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Capital Report

Capital Report: April 30, 2025

Published April 30, 2025 at 5:47 PM EDT

The Florida Senate has unanimously passed a bill that eases the financial strain on
condominium owners who have struggled after lawmakers imposed safety legislation in the wake of the 2021 tragedy at Champlain Towers South in Surfside. Margie Menzel reports.

The Florida House and Senate are going back and forth on a policy to place more
restrictions and protections on the state’s ballot initiative process. Tristan Wood reports opponents are concerned the proposal will make it significantly harder for citizens to change Florida’s constitution.

FSU food service contract worker Tiru Chabba was one of the two people killed during
the on-campus shooting April 17. Now attorneys for his family are demanding more
information about the case and the suspect arrested in connection with it.

A bill to ban adding fluoride to public water systems is heading to Governor Ron
DeSantis' desk. WUSF's Douglas Soule reports Florida lawmakers approved it this
week.

Capital Report

Capital Report: April 29, 2025

On tonight’s program: The Florida House is announcing plans to look into several proposals this summer that would reduce and reform property tax; A bill would bar local governments from adding fluoride to their public drinking water. Now it’s heading to the governor’s desk; And Head Start, a childcare and early childhood education program, could be nixed under a federal budget proposal put forth by the Trump administration. Experts worry the plan could be bad news for thousands of Florida kids.
Capital Report: April 28, 2025

On tonight’s program: Jason Pizzo resigned last week as the minority leader in the Florida Senate. His successor, Lori Berman, gave her first news conference today; The Trump administration’s crackdown on Canadian visitation, as well as the tariffs on that nation’s goods, may lead to a lot few Canadians coming to Florida; Florida State University is working to preserve and catalog the many tributes placed around campus to the victims of the recent shooting tragedy; And Florida honored its fallen law enforcers during ceremonies at the Capitol today.
Capital Report: April 25, 2025

On tonight’s program: Florida lawmakers were scheduled to wrap up their session a week from today. But that’s not happening; The leading Democrat in the Florida Senate is dropping his party affiliation while insisting the move isn’t driven by self-interest; Florida lawmakers scramble to address the state’s growing teacher shortage; There’s pushback aplenty for a bill that would require students to see videos of fetuses in the womb; Florida condo owners are still waiting for lawmakers to agree on a plan to cut the rising cost of condominium association fees; And it seems it doesn’t take the children of immigrants long to get away from their parents’ native tongue.
Capital Report: April 24, 2025

On tonight’s program: Unable to reach the first step in crafting a new Florida budget, State Senate President Ben Allbritton announced late this afternoon that lawmakers will not be able to adjourn this year’s session as scheduled on May 2nd; The Florida House will conduct no more hearings into the Hope Florida controversy, at least for the time being; Meanwhile, the governor and first lady today charged a biased media with keeping the controversy alive; And the electronic gaming devices that many veterans’ organizations keep in their post homes as fundraisers could become the source of felony charges under a bill that began as a tool to stop internet cafes and other illicit gaming sites.
Capital Report: April 23, 2025

On tonight’s program: FSU students march to the state capitol demanding tougher gun regulations in the wake of last week’s fatal on-campus shooting; The Florida Senate strengthens its proposal to limit drilling in the Apalachicola River Basin, but it differs from the House’s version; Governor Ron DeSantis continues to defend Hope Florida amidst controversy regarding money that was funneled into the charity’s foundation; And new details are coming out surrounding Taylor County’s shuttered West Fraser sawmill, a major employer in Perry.
Capital Report: April 22, 2025

On tonight’s program: Students from Florida State University lobby for gun reform legislation in the wake of the fatal shooting on their campus last week; Although a bill loosening the regulations on child labor is quite alive in the House, it seems there’s opposition in the Senate; And Florida’s open records law always seems to get pushback from various lawmakers and the state’s number one open government advocates has some thoughts on that score.
Capital Report: April 21, 2025

On tonight’s program: In the wake of last week’s fatal shooting at Florida State University, many on the Tallahassee campus remain traumatized and reluctant to “return to normal”; Some Democrats in the Florida House are calling for tighter gun laws following last week’s FSU shooting; A Florida Senate Bill would make it harder to get citizen initiatives on the ballot to make state constitutional changes; After some committee changes, a bill exemption some kinds of workers from Florida’s minimum wage continues to move forward in the legislature; And Florida’s endangered springs are attracting more fans and advocates.
Capital Report: April 18, 2025

On tonight's program: We talk with some of the students who witnessed the deadly shooting yesterday at Florida State University; The battle ramps up between the leadership of the Florida House and Governor Ron DeSantis; We hear the story of an immigrant from Honduras who suddenly found himself in custody and possibly facing deportation; What had been a legal deal meant to spare some South Florida jail inmates from federal custody seems to have fallen off the rails; The State of Florida moves to change all official references to a well-known body of water; And an expert on the topic of artificial intelligence talks about the possible future ramifications of this exploding technology.
Capital Report: April 17, 2025

On tonight’s program: A mass shooting on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee has left two dead and six hospitalized, including the suspected shooter; A meeting to untangle some of the issues surrounding the Hope Florida Foundation and its alleged diversion of money for political purposes ended in chaos today; If lawsuits to halt the Trump administration from scrapping Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants fail, nearly 400,000 Venezuelan-born Floridians might be subject to deportation; And advocates of term limits for Florida’s county commissioners and school board members have launched a campaign to put those limits into the state constitution.
Capital Report: April 16, 2025

On tonight's program: Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing back on a move by the Florida House to re-open the process of interviewing and choosing state university and college presidents; State parks would have more protection from development under a bill approved in the full Florida House Wednesday; Cell phones and other wireless devices would be banned throughout the school day under a bill that has passed the Florida House without opposition; And time is running out for bills addressing child protection, autism and child care in the Florida Legislature.

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