Florida is ‘ground zero for climate change,’ DeSantis staffers say

Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.

Photo credit: NOAA Satellites

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Welcome to another installment of Florida in Five: Five* stories you need to read from the past week in Florida politics.

The statement is as simple as it is startling:

“As ground zero for the effects of climate change, Florida needs to be prepared for sea level rise, flooding and increasingly severe storm events.”

That’s not some lefty activist talking. Nor is it some stooge of the corporate media parroting an ideological agenda. And it’s not from some shadowy figure in the ‘global elite’ who is secretly trying to steal your gas stove and make you eat bugs instead of burgers.

That quote — a calm, apolitical acknowledgment that climate change is real, that it is contributing to stronger storms, and that Florida is uniquely vulnerable to its impacts — comes from the administration of none other than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

It’s buried deep inside a budget document prepared by DeSantis’ Department of Environmental Protection, which wants Florida lawmakers to put another $200 million-plus of taxpayer money into a state program called “Resilient Florida” that helps finance flood-control projects and other work meant to protect public infrastructure from the impacts of climate change.

This simple statement of fact shouldn’t be surprising, of course.

And yet it is — given that it comes from the administration of a politician who spends so much time in public minimizing climate change, mocking activists, and trying to turn the issue into just another partisan fight pitting Floridians against each other. This is the same Ron DeSantis, after all, who pushed a bill through the Legislature erasing references to climate change from state law, whose administration censored the subject in school textbooks, and whose taxpayer-funded Twitter trolls try to sow confusion about the connection between rising temperatures and intensifying storms.

I suppose it’s nice to know that some people in the DeSantis administration take climate change seriously — even if they only do it when they think no one is looking.

This is also one of a bunch of interesting tidbits tucked inside what are known as “Legislative Budget Requests.” These are the the funding wishlists that each state agency prepares for the governor and Florida lawmakers as Florida’s elected leaders begin work on a new state budget.

A few other asks that jumped out to me:

• Rising insurance rates costs taxpayers, too: The Florida Department of Transportation says it needs an extra $1.6 million to cover higher insurance costs at the Florida Turnpike Enterprise. FDOT expects its annual premium for insuring Turnpike roads, bridges, and toll booths to hit $11 million during the state’s next fiscal year, which begins July 1. That’s an increase of more 40 percent since fiscal 2023-24. The agency says higher insurance rates are responsible for about half of that premium increase.

• Cash for culture wars: The Florida Department of Education wants another $3.8 million to continue developing software meant to make it easier for parents to have books pulled from local public schools. The agency also wants $150,000 to compile and analyze the so-called “intellectual freedom and diversity” survey that Florida Republicans have ordered probing college students about their political beliefs.

• Petition police: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement wants nearly $1.8 million to add another half dozen investigators to its three-year-old “Election Crime Unit” — the same unit DeSantis used last fall to interrogate supporters of Amendment 4, the November ballot initiative that would have overturned DeSantis’ near-total ban on abortion in Florida. FDLE says it needs more workers because the election unit has “seen a rise in petition fraud referrals.”

• Union-busting: The Florida Department of Management Services says the state’s Public Employees Relation Commission needs another $1 million-plus to hire more workers, pay for higher court reporting expenses, and upgrade a case-management system — all because of a heavier workload stemming from Senate Bill 256, a billionaire-backed bill Ron DeSantis signed in 2023 meant to destroy unions that represent public workers. Since SB 256 became law, “the workload at PERC has increased significantly in all areas,” the agency says.

• Insurance regulation revolving door: The Florida Department of Financial Services has asked for roughly $400,000 so the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation can open a new field office in Tampa, which the agency says would improve its ability to recruit and retain employees. “Tampa has become a hub for insurance companies, and many OIR employee have left in order to work and live in the Tampa Bay region,” the agency says. Among the insurance companies with headquarters in Tampa Bay: American Integrity, the Baldwin Group, Heritage Insurance, and Slide Insurance.

*To paraphrase Barbossa, five is more what you’d call a guideline than an actual rule.

It's real

Homeownership Is Underwater, Up In Flames, Or In The Wind (National Mortgage Professional)

See also: How Florida water managers are dealing with increased flooding from rainfall due to climate change (WUSF)

See also: Reinventing the South Florida seawall to help marine life, buffer rising seas (Miami Herald)

See also: Climate change threatens Miami real estate. The new appraiser wants lower taxes for that (Miami Herald)

Lucy and the football

Hurricane horrors and continued premium increases: Insurers face skeptical lawmakers (Palm Beach Post) ($)

See also: Two years after reforms, lawmakers share insurance horror stories (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) ($)

See also: Citizens Property Insurance rate hikes likely to remain unresolved (WGCU)

See also: Insurance cost increases in Florida have outpaced inflation. We asked experts why. (Orlando Sentinel) ($)

The real reason for a special session

DeSantis takes aim at citizen initiatives, citing abortion amendment (Axios Tampa Bay)

See also: DeSantis’ proposals (Politico Florida)

The politicians…

Who is James Uthmeier? 5 things to know about who DeSantis wants as attorney general (Tampa Bay Times) ($)

Rep. Byron Donalds makes his move ahead of expected 2026 Florida gubernatorial bid (NBC News)

Former state Rep. Carolina Amesty charged with stealing COVID-19 relief funds (Orlando Sentinel) ($)

The search for UF’s next president is on. These experts predict déjà vu. (The Independent Florida Alligator)

…and their policies

Housing Crisis in Florida: The Puerto Rican Face of Evictions (Centro de Periodismo Investigativo)

Under the radar: Florida lawmakers last year banned local ‘fair scheduling’ laws — here's what that means (Caring Class Revolt)

755,000 kids didn’t have enough food during past two summers, report finds (Florida Phoenix)

Perspectives

Affordable insurance should not be our ultimate goal. We need to address the underlying risk (The Invading Sea)

Selective outrage: DeSantis, GOP lawmakers give pass to companies violating immigration laws (Orlando Sentinel) ($)

DeSantis wants Florida to control Everglades restoration, not the feds (Florida Phoenix)

How dare women go to college? DeSantis' new university trustee pick will fix it. (Palm Beach Post) ($)

Ladies, it’s time to hand the country back to men (Tampa Bay Times) ($)