Fresh Take Florida
Three weeks after a 19-year-old shot and killed 17 people at his Parkland high school, then-Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill designed to make sure a similar shooting would never happen again. Now, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to repeal some provisions in the legislation, he said during his State of the State speech Tuesday.
“The free state of Florida has not exactly led the way on protecting Second Amendment rights,” he said. “We need to be a strong Second Amendment state.”
DeSantis said the state’s laws pale in comparison to those of other conservative states. He pointed to problems with “red flag laws” and legislation increasing the minimum age for firearm purchases from 18 to 21.
DeSantis signed permitless concealed carry into law in 2023, saying it was “an anomaly” that the state hadn’t approved permitless open carry yet. He called red flag laws, which allow a judge to deem someone a danger and remove their firearms, a “huge due process violation” and advocated to shift the burden of proof to the state.
House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said DeSantis’ goals would make Florida less safe.
“It seems to me that we’re breaking our promise to the parents and the students of Parkland,” she said in an interview. “(The changes) would be awful for our law enforcement. We absolutely want to keep them safe as they do their job. I was very troubled by his comments.”
In a press conference, DeSantis said recent laws had “taken away the rights of young adults to purchase a long gun.” He said a Marine can carry a rifle in the Middle East but “can’t even buy a rifle to go hunt” when they return to Florida, which is untrue. Service members, along with law enforcement and correctional officers, can buy rifles and shotguns in Florida beginning at 18, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
After six years of ambitious State of the State speeches tackling divisive issues like abortion and diversity, DeSantis reflected more on his year of accomplishments than he proposed sweeping reforms. He focused on firearms laws, insurance reform and tax cuts.
Unlike with firearms laws, DeSantis did not note specific insurance reform measures in his speech. Instead, he pointed to “stabilized” property insurance rates and auto insurance rate deductions in Florida, saying the Legislature had devoted more time and effort to address insurance reforms in recent years “than at any other time in the history of the state.”
Just before DeSantis spoke, though, House Speaker Daniel Perez said the Insurance and Banking Subcommittee had “the full range of tools” needed to investigate insurance companies. Perez mentioned reports indicating insurance companies used “accounting tricks” to hide money amid claims of a crisis.
In a press conference after his speech, DeSantis said he was “all for” additional measures from the Legislature to ensure “transparency and appropriate oversight” of insurance companies, but he would not support “opening up the litigation floodgates.”
DeSantis has expressed support in recent weeks for eliminating property taxes, but on Tuesday in his speech softened by saying, “Taxpayers need relief.” He mentioned he would work with members of the Legislature on an amendment for the 2026 ballot to “provide constitutional protections” for Florida homeowners.
At the same time he encouraged legislators to draft an amendment on property taxes, DeSantis asked them to change the process for organizations to introduce constitutional amendments. He cited “petition fraud” with Amendments 3 and 4 last year, which would have legalized recreational marijuana and enshrined abortion rights in the constitution, respectively.
He called the amendment process “out of control” and said he had support from both leaders to overhaul it.
DeSantis also mentioned the rising costs associated with owning condos in the wake of the 2021 collapse of a condo building in Surfside that killed 98 people. He didn’t specify what measures he would take to lower costs, saying he had been “hands off” on the condo issue because he “didn’t know what needed to be done,” but he said he trusts the Senate to address the problems.
DeSantis criticized federal politicians and agencies as he touted Florida’s accomplishments, including its low debt compared to other states. He encouraged Congress to “please take a page out of Florida’s fiscal playbook” in efforts to reduce the national debt and said the state would complete Everglades restoration projects itself with federal grant funds because “Florida time is faster than Army Corps of Engineers time.”
Despite mentioning the federal government — and President Donald Trump — frequently in his address, DeSantis didn’t discuss government efficiency and waste in Florida until his press conference afterward.
Local government budgets had gone up “dramatically,” and it would take between 12 and 18 months to “DOGE local governments,” DeSantis said, referencing Trump’s January executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency.
Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Perez both mentioned government waste in their speeches earlier in the day.
Albritton said the Florida government is not “immune” to spending scrutiny. Perez encouraged the House to “pull out the weeds of waste, fraud and abuse,” a statement met with raucous applause from the representatives.
DeSantis boasted about the state’s “billions of dollars in tax cuts” over the last six years, promising to eliminate business rent tax. He also said he wouldn’t raise state taxes.
Driskell said the state needs a way to collect revenue given it doesn’t have an income tax.
“The Governor likes to mention cutting property taxes because it sounds great, right?” she said after his speech. “But he never talks about what services he would cut if we move forward with that proposal. Which teacher would the governor fire?”
DeSantis briefly mentioned his wife, Casey, who is considering a run for governor, and her work with Hope Florida, which connects Floridians with nonprofit groups that can help them in times of need.
DeSantis also paid tribute to Florida Highway Patrol trooper Orlando Morales, who rescued an abandoned dog during the evacuation ahead of Hurricane Milton. That was among the governor’s biggest applause lines.
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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.
