Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez in a late afternoon email to members outlined a new set of “combined workgroups,” which will review line-item vetoes from the current 2024-25 budget Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last year. 

The creation of these groups amounts to political warfare between DeSantis’ executive branch and the Legislature, despite both chambers and the Governor all being Republicans. The workgroups will allow lawmakers to gather to discuss vetoes from the budget and determine which should be taken up for a potential veto override. 

Perez has authorized the groups to begin meeting Monday for up to 10 days. 

“Upon conclusion of its work, each workgroup will submit its recommendation for further legislative action, if any, to their subcommittee chairs, the originating committee chair, and me (Perez,)” the memo reads. 

In all, four groups will gather — Combined Workgroups on vetoed human services budget issues; vetoed justice services budget issues; vetoed water programs budget issues; and vetoed libraries, cultural and historical preservation budget issues. 

Rep. Mike Redondo will be the Combined Workgroup Manager for the human services group, overseeing members Hillary Cassel, Allison Tant, Dana Trabulsy and Kaylee Tuck from the Health Care Budget Subcommittee, and Anna Eskamani, Karen Gonzalez-Pittman, Monique Miller, Bill Partington and Ryan Chamberlin from the Human Services Committee. 

Rep. David Smith will manage the justice services group, overseeing members Nan Cobb, Mike Gottlieb, Berny Jacques and Juan Porras from the Justice Budget Subcommittee, and Shane Abbott, Jessica Baker, Robbie Brackett, Tom Fabricio and Diane Hart from the Criminal Justice Subcommittee. 

The water programs group will be overseen by Rep. Michelle Salzman, with members Jon Albert, Robin Bartleman, Yvette Benarroch and Meg Weinberger from the Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee, and Dean Black, Bill Conerly, Debbie Mayfield, Jim Mooney and Debra Tendrich from the Natural Resources and Disasters Subcommittee. 

Lastly, Rep. Susan Plasencia will manage the workgroup evaluating vetoes related to libraries and cultural and historical preservation. She’ll oversee Reps. Danny Alvarez, Lindsay Cross, Richard Gentry, Randy Maggard and Vanessa Oliver from the Transportation and Economic Development Budget Subcommittee, and Fabian Basabe, Daryl Campbell, Sam Greco and Paula Stark from the Government Operations Subcommittee. 

For those who have been paying attention as lawmakers convened last week for a Special Session DeSantis asked for, the latest ding on DeSantis likely comes as little surprise. 

In his remarks last Monday as he gaveled into Session, Perez asserted the Legislature’s independence, and went so far as to call on lawmakers under his purview to not only focus on “the next thing,” but also “the last thing.” He touted the veto process as a way for the Governor — any Governor, not just DeSantis — to have a check on the budget process. But he called out DeSantis specifically for vetoing 30% of the Legislature’s operating budget, a slashed item that cut $57 million from the pot of money lawmakers uses “to pay for back-end operations including legal, accounting and human resources, as well as the funds that support the work of” several critical groups at the Capitol. 

It was at that time Perez first mentioned the combined workgroups, noting that members would “systematically review vetoed appropriations to see if anything might be an appropriate candidate to bring before the body for reinstatement.” 

He further added that “such reinstatements should be a part of every Floor Session until we bring our 2025-2026 House Budget to the Floor.”

As for the money DeSantis vetoed for legislative operations, lawmakers already overrode that decision, the first time the Legislature has overrode a DeSantis veto in his two terms as Governor. 

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Moments before the Legislature passed the controversial TRUMP Act, Rep. Lawrence McClure disclosed a dramatic incident that unfolded at his rural Hillsborough County home. 

His wife, Courtney McClure, was turning on the front porch lights for the evening when she saw a strange man running on the driveway, Rep. McClure said last month on the House floor before the third passage of the bill.

The intruder had jumped the locked gate to their home while Courtney McClure was alone with their two young children and the representative was on the road almost all the way to Tallahassee.

“When he got to our front door, he grabbed that door and tried to break it down,” Rep. McClure said.

Public records obtained by Florida Politics revealed more details of what happened Dec. 1.

When the intruder refused to leave, Courtney McClure went into their home and pulled out a gun, according to a report from Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office that Florida Politics obtained from a public records request. 

Rep. McClure did not mention his wife had the gun in his public remarks.

“My wife called me. She had a tone and a panic that I had never heard since the day I met her,” Rep. McClure said on the House floor. “I could hear my 5-year-old screaming, terrified, and my 1-year-old daughter equally as scared.”

Rep. McClure said the incident was captured on his home video surveillance system.

“I’ve gotten to play it back,” Rep. McClure said. “It was the closest thing I’ve seen to pure proof that you don’t get between the babies and the mamas.”

The man ran off and jumped over a barbed-wire fence into a pasture, climbed another fence and then broke into a screened-in back patio of a neighboring home, the sheriff’s report said.

It just so happened that neighbor happened to be Rep. McClure’s cousin, the lawmaker said on the House floor.

And the cousin was also armed –  just like the lawmaker’s wife,  the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s indicated.

Esvin Guzman Morales, 31, of Dover, was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor trespass charges. 

The public defender’s office, which is representing Guzman Morales, did not return a message for comment. A phone number listed for Guzman Morales was not in service Thursday.

Some of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s arrest report is redacted and the 911 call was not released because of the ongoing criminal investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.

Rep. McClure described Guzman Morales as “someone here illegally” in his telling of the story.

The arrest report does not detail his immigration status although it says that Guzman Morales has having a Guatemalan Identification Card.

Rep. McClure said Guzman Morales had an outstanding warrant for his arrest from a previous incident in Collier County.

A Collier County Sheriff’s Report detailed a woman reported a man had returned home from work and had been drinking in September 2023.

“He began to question her by saying, ‘What you did today? What are you doing?’” the sheriff’s incident report said. “He was being belligerent to her.”

The man punched and broke their flat screen TV and threw a water bottle at the woman. The woman went to lie down on her bed, and the man hit her leg and then grabbed her left hand and twisted her arm around her back, the report said.

The situation happened while a 2-year-old was home.

The man left the bedroom, and the woman locked the door behind him. He tried to get back in, but the woman told him to leave. 

By the time the Collier County Sheriff’s Office arrived, the man was gone.

The man’s name was redacted in the report but the sheriff’s department released the report when Florida Politics asked for any records associated with Guzman Morales.

Rep. McClure did not respond to a Florida Politics’ inquiry for this story as he framed the Dec. 1 situation as influencing his views when he spoke to his fellow lawmakers.

“We have to take action,” said Rep. McClure, the sponsor of the House version of the TRUMP Act, as he urged his colleagues to pass the bill despite Gov. Ron DeSantis’ criticism that it wasn’t strong enough legislation.

Rep. McClure also reflected on the emotions lingering from what happened at his home.

Rep. McClure said his 5-year-old “asks you every single day, ‘What was that bad man doing trying to get in the house?’ And if you want to feel even worse, ‘Why weren’t you here to help mommy?’”

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On the heels of a record-breaking year of hosting more travelers than ever, Jacksonville International Airport (JIA) is adding more flights to its schedule.

JIA announced Thursday the airline hub will add more Southwest Airlines flights to Austin, Texas, this year. Officials with the airport also are adding flights to St. Louis, Mo., aboard Allegiant Airlines.

Both destinations will involve direct, nonstop flights. The St. Louis flights will take travelers to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. The St. Louis route isn’t so much a new one. Rather, it’s a return of the service on Allegiant. It begins again in March.

The Austin route will exchange travelers with Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Those flights won’t begin until October, though. The service on Southwest Airlines will depart from JIA at 11:58 a.m. and arrive in Austin about 12:35 p.m. Then the flights from Austin will depart about 12:50 p.m. and arrive in Jacksonville about 4:15 p.m. That flight schedule will be offered every day except for Saturdays when Southwest begins the service in the fall.

“Southwest is a beloved airline with strong brand loyalty,” Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) CEO Mark VanLoh said. “We have no doubt that their service to Austin will be successful.”

It’s the latest addition of First Coast flight service being offered involving JIA and Southwest. The carrier already offers nonstop travel to Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Nashville and St. Louis. That’s on top of another addition beginning later this year as Southwest will begin Saturday-only service from JIA to Kansas City on June 7.

The new routes and flights come as JIA just marked a record-setting year for travelers in 2024.

JIA officials announced in January the airport broke records again as more than 7.6 million travelers passed through the facility in 2024. That’s up from the 7.45 million passengers who used the airport in 2023. Passenger travel in 2024 was up 2.4% over 2023, smashing the record that had already been set in 2023.

Jacksonville International Airport officials had noted expanded service and new flights were a significant part of the reason for record-breaking use of the facility.

“Our passenger volume continues to increase as Northeast Florida and the local economy grow,” Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) CEO Mark VanLoh said. “Airlines have taken note, adding frequencies, cities and larger aircraft at JAX.”

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