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<\/a>C\u2019mon and let us know \u2026 will they stay or will they go? Image via Jesse Scheckner.<\/p>\nThe need to keep that little yellow registration sticker on your license plate up to date may be going the way of the dinosaurs, courtesy of legislation recommended by the Clerk of Florida\u2019s most populous county and lawmakers from there.<\/p>\n
Miami-Dade Clerk Dariel Fernandez has called for getting rid of the stickers, which he says are unneeded, outdated and, in some cases, counterproductive, since they can fade, peel or get stolen. Doral Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Miami Lakes Rep. Tom Fabricio have filed twin bills<\/a> to nix the requirement for the tag, which would see Florida join other states like Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Vermont in going fully digital.<\/p>\n In Miami-Dade alone, Fernandez said, the change \u2014 which Gov. Ron DeSantis supports \u2014 would save the county $2.5 million in expenses. It seems like a no-brainer layup for policymakers in a state hyper-focused on cutting wasteful spending.<\/p>\n A \u201cFree kill\u201d repeal is once more advancing, but what\u2019s to stop it from dying again?<\/p>\n Last Session, lawmakers finally did what political observers long thought they\u2019d never do: pass legislation<\/a> repealing a unique Florida law that blocks the award of noneconomic damages \u2014 grief, loss of companionship and the like \u2014 in cases of lethal medical negligence if the victim is 25 or older, unmarried and without children under 25.<\/p>\n It was a massive win for surviving family members who\u2019d previously had limited recourse after losing a loved one. Then the Governor stepped in and vetoed the measure<\/a>, sponsored by Fort Pierce Rep. Dana Trabulsy and Orlando Rep. Johanna L\u00f3pez, citing its lack of caps on lawsuit awards as inviting efforts at \u201cjackpot justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Trabulsy and L\u00f3pez remained undeterred. They again filed legislation for the 2026 Session to overturn the 35-year-old law critics call \u201cfree kill,\u201d and the measure has already advanced to the House floor.<\/p>\n But its future is uncertain. The upper-chamber sponsor of last year\u2019s legislation, Jacksonville Sen. Clay Yarborough, confirmed he will not carry the bill again, and no replacement sponsor has stepped up. That alone isn\u2019t a death sentence for the measure, which currently contains no award caps. However, the bill still must escape DeSantis\u2019 veto pen, and without caps, it\u2019s unlikely it will.<\/p>\n The Special Election for Marco Rubio\u2019s U.S. Senate seat may be a sleeper.<\/p>\n At first blush, it may seem hard to believe that a contest of Rubio\u2019s powerful seat in the Senate would fly under the radar. But with several other high-profile statewide contests coming in 2026 \u2014 including races for Governor, Attorney General, CFO and every congressional office \u2014 Republican Sen. Ashley Moody\u2019s bid to keep her appointed post may be a sleeper.<\/p>\n It\u2019ll also depend on who challenges her. So far, the Democratic field of four candidates includes former Brevard School Board member Jennifer Jenkins<\/a> and Joey Atkins, who previously challenged U.S. Rep. Mario D\u00edaz-Balart. Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter<\/a> Jake Lang is among four GOP Primary candidates.<\/p>\n Other rumored or confirmed to be mulling runs include U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, Jacksonville Rep. Angie Nixon<\/a> and former National Security Council official Alexander Vindman \u2014 all Democrats.<\/p>\n Renewed push to ban Pride flags follows the erasure of rainbow road designs<\/p>\n Last Session, a push by then-Sen. Randy Fine and Reps. David Borrero and Berny\u00a0Jacques\u2019 proposal to ban Pride flags and other banners with a \u201cpolitical viewpoint\u201d from public buildings\u00a0failed to<\/a> cross the finish line. In the upcoming Session, we\u2019ll see whether the erasure of numerous rainbow street designs that could have been used as actual finish lines informs lawmakers\u2019 treatment of a renewed push to ban the flags.<\/p>\n The Florida Department of Transportation painted over rainbow crosswalks across Florida, including in Boynton Beach, Miami Beach, Orlando, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach, as part of an effort to rid roads of \u201cpolitical ideologies<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, lo and behold, Borrero and Yarborough are back with legislation<\/a> to prohibit the flags. This time, they have concrete \u2014 pun intended \u2014 precedent to support their effort.<\/p>\n The CAIR lawsuit could define boundaries of gubernatorial power<\/p>\n Gov. Ron DeSantis didn\u2019t flinch when the Council on American-Islamic Relations sued Florida over his executive order labeling CAIR a terrorist organization. In fact, he welcomed it<\/a>, framing the case as a vehicle for discovery that could expose the group\u2019s funding sources.<\/p>\n CAIR<\/a>, which has never been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the federal government, argues the order violates due process, free speech, and federal authority over terror designations.<\/p>\n The lawsuit<\/a> tees up a constitutional showdown with implications well beyond CAIR itself: whether a Governor can unilaterally impose sweeping punitive restrictions on an American civil rights organization without criminal findings or judicial review.<\/p>\n With Texas taking similar steps, Trump 2.0-era signals about Muslim Brotherhood designations, and Florida lawmakers hinting at codifying the policy, the case could become a quiet but consequential test of state-level executive powers.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s forensic mental health bed shortage isn\u2019t going away.<\/p>\n For decades, Florida law has required that criminal defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial be transferred from jail to a mental health treatment facility within 15 days<\/a>. In practice, that deadline has become largely theoretical.<\/p>\n Commitments to state treatment facilities have surged since 2020, but bed capacity has grown far more slowly. The result is a persistent backlog of hundreds of mentally ill defendants waiting months in county jails \u2014 often without appropriate treatment \u2014 despite repeated warnings from judges, advocates and the Department of Children and Families itself that the system is underfunded.<\/p>\n What makes the issue particularly sticky is that the gap is both <\/a>well-documented and longstanding<\/a>.<\/p>\n DCF routinely requests tens of millions of dollars more than lawmakers ultimately appropriate to expand or sustain bed capacity. For fiscal year 2025-26<\/a>, the agency sought $95.4 million in recurring general revenue to \u201csustain and support\u201d bed capacity. Yet, the\u00a0budget<\/a> signed by DeSantis included only $78.6 million, of which $19.6 million\u00a0was cleared for immediate release.<\/p>\n The mismatch is already a structural feature of Florida\u2019s criminal justice system, and with population growth accelerating and demand rising faster than infrastructure, it\u2019s a problem that won\u2019t solve itself. Expect it to keep simmering in the background until lawmakers intervene or, more likely, it boils over.<\/p>\n Wildlife Corridor, land conservation remains a battleground<\/p>\n Florida leaders across parties continue to tout land conservation and environmental stewardship, but the funding and policy signals beneath the surface tell a more complicated story.<\/p>\n The Florida Forever program, long the backbone of the state\u2019s land acquisition efforts, survived this year largely through an 11th-hour sprinkle from the Senate<\/a>. That precarious funding posture has become familiar in recent Sessions, despite the ballot-tested and voter-approved expectation that hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars flow to conservation annually.<\/p>\n At the same time, lawmakers are experimenting with new models that could reshape how conservation happens going forward. Proposals like the \u201cBlue Ribbon\u201d project framework, which would rely more heavily on large private landowners to preserve vast tracts without direct state purchase, have gained early traction<\/a> but have received mixed reception\u2014supporters frame it as smart growth and fiscal restraint; skeptics worry about local control and unintended sprawl.<\/p>\n Overlay that with a Governor who continues to highlight land protection in budget messaging (he wants $115 million for Florida Forever<\/a> and $200 million for conservation easements next fiscal year) and the result is an unresolved tension between preservation, growth and cost. With property tax relief poised to dominate the next Session\u2019s ways-and-means debates, land conservation is likely to reprise its role as pawn in Florida\u2019s budget fights.<\/p>\n Schools of Hope takeover<\/p>\n How will Schools of Hope shake up School Districts, or will the Legislature bring new reforms to protect public schools from being taken over? That remains a significant issue to monitor in education in 2026.<\/p>\n School districts across the state begin receiving formal notices in Fall 2025 identifying campuses targeted by charter schools.<\/p>\n New rules allow charter schools to take over space rent-free in traditional public school buildings, which school choice advocates argue is a way to use schools with declining enrollment. DeSantis has also downplayed Schools of Hope, saying <\/a>it is for communities with \u201cthe least-advantaged students and in areas where a lot of people say it\u2019s not even worth trying.\u201d<\/p>\n But school superintendents are pushing back and warning Schools of Hope will drain their resources and have significant consequences.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Terry Connor said having charter schools co-locate inside his buildings could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at the Schools of Hope and the fact that they\u2019re going to co-locate on district-managed property and will be subsidized by the funding that is earmarked for district-managed schools, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s an example of school choice that we would want here in Florida,\u201d Connor told WUSF<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sen. Darryl Rouson<\/a>, a St. Petersburg Republican, filed legislation to repeal Schools of Hope in the 2026 Legislative Session.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy eliminating language requiring colocation in public schools, we are ensuring schools do not face the unintentional consequence of an unfunded mandate, and that students can continue thriving in their schools without losing access to spaces they need for academic success,\u201d he said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Futuristic commute?<\/p>\n Could 2026 be the year we finally avoid Interstate 4 traffic by flying in the sky? An airborne Uber, if you will.<\/p>\n Gov. Ron DeSantis announced vertiports \u2013\u00a0 almost like a helicopter, minus the propeller, that go up and down \u2013 are in the early stages of construction and coming to the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will be the nation\u2019s first advanced air mobility test track, and it will have dedicated airspace,\u201d DeSantis said at a 2025 <\/a>news conference<\/a>. \u201cFlorida\u2019s going to be a place where it\u2019ll be a testing ground for this new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n Each vertiport could carry about four passengers and travel up to 60 miles.\u00a0<\/p>\n To prepare for the new technology, the state is expanding its FDOT\u00a0SunTrax<\/a> testing facility in Polk County\u2019s Auburndale, initially built for autonomous-vehicle testing and to develop guidelines for local governments on zoning.<\/p>\n We will have to wait for 2026 to find out more details, including a timeline for opening and the price point for customers. Still, state officials described a Florida future<\/a> that resembled \u201cThe Jetsons\u201d or \u201cThe Fifth Element\u201d to excite us about what flies ahead.<\/p>\n Dot your I\u2019s, Cross Your T\u2019s<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>How\u2019s that song go \u2026 \u2018Don\u2019t hit them boys with high malpractice premiums since we want physician retention?\u2019<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Or Ashley Moody could make her opponent look like a G5 CFP contender. Time will tell.<\/p>\n<\/a>Will achromatic drivers still need to buy special glasses if everything is black and white?<\/p>\n<\/a>How much weight does this piece of paper carry? Stock image via Adobe.<\/p>\n<\/a>It\u2019s getting pretty crowded under there. Stock image via Adobe<\/p>\n<\/a>Should we start calling it \u2018Florida Eventually\u2019? Image via State of Florida.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u2018We heard you like schools, so we put a school in your school.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/a>Where we\u2019re going, we will still need wheels \u2026 or a sturdy set of skids.<\/p>\n