•16 min
In this episode : Republican lawmakers in Florida are considering a bill pitched by a billionaire-backed think tank that would make it even harder for workers to qualify for unemployment insurance. Plus: “Baby Olivia” comes to the Florida Capitol and all the adults play dumb. An update from Day 15 of the Florida Legislature’s 2025 session. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: House Bill 1157 — Verification of Reemployment Assistance Benefit Eligibility House Bill 1255 — Education Hous...
Mar 19, 2025•13 min
In this episode : In a single afternoon, Florida lawmakers advanced bills to roll back protections for rural land in Orlando, allow an ethanol plant in a historic city north of Jacksonville, and help hedge funds bind workers to years-long non-compete contracts. Those issues and more from Day 14 of the Florida Legislature’s 2025 session. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 420 — Official Actions of Local Governments Senate Bill 1118 — Land Use and Development Regulations S...
Mar 18, 2025•29 min
In this ep is ode: There's a quiet effort afoot in the Florida Capitol to enable a charity funded by the duPont family fortune to shift spending from Delaware to Florida. Meanwhile, an ugly plan to cut funding for Legal Aid — so a few banks can make more money — has begun to move forward. Those bills and more from Day 9 of the Florida Legislature’s 2025 session. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 806 — Florida Trust Code Senate Bill 498 — Interest Rates Applicable to the...
Mar 13, 2025•31 min
