Leon County Indivisible
Activism for Busy People
Florida officials are fighting a court order to expand detainee phone access at the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” center, arguing it would be too costly for taxpayers — but they’ve already […]
The Department of Homeland Security is currently trying to execute a $40 billion plan to build a national network of concentration camps. They are quietly buying up warehouses to hold thousands of human beings, attempting to construct a detention network that would ultimately eclipse the entire existing federal criminal prison system.
And because they know exactly how politically toxic this is, they are trying to do it in the dark. They have built and continue to build these facilities without congressional approval and without giving warning to the communities forced to host them.
Florida House and Senate leaders announced Thursday that they have agreed to spend about $52 billion in general revenue dollars in the next fiscal year on the state’s priorities, finally clearing the way for the Legislature to do the one thing it’s annually required to do: Pass a budget.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis says he wants to call the state Legislature back for a special session on property taxes. But he hasn’t yet put forward a plan and no date has been set for a session.
There are less than seven months until the November election, so where does the issue currently stand?
The Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill prohibiting localities from implementing carbon-reduction policies like net-zero targets, carbon taxes and cap-and-trade programs.
Net zero refers to any program designed to achieve a balance between the total amount of greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere with an equal amount removed from the atmosphere.
The bill passed 80-29 in the House and 24-12 in the Senate. Legislators voted almost entirely on party lines, with all Republicans except one, Rep. Alexis Calatayud, a Miami Republican, in favor, and all Democrats save one, Sen. Kimberly Daniels of Jacksonville, against.
The Florida governor is reaching the end of his current gig as the conduit for the MAGA agenda in the state of Florida. DeSantis will have to leave office in January when his second term is up and he is reportedly “begging” President Trump for a job in his administration. Specifically, DeSantis wants the open attorney general position, the job his state’s former attorney general, Pam Bondi, once held until Trump lost patience with what he apparently felt was her sluggish pace in investigating and prosecuting his political foes.
DeSantis is reportedly also interested in the Defense Department’s top job — watch out Pete Hegseth — and he’d even take a spot on the Supreme Court if the opportunity arises! But attorney general would do just fine, too, Axios reported in a new piece out this afternoon, citing six anonymous sources who were “briefed on the discussions.”
The infamous Florida immigrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” can remain open, an appeals court ruled Tuesday, overturning a lower judge’s decision to close the facility because it violated federal environmental laws.
The ruling is the latest development in the months-long legal battle against the center, which was constructed in the Everglades last summer by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration when the Department of Homeland Security needed more detention space to house immigrants pending their deportations.
With nearly 40 new laws already approved so far this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is now looking at another 20 that were sent to his desk.
In addition, DeSantis signed off on two other bills on Tuesday, meaning they will both go into effect on July 1.
Florida’s unemployment rate ticked up for the second consecutive month in February.
FloridaCommerce released the February jobless figure, which came in at 4.6%. That’s up from the January unemployment rate of 4.5%.
It’s also the second straight month the Florida unemployment figure was higher than the national rate. The U.S. figure for February was 4.4%, 0.2 percentage points below Florida’s.
The poll of 406 Florida voters, conducted by Echelon Insights, shows 49% of voters say they intend to vote for the Republican candidate while 46% say they want to vote Democrat.
Yet that’s not the worst news for Republicans in this survey.
When it comes to voters who definitely intend to show up in November, Democrats outperform Republicans, with 37% of respondents intent on voting blue while just 36% are ready and raring to vote red.
Recent special elections show it clearly: Florida isn’t a solid red state. It’s a collection of highly competitive swing districts, where elections are being decided on the margins, and by voters who don’t belong to either party.
President Donald Trump is polling underwater in his home state according to a new poll.
The survey also shows the Republican Commander in Chief is less popular than GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Emerson College Polling found the Mar-a-Lago Republican with a 46% job approval rating among likely voters in Florida. Meanwhile, 47% of voters in the Sunshine State disapprove of the job he’s doing.
That’s a poor showing in a state he won by more than 13 percentage points in 2024 on his way to becoming the first Florida resident to win the presidency.