Hello, I'm Sandra Victorova.

Thank you for joining us.

The race to replace Governor Ron DeSantis as the state's top executive is already underway.

Even though the election is a year and eight months away.

Congressman Byron Donalds officially threw his hat into the 2026 race just last week.

President Donald Trump has endorsed his run for governor.

At a rally in Bonita Springs.

Donalds laid out his priorities improving the state's infrastructure, combatting Florida's growing insurance crisis, and promoting economic growth.

Florida is the best state in America.

The best, although were the best state.

Your insurance bills are still rising.

Traffic jams waste your time.

And our kids deserve more.

I'm not here to talk.

I'm here to act.

My plan for Florida is bold and clear.

Fix the insurance crisis.

Build new roads.

Finish restoring the Everglades.

Make Florida the financial capital of the world.

So how competitive could the governor's race be, and why are state lawmakers on the same side of the aisle drooling over major legislative proposals in Tallahassee right now?

Well, to get the latest on state politics, we are joined by John Davis, our WGCU Morning Edition host and of course, reporter.

Welcome, John.

Thanks for having me.

So a lot of folks might assume that Byron Donalds is a shoo in for this governor's spot, because, of course, President Trump has said he supports him to run for governor.

But there are some potential candidates who have big name recognition, right?

Absolutely.

One being the governor's wife, Cassie DeSantis, the governor has been touting her as a possible successor.

I will say with Cassie DeSantis, she has run some initiatives as the first lady but hasn't held public office before.

Whereas Donald served in the state House before winning the congressional seat he's in now in 2020.

He's been a prominent Trump surrogate over the years.

He's been on the shortlist for a number of opportunities.

And concerning, including a possible vice presidential running mate for Trump, that obviously didn't happen.

But I don't know how competitive this is going to be.

I'm going to quote State Senator Joe Gruters.

He's the former Republican Party chair for Florida.

He said recently, quote, Trump is going to decide the elections in Florida in 2026.

He controls the party.

He controls the state.

And there's nothing that anybody can do to change that.

End quote.

That's a pretty strong statement.

But that being said, the Republican gubernatorial primary isn't until August 2026.

That's more than 16 months away.

You know as well as I do, anything can happen.

Covering the news these days is like the Chocolate Factory episode from I Love Lucy.

It's just hard to stay on top of it all.

So even what Trump's endorsement is going to mean in 16 months, right?

We just don't know.

And of course, Cassie DeSantis has not announced she's running.

So we will have to wait and see.

Let's shift gears now.

Of course, one of the big topics during the current legislative session, which is sort of at the midway point right now, is this issue of taxes and there's differing views on how to lower taxes for Florida residents.

Let's start with what the governor is pushing for.

So I'm going to say, in late February, Fort Myers own state senator Jonathan Martin had introduced a bill that would require the state to conduct this feasibility study on possibly eliminate property taxes in Florida.

And this would, of course, mean exploring alternative revenue sources, like possibly increasing sales taxes because, of course, property taxes at the local level fund really, really essential services like public education, EMS, fire, police.

Now, De Santis is pushing this idea of lawmakers putting a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to eliminate property taxes altogether.

Now, like any constitutional amendment, this would require 60% of voter approval to pass.

But it just shows that this property tax elimination idea is really gaining traction in the DeSantis camp.

There would certainly be huge ramifications now.

House Speaker Daniel Perez says the focus should instead be what, reducing, sales tax.

Correct?

Right.

So he's endorsing this plan that would reduce the state sales tax from its current 6% to 5.25%, which he says would save an estimated like $5 billion.

That's $5 billion the state wouldn't get.

You know, this is important because without a state income tax, Florida relies heavily on sales tax revenue to fund, again, essential services like education, prisons, health care.

So there's a lot of questions about where the funding for these essential services are going to come from.

With either of these plans.

The other big topic during the legislative session is this another change, a proposed change to the child labor laws.

We saw a change in the labor laws.

Child labor laws last year.

Why tackle this issue again?

And really, who wants this?

Right.

So last year, the legislature, passed a bill allowing 16 and 17 year olds to work up to 30 hours a week.

Now they want to loosen those child labor restrictions even further.

There's measures in the House and Senate that, if passed, would allow employers to schedule 16 and 17 year old Floridians for unlimited hours and days without breaks during the school year.

It would allow 14 and 15 year olds who graduated high school who are homeschooled or do virtual school, to also work unlimited hours and days without breaks during the school year.

And the House version of the bill would even allow 13 year olds to work during the summer, the year that they turn 14.

Republicans, by and large, seem to be in support of this.

They argue it gives families more freedom and more choice to, you know, in determining when their kids are going to work.

Democrats and labor advocacy organizations seem largely against it.

They say this is negatively going to impact education outcomes, which you can imagine if you're a kid working all night, you're not paying attention in school the next day.

Also, the Florida Policy Institute, this is a nonpartisan organization, has noted that, you know, the US Department of Labor finds Florida had its second highest number of recorded child labor violations in 15 years in 2023.

There were 209 violations them, and that was down from a peak of more than 300 just the year prior.

So they're saying this is already an issue.

Why would we change the law to make it easier?

DeSantis supports this as well.

But Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez have expressed concerns.

So when you have those two influential leaders from both chambers not sure about it, right.

Its future is uncertain.

John Davis, we appreciate you covering state politics for us.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.