Politics
Health freedom group backs Paul Renner for Governor
Stand for Health Freedom, a 501(c)(4) group that opposes mandatory vaccinations and supports medical choice, is endorsing Paul Renner for Governor.
“Paul Renner has consistently demonstrated the courage to defend Florida families and uphold the principle that parents, not government make decisions for their children. His record shows a clear understanding that medical freedom and parental rights are inseparable from the liberty we all cherish,” said Bailey Kuykendoll, Operations Director and Florida State Director for Stand for Health Freedom.
The group praised Renner for his leadership on issues it prioritizes, such as parents’ rights to choose how their children are medically treated, including with vaccines. The group said he has deployed a “sensible approach to whole health initiatives,” while avoiding “one-size-fits-all mandates” in favor of personalized care.
Renner, commenting on the endorsement, highlighted his work during the COVID crisis, during which he led the House as Speaker.
“The COVID crisis led to an unprecedented expansion of power with the federal government literally attempting to take control of individual healthcare decisions,” Renner said.
“In Florida, we said ‘no’, and when I was Speaker of the House, we acted courageously to protect the rights of parents, patients, and individual citizens over healthcare decisions for themselves and their families. As Governor, I will continue to defend those rights and keep us the Free State of Florida.”
The group opposes medical mandates, arguing they undermine individual rights and rob patients of informed consent. The group also opposes school-based health centers and digital mental health platforms, saying they bypass parental consent and oversight, according to its website.
It also opposes pesticide liability legislation, genetically modified foods, and water fluoridation, while supporting the deregulation of direct farmer-to-consumer sales, including of raw milk.
The endorsement from a group likely to boost Renner’s conservative bona fides comes as the latest poll shows Renner with less than 3% support in the 2026 Governor’s race to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis. The poll showed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds as the clear front-runner, with more than 39% support. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, who has yet to jump into the race but who is expected to do so, didn’t do much better than Renner, at 4% support.
Even First Lady Casey DeSantis, who is still rumored to be considering a bid, only posted 21% support if thrown into the GOP mix.
Nevertheless, Renner has consistently said he expects his standing in the race to improve as time wears on. He recently tapped a team of military veterans and active service members to help with his campaign, called the Statewide Veterans Coalition. The group is assembled to recruit veteran leaders in each county to help with policy ideas and voter turnout.
The policy expansion is retroactive through November 2024.
The House is expanding its paid parental leave policy when employees have a baby or adopt a child, House Speaker Daniel Perez announced.
The policy takes effect immediately and applies retroactively for parents who took leave from Nov. 19, 2024, onward.
Going forward, full-time salaried employees will get up to seven consecutive weeks of paid parental leave for maternity leave after childbirth.
The House will also offer mothers and fathers paid care and bonding leave for up to two weeks within one year after a child’s birth or adoption. The care and bonding leave “may be granted on an intermittent basis” and can’t be taken during the 60-day Legislative Session. It requires supervisor approval as well, Perez’s memo said.
It’s an expansion from the current policy, which Perez explained in the memo.
“As has been the policy of the House, an employee who is the father or mother of a natural born or adopted child will continue to be granted parental leave for a period not to exceed three months total,” Perez’s memo said.
“The employee may include in the request for parental leave one or all of the following types of leave: (new) paid parental leave when allowable; up to 240 hours of accrued sick leave; annual leave; compensatory leave; personal holiday; and leave without pay.”
To help retroactively, the House Office of Administration and Professional Development will be contacting employees to talk about their situations.
The majority of Americans don’t get paid time off for childbirth, according to a 2019 Kaiser Foundation study.
A few major employers in Florida are offering the benefit to new parents.
Publix, for instance, began offering full- and part-time employees paid parental leave in 2022.
“We frequently review our benefits to continually offer a comprehensive package to our associates,” Publix spokesperson Maria Brous told Florida Politics at the time the policy was unveiled.
Politics
Ben Albritton on the future of property tax proposals in the Senate: ‘We’re still measuring’
With eight proposals on eliminating or cutting property taxes moving through the House and Gov. Ron DeSantis maintaining that none go far enough, many are looking more and more to the Senate for signs of what, if any, change could be coming.
As he’s done in months past, Senate President Ben Albritton is advocating for a cautious, unhurried approach.
“Honest to goodness, we’re still measuring,” Albritton told reporters Monday. “We’ve looked at the House proposals, and every one of those has a certain amount of cost to it and a certain amount of impact to Floridians.”
Albritton said that while the Senate is committed to delivering financial relief to Floridians in the form of property tax cuts or rollbacks, he and others in the chamber are cognizant that many core services at the local level stand to be adversely affected if it’s done carelessly.
“Every Floridian … depends on the fact that if they call 911, somebody comes to their place, somebody comes to help them,” he said. “We’ve got to be thoughtful about that.”
Asked whether the Governor has unilateral authority to redistribute funds derived from well-to-do counties like Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Orange to 29 fiscally constrained, mostly rural counties — as DeSantis has proposed doing — Albritton’s answer was more definitive: “No.”
“The Florida Legislature (is) given the power to appropriate. The Governor is certainly the chief executive. He has the ability to veto or be supportive. He has, I would say, the ability and the opportunity to be able to share perspective in his budget request and when he lays out the budget,” he said.
“The opportunity to backfill lies in the Legislature.”
On the idea of cash-strapped counties asking the state for funding annually that they’d otherwise generate locally, Albritton said it’s “certainly a concern.”
“Do I love the idea? Of course not,” he said. “But I (believe) affordability is a challenge, and providing some relief in the property tax space is a great way to do that, and especially for (homesteaded) Floridians … that’s great.”
Albritton pushed back on the idea that eliminating property taxes would lead to a “gold rush” of wealthy transplants to the Sunshine State, stressing that he is “optimistic” about the prospect despite its potentially negative effects.
“But it’s not that simple,” he said. “And that’s one of the things that I’m finding in that here again: Don’t take down a fence until you know why it was put up.”
Galeries Lafayette’s Arthur Lemoine says opening in Mumbai presents a unique opportunity to be a pioneer in India
House expands paid parental leave for employees, Daniel Perez says
Baby boomers have ‘gobbled up’ the wealth share, leaving Gen Z to wait for Great Wealth Transfer
-
Politics8 years agoCongress rolls out ‘Better Deal,’ new economic agenda
-
Entertainment8 years ago
New Season 8 Walking Dead trailer flashes forward in time
-
Politics8 years ago
Poll: Virginia governor’s race in dead heat
-
Entertainment8 years ago
The final 6 ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes might feel like a full season
-
Entertainment8 years ago
Meet Superman’s grandfather in new trailer for Krypton
-
Politics8 years ago
Illinois’ financial crisis could bring the state to a halt
-
Business8 years ago
6 Stunning new co-working spaces around the globe
-
Tech8 years ago
Hulu hires Google marketing veteran Kelly Campbell as CMO