Politics

Florida still the ‘dream’ state for relocation

Published

1 week ago

January 21, 2025

May Greene

Florida is still the most desired state to relocate to in America.

That’s according to a new study by moveBuddha, a personal advisory website offering services on relocations.

“Florida is the most desired state to move to in 2025, with residents in three of four U.S. regions naming it as the state they’d most like to move to,” the moveBuddha results showed.

The site surveyed 1,250 Americans about their plans on moving this year. While the survey showed 35% of Americans intend to move in 2025, moveBuddha officials tempered that result by noting historical trends show only 8% to 9% actually relocate annually.

But the survey suggested 1 in 4 people plan to move out of the state where they currently reside. Florida is the most desirable destination for those wanting to relocate, with California coming in second.

“When it comes to relocation dreams, affordability doesn’t necessarily correlate with desirability. People are generally drawn to large, economically rich states with favorable climates and abundant opportunities,” the study concluded.

Some 23.8% of those surveyed said Florida is the most desired state to relocate to. Another 23.3% preferred California.

For three out of four regions in the U.S., Florida was the top pick for relocation. Those living in the West preferred California. Those in the Northeast, Midwest and South all favored Florida.

The moveBuddha survey comes as some have raised concerns about migration to the state dropping going forward.

A Florida Chamber of Commerce migration report published in December raised alarms when the business advocacy group showed the pace of people moving to Florida is beginning to slow. The Chamber found that while people are still moving to Florida, the Sunshine State isn’t quite the favorite it used to be, and 2023 showed a notable drop in new residents.

“While this figure reaffirms Florida as a top destination for new residents, it also represents a nearly 50% decrease from the previous year and marks the first major decline in net migration in a decade. The report attributes this shift to two key factors: rising housing costs and perceived limited career opportunities for younger, early-career workers,” a Chamber news release said.

A U-Haul moving company study also concluded that Florida is a top relocation locale. But Florida slipped from the second-most popular relocation state in 2023 to the fourth-most popular in 2024.

Post Views: 0

Source link

Politics

Gov. DeSantis teases budget proposals, including tax cuts and Highway Patrol pay hike

Published

25 minutes ago

January 31, 2025

May Greene

‘They’ve done a lot of missions in addition to just the normal stuff. So they deserve that.’

While formal budget and spending proposals aren’t available yet, Gov. Ron DeSantis says they’re coming by the “end of the weekend” as required.

And though he was true to his word when he told a Destin audience that he was “not going to necessarily go into a lot of it” on Friday, DeSantis mentioned some ways he wanted to help people keep more of their money.

On at least one of them, Floridians will be able to make that decision if DeSantis gets his way.

He said that “any taxes we can eliminate” are up for grabs, including a move to “crack down on property taxes in the state” through a constitutional amendment on next year’s ballot.

“Homestead deduction needs to dramatically increase for people,” DeSantis said, given the increasingly high cost of housing driven by “demand” and other factors, including insurance rates.

The administration will “be working over the next year, year and a half to see what we can present for voters to be able to vote in the next election for some major, major property tax limitations and relief,” along with “some other tax stuff.”

Spending will increase in one way, meanwhile, with proposed pay increases for highway patrol troopers pending in light of deployments to the Mexican border.

“They’ve done a lot of missions in addition to just the normal stuff. So they deserve that, and we’re going to make sure that we get that done,” DeSantis said.

Post Views: 0

Source link

Politics

Tom Fabricio measure would keep some complaints against law enforcement, correction officers confidential

Published

56 minutes ago

January 31, 2025

May Greene

Law enforcement officers and correctional officers could have certain complaints lodged against them kept off their records if a new bill filed Thursday passes.

Miami Lakes Republican Rep. Tom Fabricio’s measure (HB 317) would exempt records of any investigations made into complaints against a law enforcement officer or a correctional officer from their personnel file under certain conditions.

Complaints filed against officers would be required to be given under oath and submitted in writing, and if an officer is subject to an interrogation that could lead to disciplinary action, then all information related to the investigation would have to be given to the officer or their representative before any interrogation into the allegations could begin, according to the bill.

That would include the names of the person or persons who filed the complaint, all witness statements, and any supporting evidence such as incident reports, GPS locator information, and video and audio recordings.

Florida statute currently states, “all information obtained pursuant to the investigation by the agency of the complaint is confidential,” and is exempt from public record until the investigation “ceases to be active” or until the agency decides whether to file charges against the officer.

The measure would amend that statute, adding that the officer be “provided a copy of the complaint signed by the complainant under oath before the effective date of the action.”

Current law already allows officers facing disciplinary action the right to address the findings with their respective agency heads before any disciplinary action can be imposed.

However, the new measure would allow such records to be left out of an officer’s personnel file if the investigation into their conduct did not end in disciplinary action. Furthermore, the existence of the investigation would not affect an officer’s ability to be promoted, get a pay raise, or receive a commendation.

Under the bill, the contents of both the complaint and the investigation would remain confidential until a final determination is made by investigators. The bill does not guarantee continued employment for officers under investigation.

The bill would further protect law enforcement and correctional officers protections by establishing penalties against those who make false complaints. Under the bill, someone found guilty of filing a false complaint could be charged with a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

If passed, the bill would become law on July 1.

Post Views: 0

Source link

Politics

Gov. DeSantis ready to ‘get in the game’ of migrant transfers to GITMO

Published

2 hours ago

January 31, 2025

May Greene

President Trump has ordered the Cuba-based detention center to be prepped for full capacity as part of his deportation push.

Saying Guantánamo Bay is a “hell of a lot closer” to Florida than Martha’s Vineyard, Ron DeSantis reiterated interest in sending migrants there in accordance with a Donald Trump executive order.

“I think it’d be a great place, quite frankly, to have criminal aliens,” DeSantis said Friday in Destin, adding that Florida is “going to be able to assist” moving undocumented immigrants to the base in Cuba.

The Governor has made this case all week that the state is a logical launching pad for deportations.

DeSantis posted to social media Wednesday that he’s “happy to send flights from Florida down that way with deportees in tow,” in the wake of Trump saying he’s telling the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to “begin preparing the 30,000 person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay” for an influx of undocumented immigrants.

“What better state to take advantage of that than the state of Florida,” he told podcaster Dave Rubin Tuesday.

DeSantis also said this week “deputized” state forces who can “make the same decisions” as Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol could also “take them back to Haiti or the Bahamas or wherever they are coming from, right on the spot” if they “intercept them on the sea.”

The Trump Executive Order calls “to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantánamo Bay to full capacity to provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to address attendant immigration enforcement needs … in order to halt the border invasion, dismantle criminal cartels, and restore national sovereignty.”

It does not contemplate a state role in extradition or extraterritorial transport.

Post Views: 0

Source link