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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: May 16, 2025

On tonight’s program: Lawmakers remain gone from Tallahassee as festering resentments between some lawmakers and the governor simmer; A new president for Florida A&M University sparks controversy over transparency; Florida’s annual hurricane conference takes a hit in the wake of federal funding and personnel cutbacks; Meanwhile, should those under increasing risk from hurricanes be forced to relocate?; And what does it mean for those Florida college students who suddenly find themselves having to pay out-of-state tuition rates?
Capital Report: May 9, 2025

On tonight's program: The Florida Legislature was all set to come back to Tallahassee next week and work on the budget. Then everything went “BOOM!”; Some bills affecting the welfare of young people actually made it through this year’s Florida Legislative Session; After a strict security check, we’ll enter into a part of Florida that is not United States territory. It’s also a place where the Trump administration’s international tariffs do NOT apply; Federal cuts to arts funding will hit hundreds of organizations in Florida alone; We’ll take a look at one such entity in South Florida; A proposal in the U.S. Senate could help Florida’s troubled citrus industry; And a famous and much-loved PBS personality talks about how her dance-loving showcame to be.
Capital Report: May 2, 2025

On tonight’s program: So Florida lawmakers decided to go home for at least a week. We’ll delve into what happened; More open government exemptions came out of this year’s lawmaking session; We hear from the former Florida Democratic Party rising star who suddenly left the party to blaze his own trail; When it comes to Florida’s medical malpractice laws, some are arguing that old laws aren’t necessarily good laws; Despite big cuts in federal help, Florida’s regional food banks could be making that up – and then some – with extra help from state government; And once again, Florida finds itself on the cutting edge of culture….more and more backyards are foregoing lawns and ornamental flowers for tropical fruit trees.
Capital Report: May 1, 2025

On tonight’s program: With plenty of work still to do on the state budget, lawmakers have decided to leave Tallahassee and take next week off with no announcement as to when they might be back; Governor Ron DeSantis has announced more than one-thousand undocumented immigrants were arrested in Florida over the past month; Florida lawmakers have passed a bill banning commercial development in state parks and sent it to the governor; And more legislation has passed, which would make it easier to convert traditional public schools to charter schools in Florida.
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.

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