| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard and Gary Fineout | |  Florida Senate President-Designate Ben Albritton stands in the Senate chamber at the Florida State Capitol. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | Good morning and welcome to Tuesday. The new Legislature is descending on Tallahassee today for a one-day organizing session that’ll set the stage for next year. The day will be full of pomp and circumstance. Florida Senate President-Designate BEN ALBRITTON and Florida House Speaker-Designate DANNY PEREZ will be sworn in and deliver speeches, and formally take over as leaders of their respective chambers. The ceremonies turn them into two of the most powerful people in state government, with a Republican supermajority behind them. (Follow along on the Florida Channel.) Albritton’s speech will contain several key themes for rural and agricultural Florida, spokesperson KATIE BETTA told Playbook. A citrus farmer by trade from Wauchula, Albritton will pledge a renewed focus on preserving rural Florida through new technology opportunities in the areas of commerce, education and health care. He’ll also talk about focusing on water improvements and pledge to do everything he can to save Florida’s citrus industry, which has suffered in the midst of hurricanes and a serious bacterial infection known as greening. Perez’s speech will have similar themes to the memos he has been sending out to members, in which he has warned about high spending and created a subcommittee to scrutinize expensive information technology projects. He also has outlined new rules for lobbyists and on ethics for state House members. Other areas of business will include swearing in new members, and leaders will dole out committee assignments. The body will also vote on new rules to govern legislative business. The fun stuff: Albritton is hosting a family luncheon in the newly renovated portico area, followed by coffee and dessert led by MISSY ALBRITTON before the state Senate president heads to a media availability. Perez’s media availability will be 20 minutes after the organizational session concludes. He had a social Monday night with members at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club. Florida House Democrats had their reception at the Hayward House after their designation ceremony. There will be an interest in how the new leaders will interact and work with Gov. RON DESANTIS, who just notched two big wins by defeating amendments on abortion and pot this past election. DeSantis will be at the ceremonies today, confirmed spokesperson JEREMY REDFERN. Expect reporters to ask both leaders about additional priorities, what they thought of actions around the amendments, whether they agree with DeSantis that a special session is needed before the end of the year to make alterations to condo safety laws and what they plan to do about property insurance. What happens after that: House and Senate committees will start meeting in December. The regular session starts March 4, 2025. — Kimberly Leonard and Gary Fineout Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
| | | | The lame duck session could reshape major policies before year's end. Get Inside Congress delivered daily to follow the final sprint of dealmaking on defense funding, AI regulation and disaster aid. Subscribe now. | | | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | THE APPRENTICE, TALLY EDITION — Gov. RON DESANTIS has broken his silence about the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) through a post on X, saying he’s interviewing for the opening and doing “extensive vetting.” The governor laid out what he’s looking for: “Florida deserves a senator who will help President Trump deliver on his election mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation’s fiscal decline, be animated by conservative principles and has a proven record of results." His timeline: He expects to make a decision by the beginning of January and has already gotten “strong interest from several possible candidates” but is continuing to take names. — On Monday, state Sen. JAY COLLINS became the latest candidate to state his interest in being considered, according to The Floridian’s Liv Caputo. BOLSTERING ATHLETICS — “‘It’s an arms race’: Florida weighs how to compete in new expensive era of college sports,” reports POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury. “Florida universities are searching for ways to pump more money into sports ahead of a proposed landmark NCAA settlement that would open the door for schools to directly pay athletes — and using state dollars could be on the table. “Florida has long held a bright line against putting tax dollars into college athletics. But that could change soon, as schools here and across the country grapple with revolutionary changes coming to the NCAA. “Universities are expecting moves like eliminating caps on student scholarships and giving athletes a cut of sports proceeds to raise costs by more than $20 million annually per school. Colleges as a result are considering a range of options to stay competitive, while also surviving financially — decisions that could lead to eliminating or scaling back some sports, creating new fees or, for public schools like Florida’s universities, asking state legislatures to kick in more cash.”
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Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell walks in the Florida State Capitol. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | THE MINORITY VIEWPOINT — House and Senate Democrats, badly outnumbered in the Republican-controlled Legislature, officially selected their leaders for the next two years on Monday. Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat from South Florida, used his designation ceremony to zing both Republicans and national Democrats. Pizzo faulted Republicans for using partisanship as an excuse from pushing needed changes, noting how it took years before legislators acted on condominiums. But Pizzo also said Democrats needed to be “more practical, perhaps less progressive.” He also said that the national party was “completely out of touch” and had left Florida Democrats on their own. Rep. Fentrice Driskell, a Tampa Democrat, was formally chosen to be House Democratic leader for another term. In her remarks, Driskell acknowledged the “disappointment” of this year’s elections where House Republicans expanded their supermajority but urged Democrats to keep pressing Republicans. “We acknowledge what we have lost but do not lose sight of what we can still gain,” she said. —Gary Fineout BOOK SUIT — “Florida wants the latest book ban lawsuit dismissed,” reports POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury. “A group of major publishers, authors and parents sued Florida in August over restrictions to books containing sexual conduct that they contend school districts are applying too harshly, leading to campuses inappropriately pulling works like Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye.’ “Florida, in a motion to dismiss filed Friday [from Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office], argued that the case should be thrown out, maintaining that public school libraries exist to ‘support the government’s educational mission.’” LAWSUIT — “Florida Springs Council sues DEP to force rules on groundwater pumping,” reports POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie. “The Florida Springs Council is asking a court to order the state to adopt stricter rules to prevent the overuse of underground aquifers. The council said in a complaint filed in Hernando County that DEP has not issued the springs rules despite clear direction from the Legislature in 2016. Changes to FL SB552 directed DEP to adopt uniform rules for issuing water use permits to prevent pumping that is harmful to waterways, including springs. The bill also directed DEP to adopt uniform definition of ‘harmful’ over-pumping, the lawsuit said.” — “Florida Insurance commissioner orders a 1 percent reduction in workers’ comp rates,” reports Christine Sexton of the Florida Phoenix.
| | | | Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy. | | | | | | | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | REAL ESTATE MYSTERY — An unknown buyer has been acquiring units one by one in the Solaris condo building in Miami, an area within the acreage owned by Citadel CEO KEN GRIFFIN, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Deborah Acosta. Acosta writes: “The LLCs have amassed nearly half, or at least 67, of the building’s units over the past two years, public records show. If a buyer gets to 80 percent, or about 110 units, it will take control of the property. According to documents that govern the building, once that threshold is achieved, the remaining unit holders could be compelled to sell and the new owner could knock the building down.” 60 DAYS IN JAIL — “Ex-state Sen. Frank Artiles sentenced to 5 years probation for election conspiracy,” reports Allen Cone of CBS Miami. “Artiles, 50, was accused of offering $50,000 to Alex Rodriguez, the so-called ‘ghost candidate,’ to run for office in the Florida Legislature in 2020 and to cause the Democratic incumbent to lose the election by siphoning votes away from the Democrat in the razor-thin race. Rodriguez said he was given $25,000 before the election and $25,000 afterward.” SCHOLARSHIP SAGA — “Elections chief Gilzean fires back at Orange County Mayor [Jerry] Demings,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Stephen Hudak . ‘In an email to the Orlando Sentinel and other news outlets, [Glen] Gilzean promised to 'vigorously defend our mission to expand voter participation and improve the lives of Orange County citizens’ if Demings and county commissioners sue to recover the money he gave to Valencia College and CareerSource Central Florida. The county board plans to discuss the issue Tuesday.” — “Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy as financial losses pile up and debt payments loom,” reports David Koenig of The Associated Press.
| | | DATELINE D.C. | | | GAETZ REPORT LATEST — Every member of the House ethics panel — which is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats — now has a copy of the report detailing the investigation into former Rep. MATT GAETZ . The members plan to vote Wednesday on whether to release it publicly, but regardless of what they decide it appears likely that the report has several other ways to get out, reports POLITICO's Katherine Tully-McManus and Daniella Diaz. It could get leaked to a member of the media or be read on the House floor as a way to get into the congressional record. — On a positive note for Gaetz, at least one industry is thrilled at the prospect of Gaetz as AG: Cannabis. “Few lawmakers on Capitol Hill have taken a more pro-cannabis stance than Gaetz, and his selection has left the weed industry feeling like it’s Christmas morning,” writes POLITICO’s Natalie Fertig.
|  President Joe Biden speaks with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina, on Oct. 2, 2024. | Mandel Ngan/ AFP via Getty Images | TODAY — FEMA Administrator DEANNE CRISWELL will be in the hot seat for two House committee hearings, in the Oversight Committee and in a Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee. The hearings will scrutinize why a FEMA relief team in Lake Placid skipped over homes carrying pro-Trump signs and flags, as the conservative news site The Daily Wire first reported. Members of the committees are expected to try to ascertain whether the practice was more widespread. SPEAKING OF FEMA — “The Biden administration on Monday sent Congress a roughly $100 billion emergency funding request to rebuild communities hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton, along with a slew of other disasters nationwide,” reports POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes. Final consideration of the spending legislation is likely to happen sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. COMING TO FLORIDA — The Republican Governors Association meeting is happening in Marco Island today and Wednesday. DeSantis is expected to address the group, but the conference is entirely closed to the media.
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | HOPPING IN — Former Republican Senate candidate KEITH GROSS has filed to run for Congress in District 1, for the seat that was vacated by former Rep. MATT GAETZ, reports Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics.
| | TRANSITION TIME | | — “BGR Group is bringing in NICK IAROSSI as a managing director,” per The Hill’s Taylor Giorno. “Iarossi, a founding member of the Florida-based lobbying and public affairs firm Capital City Consulting, has worked with the campaign and inaugural committees of some of the state’s biggest political names, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Ron DeSantis and President-elect Trump.”
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