U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is resigning from the House Freedom Caucus, citing betrayal from some of its members over her efforts to pass legislation allowing proxy voting for new parents.

“My goal has always been to work alongside like-minded individuals committed to fighting for the American people and delivering on the promises President Trump campaigned on,” Luna wrote in her letter announcing her departure from the Freedom Caucus, first shared by Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman on X.

“I have consistently supported each of you, even in the moments of disagreement, honoring the mutual respect that has guided our caucus.”

But she said that respect “was shattered last week” when some members of the caucus worked to block her effort to bring forward legislation allowing new mothers and fathers in Congress to vote by proxy for 12 weeks.

“This was a modest, family-centered proposal,” Luna wrote. “Yet, a small group among us threatened the Speaker, vowing to halt floor proceedings indefinitely — regardless of the legislation at stake, including President Trump’s agenda — unless he altered the rules to block my discharge petition.”

Multiple reports highlighted the infighting. Luna gathered enough member signatures to force a vote on her discharge petition, which are used to circumvent issues blocked by the majority party to get a vote on a bill. But House Speaker Mike Johnson argued that proxy voting violates the Constitution.

Luna had already accused GOP leaders in Congress of making threats to convince members to vote against the proxy voting measure, even bribing some to go along with efforts to block Luna’s discharge petition, according to NPR.

Luna was the 12th lawmaker to give birth while serving in the U.S. House. And in 2023, after the birth of her child, she had sought rule changes to allow new parents to vote remotely. But her efforts were rejected by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and now-Speaker Johnson.

Luna is reaching across the aisle on the issue, working with Democratic U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, who was the 13th member of Congress to have a baby while in office.

In her letter, Luna called efforts to block her petition more than just “a betrayal of trust,” dubbing it “a descent into the very behavior we have long condemned — a practice that we, as a group, have repeatedly criticized leadership for allowing.”

Luna closed the letter by noting that the discharge petition process will continue to be used, and it “will not dismantle our system — whether it’s for this measure, term limits, election integrity, or anything else.”

“What does threaten our institution, however, is succumbing to the very corruption we pledged to uproot,” Luna wrote. “Sadly, that is what some among us have become. The Constitution entrusts us with a sacred duty to serve, not to manipulate rules for power and to silence dissent. When we abandon that duty, we erode the very foundation we claim to defend.”

While Luna had harsh words for members of her caucus who went against her on the proxy voting issue, she was careful in her letter not to direct her ire at Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris.

“Your gentlemanly approach throughout this process has been a model of integrity, and I thank you for it,” she wrote, noting it was “with a heavy heart” that she steps down from the caucus. She also thanked those “who have remained my friends and treated me with respect.”

The House Freedom Caucus is a group of about 40 highly conservative members of the U.S. House. The group has, at times, drawn criticism for being obstructionist. Many of its members were behind opposition to choosing McCarthy as Speaker, which led to his election only after a record-breaking 15 rounds of voting in 2023. Some members were also behind McCarthy’s eventual ouster as Speaker. And the group has put up roadblocks during government spending showdowns.

McCarthy himself has accused the group of being “the ones who have stopped the Republicans from being able to govern,” according to the Hill.

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A Florida Farm Bill backed by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is moving through the House and is wading directly into the debate over water fluoridation.

The Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee is the latest panel to advance Rep. Kaylee Tuck’s legislation (HB 651). And this time around, the public showed up in favor of a provision that would ban Florida cities from fluoridating water.

While the legislation covers a lot of ground, the issue of “additives” in municipal water supplies took center stage yet again, with Democrats pressing the issue.

Rep. Michelle Rayner wondered why fluoride required a “preemption.”

Tuck noted that the bill covers all additives, and rejected the premise that banning fluoride in the water supply would lead to more cavities.

As opposed to the bill’s previous stop, people showed up to speak out against forced fluoridation.

Susan Clark, a former research assistant at the Harvard School of Public Health, made the scientific case against fluoridation, saying it creates “neurologic problems.”

“It’s the primary ingredient in rat poison,” Clark said.

Lyn Hartman, a Melbourne Beach resident who has dual German-American citizenship, also spoke in favor of the bill’s fluoride preemption and the “yearning” Floridians have to “remove toxins” from water.

“Nobody’s woker than Germans. And Germans don’t have fluoride in the water,” Hartman said.

Mya Hahn, the Vice President of React Research and a speech-language pathologist, also spoke on behalf of the “MAHA Florida” Coalition in advocating for clean drinking water without “forced additives,” and “informed consent” for families.

“This bill restores our choice. It demands oversight and transparency, ensuring water hydrates, not medicates,” Hahn said. “As a mom, I fear for my kids’ brains. As a specialist, I see neurodivergent children suffer from environmental harms. We deserve a way to say no to this risk, and we have a right to clean and safe drinking water.”

This bill is supported by Heritage Action, the Heartland Institute, the National Rifle Association, the Florida Agritourism Association, the Florida Poultry Association, the Florida Farm Bureau Federation and the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association. It has one committee stop ahead. The package is also moving in the Senate

The bill covers a lot of other ground, including banning psychedelic mushrooms and the representation of a plant product as milk or meat.

It would offer a ballot initiative where voters could choose to exempt agricultural lands from property taxes. The measure would provide grants for fiscally constrained counties to get electric vehicle charging stations.

It would also allow schools to maintain agricultural spaces for the Future Farmers of America and the 4H Club by exempting the schools from local zoning that would otherwise ban it.

The bill also would ban drones on agricultural lands. Tuck said the language adds “ag operations” to criminal statute.

Mail theft is already a federally banned activity, but the bill would give the state enforcement ability.

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The restaurant and bar industry isn’t for the faint of heart, and a local bill advancing through the House could make staying afloat that much harder for some Broward County establishments.

HB 4039, sponsored by Rep. Chip LaMarca, would provide an exemption to the state’s three-tier alcohol distribution system within the Sunrise Entertainment District in Broward.

The Legislature typically votes in line with an area’s delegation on local bills, and for good reason — time is limited, so getting into the weeds on a hyperlocal issue would be a disservice to the millions of Floridians who will never feel an impact either way.

But while HB 4039 is limited to Broward County now, it runs afoul of another, far more important, norm: Don’t pick winners and losers.

So, into the weeds we go.

Florida’s three-tier system splits the alcoholic beverage industry into separate silos — manufacturers make beverages, distributors sell them wholesale, and vendors sell them to consumers.

The system isn’t unique, with most U.S. states enacting similar rules post-Prohibition, and although there have been exceptions and carveouts over the past century, it remains the standard in all but one state (for the curious, it’s Washington).

While imperfect, the three-tier system effectively squashed some of the seedy practices that were commonplace during the bootlegging era. Most relevant to HB 4039, the three-tier system prevents brands from moneyhatting their way into exclusive arrangements with retailers and venues. It also blocks preferential treatment, such as a supplier or distributor building a bar inside a favored restaurant or paying for renovations at a favored retailer, including civic centers and sports venues.

Years ago, the Legislature gave Broward County three alcohol licenses, and the logic behind it tracks. It applied to what were, at the time, three publicly owned venues and it was intended to save local taxpayers money by sparing them from paying the costs associated with obtaining licenses on the open market — costs borne by all private-sector businesses in the industry.

Were all of that still true, HB 4039 wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, but the situation has changed. Now, all three licenses have been contracted to a single private entity, and if they are afforded the same exemptions, the license holders would be able to seek and accept payments from big-name brands in exchange for exclusivity, locking out competition.

The significant financial benefits for the exclusive concessionaire company that would result from eliminating competition on these properties would put competing venues at a disadvantage and harm consumer choice.

If allowed to continue, the unlevel playing field would jeopardize the livelihoods of the many Floridians who work at competing venues as well as the locked-out distributors and suppliers up the chain. Simply put — your favorite neighborhood haunt would have a hard time pulling in customers when the place next door is being subsidized by the highest bidder.

Setting aside the anti-consumer implications, of which there are many, the exemption violates a plain read of Article III, Section 11 of the Florida Constitution which expressly prohibits local laws granting a privilege to a private corporation. So, add unconstitutional to the mix.

HB 4039 stumbled in its first committee. After it was temporarily postponed, a move that often but not always signals that legislation is flawed, it advanced through the Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee on an 11-4 vote.

The bill now heads to the House Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee, which has placed it on the agenda for its April 1 meeting.

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