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FAIA taps Greg Thomas for Director of Professional Development

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The Florida Association of Insurance Agents has named Greg Thomas as Director of Professional Development, effective June 2.

The newly established position is focused on expanding education and training opportunities for independent insurance agents throughout the state.

“Education has always been one of the foundational pillars of our association,” said Kyle Ulrich, President and CEO of FAIA. “Bringing Greg onto our team underscores our continued focus on professional development and gives our members access to decades of regulatory experience. Greg’s deep industry knowledge and strong relationships with agents statewide will be an incredible asset to FAIA and the agents we serve.”

Thomas most recently worked at the Florida Department of Financial Services, where he held dual roles as Director of Insurance Agent & Agency Services and Director of Consumer Services. His responsibilities included oversight of insurance agent, agency, and adjuster licensing across Florida, as well as leadership of consumer call centers, alternative dispute resolution programs, and complaint resolution efforts.

With 39 years in the insurance sector — six years as an agent and 33 years as a regulator — Thomas brings extensive experience in areas such as agent compliance, consumer protection, and regulatory policy. He holds licenses as a general lines property and casualty insurance agent and a life and health insurance agent.

“Having worked alongside FAIA for many years, I am excited to begin this next chapter in my career and further the association’s work to educate and empower independent agents,” Thomas said. “I’ve seen firsthand FAIA’s commitment to its members and their impact on Florida’s insurance marketplace. I’m confident this role is the perfect fit for my experience and my passion for professional development.”

Thomas earned a master’s degree in risk management and insurance from Florida State University and holds several industry credentials, including Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Chartered Life Underwriter, and Fellow of the Life Management Institute.


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Anti-Donald Trump immigration protest draws 4K people to downtown Jacksonville Saturday

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More than 4,000 people turned out to protest against the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agency and President Donald Trump Saturday outside the Duval County Courthouse in Jacksonville.

The event was organized by 5050-1, which means 50 protests in 50 states with one movement. The political activist organization estimated they organized more than 2,000 demonstrations Saturday across the nation with about two dozen in Florida alone as part of what the group called “No Kings Day.”

The crowd joined in chants led by speakers such as, “No Kings,” referring to their belief that Trump sees himself as a regal leader, a charge the White House has denied and insists he’s the president of a constitutional republic.

State Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat, was the keynote speaker at the Duval County event that lasted more than two hours in the sweltering heat.

“I consider my self to be the biggest pain in (Gov.) Ron DeSantis’s ass,” Nixon said as the crowd erupted into cheers. “I also consider myself to be the biggest pain in Donald Trump’s ass.”

Nixon quickly transitioned into a cheerleader more so than a political official and quickly shouted “There ain’t no kings,” to which the crowd repeated in unison while she was also leading chants of “It’s right to rebel, Donald Trump go to hell.”

She went on to urge those in the crowd to become consistent voters and change the leadership in American government in the 2026 midterm elections by motivating other residents to vote against the Trump agenda and candidates who favor the President’s approach.

It was clearly the largest political demonstration in Jacksonville in five years to the month when a four-week series of protests over the George Floyd killing by police in 2020 drew thousands to different sites downtown each weekend. The crowd at Saturday’s demonstration was raucous as speaker after speaker railed against the Trump administration and its immigration policies and many said they were kindred spirits with protesters in Los Angeles who clashed with police, the California National Guard and even U.S. Marines in the past week over immigration policies.

Maria Garcia, an organizer with the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance, was also one of more than a dozen speakers and turned her attention to local Jacksonville City Council Member Rory Diamond who introduced a successful City Council measure this month that would block any programs from using city funds to pay for supporting immigration services. It passed Tuesday, but the Mayor has not signed it yet.

Garcia said the Republican Diamond is a “racist.”

Another City Council Member, Jimmy Peluso, was among the crowd during the protest and often joined in the cheers and chants. He said he was impressed with the turnout, but he derided the claim that some of his colleagues on the council were racist, particularly Diamond.

“What I’m behind is our First Amendment rights,” Peluso, a Democrat, said. “I’m not going to say my colleagues are racist. My interactions with them show me different.”

The participants in the crowd were not unanimously anti-Trump. Amelia Hughes was standing near the speaker’s platform and said she came from Waycross, Geogia to attend the protest she sees as misguided.

“In my heart I need to be here to speak out for those who can’t speak,” Hughes said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much hate for one person (Trump).”

A small airplane circled the protest site briefly with a banner behind it that said, “Duval for Trump.”

The protest site was directly in front of the courthouse on Adams Street Downtown, and the scene was more sedate than in some other cities.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office police kept their distance for the most part with department vehicles blocking road traffic at key intersections establishing a several-block perimeter surrounding the event. About a dozen sheriff’s officers riding patrol bicycles routinely passed through the area to monitor the demonstration, but there was no notable interaction.


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Florida law fixes issues with local zoning, processing biomass

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Agriculture interests are harvesting two victories this weekend as the Legislative Session comes to an end.

HB 211, signed Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, holds that “farm product” “means plants and plant products any plant, as defined in s. 581.011, regardless of whether such plants and plant products are edible or nonedible, or any animal useful to humans and includes, but is not limited to, any product derived therefrom.”

Various byproducts are possible under this language. The law refers to “a farm product, as defined in s. 163.3162,  or any biomass material that could be used, directly or indirectly, for the production of fuel, renewable energy, bioenergy, or alternative fuel as defined by law.”

The law also protects on-site facilities for processing biomass and other “existing activities essential to the operation of such facility or facilities are located or conducted, but those must be “located within, or within 10 miles of, a rural area of opportunity.”

Additionally, the bill preempts local regulations that may harm farmers’ interest, barring them from trying to adopt or enforce any “ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule, or policy to prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit an activity of a bona fide farm operation, including, but not limited to, the collection, storage, processing, and distribution of a farm product” in areas of the state proximate to an opportunity zone.


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Governor signs off on funds for local authorities to pay for private DNA tests

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This could help investigations.

Established laboratories will have a road to state funding via local police departments and sheriffs’ offices under certain circumstances.

Gov. Ron DeSantis approved HB 847, which establishes the Expedited DNA Testing Grant Program within the Department of Law Enforcement, allowing local law enforcement to use private labs that have been around for five years if they meet Federal Bureau of Investigation Quality Assurance Standards.

The funds will be allocated annually under the grant program.

Some conditions apply for use of this money.

These include whether the test can be done at a governmental lab, and whether there is a perceived need to go the private route to expedite an investigation.

Grant recipients must meet an annual reporting requirement.

They will have to track how much money the agencies got, how many cases were run, the time to turnaround results, the final dispensation of the lab tests, and what types of testing were used.


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