Gov. Ron DeSantis has declined to renominate his once loyal ally, former House Speaker José Oliva, to an influential state Board that oversees Florida’s public university system.

In a press release sent out just before his State of the State address started Tuesday, DeSantis named four new appointments and two reappointments to the State University System’s Board of Governors (BOG). Missing in the press release was any mention of Oliva, whose prior term ended Jan. 6.

Oliva was a DeSantis defender who had even been rumored to be on DeSantis’ list of Lieutenant Governor choices before DeSantis picked Jay Collins.

But Oliva clashed with DeSantis as the BOG voted on a new Chair in November.

The BOG elected Alan Levine as Chair instead of allowing Brian Lamb to remain for a third term. Influential University of Florida Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini, a DeSantis supporter, had been pushing for Lamb. Hosseini had also loudly backed UF hiring Santa Ono as President, but the BOG rejected Ono’s bid in June.

“Insiders say DeSantis’ office lobbied the Board of Governors in November to block anyone who voted against Ono from ascending to board leadership. Oliva ended up nominating Alan Levine, then the vice chair, to be chair — bucking the governor’s demands,” Miami Herald reporter Garrett Shanley wrote on X.

The new members of the BOG, subject to Florida Senate approval, will be: Ashley Lukis, Michael Okaty, Keith Perry and Nick Sinatra. Ashley Bell Barnett and Charles Lydecker were also reappointed.

One of the new Board members is a former state lawmaker. Another has ties to national politics.

Perry, now President and Owner of Perry Roofing Contractors, previously was a Senator representing Senate Districts 8 and 9 as well as a Representative for House Districts 21 and 22.

Sinatra, founder of Sinatra and Company, was the Associate Political Director for The White House under President George W. Bush.

Meanwhile, DeSantis said “Lukis is a Shareholder at GrayRobinson, P.A., where she represents public entities and private clients alike in complex state, federal, and administrative litigation.”

Okaty “is a Partner at Foley & Lardner, LLP,” DeSantis said, who “was recognized as the 2023 Lawyer of the Year in business organizations law by The Best Lawyers in America.”

Florida’s health care system is at a crossroads. The state is growing rapidly, the population is aging, and families across Florida are struggling to access timely, affordable care.

In many cases, the challenge is not a shortage of skilled providers. Instead, outdated laws limit competition, restrict who can provide care, and reduce patient choices.

Rep. Mike Redondo has filed legislation to remove these government barriers and modernize Florida’s health care delivery system. HB 693 is designed to expand access to care by addressing multiple structural obstacles that prevent services from reaching patients who need them most.

Rather than relying on a single narrow reform, the bill addresses several long-standing issues simultaneously. When providers have greater flexibility to serve patients and patients have more options, care becomes more accessible and more affordable.

HB 693 eliminates remaining Certificate-of-Need requirements for nursing homes, hospice services, and intermediate care facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities. It also allows Florida to join interstate compacts for physician assistants and emergency medical services professionals, making it easier for qualified providers to move to Florida and meet growing demand without unnecessary delays.

The legislation expands independent practice authority for advanced registered nurse practitioners, including psychiatric nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists. These highly trained professionals already play a critical role in patient care, particularly in mental health and underserved communities.

HB 693 also removes the supervisory cap on physician assistants, allowing physicians to oversee more PAs and increase patient capacity. This reflects modern, team-based care models and helps ensure patients are seen sooner without sacrificing quality.

Importantly, the bill includes commonsense transparency protections. Patients would receive notice of out-of-network referrals, and payments made for cost-effective care would count toward deductibles, helping families avoid surprise expenses and make informed decisions.

Together, these reforms promote a patient-centered approach that prioritizes access, choice, and transparency. At a time when families are feeling the pressure of rising health care costs, HB 693 offers a path toward a more responsive and modern system.

Rep. Redondo’s bill puts patients first, and lawmakers should support its passage.

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Skylar Zander is the State Director of Americans for Prosperity-Florida.

House Speaker Daniel Perez opened the 2026 Legislative Session by casting the chamber’s activities last year as a part of a necessary transition shaped by internal fights, bruising negotiations and a public rupture with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

When he took the gavel in November 2024, he said, House lawmakers entered the subsequent Session “believing that our service here could matter.”

“In the weeks and months that followed,” he continued, “our story took several surprising twists and turns.”

Perez’s message, while reflective, was largely a presaging of what lies ahead this year: a Session dominated by affordability pressures, property tax politics and a budget outlook that could force lawmakers to choose between trimming recurring spending and sustaining popular programs. “Affordability and insurance. Taxes and the economy. Prescription drug prices and the rising cost of public benefits,” Perez said.

“We must ensure Florida stays at the center of our planet’s race for the stars, and that our infrastructure keeps pace with our growth. Every child in Florida, from the unborn to our college graduates, deserves a fair shot at finding their own American Dream.”

The Miami Republican also used the moment to reflect on the volatility of the 2025 Session, when, in his telling, the House “found (its) voice” and “insisted on our independence.”

That included overrides of DeSantis’ budget vetoes, the investigation and dismantling of First Lady Casey DeSantis’ questionable Hope Florida charity, replacing DeSantis’ Special Session on immigration enforcement with one the Legislature devised and, ahead of the 2026 Session, introducing a fleet of bills with concrete property tax proposals while the Governor stalled on issuing his own.

When DeSantis fumed at the House’s open attempt to regain a coequal footing with the executive branch, Perez called the Governor “emotional” and prone to “temper tantrums” while stressing, “I consider him a friend. I consider him a partner.”

Under Perez, the House has also set to follow through on President Donald Trump’s call for mid-decade redistricting — an effort DeSantis and Senate President Ben Albritton also support, but have been slower to act on.

Perez framed the House’s comparative expeditiousness as an alternative to Tallahassee’s transactional culture.

“We learned that words without truth have no meaning. We learned that actions without humility lack consequence,” he said. “We learned that issues we tackle are not easily reducible to a slogan or an idea. … But difficult doesn’t mean impossible, and hard isn’t an excuse for cowardice.”

Those lines land in a Capitol still feeling the aftershocks of 2025, when budget and tax disputes between the House and Senate pushed the 60-day Regular Session into extended overtime. Perez’s friction with Albritton, whom he embraced before the Governor’s State of the State address Tuesday, remains a live factor. The Senate is again pushing Albritton’s “Rural Renaissance” package after it fell apart in the House last year, and Albritton has said he may prefer tackling major property tax relief after the Regular Session, which could collide with House urgency.

Hovering above it all is Perez’s feud with DeSantis, a rivalry that hardened last year and has since only been betrayed by a veneer of civility and common causes. On the most recent flashpoint, redistricting, the Governor this month called for a Special Session in April to redraw congressional lines — markedly later than when Perez views as ideal.

As for what will happen with that undertaking and many other hot-button issues the Legislature faces this year, it’s anyone’s guess, the Speaker said.

“Honestly, I don’t know what is going to happen,” he said. “That’s OK, because the journey is the best part.”