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Vanessa Oliver measure to loosen wine keg regulations headed to House floor

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A bill to nix current law requiring “reusable” kegs for wine producers is now heading to the full House for a vote.

The House Commerce Committee heard the proposal (HB 6015) that would remove some limits for wineries in Florida. The committee voted unanimously in favor of the measure with little discussion.

Rep. Vanessa Oliver, a Port Charlotte Republican, filed the measure to end the requirements that wine producers use “reusable” kegs.

“It is unlawful for a person to sell within this state wine in an individual container holding more than 1 gallon of such wine, unless such wine is in a reusable container holding 5.16 gallons or a glass container holding 4.5 liters, 6 liters, 17.9 liters, 12 liters, or 15 liters,” the current law reads.

Oliver’s measure simply seeks to remove that one word, “reusable,” from the statute that was enacted about a decade ago.

The House bill is mirrored by a similar measure (SB 578) winding through the Senate. The bill in that chamber is sponsored by Sen. Tom Leek, a St. Augustine Republican representing coastal areas just north of Daytona into St. Johns County.

Oliver said it may seem like a small adjustment. But for winemakers in Florida, it’s an essential change and can make a difference in taste of the final product.

“This was actually brought to me by one of my constituents who is a blueberry farmer in DeSoto County,” Oliver said in a Florida Politics interview in February. “He is part owner of a winery and they make blueberry wine out of his blueberries and sell it throughout the Southeastern United States.”

The problem for the blueberry farmer is they cannot distribute the wine in large quantities in Florida because it can only be sold in reusable kegs, which are usually made of metal. Oliver said that negatively impacts the taste of the wine.

“It’s really hindering their ability to sell their products to restaurants in our state,” Oliver said. “They normally use a glass keg that’s recyclable, but not reusable.”

While Florida will never be known as a wine region like other states such as California or Washington, there are still about three dozen wine producers in the Sunshine State, according to the American Winery Guide.

Oliver’s proposal doesn’t change the size of the kegs that are permitted or the size of any container for wine sales. The proposed change would not eliminate “reusable” kegs. But it would make them optional and Oliver says the glass kegs are simply better for the taste of the product.


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Gov. DeSantis urges local governments to play ball with Florida DOGE audits

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Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging counties in Florida to follow Bay County’s lead and “step up and ask” for audits from the state-level DOGE his administration established.

Noting that his administration is “working with the Florida Legislature to get more prescriptive authority to be able to go in and conduct audits of these local governments so that taxpayers get the full picture of what’s going on,” he credits “counties that are willing to step up and ask for these audits” with “really leading by example.”

DeSantis has often said Florida “was DOGE before DOGE was cool.” Yet in the wake of the Elon Musk led Department of Governmental Efficiency taking root, the Governor rolled out a state-level task force via Executive Order 25-44 to “DOGE at the local level,” taking a look at “publicly available” budget records and auditing.

As he has previously, DeSantis painted a picture of local budgets larded by hikes in property taxes.

“We’ve seen property tax assessments go up across Florida at the local level,” he said. “Taxpayers are pinched, they’re paying more than they ever have. Even though we have homestead exemption, it hasn’t been enough to fully protect taxpayers. Shouldn’t you know how this money is being spent, especially in those counties that have seen dramatic increases in their state budgets?”

Higher taxes have “pinched” senior citizens whose home value may have appreciated over the years, he said.

“Now they’re being told it’s worth so much more and they have to pony up more and more money. It’s almost like they have to pay rent to the government just to be able to enjoy their property. and that’s wrong. and we need to do something about it.”

For now, the Governor wants cities and counties to work with his group on a “voluntary” basis.

“We really hope to be able to deliver some serious, serious audits working with the Florida legislature of what’s going on in these local governments. I thank Bay County for what they did and I know there’s going to be other counties that are going to step up to the plate,” DeSantis said.


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Obscene heckler doesn’t stop bill targeting ‘academic boycott’ of Israel from advancing in Senate

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The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee was the first Senate panel to approve Sen. Tom Leek’s measure (SB 1678) which would defend Israel against its opponents in schools and non-governmental agencies.

That bill suggests anti-Israeli actions undertaken by “an educational institution, a nonprofit organization, an agency, a local governmental entity or unit thereof, or a foreign government” amount to an “academic boycott.”

It urges cessation of state contracts and grants with those entities on the wrong side of the ideological conflict if they don’t change their ways.

These entities would have 90 days to correct their noncompliance and be removed from what would be called the Scrutinized Companies or Other Entities that Boycott Israel List under this proposal. Otherwise, the state would divest itself of contracts with them.

Even before Leek could speak, a member of the crowd called the bill “f****** b*******.” She was immediately excused from the room.

A delete all amendment clarified that public funds, such as the State Board of Administration or State University System, cannot invest in these companies. Additionally, it requires that Arts and Culture grants not go to support antisemitic work.

The bill would also target agreements, like foreign exchange programs, with foreign universities deemed to be supporting antisemitism.

Members of the public complained about the legislation, saying it restricted “academic freedom” and offered support to an Israeli regime they find objectionable.

However, others said the bill was necessary.

Miami Beach City Commissioner David Suarez noted the Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement was targeting cities like his, and the legislation was a way to counter “hateful campaigns from a noisy minority.”

Chair Randy Fine hailed Leek for carrying the bill, saying he’d worried about leaving Tallahassee and having no one carry this kind of legislation,

Leek’s bill has two more committee references.

Rep. Hillary Cassel’s bill (HB 1519) the companion legislation, also has two stops in the House. But it has yet to have a committee hearing.


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Senate bill that could lead to execution of would-be political assassins begins to move

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The bill was inspired by the violence at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

Those looking to harm Presidents, Governors and other heads of state may pay the ultimate price in Florida — even if they don’t succeed in killing their target.

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia’s measure (SB 776) which cleared the Criminal Justice Committee, contemplates adding to Florida law that the death sentence can be issued when a “capital felony was committed against the head of a state, including, but not limited to, the President or the Vice President of the United States or the Governor of this or another state, or in an attempt to commit such crime a capital felony was committed against another individual.”

Ingoglia noted that “the death penalty is reserved for those convicted of heinous crimes” and that his helps to facilitate that by adding aggravating factors of an assassination of a head of state or the killing of another person in attempting to do so. He described the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the concomitant killing of Corey Comperatore as heinous and worthy of extraordinary sanction in law.

One citizen opposed the bill.

Grace Hannah of Floridians Opposed to the Death Penalty said the bill would fall under federal jurisdiction and that an incident like that contemplated by the bill is “extremely rare.”

The bill is also moving in the House.

Jeff Holcomb’s legislation (HB 653) has one stop to go before the floor.


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