Gov. Ron DeSantis is happy with his automobile insurance.

After the State of the State address, DeSantis said the state of his car coverage from USAA couldn’t be better.

Noting that he talked to “some of the guys” from the company at last year’s Army-Navy Football Game, DeSantis said that he and First Lady Casey DeSantis had been “USAA members for a long time.”

“The First lady lost a car years ago in a storm. We literally put in the claim. Some guy shows up 48 hours later and just cuts us a check and I’d never seen anything like it and I always remind them,” DeSantis said. “I was like, ‘I’ll be a customer for life because you guys didn’t play games.’ So I have confidence in USAA just as a veteran and having done that.”

In addition to giving his own insurance company a vote of confidence, DeSantis also discussed car coverage rates writ large.

He noted they went up “20-22% in 2024,” which he said USAA told him was because of the cost of car parts these days.

“Basically they said, ‘Well, cars are more like computers now. Used to be you have a car, you know how to fix a bumper. Now there’s sensors, there’s all these things,’” DeSantis recounted. “And so when there’s accidents, the cost of fixing that just gets higher and so it drives rates up. Then you have overall inflation.”

Additionally, DeSantis suggested Floridians’ behavior behind the wheel were also a factor driving up premiums.

“We have challenges with how the culture of driving is. I was telling people when we had the snowstorm. Now, North Florida may be a little bit better than South Florida for driving, but I was afraid everyone’s going to be peeling out on this ice and stuff. And we were plowing it. And I think it ended up working out okay. But you have that situation,” DeSantis said.

In spite of bad driving in the state, DeSantis noted that some auto insurers have lowered their rates.

He credits that to “litigation reform and legal reform” that have brought “more stability, more predictability” to a once troubled market.

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A new bill aims to promote transparency and fairness in wage and salary practices across both public and private sectors by barring employers from requesting wage history and requiring them to disclose wage ranges and benefits for job positions.

North Miami Democratic Rep. Dotie Joseph filed the measure (HB 1619) that aims to address wage disparities and ensure employees are compensated fairly, regardless of past earnings. It also seeks to safeguard employees from retaliation and provide avenues for enforcement and relief in cases of noncompliance.

Titled the “Wage Fairness Act,” the bill would regulate employer practices and enhance wage and salary transparency. Employers and employment agencies would be prohibited from requesting or requiring employees or potential employees to provide wage or salary history.

Employers would further be prohibited from failing or refusing to disclose in an advertisement for an employment opportunity, whether public or internal, the wage or wage range in job advertisements. They would also be required to provide a general description of the benefits and any other remuneration for the job.

Employees would need to be given an update at least annually, on the employees’ hiring, promotion or transfer details if they are still employed by the employer or agency.

Furthermore, employers would be prohibited from taking retaliatory actions, such as refusing to hire or promote, against an employee or potential employee if they refuse to disclose their past wage or salary history. An employee, however, would be able to voluntarily disclose this information to an employer, especially for negotiation purposes.

All necessary records for each employee including the wage or wage range, and a general description of the benefits and all other information for employment opportunities, promotions and transfers would be required to be maintained and kept for at least two years after the employee leaves the job.

Employees within the Career Service System who are faced with a grievance would be able to appeal to the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC). All other employees would be able to bring a civil action for legal or equitable relief in court within one year of the date that the person knew or should have known about the violation.

The PERC may order the employer or agency to pay a civil penalty of $1,000 for a first violation, and an additional $1,000 for each additional violation up to a total of $10,000. Courts would also be able to order injunctive relief of up to $10,000.

If passed, the bill would come into effect July 1.

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