WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Food for thought
TALLAHASSEE – Sen. Ben Albritton was formally designated as the next leader of the Florida Senate this week during a ceremony at the Capitol in which he pledged to support the Sunshine State’s agriculture industry and said lawmakers will “keep working” to address property-insurance problems.
A Wauchula Republican, Albritton is a fourth-generation citrus grower — a theme that came up multiple times during Tuesday’s ceremony on the Senate floor.
“It’s part of what drove me to public service,” Albritton said of his farming experience. “I know firsthand what it takes to produce the food that feeds our state, our country and the world. If you really stand back and think about it, the fact is, the survival of agriculture is the survival of humanity.”
Albritton has advocated for increasing funding to study such things as deadly citrus greening disease, which has played a major role in declining citrus production over the past two decades.
He will succeed President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, after the 2024 elections. With Gov. Ron DeSantis in the crowd for the designation ceremony, Albritton during his prepared remarks called the governor a “focused and principled fighter for what’s good.”
Lawmakers in recent years have passed a series of measures to try to shore up the troubled property-insurance industry, but many homeowners continue to see soaring rates. Albritton said the cost of insurance is “pressing down on families.”
“We have been focused on the issue, with the sweeping tort reform that we put into place last year. The insurer accountability bill that we passed this last year as well, are going to make the system better. But what’s most important and what I think Floridians really want to hear, is that we’re going to keep looking. And we’re going to keep working,” Albritton said.
SPECIAL SESSION IN THE WORKS
A week after issuing an executive order declaring a state of emergency amid the war between Israel and Hamas, DeSantis on Friday said he intends to call lawmakers into a special session to bolster state sanctions against Iran.
House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, quickly issued a joint proclamation announcing the special session will take place Nov. 6 through Nov. 9.
The session also will address myriad other issues, including Hurricane Idalia relief, increased resiliency efforts to lower property insurance costs, security for Jewish day schools, and an effort to increase vouchers for students with disabilities.
DeSantis, who is seeking the 2024 Republican nomination for president, and lawmakers already have taken a number of steps to show support for Israel following the Hamas attacks.
The proclamation said lawmakers in the upcoming session will “express support for the State of Israel to exist as a sovereign, independent nation, with the right to defend itself and protect its citizens from indiscriminate violence and terrorism; condemn the unprovoked and barbaric attacks by terrorist regimes, including Hamas, against Israel, its citizens, and Americans; and demand the immediate end to any financial support, whether directly or indirectly, to the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, or other entities that publicly support these attacks.”
DeSantis’ spokesman Jeremy Redfern said Friday that the state intends to impose “the strongest sanctions against Iran by any state in the nation, as proposed by Governor DeSantis” during the special session.
“We look forward to working with the Legislature to show Florida’s continued support for Israel,” Redfern said in a prepared statement.
Iran supports Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that began the war Oct. 7 by attacking Israel.
Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, issued a statement Friday tying the planned special session to DeSantis’ White House bid.
“We will be watching closely to make sure Floridians’ tax dollars aren’t wasted trying to impress out-of-state GOP primary voters. DeSantis’ policy failures at home have left Floridians paying the most for homeowners insurance, auto insurance, and rent in the country. I think Floridians would prefer their governor spend as much time addressing these pocketbook issues here as he spends on his ambitions,” Driskell said.
During a bipartisan event to show support for Israel after the surprise attack by Hamas this month, legislative leaders on Wednesday vowed to move forward with DeSantis’ request for increased state sanctions against Iran.
The federal government, which hasn’t had a formal diplomatic relationship with Iran since 1979, when Iranians took over the American embassy, hasn’t directly linked Iran with the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. But it has said leaders in Tehran have provided Hamas with money and materials.
“We know the Iranian regime funds Hamas and assists other terror groups,” Renner said Wednesday.
DeSantis earlier this month declared a state of emergency that helped clear the way for Florida to help fly Americans back home.
Florida already lists Iran as a “foreign country of concern,” along with China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria. Since 2008, Florida has prohibited state agencies and local governments from contracting for goods and services of more than $1 million with any business that has contracts with the Iranian government.
In addition, a state law passed this spring placed land-ownership restrictions on people from Iran and the other foreign countries of concern. Also, the federal government has imposed numerous sanctions on Iran.
HARD TIME FOR HARDING
The state House member who rose to prominence among conservatives as the sponsor of a controversial 2022 law restricting school lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity was sentenced Thursday after he pleaded guilty to fraudulently applying for business loans during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Former Rep. Joe Harding, an Ocala Republican, pleaded guilty in March to charges of wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements. The charges stemmed in part from Harding providing false information in December 2020 to the federal Small Business Administration to receive a $150,000 pandemic-relief loan.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor on Thursday sentenced Harding to four months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
Harding, 36, was first elected to the House in 2020 and was re-elected without opposition in 2022 in Marion County’s House District 24. But he was indicted by a federal grand jury a short time after his re-election and resigned from office in December 2022.
Harding is expected to start the prison term on Jan. 29, according to a court document.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Bolstering Florida’s agriculture industry, addressing water-quality issues and supporting the foster-care system are priorities that Sen. Ben Albritton is eyeing as he prepares to become the next Senate president.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “This looks like yet another case of Ron DeSantis using the Legislature to try to help his failing presidential campaign.” — Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, referring to the governor’s call for a special session to beef up state sanctions against Iran.