When it comes to driving and road challenges, many residents consider Florida a tricky place to get behind the wheel of a vehicle. But stacked up and compared to other states, the Sunshine State isn’t all that bad.

Florida landed in the top 15 best states in America for driving, according to a new ranking by WalletHub. The study released this year concluded that Florida is the 14th best state for driving in the United States, with a combined score of 61.03, according to the scale developed in the WalletHub study.

WalletHub researchers compared the 50 states using four essential factors: vehicle ownership and maintenance costs, traffic and infrastructure, vehicle safety and access, and maintenance.

Florida scored high on the element of access to vehicles and maintenance and was ranked second in the country in that category.

Despite the many tourists coming to Florida daily and the large number of vehicles on the streets of the state’s largest cities, the Sunshine State is pretty safe. Florida’s safety ranked eighth best in the country.

However, the same elements of tourists and big cities also lowered Florida’s ranking in traffic and infrastructure. Florida ranked as the 45th worst state in those areas. Florida also ranked pretty low in the cost of ownership and maintenance of vehicles, coming in at 32nd in America.

Kansas was ranked the best state to drive in America, scoring 65.92. It also ranked high in the cost of vehicle ownership and maintenance, as well as traffic and infrastructure, as it was ranked third and fifth, respectively. Kansas was ranked 33rd for safety and 32nd for access to vehicles and maintenance.

Idaho was ranked second best, with Indiana ranked third among the best states for driving.

Hawaii was ranked 50th for driving; Washington preceded that at 49th, and Montana at 48th.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis corroborates a Congressmember’s claim that he and the House and Senate are moving forward on a consensus product addressing illegal immigration.

“We’ve had great discussions. I think we’re going to land the plane. So I don’t necessarily have an announcement now, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to get there,” DeSantis told reporters Monday in Tallahassee.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna had said the “legislature is in discussions with DeSantis and they should be reaching an agreement soon. I hope they keep immigration authority with the Gov. Hearing the new version is WAY better than the 1.0.”

DeSantis expects a product that shows the legislative commitment to “aggressively address illegal immigration” and that last week’s discord was an “aberration.”

“I give credit to a lot of the members. They’re listening to the voters. Voters have been very, very firm on what they expect. And so when you’re elected, you listen to the people that sent you there and you make sure that your’re following through with that. So I do think that you’re going to see that plane land. It’s all about the policy,”  DeSantis said.

A major bone of contention: the Governor wants to control the fight against illegal immigration. The TRUMP Act passed by the Legislature, which DeSantis said he would veto, instead gives authority to Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.

The brewing compromise represents a thawing of rhetorical ice in recent days.

DeSantis has balked at how the TRUMP Act “takes away the Governor’s authority … takes power away from me,” while House Speaker Daniel Perez said DeSantis wants to be “deporter-in-chief.”

The Governor envisions a big spend to fight illegal immigration in the next budget.

“DeSantis recommends $505 million and 15 FTE (full-time employees) in the current year for the Division of Emergency Management and $4.4 million and 21 FTE to establish a Special Immigration Unit at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to immediately assist the federal administration’s enforcement of illegal immigration,” a memo released Sunday reads.

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