TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Florida Cabinet members are pushing their legislative agenda as the 2026 session approaches, with priorities ranging from government accountability to criminal justice reform and land conservation.
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingolia is working with Senate colleagues to streamline audits of local governments across the state. He said the goal is to identify waste, fraud and abuse more efficiently.
“All 67 counties, all the cities across the state, are complying the information we would need and readily available and transmittable to us,” Ingolia said.
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Ingolia said the audits are necessary because local government budgeting workshops are poorly attended.
“It is incumbent upon me as someone who has vowed to protect the taxpayer to take the information and assemble it in a way that’s very easy for local taxpayers to understand,” he said.
Criminal justice reforms
Attorney General James Uthmeier is supporting Missy’s Law, which would require people convicted of violent crimes to remain in jail while awaiting sentencing. The proposal follows the death of 5-year-old Missy Mogle in Tallahassee. Her stepfather is accused of killing her shortly after he was convicted of attempting to meet a minor.
“When somebody has been found guilty, they’ve been convicted, and they’re a violent offender, they should never be allowed back into society,” Uthmeier said.
Uthmeier also wants to change how insanity pleas are handled. He is proposing legislation that would allow courts to determine where sentences are served for those found guilty by reason of insanity.
“Where you have potential insanity or potential mental defects, it should not absolve you of responsibility and accountability,” Uthmeier said.
Rural land protection
Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is seeking increased funding for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.
“When we think about Florida’s economy, we don’t always think about Florida’s economy,” Simpson said.
Simpson said purchasing development rights protects wildlife corridors, aquifer recharge areas and agricultural land.
“As we buy those development rights, we’re guaranteeing that space for our animals to traverse the state, wildlife corridor, right? We’re going to make sure we’re going to have aquifer recharge areas, and we’re going to have space to grow our food,” he said.
The legislature will consider these proposals and hundreds of others when the session begins Jan. 13.
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