A new “farm bill” championed by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson takes aim at trippy fungi, plant-based milk and fake meat fashioned from plant products.

The 2025 Florida Farm Bill, which is being carried by Sen. Keith Truenow and Rep. Kaylee Tuck, includes measures intended as ways to “increase consumer protection and transparency.”

One of those planks would put the kibosh on certain elevated experiences, by “closing the loophole allowing the sale of psychedelic mushrooms.”

Some mushrooms apparently are commercially available. Jacksonville’s Folio Weekly noted that while psilocybin is federally banned as of 1970, the Siberian-sourced amanita muscaria has been available in recent years.

The farm bill would also ban “the mislabeling of plant-based products as ‘milk’ or ‘meat.’ This presumably would cause those who manufacture vegetable and mushroom based burgers to change their parlance, as well as those who market coconut, almond, soy and other plant-based milks.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, no particular ally of Simpson especially given the ongoing debate about whether the Governor’s Office or the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will helm the illegal immigration fight in the state, stood opposed to the “lab grown … fake meat” movement last year, signing a ban on cultivated proteins the agriculture department sought.

Simpson told a House committee Tuesday the “fake meat” ban protected farmers.

The farm bill covers a lot of other ground also, including providing local control over farm-based solar farms, banning banks from discriminating against farmers and ranchers based on environmental policy, updating the concealed weapon permit process, making stealing checks from mailboxes a felony offense, and requiring schools to provide 4H and Future Farmers of America facilities.

The Commissioner contextualized the bill.

“This legislation is a strong step forward to defend Florida’s agricultural industry and the hardworking farmers, ranchers, and growers who fuel our economy. By standing up to overreach and ensuring our agricultural community thrives, we are preserving our state’s heritage and safeguarding its future. Florida’s agriculture industry deserves the best, and through Senator Truenow and Representative Tuck’s efforts we are delivering on that promise,” Simpson said.

Lawmakers offered their own takes.

Truenow said the bill was “about standing up for common-sense policies that protect our agricultural lands, support local businesses, and ensure Florida remains a leader in agriculture.”

And Tuck said “safeguarding our farmers and ranchers from discriminatory lending practices and bolstering consumer protections” is “ensuring a brighter, more secure future for Florida agriculture.”

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U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz wants America’s official line on a nuclear-powered Iran to be unequivocal.

“All options” should be on the table to counter that threat, the Parkland Democrat said. He’s now put that dictate into legislation with Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler.

“Allowing Iran to maintain and build a nuclear program is an existential threat to the United States, and global stability. As the Iranian regime continues its dangerous attempts at nuclear expansion, leaders have to call this out for what it is: an unacceptable escalation in the Middle East and a national security threat against the United States and our allies,” said Moskowitz, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Intelligence.

“(The) United States won’t stand for anything less and will consider all options to protect our national security. We must send a clear, bipartisan message that we stand with our ally Israel and that a continued nuclear program in Iran is an absolute nonstarter.”

Moskowitz and Lawler filed a resolution Tuesday to complement legislation a bipartisan trio of Senators — Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman and Republicans Katie Britt of Alabama and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — introduced Friday.

The legislation:

— Affirms that Iran’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons capability is a credible threat to the U.S. and an existential threat to Israel and other allies and partners in the Middle East.

— Asserts that “all options should be considered” in addressing the nuclear threat Iran poses.

— Demands that Iran “immediately cease engaging in any and all activity” that threatens the national security of the U.S., Israel and its allies, including enriching uranium, developing or possessing vehicles capable of carrying nukes, and developing or possessing a nuclear warhead.

Of note, the legislation makes clear that it does not do anything to authorize U.S. military force.

The twin House and Senate measures include an outline of Iran’s history of aggression toward the U.S. and its allies, its financial backing of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups and efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

The bills also note Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s support of the nation’s “Death to America” stance and assertion that Israel is a “cancerous growth” in need of destruction.

In December, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence published an assessment of Iran’s nuclear activity, concluding that the country’s enriched uranium stockpiles “are far greater than needed” for non-weapon uses. If Iran further enriched its uranium stockpile, the assessment said, it could “produce more than a dozen nuclear weapons.”

Later that month, France, Germany and the United Kingdom released a joint statement condemning “Iran’s latest steps” to expand its production of enriched uranium and “strongly” urging the nation to “immediately halt its nuclear escalation.”

Graham appeared Sunday on Fox News to discuss the Senate resolution. He said he approached Fetterman, whom he described as a “champion for the state of Israel,” to partner on the legislation.

“What this resolution does (is) it lays out the case against Iran’s nuclear ambition. (Israel Prime Minister) Bibi Netanyahu and the Israelis are going to have to make a decision relatively soon (on) what to do about the Iran nuclear program,” he said. “This is not an authorization to use force, but … America should support an effort by Israel if they decide to decimate the Iranian program. I think it’s a threat to mankind … and there’s an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven’t seen in decades.”

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Florida House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee (IBS) members heard good news about the state insurer of last resort on Tuesday, and recent legislative reforms have shored it up.

Citizens CEO Tim Cerio said that depopulation of the insurer may be down to desired levels by 2027, saying Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Commissioner Michael Yaworsky thinks 700,000 may be the correct number, while he hopes “it’s in the fives or maybe low sixes.”

“I think we will see whatever that number is in the next two years. Knock on wood,” Cerio said, unwittingly using an infamous Gov. Ron DeSantis phrase of hope that no storms would hit while he ran for President.

Citizens closed 2024 with slightly more than 936,000 policies in force, down from more than 1.4 million policies at the peak in 2023.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned about Citizens’ bloat in the past. He previously noted that Citizens was “unfortunately undercapitalized” and that the company could go “belly up” if it had to weather a significant storm. But Cerio’s comments suggest that the company only has so far to shrink.

Cerio noted that in 2018, Citizens had just 427,000 policies, but that was “artificially low” given the shakiness of some private companies.

He also noted Citizens has to shoulder more dangerous properties than a private insurer might and charges “actuarially unsound” rates in much of the state (with Miami-Dade an exception), given its role in the marketplace, as private companies are not “coming in to take the riskiest of the risky.” That said, actuarial soundness gets closer all the time.

Mangrove Property Insurance Co. is the latest company to enter the market, approved by OIR last week. In recent months, ASI Select Insurance Corp., Trident Reciprocal Exchange, Ovation Home Insurance Exchange, Manatee Insurance Exchange, Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange, Orange Insurance Exchange, Orion180 Select Insurance Company, Orion180 Insurance Company, Mainsail Insurance Company, and Tailrow Insurance Exchange have also entered the market.

Despite the realities of the marketplace, prudent policy has also had benefits for those in the private market.

“We would have had an assessment this year but for the reforms,” Cerio said, referring to laws (HB 1A and SB 2A) passed in 2022 that bolstered the reinsurance market and decreased the window of time for homeowners to file claims against policies. Citizens customers must also move to a private carrier if they receive an offer within 20% above the Citizens rate.

Cerio noted that the reforms have also cut legal costs, saving Florida from an “insurance spiral.”

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