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.

Citrus land keeps vanishing from Florida’s landscape, down nearly 21 percent over the past year, according to a federal report.

As the 2026-2027 growing season gets underway, there are 165,359 acres across 23 Florida counties in use for producing oranges, grapefruit and specialty fruits, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s preliminary Commercial Citrus Inventory report states.

That’s down 65 percent from the 480,121 acres growers were working with in 2016 and down 73 percent from the 621,373 acres the industry used in 2006.

“Polk County lost the most acreage, down 10,944 acres from the previous season,” the report states. “Polk County, however, still leads in citrus acreage with 37,529 total acres, followed by Highlands County at 34,671 total acres.”

Two decades ago, when the report looked at citrus production in nearly 30 counties, Polk County used more than 86,000 acres to grow the state’s signature crop and other citrus varieties. Highlands County at the time was third with nearly 63,000 acres behind Hendry County’s almost 80,000 acres of citrus fields. With a little more than 9,000 acres dedicated to citrus, Hendry is now sixth in terms of acres by county.

While the industry produced a slight increase in its overall 2025-2026 harvest from the prior season, individual growers have been weighed down over the past two decades by hurricanes, winter freezes, changing drinking habits, a citrus greening disease and development pressures.

As an example, large landowner Alico, Inc. has decided to end its citrus operations in Southwest Florida and focus on more profitable uses of its land.

“As part of the Company’s strategic transformation, the Company has made the decision to wind down its citrus operations and focus on land sales, land leasing, and land development activities,” Alico President and Chief Executive Officer John Kiernan advised in its quarterly financial report released Aug. 10.  

Alico announced in January 2025 it would not spend additional money on citrus operations after the 2024-2025 crop was harvested, with another 3,460 acres of its citrus land managed by other operators through 2026.

Statewide, orange production is now at 143,650 acres, with grapefruit at nearly 11,500 acres and specialty fruits using just over 10,000 acres.

Last year, growers had 183,860 acres and produced enough oranges to fill 12.95 million industry-standard 90-pound boxes, 1.35 million boxes of grapefruit, 460,000 boxes of tangerines and tangelos and 900,000 boxes of lemons, according to revised numbers posted by the USDA on Aug. 27.

Twenty years earlier, with growers rebounding from several severe hurricanes, the 2005-2026 harvest produced 147.9 million boxes of oranges, 19.3 million boxes of grapefruit and 7.6 million boxes of specialty fruits.

State officials say they haven’t given up on the industry.

The budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, included $160 million for citrus research and field trials, $20 million for citrus nursery and packing equipment grants and $15 million for marketing efforts by the Department of Citrus.

The prior year budget included $124.5 million for the citrus industry. That includes $100 million for new disease-resistant trees, grove management, therapeutic tools and rehabilitating existing trees.

When the budget was approved by the Legislature on May 29, Senate President Ben Albritton, a citrus grower from Wauchula, reiterated that “Florida citrus is not going down on my watch.”

“Florida citrus is making a comeback, one tree at a time,” Albritton stated. “This heritage industry is not only vital to our state’s economy, but it is truly a part of our DNA.”

Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Sanford Republican and chairman of the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government, declared at the same time that previous investments in research have already yielded significant results.

“Growers today have a better understanding of how to fight greening, bringing hope to the entire industry,” Brodeur said. “We will leave no stone unturned. With the information gathered from the field trials made possible by this funding, growers will have better outcomes, and we can save Florida’s signature crop.”

The first federal forecast for the 2026-2027 season will be made in October after inspectors check the fields.

Florida legislators will gather one last time ahead of the November elections to go over the state’s financial outlook and sign off on budget amendments that would direct more money into the state’s immigration enforcement activities.

The Legislative Budget Commission — which meets Friday — is a combined House and Senate committee that meets periodically and has the power to sign off on mid-year adjustments to the state budget.

Another big job for the commission is its annual September vote on the Long Term Financial Outlook, a snapshot of the state’s budget situation for the next three years. The outlook, required by the state Constitution, is meant to put legislators and other state officials on notice about whether a budget surplus or deficit looms.

Talk about potential deficits outlined in past outlooks have prompted debates among House and Senate leaders over whether adjustments or budget cuts are needed. House Republicans in the past two years have pointed to the outlook as the reason to hold firm on tamping down spending.

The outlook is drawn up after economists and legislative staff spend their summer on new forecasts for how much tax money will come into the state’s accounts as well as estimates for spending on education, the environment, and healthcare.

The preliminary outlook projects that the Florida Legislature, and whoever is elected governor to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, will have an estimated budget surplus of $7.1 billion to work with for the 2027-28 fiscal year that will start next July.

That surplus, however, will drop to nearly $3.4 billion in the 2028-29 fiscal year and then slide into a projected deficit of $1.02 billion in the 2029-30 fiscal year.

The report notes that “strategic” legislative actions earlier this year have helped.

“Reduced spending levels combined with a modest level of revenue adjustments for Fiscal Year 2026-27 had ripple effects throughout the Outlook that led to the improved ending balances,” the outlook states.

The outlook outlines 15 critical needs and 28 high-priority needs that will drive expenditures over the next three years, including money for Medicaid, the state and federal funded health care safety net program, and a projected deficit in the state employee health insurance program. The State Group Health Insurance program deficit could grow to nearly $1.8 billion by the end of the 2029-30 fiscal year.

When it comes to expenses, the outlook uses a three-year average of spending, which means the final numbers could shift depending on what the Legislature does. 

For example, the outlook points out that over the past three years, the Legislature has transferred $1.6 billion into the Emergency Preparedness and Response Trust Fund to pay for costs associated with natural disasters as well as Florida’s efforts to combat undocumented immigration.

Although Gov. Ron DeSantis maintains the state will eventually be reimbursed by the federal government, the fund paid the expenses associated with Alligator Alcatraz, the detention center created in the Everglades that was shut down a year later.

At the same commission meeting, legislators are being asked to shift an additional $240 million from general revenue into this trust fund. The Florida Division of Emergency Management says it needs more money to pay “outstanding obligations.”

A second budget amendment would give DEM authority to spend $250 million to process payments, including nearly $188 million in the “illegal migration appropriation category.”

Florida’s State University System Board of Governors voted unanimously Thursday to ban undocumented students from attending the state’s 12 public universities.

According to the approved rule, any person “who is present in the United States unlawfully” will not be eligible for enrollment beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year.

The move is the latest in a series of illegal immigration-related rules created by the two policymaking bodies that control the state’s public higher education institutions – the BOG and the Florida Board of Education.

After the vote, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins said the rule was “common sense,” in a social media post on X.

“Florida’s public universities are for students who are here legally. Period,” said Collins, a former state senator whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed as lieutenant governor in August 2025. “Florida taxpayers should not be expected to subsidize opportunities for people who broke our laws to come here.”

Republican lawmakers have attempted several times to restrict the ability of undocumented immigrants from enrolling in higher education institutions in Florida. During the 2026 regular session, legislators filed bills to prohibit all higher education institutions from admitting any non-citizen who wasn’t legally present in the country and to limit the number of enrolled students who are citizens of foreign countries and who are not permanent U.S. residents.

But the measures barely moved through the process and died in committee.

Since then, the State University System and the Florida Board of Education have created their own policies to restrict the admission of undocumented students

The State University System’s decision on Thursday closely followed the Florida Board of Education’s move in June to bar undocumented students from the state’s 24 public colleges and General Educational Development (GED) programs.

Most recently, Education Commissioner Henry Mack approved a rule that would block undocumented students from attending the state’s postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) programs.

The programs train students in a wide variety of career fields and industries, including for entry level and management positions in agriculture, health care, energy, transportation, tourism and construction.

That rule will be discussed at a Board of Education meeting on Sept. 16 at Polk State College.

The State University System does not currently keep track of students who are not lawfully present in the U.S.

In 2025 DeSantis pushed lawmakers to repeal a 2014 law offering qualified undocumented immigrants entering universities in-state tuition rates. The 2014 law had been sponsored by DeSantis’ first lieutenant governor, Jeanette Nuñez, when she was a state House member. 

Two Florida Democrats who are fighting for their political lives after seeing their congressional seats redistricted voted Tuesday for a resolution denouncing “socialism in all of its forms.”

Kathy Castor and Darren Soto joined six other Democrats in supporting the congressional resolution. The final vote was 220-192, with two Democrats voting present.

The resolution “denounces socialism in all of its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America.”

Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates have seen success in high-profile primary races across the country this summer, including in Florida, where Jacksonville state Rep. Angie Nixon defeated the vastly better-funded Alex Vindman in the primary for U.S. Senate last month.

Colorado Republican Rep. Jeff Crank, who sponsored the resolution, said last week that it was a “simple up or down vote” on the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Castor has represented a district in the Tampa Bay area for 20 years, but her re-election hopes are in question after her district was redistricted to one that Donald Trump won by more than 10 points in 2024. Soto’s Central Florida district was completely wiped out, and he now is running in an area that supported Trump by more than 18 points in 2024.

Florida Republicans have seized on the momentum of the DSA nationally this summer to paint Florida Democrats as socialists, and they received a gift of sorts when Nixon defeated Vindman.

“The DSA has infiltrated the Democratic Party at all levels of government and has never been more apparent than here in the state of Florida with the election of Angie Nixon for U.S. Senate,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said Tuesday during a Republican Party of Florida event in Tampa. “It has never been more apparent that the Democratic Party of Florida is the DSA.”

Most Democrats opposed the resolution because it included language urging passage of the SAVE America Act.

“House Resolution 1490 explicitly calls for enactment of the so-called SAVE America Act, which is the top legislative priority of far-right extremists. Accordingly, I will vote No on the latest MAGA effort to rig the midterm elections,” House Democratic Leader Hakeen Jeffries said.

The Florida Department of Education has started the process to block private schools from receiving Family Empowerment Scholarship funds if they employ, affiliate with or are controlled by a domestic or foreign terrorist organization.

The department started its rulemaking process to comply with HB 1471, passed earlier this year in support of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order classifying the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations.

CAIR is suing the state over the law, claiming it violates the group’s First Amendment rights.

The new law also prohibits public universities and colleges from spending state or federal funds to support programs or campus activities that promote a designated terrorist organization.

The bill was approved in the Republican-controlled Legislature by votes of 80-25 in the House and 25-11 in the Senate.

Gas prices in Florida continued to cycle, bumping up towards the $4 mark midweek before easing over the weekend.

The weekly trend put a gallon of gas at $3.88 on Monday, 3 cents higher than a week earlier, but 7 cents lower than on Thursday.

“Drivers have seen gas prices move up and down throughout the summer, but the overall trend has been relatively stable,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins stated on Monday. “Florida’s state average has remained near $3.92 per gallon for the past month and a half, which means motorists are approaching Labor Day with fuel costs that are generally in line with what they’ve been paying all summer.”

Across the state, averages on Monday ranged from $3.68 a gallon in Escambia and Bay counties on the Panhandle to $4.16 a gallon across the Florida Keys in Monroe County.

Diesel in Florida stood at $5.42 on Monday, a 5-cent reduction from the prior week but 3 cents higher than a month earlier. A year ago, diesel in Florida averaged $3.61 a gallon.

Nationally, diesel averaged $5.60 a gallon on Monday, $1.90 more than a year ago.

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

Democrats on Thursday called for more investigations and resignations of top state officials after a leaked state grand jury report found Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” Medicaid money in 2024 that ended up in political committees.

But since the grand jury also didn’t find enough probable cause to pursue criminal charges against anyone, DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier and U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Tampa, responded to the grand jury findings as a “misrepresentation” of facts, a “hoax” and an effort to “smear people.” 

“As we’ve said from the beginning, this has been a politically motivated witch hunt driven by the Democrats and a far-left Democrat state attorney in Tallahassee,” Uthmeier said during an event in The Villages.

The report, though, shows it was “allegations of fraud and abuse” made by Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican who led the House probe in the matter in 2025, that led to the grand jury proceedings.

On Wednesday, CBS Miami obtained and published the Leon County grand jury report that found $10 million from a total $67 million settlement in 2024 between Florida and Centene Corp., a vendor for the state’s Medicaid program, was sent to the Hope Florida Foundation, the charity arm of an initiative helmed by First Lady Casey DeSantis. The money was then split equally between two nonprofit groups — Secure Florida’s Future and Save Our Society From Drugs.

Days later $8.5 million was given from the two groups to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee staffed by Uthmeier, who was DeSantis’ chief of staff at the time. 

Then Keep Florida Clean sent $9 million to the Republican Party of Florida and another $1.23 million to the Florida Freedom Fund, another political committee chaired by Uthmeier.

The committee was dedicated to opposing two measures on the November 2024 ballot. One would’ve installed a right to an abortion in the state constitution, the other would’ve legalized recreational marijuana. Both measures failed to get the 60 percent support required to pass.

David Jolly, a former Republican U.S. representative who is now the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said if elected he’d support renewing the investigation.

“It’s a highly orchestrated scheme to launder Medicaid money from childrens’ health services into the First Lady’s charity, to be passed through to political committees for the governor. It is clear it’s a violation of the law,” Jolly said in an online call with reporters on Thursday.

The Florida Senate Democratic Caucus issued a statement Thursday calling for the resignations of Uthmeier and Moody. The Democrats pointed to the grand jury report finding Uthmeier “was in a position of authority over those involved in settling with Centene” and Moody, then Florida’s Attorney General, authorized her deputy to sign the settlement agreement.

“The grand jury report in the Hope Florida case is truly damning. $10 million in Medicaid settlement money — money that the grand jury found was ‘compensation for ripping off sick poor children’ — was knowingly and willingly misappropriated in a sophisticated scheme that the grand jury found was motivated by partisan political purposes,” all 12 state Senate Democrats said in a joint statement.

In a statement posted on X, Moody disputed the characterizations of the attorney general’s office.

She noted the settlement was negotiated by the Agency for Health Care Administration, the state department in charge of the Medicaid program; that her office was “one of multiple agencies that signed the final agreement;” and that her office “had no knowledge of how funds would be spent” by the Hope Florida Foundation.

“Attempts to characterize this any other way are disingenuous,” Moody stated.

Uthmeier during his stop in The Villages responded when the report was brought up that “nobody did anything wrong here” and “there was not even probable cause to move forward.”

“This is a hoax, and all it did was show that the Democrats can’t win on policy and they can’t win on the law,” Uthmeier said. 

Uthmeier added that he couldn’t comment further as grand jury proceedings are confidential.

DeSantis, during an event in Lake City on Thursday, said “the only crime that was apparent was with whoever leaked the grand jury report.”

“The settlement that AHCA did was legally sound,” DeSantis added. “It was appropriate, and it advanced the interests of the state.”

DeSantis appointed Moody, twice elected Florida’s attorney general, to the U.S. Senate in January 2025 after Marco Rubio was appointed U.S. Secretary of State. Uthmeier was appointed as Moody’s replacement by DeSantis in February 2025.

Both Uthmeier and Moody are up for election in November.

Byron Donalds’ selection of state Sen. Bryan Avila as his running mate was received with strong enthusiasm by the Florida Republican establishment, but one group expressed concern.

That would be the group Florida Gun Rights, which noted that while serving in the Florida House in 2018, Avila voted for gun-safety legislation following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that killed 17 people.

The measure raised the minimum age to buy a rifle or long gun from 18 to 21; banned bump stocks; required a three-day waiting period for gun purchases; and created risk protection orders that allow a judge to temporarily block a person from buying or possessing firearms and ammunition if they pose a significant danger to themselves or others.

Donalds himself has touted his Second Amendment bona fides on the campaign trail and boasts about his vote to oppose the 2018 gunsafety law. The measure was pushed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott and passed just weeks after the school shooting with a mixture of Republican and Democratic votes. The House vote was 67-50.

Of the 76 House Republicans who voted, 57 favored the bill and 19 were opposed. Among the Democrats, 10 voted yes and 31 no. The Democratic House Caucus took a position against the measure because it also allowed for armed educational personnel in schools.

“Very concerning Bryan Avila voted for the largest piece of gun control in Florida history when he was in the state house,” Florida Gun Rights posted on X. “We need to repeal the Parkland gun control not promote its supporters.”

However, another Second Amendment organization says it isn’t bothered by Avila’s vote, because they say that the man at the top of the ticket has vowed to repeal the Parkland measure if elected governor in November.

“Bryan Avila voted for Parkland, but the Governor sets policy, not the Lieutenant Governor,” said Luis Valdes, Florida director of Gun Owners of America, in a text message.

“With Donalds, CFO Blaise Ingoglia, and AG James Uthmeier all opposed to Parkland gun control, three of Florida’s four statewide officers are now aligned against it. GOA expect Donalds to keep his word and repeal Parkland.”

The Phoenix reached out to the Donalds campaign to confirm whether he wants to repeal the Parkland law, but received no immediate response.

Avila did support legislation (HB 543) in 2023 that allow residents to legally carry concealed weapons without having to obtain a permit through the state, a measure supporters called “permitless carry.”

The consensus otherwise from Florida Republicans is that Avila is solid.

“Byron Donalds made a great choice in Bryan Avila,” Ingoglia said in a written statement. “Together, they have the experience, energy, and vision to keep Florida moving in the right direction. I look forward to supporting them and helping deliver a victory for Republicans this November.”

“Congressman @ByronDonalds, you made an incredible choice in @BryanAvilaFL as your running mate,” Florida Senate President Ben Albritton said on X. “He’s a trusted Senator, a great Floridian and an exceptional human being!”

“Senator Avila is a good dude,” declared Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “I’ve always appreciated his service in the National Guard.”

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor, tapped state Sen. Bryan Avila of Miami as his running mate, who would become lieutenant governor if they win the general election in November.

Avila, 42, was elected to the House in 2014 and served eight years there before moving to the Senate in 2022. He was born in Hialeah and went to the University of Miami and later received masters degrees in criminal justice and public administration from Florida International University.

Donalds highlighted Avila’s background as the son of immigrants from Cuba who fled the communist government, and compared it with his Democratic opponent, former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, who will share a ticket with U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Angie Nixon a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Jolly picked former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham as his running mate, and both have rejected the “socialist” label but Donalds and Republicans are connecting them to Nixon and the broader push from socialists around the country that has seen DSA-backed candidates win Democratic primaries in Michigan and New York.

“David Jolly and Gwen Graham answer to the Democratic Socialists of America; we answer to the people of Florida,” Donalds said at an event in the Freedom Tower in Miami, a building honored by Cuban immigrants for its role in processing refugees. “In this critical fight I wanted a proven warrior to fight beside me.”

Avila is also a captain in the Florida National Guard and serves as dean of the School of Criminal Justice at Doral College, a private school that opened in 2012. As of the fall of 2024 it had 559 students.

“My parents fled communist Cuba and left behind their home and their business because they knew what happens when government takes over, when freedom despairs and when socialism turns an opportunity into misery,” Avila said.

Donalds and Avila also emphasized his record in the Legislature, including sponsoring a bill this year (SB 484) to put some restrictions on large data centers.

The new law, pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, requires technology companies building the behemoths that use more energy than typical centers and are central to the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry to pay for their share of the energy consumption rather than spreading it out among ratepayers.

During the GOP primary, Donalds was hit by his opponents for taking money from tech companies and largely favoring the construction of data centers.

Avila stressed the importance of driving down prices and especially the cost of owning a home for young Floridians, whom he addressed directly in his speech.

“I know you’re concerned about when you’ll be able to purchase your first home,” Avila said. “We hear you and we will fight for you.”

Concerns about the cost of living have heightened, though, among voters, as the Iran war drags on, gas prices remain high, inflation still elevates grocery prices and housing and insurance costs remain exorbitant in Florida.

In reaction, Jolly hinted he’ll highlight Donalds’ connection with President Donald Trump during the next 70 days before the general election Nov. 3.

“I congratulate former State Sen. Bryan Avila on his selection as the Republican Lieutenant Governor nominee. I wish him well,” Jolly posted on X. “But, let’s be honest: this race won’t come down to Byron Donalds’ relationship with Avila, it will come down to Byron’s relationship with Donald Trump.”

Florida’s cattle ranchers are criticizing President Donald Trump’s move to import 300,000 tons of tariff-free beef to lower prices for consumers.

Blaming President Joe Biden for increased prices, Trump announced the deal on social media on Friday, saying it would drop the cost of beef to 25 percent below current market prices.

“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

But Florida’s cattle ranchers, and ranchers across the country, are “disappointed,” said Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

The Florida Cattlemen’s Association agrees.

“Artificially interfering with the cattle market is not sound policy — especially when producers continue to face record-high prices for many of the inputs required to raise cattle,” said the group’s president, John Williamson. “Strong markets are encouraging cattlemen to rebuild their herds, and government intervention that disrupts those market signals threatens both producer confidence and the long-term stability of America’s beef supply.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, beef and veal prices are expected to increase 10.7 percent this year. This past April, the average retail price for beef set a record high at $9.64 per pound, up about 13 percent from 2025.

Excessive drought across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic and increased operating costs have dwindled the U.S. cattle herd to a 75-year low after pushing farmers to liquidate their herds, according to the Federal Farm Bureau Federation.

In Florida this year, the state battled the harshest drought in decades, with approximately 80 percent of the state facing extreme conditions in April, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Florida currently ranks ninth in the country for beef production, according to the Annual Florida Cattle Market Report. In January of this year, the average price for a calf in Florida was 59 percent higher compared to last year and 76 percent higher than in 2024.

When asked for comment, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who is running for a second term and has been endorsed by Trump, said the best response is to promote the Fresh From Florida program, which markets Sunshine State produce.

“Our brand awareness and sales are as high as they’ve ever been,” Simpson said. “We know how important our Florida farmers and cattlemen are; we will continue to do all we can to help them. I encourage everyone to buy local Fresh From Florida products to support our farmers.”

The state of Florida wants to remove four immunizations from entry requirements for PreK-12 public and private schools.

The Florida Department of Health is proposing a rule to remove Hepatitis B, varicella (chicken pox), Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines for public school attendance, a move that has been in play for almost a year after Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced his intent to get rid of all vaccine mandates in the state.

The rule, which was approved by Ladapo on Aug. 20, has a 21-day period for public input before final approval. DOH did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The proposed rule also expands religious vaccine exemptions to include moral and ethical beliefs and lets parents and college students opt out of having their records included in the state vaccine database.

Florida currently allows religious exemptions “if immunizations are in conflict with the religious tenets and practices of the child’s parent or guardian,” according to DOH.

Without an exemption, Florida law requires students to receive vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), polio, diphtheria, rubeola and tetanus to attend K-12 public schools. But the immunizations considered for repeal by DOH are only an agency rule, not in state law, and can be repealed by the agency itself.

Last September, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ladapo called on the Legislature to roll back all vaccine mandates in the state. 

“Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” Ladapo said in Valrico, Hillsborough County, at the time.

“Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body? I don’t have that right. Your body is a gift from God,” he added.

In response, American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Susan Kressly said the move will put children at risk of getting sick.

“The AAP believes every family should have access to immunizations to keep their community healthy,” Kressly said in a released statement. “Schools are an important part of that community. For many kids, the best part of school is being with friends — sharing space, playing on the playground and trading germs. Close contact makes it easy for contagious diseases to spread quickly.”

Even though the move to repeal all vaccine mandates was supported by DeSantis, First Lady Casey DeSantis and then-Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, no legislator filed a bill in any of the multiple legislative sessions in 2026 to remove those requirements from Florida law.

Multiple attempts at a “Medical Freedom” bill that would have expanded vaccine exemptions and mandated doctors to provide an alternate vaccine schedule passed the state Senate but failed to pass the state House.

In December 2025, DOH held an open meeting in Panama City to discuss changing the vaccination requirements for public schools, which Emma Spencer, a director within DOH, said was “grounded in policy based on considerations that favor parental rights and medical freedom.”

Parents’ rights advocates praised the state and also repeated false claims, such as vaccines cause autism, while doctors from around the state pleaded with DOH to reconsider and said it would turn back the clock on medical advancements.

Eehab Kenawy, a Panama City pediatrician, said religious exemptions already exist to allow parents and guardians to opt out of vaccinations for their children.

“You’re not forced. But sending a message to the general public that vaccines are not important, vaccines are not needed, is not the way to do it,” Kenawy said.