Bear Warriors United protests Florida’s upcoming bear hunt, and a new report outlines the impact of ending ACA subsidies for Florida residents.


Local groups hold protest in Tallahassee against Florida’s upcoming bear hunt

Activists held a large demonstration on Monday in Tallahassee to protest Florida’s upcoming bear hunt.

They are urging state leaders to rethink the state’s upcoming bear hunt.

The bear hunt will last for 23 days, starting on Dec. 6 and ending Dec. 28. It’s been more than a decade since the last statewide bear hunt.

More than 100 people gathered outside the Florida Capitol to call the state’s upcoming hunt both unsound and unneeded.

“The FWC was entrusted to protect wildlife, to protect it, for the people to manage it,” Bear Warriors United Attorney Raquel Levy said. “And it’s destroying the very thing it’s entrusted to protect.”

Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission argue the hunt will help manage the bear population and salvage the habitat, too.

“While we have enough suitable bear habitat to support our current bear population levels … we will not have enough habitat at some point in the future,” the agency said in a statement.

Under the rules of the hunt, 172 bears are planned to be taken across 31 Florida counties. Bows, guns and traps have all been approved in the hunt.

“Sierra Club isn’t against all hunting,” Sierra Club of Florida Senior Managing Organizer Cris Costello said. “We’re against hunting that isn’t part of a sane, science-based management policy.” 

The last hunt lasted only two days and hunters killed roughly 295 black bears.

Bear Warriors United has sued to stop the hunt, and a hearing on the matter is scheduled for next week.

New report outlines which Florida districts will be hardest hit after ACA subsidies end

Some congressional districts in Florida will be among those hardest by the expiration of the enhanced federal subsides to pay for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

Florida has the most Affordable Care Act enrollees in the country with an estimated 4.7 million enrollees.

A non-partisan research group, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, recently released an analysis of how the end of enhanced subsides to pay for ACA coverage will affect residents of each congressional district in the state.

Florida’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Gainesville, and South Florida districts will be some of the hardest hit districts in the country. In the 3rd Congressional District, a 45-year-old making $32,000 per year would see a nearly $1,500 annual increase in premiums if the enhancements go away. One reason for the differences among congressional districts is that health care costs vary from community to community.

“It’s more just local health care costs vary a lot, just in small areas, even from hospital to hospital,” CBPP Senior Fellow Gideon Lukens said. “And, so, different districts, you’ll have greater, smaller health care costs, and you also have, like, local markets where insurers and providers are negotiating different rates.” 

The enhanced ACA tax credits will expire at the end of the year if Congress and the president do not extend them. Experts say their disappearance will likely make health insurance too expensive for some Americans.

“There’s five districts where over 30% of the population is enrolled in marketplace coverage, and in every district in Florida, over 10% is enrolled,” Lukens said. “So this is like, you know, a lot of people around you have marketplace coverage and are going to be looking at these big increases if the extensions, the enhancements are expected.”

According to Lukens, the higher premiums will hit small businesses and the self-employed especially hard.

“I think they make up about a quarter every year of  marketplace coverage,” he said. “So it’s particularly important for those groups.”

As part of the short-term government funding deal that passed last week, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune committed to holding a vote next month on extending the subsidies, though it’s not clear if it has enough Republican support to pass. And in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson has not promised to take up the bill.