Winner and Loser of the Week in Florida politics — Week of 5.4.25

It appears the strange state park development saga is over, with Gov. Ron DeSantis saying he’ll sign legislation limiting such plans from emerging in the future.

A reminder that the Department of Environmental Protection last year seemingly tried to slip plans to build pickleball courts, golf courses, and lodging facilities past the public before being caught and forced to backtrack.

The strange part of this is … hmm, who was the Governor in 2024? Oh right, America’s Governor!

Yet DeSantis tried to disclaim responsibility as even Republicans across the state tore into the ill-conceived idea.

Maybe the guy who has tried to exert more control over the political process in the state than any Governor in recent memory really had an agency go completely rogue on such a consequential decision. Or maybe he saw the writing on the wall and tried to throw underlings under the bus.

Either way, we’re glad DeSantis ended up on the right side of this issue after lawmakers this Session passed a measure to force his hand. DeSantis is declining to put up a fight over the issue, and we can continue to enjoy our state parks in peace.

Now, it’s onto our weekly game of winners and losers.

Winners

Honorable mention: Jeanette Nuñez. Nuñez, who was named Interim President of Florida International University in early February, has now been named the university’s permanent President three months later.

That’s not a surprise. Covering the move then, we wrote that “while Nuñez only has the ‘interim’ title for now, she certainly has a chance to change that going forward.”

Sure enough, she emerged as the only finalist FIU considered for the gig.

As we also noted in February, this is a perfect fallback position for Nuñez, whose political future was unclear as DeSantis’ tenure continues nearing its close. She wasn’t going to win a Republican Primary for the 2026 Governor’s contest, and perhaps wasn’t itching to return to the Legislature.

Now, she’ll get to lead a university in her home region that’s trending in the right direction. And Nuñez certainly has the tools to continue that trajectory.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Disney. Disney stock surged this week amid a spate of good news, headlined by word that the company will construct a brand new theme park in Abu Dhabi.

“It will serve as an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment for millions and millions of people in this crossroads of the world, connecting travelers from the Middle East and Africa, India, Asia, Europe and beyond,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said.

Despite the lack of a timeline, investors loved the news, sending the stock up as much as 10% in early trading.

But that was the only magic Disney made this week. Analysts forecasted that Disney+ subscribers would drop by 1.1 million in the first quarter of 2025. Instead, the streaming service gained 1.4 million subs.

Disney revenue was also up by 7%, as Disney World is forecasting a strong Summer as Universal aims to open a new park, Epic Universe. Disney leadership has repeatedly said they expect to benefit from their rival’s move as more people head to Orlando.

Speaking of which, Orlando held onto its post as the most visited U.S. city in 2024, bringing in more than 75 million tourists, a 2% increase from 2023.

That’s all great news for Iger and company as the Mouse tries to maintain its entertainment dominance.

The biggest winner: Mothers. We post this column at 5:30 a.m. So whenever you’re reading, you should still have plenty of time to call your mom for Mother’s Day.

For those who haven’t experienced it, it might be hard to fully appreciate the superhuman effort that new moms have to give to raise a little one. But after welcoming our first in January, that is not the case here. It’s given this day a special meaning for us, and has given your humble author newfound appreciation for the work his mom went through to raise her three kids.

Wherever you are in The Process, you are either experiencing the joys (and work) of motherhood, seeing it through the miracles your wife pulls off, or benefiting from your mother raising you up years ago.

And look, we know the nature of this column, picking favorites who had a good week and pointing out those who didn’t, is naturally going to roil people at times.

But there are days like today that put into perspective what’s really important.

So Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. You deserve it. (And if you haven’t, seriously, pick up the phone and call. It’s not too late.)

Losers

Dishonorable mention: Jacksonville City Hall. It’s hard to rival the drama going on in the Legislature right now, but the Jacksonville city government sure is trying.

At issue is a practice critics are calling an “illegal gun registry,” where those entering some city buildings while lawfully carrying a concealed firearm were required to give their names, addresses and identifying info.

Republicans on the City Council are trying to pin the practice on Mayor Donna Deegan, whose tenure has overlapped with the vast majority of this purported practice. Deegan, meanwhile, points to a draft document on Mayor Lenny Curry’s final day in office as proof her team wasn’t behind the original idea.

Either way, this is a controversy that has legs. State Attorney Melissa Nelson is subpoenaing multiple current and former members of Deegan’s administration, though not Deegan herself. And DeSantis has also strongly weighed in. That all but ensures we’ll be talking about this issue for months, if not longer.

It’s a bit early in the process to weigh in definitively on the merits here, especially with different parties so vehemently disagreeing on the underlying facts.

But City Hall is certainly under fire. And as this story evolves, it will become both a legal story and a political one, with Deegan up for re-election in 2027. Whether this story has the legs to impact that contest remains to be seen.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: Local governments. As the Governor and legislative leaders navigate a path toward tax relief, local governments are starting to get clarity about the impacts of slashing revenue.

With budget negotiators still very far off from a deal (more on that shortly), it’s unclear what changes are coming.

But counties are still bracing for potential impact, according to major stories from two highly populated areas this week.

Speaking at a Tuesday Broward County Commission meeting, County Administrator Monica Cepero said a House plan to cut the state sales tax from 6% to 5.25% would cause a $30 million annual hit in Broward — half felt by cities and half by the county.

The House has since amended its proposal to a 0.25-percentage-point cut. But lawmakers are also floating various proposals to cut or eliminate property taxes, though those changes may not be coming before 2026.

On the property tax front, Central Florida would be particularly impacted. An Orlando Sentinel analysis showed how county budgets in the region have surged post-pandemic, in large part due to property tax hikes. And with big budgets becoming the norm, leaders will likely battle back if lawmakers try to cut them off.

With costs for residents skyrocketing in recent years, it does seem some changes are coming. It will be up to local officials to navigate those changes, because it’s doubtful the status quo will continue.

The biggest loser: The budget. There’s a tricky thing about writing political analysis, where you want to capture the reader’s attention but worry at times you’re being too over the top.

While describing the breakdown between the House and Senate the past few weeks, we wondered at times whether we were crossing that line.

Apparently, we were understating it.

Yes, the Legislature was forced to substantially extend Session to wrap up multiple items lawmakers were still grappling over, the biggest being the budget. But the assumption was that House and Senate negotiators would take a breath this past week, get together during this upcoming week and hammer out a deal. Maybe they wouldn’t even need until the newly scheduled end date of June 6!

Then Friday happened, and now we’re wondering just how close to the brink of the June 30 deadline to avoid a government shutdown we are going to get.

House Speaker Daniel Perez on Friday said an agreed-upon starting framework — where the House would take up Senate President Ben Albritton’s Rural Renaissance package in exchange for the Senate voting on the House’s sales tax cut plan — had been “blown up.”

And he didn’t stop there.

“The Senate President informed me this week that he is breaking his commitment to the House that he publicly announced from the Senate rostrum,” Perez said, firing shots at Albritton.

“I was disappointed when the Senate President informed me of his decision to no longer bring the House’s historic tax proposal to the Senate floor. As I’m sure you can appreciate, this blew up the framework for the budget deal we had negotiated.”

Shortly after, Albritton issued a more measured statement arguing existing Senate concerns about the revenue impact of slashing sales tax across the board, combined with a threat by DeSantis to veto the House plan anyway, caused the Senate to change course.

But the Senate also issued an albeit subdued shot back at the House. Perez in his memo included comments that the House would meet Tuesday to vote on extending Session further until the end of June. Shortly thereafter, the Senate rejected a push for such a vote, seeking to forge ahead to meet the June 6 deadline.

Senate budget chief Ed Hooper sought to downplay the barbs as “a kerfuffle.” House budget chief Lawrence McClure was less kind.

“They constantly changed their mind,” McClure said of the Senate. “So we in the House have to ask ourselves, how can we trust their word?”

And a reminder for those who are just stumbling into this battle: These are all Republicans — the Senate and House leadership, budget negotiators, Governor, all of them.

If intraparty fireworks are your thing, you’ve got it. But if you’re relying on state money starting July 1, you had better hope cooler heads somehow prevail here, because there are no signs that’s happening.