Florida House Offers Menu of Property Tax Cuts

Florida House Offers Menu of Property Tax Cuts

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — The Florida House recently rolled out a series of proposed constitutional amendments to cut property taxes, while looking to shield funding for schools and law enforcement. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, outlined the menu of proposals, which came as Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a […]

Florida Republican Re-Files Bill Requiring E-Verify for All Employers

Florida Republican Re-Files Bill Requiring E-Verify for All Employers

By Livia Caputo, Florida Phoenix A Florida Republican on Thursday re-filed a bill from last year requiring all private employers to use a federal database verifying whether new hires are legally in the country. Rep. Berny Jacques, a Seminole Republican, issued HB 197 to mandate all private businesses use E-Verify, a federally operated system allowing employers to […]

The Tallahassee Reports Daily Briefs: Thursday, October 16, 2025

The Tallahassee Reports Daily Briefs: Thursday, October 16, 2025

LOCAL NEWS According to filings with Leon County and the City of Tallahassee, the number of single-family new construction permits were down 6.1% in September 2025 Lively Technical College, in partnership with Leon County Schools, recently announced the opening of a new state-of-the-art welding facility at Chiles High School, made possible through a $631,000 grant […]

Corrections Seeks $500+ Million to Maintain Operations

Corrections Seeks $500+ Million to Maintain Operations

By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Sounding as desperate as he ever has since being appointed four years ago, Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) Secretary Ricky Dixon asked a panel of state lawmakers Wednesday for more than $512 million for next fiscal year to maintain the prison system. “It is a staggering amount of money that […]

Report: Second Quarter Florida GDP Up 3.3%, Personal Income Up 6.7%

Report: Second Quarter Florida GDP Up 3.3%, Personal Income Up 6.7%

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released new quarterly statistics on gross domestic product and personal income for all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the second quarter of 2025 (April, May, and June). The Florida GDP was up 3.3%, ranking 30th while the Florida personal income was up 6.7%, ranking 11th. […]

Single-Family Construction Permits Trending Down

Single-Family Construction Permits Trending Down

According to filings with Leon County and the City of Tallahassee, the number of single-family new construction permits were down 6.1% in September 2025 when compared to September 2024. Permit values were down 9.2%. There were 31 permits issued in September 2025, down 2 permits from the 33 issued one year ago. There were 39 permits issued […]

The Tallahassee Reports Daily Briefs: Wednesday, October 15, 2025

The Tallahassee Reports Daily Briefs: Wednesday, October 15, 2025

LOCAL NEWS Following an opinion article by Leon County School Board Alva Smith, addressing operational efficiencies, Superintendent Rocky Hanna, during Tuesday’s school board meeting, pledged to conduct an operational review of school finances before the end of the year. An estimated 1,000 attendees showed up for Tallahassee’s Longest Table event the evening of Sunday, Oct. […]

Superintendent Hanna Commits to Evaluating LCS Operations

Superintendent Hanna Commits to Evaluating LCS Operations

Following an opinion article by Leon County School Board Alva Smith addressing operational efficiencies, Superintendent Rocky Hanna, during Tuesday’s school board meeting, pledged to conduct an operational review of school finances before the end of the year. Smith has argued for almost a year that the operation of low-capacity schools was hurting LCS finances. In […]

Boyd Backed to Become Senate President

Boyd Backed to Become Senate President

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Jim Boyd, a veteran lawmaker who heads an insurance and investment firm in Bradenton, was formally selected Tuesday by Senate Republicans to become the next Senate president. Boyd, who is the Senate majority leader, will succeed President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, after the November 2026 elections. […]

Citizens Policy Count Virtually Unchanged

Citizens Policy Count Virtually Unchanged

By The News Service of Florida With Citizens Property Insurance Corp. leaders expecting tens of thousands of policies to move to the private market later this year, the state insurer’s policy count remained almost unchanged last week. Citizens had 769,059 policies as of Friday, compared to 769,017 policies a week earlier and 769,294 policies two […]