Seeking Rents – The Podcast

In this episode : Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has been using his office to help donors, intervening in at least three civil disputes on behalf of special interests who gave $25,000 gifts to his fundraising committee. Meanwhile, Florida state House Speaker Danny Perez has been using his powers to help secret clients of his private legal practice, including Airbnb and Newsmax. For a pair...

In this episode : Following a last-minute blitz of vetoes by the governor — including half a dozen bills and more than $800 million in spending — the 2026 legislative season has finally come to an end in Florida. Which means election season is here. But before campaign coverage crowds everything else out, we take a closer look at some of the bills Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to stop from becoming la...

In this episode : Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed this week that the state is closing “Alligator Alcatraz” after one year — but not before paying out millions in “demobilization fees” to vendors who have already banked hundreds of millions building and operating the infamous immigrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades. Plus: A closer look at some recent favors Florida’s governor and...

In this episode : A new nonpartisan analysis of a proposed constitutional amendment to cut and cap property taxes across Florida finds that it could wipe out nearly a quarter of all local government property tax collections. It could also fuel further privatization around the state — of everything from electric utilities to animal shelters. Plus: How lobbyists for a national pet retailer weakened...

In this episode : Twenty years ago, Republican leaders in Florida raced to get a radical property tax plan onto the statewide ballot — a plan that was negotiated largely in secret, sprung on the public at the last minute, and approved during a lighting-quick special session in June. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that is, beat for beat, what just happened again in Tallahassee, where Ron DeS...

In this episode: Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature has finally agreed on a new state budget, following a flurry of last-minute spending deals — most of them negotiated behind closed doors and sealed late on the Sunday night of a holiday weekend. The eleventh-hour additions to Florida’s $115 billion spending plan include provisions that could let the state buy more property from a big dev...

In this episode : Florida lawmakers might take more powers away from cities and towns, cut funding for a cross-state wildlife corridor, and start testing toilet water for drugs. They could give politicians more control over courses offered at public universities, let the attorney general dish out rich legal contracts with less scrutiny, and make taxpayers foot the bill for Ron DeSantis’ security e...

In this episode : Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just got the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to pass new Congressional district maps that were intentionally drawn to violate an anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment that was approved by nearly two-thirds of Florida voters. It’s a scheme meant not only to give Donald Trump and national Republicans an edge in the 2026 midterms — but also...

In this episode : After more than a year of hostilities, Republican leaders in the Florida House and Senate reached a budget deal just days before Gov. Ron DeSantis hauls them all to Tallahassee for a special session that some people seem to want no part of. What happens next — on gerrymandering, vaccines, artificial intelligence and more — remains a mystery. Plus: Corporate donors who need favors...

In this episode : As he looks ahead to another presidential run — and a potential showdown with a Donald Trump heir apparent like J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is starting to pick some subtle-but-strategic fights with the Trump White House. Plus: Three years after promising to expand children’s health insurance, Florida leaders are utterly failing needy kids. And new record...

In this episode : Ron DeSantis has begun signing bills sent to him by state lawmakers during Florida’s recently concluded session — including new laws that will make it more cumbersome for some Floridians to vote, give state politicians the power to label civil rights groups domestic terrorists, and let a billionaire hotel owner build an unpopular water park in Miami Beach. At the same time, the R...

In this episode : Florida lawmakers arrived in Tallahassee two months ago promising to focus on affordability and fix a growth-management mess they made last year. They did neither. They did, however, undermine the collective bargaining rights of public school teachers, shield a mining company from lawsuits over radioactive contamination, and pass a billionaire-backed bill that could force condo o...

In this episode: Florida’s 2026 legislative session ends with one more development showdown on the floor of the Florida Senate, a weaker-than-expected deal on data centers, and a bunch of big decisions punted to a special session on the state budget that will be held later this spring. A recap of 60th and final day of the Florida Legislature’s 2026 session. Show notes : The bills discussed in toda...

In this episode : On the eve of the final day of Florida’s 2026 regular session, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed bills that will throw up more bureaucratic roadblocks to voting and allow state politicians to target “domestic terrorist” groups. But they also agreed not to give billions of dollars to the biggest corporations in the country and to help thousands of Floridians at risk of...

In this episode : With the Big Business lobby leaning hard on lawmakers, Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature passes a controversial bill weakening the collective bargaining rights of teachers, utility workers, bus drivers and more. Republican leaders in the House and Senate also seem to have struck a deal on an elections bill intended to suppress turnout on college campuses. And legislatio...

In this episode : In a session that was supposed to focus on affordability, the Florida Legislature just sent Gov. Ron DeSantis a bill that would force some condo residents and business owners to pay higher prices for their property insurance. Plus: Lawmakers pass a bill that could block a new cruise port near the mouth of Tampa Bay. And the state House engages in some last-minute shenanigans on b...

In this episode : Republican leaders in the Florida House of Representatives are trying to lawyer their way out of taking some tough votes — including on whether or not to fix Senate Bill 180, a hurricane-recovery law that real-estate developers have been using to crush local environmental regulations. Plus: Not one but two favors for the car dealer lobby. And why are some Florida lawmakers pushin...

In this episode : “MAHA moms” keep winning fights in the Florida Legislature over everything from Big Sugar to private schools to vaccine rules. Meanwhile, a bunch of dangerous bills are suddenly on the brink of passing — bills that would unleash massive real estate developments in rural areas, allow the governor to designate domestic terrorists, and weaken union rights for public school teachers...

In this episode : The Florida Senate, a chamber that once championed Medicaid expansion, now wants to take health insurance away from single moms and near-retirees. Plus: A bitter fight over an effort to bust public teacher unions but a bipartisan alliance on rejecting corporate tax breaks. An update from Day 49 of Florida’s 2026 legislative session. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show:...

In this episode : A community represented by a powerful lawmaker may get a reprieve from a proposal that would unleash massive real-estate developments in rural areas of Florida. Plus: A brewing battle over corporate tax breaks. An update from Day 45 of Florida’s 2026 legislative session. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: House Bill 299 — Blue Ribbon Projects Passed the House State A...

In this episode : The Florida Legislature unveils a plan to name a 124-mile, coast-to-coast corridor after Donald Trump. The “President Donald J. Trump Highway” would run right by “President Donald J. Trump International Airport” — and just a few miles to the north of “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.” In between putting Trump’s name on things, Florida lawmakers are also working on plans to gi...

In this episode : Republican leaders in the House and Senate signal that they will not go along with enormous tax breaks that President Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress passed last year. It’s a move that would save the state of Florida billions of dollars that would have otherwise have been given away to some of the biggest corporations the in world. Plus: Lawmakers make improvements t...

In this episode : A top aide to Ron DeSantis admits that the administration interfered in the 2024 elections. Another of the governor’s appointee refuses to answer basic questions about the “Hope Florida” scandal. The Florida Legislature can fix this. An update from Day 42 of Florida’s 2026 legislative session. Show notes : The bills discussed in today’s show: Senate Bill 1334 — Elections House Bi...

In this episode : A bill pushed by a New York investment firm that would make it much easier to develop vast tracts of rural land is inching closer to passing in Tallahassee. But opposition is growing among Republican lawmakers who represent parts of the state that would be most impacted by the bill. Plus: Money for the nonprofit that was part of a scheme to build a golf course in a beloved state...

In this episode : On a frenzied day in Florida’s Capitol, lawmakers advance bills that would help Donald Trump and a gun manufacturer that makes allegedly “ghost-firing” guns — but hurt laid-off workers and college kids who want to vote. An update from Day 36 of the Florida Legislature’s 2026 session. Show notes The bills discussed in today’s show: House Bill 191 — Reemployment Assistance Benefit...