This is Seeking Rents, a newsletter and podcast devoted to producing independent journalism about Florida politics, with an emphasis on the ways that big businesses and other special interests influence public policy in the state. Seeking Rents is produced by veteran investigative journalist Jason Garcia, and it is free to all. But you can support my work by becoming a paid subscriber and/or by making a one-time donation.
Welcome to another installment of Florida in Five: Five* stories you need to read from the past week in Florida politics.
There aren’t many people in Florida who got more help from state lawmakers this year than Jeffrey Soffer, the billionaire megadonor who owns the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach and The Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach.
Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill during the 2026 session meant to help the Fontainebleau bypass local opposition to a proposed waterpark on the historic property. They also eliminated an annual licensing fee for The Big Easy, effectively a tax break worth $2 million a year.
And Soffer — or at least his hotel — wanted more.
Records show that Soffer’s Fontainebleau also pressed lawmakers to crush a civil lawsuit against the hotel that was filed by owners in two adjoining condo towers after the hotel imposed new rules making it harder for them to rent their units on third-party platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo — rather than through a rental program run by the Fontainebleau itself.
Some Fontainebleau condo owners have called the changes — which require owners who opt out of the hotel-run rental program to pay extra fees for services like housekeeping and forbid them from using hotel staff to check-in their guests — an “economic disaster.” A group of them sued in mid-January, asking a court to stop the Fontainebleau from enforcing the changes.
So the Fontainebleau tried to have the state’s condo laws rewritten in its favor.
Records obtained by Seeking Rents show that a Fontainebleau lobbyist proposed legislation that would have created a new category of hotel in state law — dubbed a “historically designated tourist destination” — with unilateral authority to set short-term rental rules for condos that use the hotel’s check-in, housekeeping and other services.
The Fontainebleau lobbyist emailed the language in mid-February to the office of Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami), in hopes that Porras could slip it into a broader condo bill he was sponsoring.
It’s essentially the exact same play the Fontainebleau ran its bid to sidestep local opposition to its proposed waterpark.
In that case, hotel lobbyists gave another Republican House member from south Florida — Rep. David Borrero (R-Hialeah) — a proposal to create a new legal category of hotel called a “large destination resort” that could get around local government reviews for expansion projects. The language was then inserted into a larger bill dealing with land development.
But while the land development legislation (House Bill 399) passed during the 2026 session, the condo package (House Bill 657) did not.
The Fontainebleau may not need the help in the end. Not long after the session ended in March, attorneys for the hotel persuaded a Miami judge to dismiss the original lawsuit challenging its new condo rental rules. Fontainebleau condo owners have filed a second suit, but the hotel is trying to have that one tossed, too.
And, of course, Fontainebleau lobbyists could always resurrect the idea next year, if needed. It took the Mosaic Co. two sessions to lobby a bill through the Florida Legislature protecting the phosphate-mining giant from lawsuits over radioactive contamination on former phosphate mines.
In an all too familiar story in Tallahassee, the legislation shielding Mosaic was originally written by lobbyists for Mosaic.
Meanwhile, the Fontainebleau is now fighting to preserve its waterpark win.
A Miami Beach resident recently filed a separate lawsuit seeking to have the Fontainebleau provision of House Bill 399 declared unconstitutional. And city leaders said in April that the hotel must still get approval for its waterpark from the local historic preservation board — exactly the kind of review it was trying to avoid.
But the Fontainebleau has also picked up a powerful ally: James Uthmeier, the Ron DeSantis-appointed attorney general who has repeatedly used his office to help big donors.
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And there aren’t many donors much bigger than Jeffrey Soffer. The real-estate mogul once made a $1 million contribution to a Super PAC supporting DeSantis’ failed presidential campaign — a campaign that was managed at one point by James Uthmeier.
Records show that Soffer’s Big Easy Casino has also given $25,000 to Uthmeier himself via a fundraising committee Uthmeier set up a few days before he was sworn in as attorney general.
*To paraphrase Barbossa, five is more what you’d call a guideline than an actual rule.
Follow the money
Byron Donalds gets his biggest contribution yet: $10M from Ken Griffin (Miami Herald) ($)
See also: The TikTok billionaire bankrolling Byron Donalds (Miami New Times)
See also: Airbnb gives $1 million to Byron Donalds as rentals remain a Suncoast flashpoint (Suncoast Searchlight)
See also: The data center and AI donors powering Donalds’ bid for Florida governor (Politico Florida)
See also: Business groups line up behind Byron Donalds’ governor bid (State Affairs) ($)
Meanwhile in District 12
Fewer Florida residents are receiving federal food benefits (Florida Phoenix)
See also: Judge to rule on state’s reluctance to expand children’s health insurance program (Central Florida Public Media)
See also: Free school lunches to end for thousands of Miami-Dade students (Miami Herald) ($)
See also: The hidden costs of the affordable housing crisis in Naples (Naples Daily News) ($)
See also: Childcare costs in Florida ‘far exceed’ income affordability benchmark, report says (WPTV)
See also: It now takes a $97,000 salary to afford a two-bedroom in Miami (Miami Herald) ($)
‘We were asked by Chairman Rodriguez for tickets’
Miami-Dade commissioner’s PAC got $38K in World Cup tix from county tourism bureau (Miami Herald) ($)
The Florida Legislature at work
Miami-Dade leaders say state’s anti-DEI law is so confusing they may have to sue (Miami Herald) ($)
See also: ‘Live Local’ law stirs critics, becomes election year clash (USA Today Network – Florida) ($)
See also: Inside Florida’s prison staffing crisis: When 1 guard watches 150 inmates (Tallahassee Democrat) ($)
See also: How predominantly Black areas have been split up by redistricting in South Florida, other states (WLRN)
An orphan amendment
Florida police and fire unions oppose property tax rollback (Orlando Sentinel) ($)
See also: Rick Scott breaks with DeSantis on Florida property tax amendment: ‘I’m worried’ (Fox 13)
See also: Florida Democratic Party votes to oppose property tax amendment (Florida Phoenix)
Perspectives
An attorney general for the well-connected (South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Dear Lord, protect us from those who politick divisively in your name (Orlando Sentinel) ($)
Florida wildlife agency targeted its critics for secret surveillance (Florida Phoenix)
Floridians Have Made Resistance to Flock and Data Centers Central to State Politics (Truthout)
Ban Data Center Subsidies Once and For All (Boondoggle)
it's just all so depressing. hits me like g-force. feels as though there's nothing we can do now to stop the corruption. we waited too long (and voting will never provide a way out). but thanks for keeping it in our faces!