First-time jobless claims in Florida dipped last week.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 4,955 initial unemployment applications were filed in Florida last week, down from a revised count of 5,284 the week ending Sept. 19.

The state has reported fewer than 6,000 claims weekly since the end of August.

Nationally, Labor estimated 197,000 claims were filed last week, a decrease of 1,000 from the revised count for the prior week.

Florida’s unemployment rate stands at 4.5 percent, representing 502,000 unemployed Floridians in mid-August from a workforce of 11.1 million.

The national unemployment rate stands at 4.1 percent.

Rep. Gallop Franklin, D-Tallahassee, is in line to become House Democratic Leader for the 2028-2030 legislative term.

Until then, he wants the Democratic Party’s platform to focus on one important issue: the economy.

“We’ve always had a messaging challenge promoting and talking about our economic wins,” he said.  

Franklin spoke to the News Service of Florida about the upcoming midterm elections, his view on the importance of live debates and the role pharmacies play in public health.

Q: What are the major challenges the Democratic Party faces in these midterm elections?

FRANKLIN: I would say our messaging is always a challenge. If you look historically at how well the economy does when Democrats are governing, on average, the economy’s doing better.

So you look at Bill Clinton compared to his predecessor, George H. W. Bush. You look at Bill Clinton in comparison to the person who came after him, George W. Bush. Look at President Barack Obama, who came after George W. Bush. You even look at how well the economy was doing under President Joe Biden. And now you look at how it’s going under President Donald Trump. What polling used to tell us, even during the 2024 election cycle, was for some reason, people would equate a working economy under Republican leadership and governance. What that tells me is that we’ve always had a messaging challenge promoting and talking about our economic wins. 

Q: What issues do you see pulling people from the middle to the left? And why?

FRANKLIN: If you look at polling, they’re starting to now say they believe that Democrats are better with the economy than Republicans. As Republicans have been governing, we’ve been hit with inflation and lost wages. You see now, typically you’re watching Republican candidates really harping on culture war type of issues. If you notice most of the Democratic candidates are starting to message what we always should have been messaging, which is, we’re better at this economy thing than they are. I think, based on what we’ve done historically, that’s what’s bringing people to the left. What’s unfortunate is that the economy has to always get this bad for everyday citizens to wake up and listen to our economy talk. In 2024, we could talk about the economy until we were blue in the face, and it seemed like the electorate was more focused on culture issues. But once the party currently in power kind of gets us to where we are and people are feeling the squeeze of the economy, those issues are allowing people to start moving toward the left.

Q: It looks like we won’t see live, in-person debates between candidates at the top of the ticket in Florida this year. What’s your opinion on that? 

FRANKLIN: My personal opinion is that it doesn’t take a debate to understand where someone is on the issues. You can go to a town hall, you can ask questions, you look at their website, you can see what they’re talking about and what they’re always focused on. You can also look at their record. So I never thought that a debate was really about getting to know where a person stands in full transparency. The reason why I think the electorate typically wants a debate is because you almost get to turn politics into a boxing match. You get to say cool zingers to get back at someone. And I’m not saying that people should not debate, I’ve always debated. I’ve never turned down a debate. I’m not saying that it doesn’t give people a sense of your personality. It gives people a sense of executive presence. I think all those things are important, right? People like seeing how you respond under pressure, how you think on your feet. People like being able to understand what it’s like when you’re negotiating in real time with another world leader. What will that look like? What a debate kind of does is brings those skill sets to the front of the television so that people can kind of see if you can be the leader of the free world or the great state of Florida. 

Q: What are the Democratic priorities for the 2027 session?

FRANKLIN: Rep. Christine Hunschofsky is going to be the minority leader starting in January 2027, and she’s going to be leading us through that charge. So I can’t speak for her, but what I can say is, from the outside looking in, and seeing how Christine has been conducting the campaign cycle and how she’s been recruiting, I will say her focus has been on the economy. Ensuring that we can fight down property insurance costs, making sure we can address inflation, investing in educational opportunities to try to grow our economy, right? It looks like, without a doubt, it has to do with growing the economy, slowing inflation, and making sure we can drive down costs. 

Q: You’re a pharmacist. The Florida Department of Health just recently is allowing pharmacists to administer the vaccine for chikungunya, as the state has seen a spike in cases. Could you comment on local pharmacies’ role in public health?

FRANKLIN: Pharmacists are somewhere in everyone’s neighborhood, and so we’re normally the fastest access to health care services. Also, pharmacists undergo tons of training and tons of school that makes them capable of being able to provide vaccines at any level. Oftentimes, you might ask the question, why can’t pharmacists give all vaccines? And that really comes down to we have state statutes that limit the ability of what pharmacists can do. But I can say there’s tons of states out there that allow pharmacists to do much more than what they currently do here in Florida. You see these expansions, like the COVID vaccine or other vaccines for different outbreaks. When there’s a public health concern, they know for sure that pharmacists have the capability to do these things safely. And because pharmacists are oftentimes more accessible, as in, it’s easier to walk into a pharmacist and get a shot, than to have to get an appointment and then show up.  

The average gallon of regular gas in Florida was up 6 cents from a week earlier, even with prices easing over the weekend as stations competed for business.

AAA put the average gallon at $4.34 on Monday, down from $4.42 on Friday, which was the highest for the state since May.

“Fortunately, oil prices moved lower last week,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a released statement. “That could ease some of the upward pressure on prices at the pump.”

Every part of Florida was over $4, with the low of $4.04 on Monday in Escambia County at the western end of the Panhandle. Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys, held the state high of $4.62 a gallon on Monday.

The state average is lower than the national mark of $4.48 on Monday.

“Typically, the start of autumn brings lower gas prices, but lingering volatility in the Strait of Hormuz and the high cost of crude oil are driving up pump prices,” AAA stated in a release.

AAA noted that the national average for September is set to surpass the prior September price high of $3.83 set in 2023.

Meanwhile, diesel vital to the state’s supply chain stood at $6.07 a gallon on Monday, down from $6.28 a week earlier and lower than the national average on Monday of $6.45.

Nearly 1.5 million vote-by-mail ballots have been sent to voters for the November General Election, according to figures posted Monday by the Division of Elections.

County supervisors of elections also reported Monday that more than 2,200 ballots have already been returned, mostly from voters in the military and overseas.

The early breakdown shows almost 660,000 ballots have gone out to registered Democrats, 485,000 to registered Republicans and 287,000 to those registered to a minor political party or no party affiliation.

Republicans, who currently have a 1.55 million advantage in registered voters over Democrats, typically make up the difference with in-person early voting.

In prior midterm elections, 7.8 million Floridians voted in 2022 and 8.3 million in 2018.

The last day to register to vote in the November 3 election is Oct. 5.

Florida’s education commissioner is directing school districts to set stricter rules for reviewing library and classroom books or face “corrective measures.”

In a seven-page memo sent Wednesday evening, Commissioner Henry Mack told superintendents and charter school leaders to continuously audit books, review their collections and remove instructional materials that contain sexually explicit material, even if a parent or county resident has not submitted a complaint in that district.

“Reactive review,” is insufficient, wrote.

“Make no mistake, the Department will hold districts, and the superintendents who lead them, accountable for failing to protect students from inappropriate content and material,” Mack added.

The Department of Education followed up with its own social media post: “SEXUALLY EXPLICIT and INAPPROPRIATE content has NO PLACE in Florida schools. Florida school districts will be held ACCOUNTABLE for failing to protect our children from this type of content. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”

Mack cited a recent school board meeting in Hillsborough County where parents spoke during public comment and recited passages from books in circulation they deemed inappropriate for students, including “Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out” by Susan Kuklin, “A Court of Wings and Ruin” by Sarah J. Maas, and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.

“A review that remains incomplete, or that leaves parents to locate the next title, does not meet the duty required of you by statute,” Mack wrote. “Parents should not be required to place this material on the public record for district leadership to examine what is already in circulation.”

Mack wants school districts to cross-check the DOE’s official list of removed books with their own list of instructional materials and library books for review. In his memo, Mack said if a book is included on that list and was removed in another county, a district that has the same book is “required” to review it.

“Several districts, including Clay, Escambia, and Nassau, have already removed or discontinued substantial numbers of titles following review. Delaying until a district becomes the subject of the next public controversy is not an acceptable approach,” Mack wrote. 

Current Florida law says a school district can review and remove a book after a complaint has been made that a book is pornographic, obscene or isn’t age appropriate. Books can also be removed as part of a regular selection process in which a media specialist can decide to remove them if they are outdated, rarely circulated or no longer relevant to the curriculum.

School librarians and media specialists are required to go through training to distinguish which books are age appropriate and to “err on the side of caution.” The training instructs librarians and media specialists that if they would not be comfortable reading the passage from the book in a public meeting, to “lean towards” not placing it in a school library. 

The law does not explicitly require district personnel to immediately remove the book or to double check the list of already removed books in other districts for preemptive review.

Mack outlined a nine-point plan for the next 90 days for school districts to follow to improve their removals of age-inappropriate books from school shelves.

If a district does not comply, it risks losing state funds, grants, Florida Lottery money or any other funds appropriated by the Legislature.

“A process that depends on a parent discovering explicit material, reading it in a public meeting, and then forcing a district response is not only severely flawed; it is administrative neglect masquerading as either ignorance or ineptitude,” he wrote. “Whatever it may be, it is unacceptable and must end.”

 Citizens Property Insurance President Timothy Cerio encouraged policyholders to “shop the market” if their renewal notice includes a sizeable increase.

Addressing the state-run company’s Board of Governors on Wednesday, Cerio also proclaimed that “the market is working” due to legislative changes in recent years allowing it to shed policies which are picked up by private carriers.

“I don’t think we’re going to grow because it is such a robust market,” Cerio said ahead of the board meeting in Lake Mary. “They will find a home in the private market, but they should shop it.”

Cerio said Citizens’ policy count was almost at 255,000 as of Sept. 18, with $70 billion in total insured value. Three years ago, Citizens’ potential exposure was at $552 billion.

Citizens posts on its website 266,231 policies in place as of August 31, less than half from a year ago and well below the 1.4 million policies handled in September 2023, when the agency accounted for 15 percent of all policies in the state.

Currently, Citizens makes up 1.8 percent of the market.

Board Chairman Carlos Beruff said Citizens exists to absorb policies from companies that fail, but “I don’t think Citizens should exist.”

“When I joined this board six years ago, the insurance policies that we were taking in were exploding,” Beruff said. “And that was a concern for me because I didn’t want to have to tax the citizens of Florida through their policies.”

Under state law, if Citizens’ sees its surplus wiped out by a hurricane or series of storms, it can place assessments on its policyholders and policyholders in the private sector to rebuild its capacity to pay claims.

With the reduction in policies, Citizens has also reduced its workforce from 1,300 workers in 2023 to just under 900.

A key part of the recent legislative changes targeted lawsuit costs incurred by insurers, which Cerio said “really exploded” after Hurricane Irma ran up the state in 2017.

Cerio said lawsuits involving Citizens claims have decreased by 55 percent since 2023 due to the legislation.

“This is why we were able to pass along a rate decreases to consumers, and the same is true for the private industry as well,” Cerio said.

Another part of the decline is due to depopulation efforts first employed after the policy count reached 1.48 million near the end of 2012.

The effort features a “clearinghouse” where homeowners are offered to a private firm when their coverage is within 15 percent of the offer by Citizens.

The state has also benefitted by the absence of hurricanes making landfall in 2025 and so far this year, which officials have said allows some softening in homeowners insurance prices and growth in new carriers.

State leaders have long sought to hold down the number of Citizens policies, at least in part because of financial risks if Florida gets hit by a major hurricane or multiple hurricanes. Citizens was created to provide a haven for homeowners who couldn’t find affordable coverage with a private carrier, but its policy counts have fluctuated significantly, depending on private market conditions.

Cerio said Citizens is projected to end the year with about 248,000 policies, with total exposure of around $77 billion.

“This is a historical low,” Cerio said. “But I will tell you that number may wind up being much lower depending on the success of (depopulation). It’s just that our data analytics team is not willing to go there just yet.”

A new law Gov. Ron DeSantis signed this year (SB 1028) establishes a new clearinghouse for commercial policies and allows surplus lines insurers that can display strong financial strength ratings to be considered for the policy takeouts.

Surplus lines insurers are companies not licensed in Florida but allowed to operate as an “eligible” insurer.

Separate from the Citizens meeting, Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky on Tuesday announced that since January 2024, 48 companies have filed for a rate decrease, and 53 companies have requested no change or increase.

“I expect to see more aggressive rate cuts in the near future and going into 2027,” Yaworsky said in the release. “OIR is receiving a flood of rate decrease requests ranging from -0.3 (percent) to -19.7 (percent).”

More than $7 million is being used to prevent the commercial or residential development of three working ranches and farmlands in Polk and Putnam counties.

The deals involve conservation easements, which the Rural and Family Land Protection Program uses to allow existing agricultural operations to continue in exchange for restricting future land development.

The largest parcel, the 916-acre G-3 Ranch Addition in Polk County, has a price of $6.45 million. The pasture and row crop land includes creeks that flow into the Peace River. Polk County is expected to cover about $500,000 of the deal.

Another $750,000 is directed at the 75-acre David & Elizabeth Hunt cow/calf ranch in Polk County. The land runs along a stream that links Gator Lake to Lake Pembroke. Polk County is expected to cover $250,000 of the deal’s cost.

The conservation easement deal in Putnam County involves the Young Family Farm, an 85-acre timber tract that touches the northeastern corner of Putnam Lakes Preserve. The department lists the deal at $160,000.

The department noted that each property is located within either the Florida Ecological Greenways Network or the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

 Among the new laws taking effect Oct. 1 are changes in how police identify criminal gang members, a new penalty for those who involve minors in animal fighting, and a clarification on license plate frame rules.

The final $1 increase in the state’s voter-approved minimum wage will also take effect Sept. 30, pushing it up to $15 per hour. It’s part of the 2020 constitutional amendment spearheaded by prominent Orlando lawyer John Morgan.

Under the amendment, the minimum wage went to $10 an hour on Sept. 30, 2021, and grew by $1 on Sept. 30 of each subsequent year. Any future increases will be based on inflation.

Tipped employees will also see their base wage increase from $10.98 to $11.98 per hour on Sept. 30.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, unchanged since July 2009. An employer of a tipped employee is required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages provided the tips equal the federal minimum wage.

The majority of legislation that successfully advanced out of the 2026 regular session and a series of special sessions became law July 1, the start of the current fiscal year, or upon the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis. But some laws and provisions don’t take effect until Oct. 1.

Among the changes in state law as of Oct. 1:

TRANSPORTATION

— The pre-sales process begins for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to offer specialty license plates involving: Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC); Miami Northwestern Alumni Association; Outsider; St. Petersburg College; and First Responders Resiliency. (SB 246)

— Clarifying a 2025 law regarding frames placed around a license plate, the 2026 legislation allows frames if they don’t cover the primary features of the plate — essentially the letters, numbers and registration sticker. (SB 488)

FELONY REGISTRY

— A “career offender” registration is to be created similar to the sexual offender registry. The new law requires habitual violent felony offenders, violent career criminals, and three-time violent felony offenders to annually provide their address, phone number, employment, vehicles, professional licenses and immigration status to the local sheriff. Those individuals must also report changes of address, phone numbers and employment within 48 hours and have the marking “775.261,” signifying “career offender,” on their driver license or state identification card. (SB 1332)

LEWD BEHAVIOR

— Observing a child under 16 for sexual gratification, while intentionally exposing sexual organs in a lewd manner, regardless of the minor being aware of being observed, becomes a third-degree felony. (HB 1525)

ANIMAL CRUELTY

— Penalties are increased for animal cruelty, with a new third-degree felony offense for adults who involve minors in animal fighting, baiting or in sexual offenses. Children charged would have to undergo psychological evaluations and, if recommended, treatment. (HB 559)

COURT ORDERS

— Willfully violating a “no contact” court order carries new penalties, with law enforcement authorized to make a warrantless arrest when the officer has cause to believe the order was violated. (HB 397)

GANGS

— Makes it easier to categorize a person as a criminal gang member, from allowing a spouse to make the identification to accepting online admissions of gang membership and reducing the number of times a person must be seen in the company of gang members from four to two. The bill also defines the term “gang-related language” to mean any verbal or written statement that signals gang affiliation, supports gang activity, or uses recognized gang codes, symbols, or terminology associated with criminal organization. (HB 429)

DRUGS

— The manufacture, selling or even delivery of xylazine outside its allowed use as animal drug products for veterinary purposes becomes a first-degree felony. Also, selling or possessing nitrous oxide, unless for approved uses at grocery stores, becomes a third-degree felony. (HB 432)

TRASH

— Requires Broward County to conduct a feasibility study and hold a public hearing before advancing plans to expand the “Monarch Hill Landfill.” (HB 4039)

WATER MANAGEMENT

— The Fellsmere Water Control District is reduced in size from 34,441 acres to 14,090 acres and moved from an independent special district in Indian River County to a dependent district of the county. (HB 4093)

Gov. Ron DeSantis eventually got the Legislature to put his property tax cut measure on the ballot, but he’s not on board with a different amendment backed by GOP leaders in his party.

DeSantis on Monday evening came out against Amendment 1, which would increase the amount of money lawmakers can put into a key reserve fund. It increases the cap on the balance of the budget stabilization fund from 10 percent of the previous year’s general fund revenue to 25 percent.

“This is a foolish constitutional amendment proposal. We already have a maxed out rainy day fund and have run the largest surpluses in state history,” DeSantis posted on X. “Any additional revenue should be used for lower taxes, including assisting local governments with grants so that homestead properties can be exempt from local property tax. Surplus revenue could also be used to remove tolls once the property tax issue is settled. I recommend a NO vote.”

DeSantis was responding to a post by the Republican Party of Florida supporting the measure.

“The Florida GOP has officially endorsed Amendment 1,” RPOF’s official X account stated. “This amendment will help strengthen Florida’s rainy day fund so the state can handle storms, downturns, and other emergencies without raising taxes or raiding the budget.”

The measure also directs the Legislature to put up to $750 million into the fund each year until the 25 percent figure is reached, except in years where the reserve fund is used to help recover from a hurricane or other natural disaster or patch over a projected shortfall.

The last time the reserve fund was used was in 2008, in the middle of the Great Recession as the state faced a multi-billion dollar shortfall.

Lawmakers approved the measure (HJR 5019) in 2025, voting 100-1 in the House and 29-4 in the Senate to put it on the ballot.

Legislative leaders backed the proposal as a hedge against a severe downturn in the economy that leaves the state unable to cover critical needs without raising taxes or fees.

“This is just a preparation of being prepared for the unexpected, and none of us know what the unexpected is, but we have a sample to look at in the 2000s when we had a recession,” then-House Speaker Daniel Perez told reporters in June 2025 when the measure was moving through the Legislature. “The state of Florida was not prepared for that recession.”

Amendment 1 needs 60 percent of the vote to become law.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 5,365 initial unemployment claims were filed in Florida last week, down from a revised count of 5,458 the week ending Aug. 29, but up from the 5,205 posted for the week ending Aug. 22.

The numbers remain just below the year’s average, now at 5,922 a week.

On Wednesday, the National Federation of Independent Businesses reported its Small Business Optimism Index and Uncertainty Index both declined from July to August.

“Florida’s small business owners continue to report concerns about rising business costs and fewer sales, which has led to a dip in optimism,” NFIB Florida Executive Director Bill Herrle said in a released statement. “Hiring on Main Street has also slowed as owners report labor quality or availability as a top challenge.”

Despite the recent dips, the NFIB indexes both remain above their historic averages.

Nationally, the Department of Labor estimated 206,000 claims were filed last week, a decrease of 1,000 from the prior week’s revised level.

The national unemployment rate stands at 4.1 percent.

Florida’s unemployment rate stands at 4.6 percent, representing an estimated 515,000 Floridians qualified as out-of-work from a labor force of 11.1 million in July.

The Florida Realtors trade group is getting behind Amendment 3, the major property tax cut on the November ballot, putting $10 million to support the measure.

“Affordability is on the forefront for every Floridian, and they need meaningful relief,” said Chuck Bonfiglio Jr., president of Florida Realtors, said in a released statement. “We’ve spent years working to help people buy homes. But buying the home is only half the challenge. We also need to make sure families can afford to keep the homes they worked so hard to purchase.”

The group put $10 million into the political committee Yes On 3 last week, campaign finance records show.

The amendment was placed on the ballot by the Legislature in a special session earlier this year, but Gov. Ron DeSantis spearheaded the push to offer a large property tax break to homeowners. He toured the state frequently for more than a year, decrying the concept of property taxes as “paying rent to the government” and admonishing cities and counties for taking in more than $20 billion more in revenues than they did six years earlier.

But the GOP-led Legislature tweaked his proposal before passing it, exempting the portion of the property tax bill that pays for K-12 schools from the large increase in the homestead exemption. DeSantis initially said he would vote for the measure but wouldn’t form a political committee and put his own sizeable campaign funds into supporting the proposal on the airwaves.

The move by the Realtors means Amendment 3 will get considerable backing, amid an heavy pushback from a variety of groups opposed to the measure. Many local government officials, especially from rural areas and small towns, have spoken out against the amendment, saying it would undercut their ability to provide basic services.

“It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that real estate agents are spending millions in support of Amendment 3,” Edie Ousley, spokeswoman for the Vote No on 3 campaign, said in a released statement. “Their commission-driven business model involves one thing and one thing only: having more real estate transactions at higher prices.”

The Vote No on 3 group was founded by Chairman Bryan Desloge, a former Leon County Commissioner. Its political committee has raised nearly $150,000, including $100,000 from the Florida Association of Special Districts, which represents the 1,900 local taxing districts in the state funding fire control, mosquito control, hospitals and community development.

Amendment 3 would increase the homestead property tax exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027, and it would rise to $250,000 in 2028. The 10 percent cap on annual assessment increases for non-homestead properties would be lowered to 5 percent.

It needs 60 percent support from voters to pass into law.

“Floridians need a change,” Bonfiglio said. “This is an opportunity to provide meaningful relief now, while continuing the broader conversation around property taxes.”

Gas prices in Florida continue to near the $4 mark, while diesel in the state has returned to figures posted during the early stages of the ongoing conflict with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.

Coming out of the Labor Day weekend, AAA reported the state’s average gas price at $3.90 on Tuesday, down 5 cents from the previous week. Prices have remained just under the $4 mark for more than a month.

“This is the time of year that most Americans see gas prices going down as demand falls and we soon change to winter gasoline, but as of late, we’ve been seeing a lot more ups — especially for diesel — the fuel that drives the U.S. economy and that may continue,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, posted on X.

Geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions, driving volatility in global energy markets, have pushed the cost of diesel nationally to an all-time high of $5.90 a gallon on Tuesday, while the nationwide average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gas was $4.15.

A year earlier, diesel gas in Florida averaged $3.63 a gallon and $3.70 nationally, while regular unleaded gas in Florida averaged $3.08 a gallon and $3.19 nationally.

Across the state, regular unleaded gas prices ranged on average from $3.85 in Jackson County west of Tallahassee, Pinellas County and Lake County north of Orlando, to $4.18 in Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys.

For motorists with electric vehicles, the average kilowatt hour cost at charging stations in Florida on Sunday rounded up to 41 cents, a rate mostly unchanged since early March.