Jim Turner/News Service of Florida

With another potentially active Atlantic hurricane season on the horizon, Florida is preparing for the possibility the federal government won’t respond like it has in the past.After the state was hit by three hurricanes in 2024, Gov. Ron DeSantis jokes that Florida is due for a “break.” But he also said the state has the emergency-response infrastructure and financial reserves available in case Florida doesn’t catch a break and the Federal Emergency Management Agency scales back.

Amid support from hunters and warnings of a “slaughter” from animal-rights advocates, state wildlife officials Wednesday moved forward with Florida’s first black bear hunt in a decade.Before a crowd that spread into at least four extra rooms at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 for staff members to return with rules for a December hunt that would be held in four parts of the state and could lead to as many as 187 bears being killed.Hunters could receive permits through a lottery system.

State budget talks won’t resume until after the Memorial Day holiday weekend, legislative leaders announced Thursday.In a memo to senators, Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, said that he and Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, “have continued to have productive discussions with our partners in the House on joint budget allocations.”Allocations are overall amounts of money that would be divided in different areas of the budget, such as education, health and transportation, and need to be set before conference committees can begin formally negotiating details of the state spending plan.

After asserting the Democratic Party in Florida is “dead,” Sen. Jason Pizzo says he’s running for governor as an independent and will make that official in a couple of months.Orlando attorney John Morgan, describing the Democratic Party as “broken,” believes Pizzo is making a mistake if he runs without party affiliation.

As budget talks remain stalled, House Speaker Daniel Perez said Tuesday the House has offered possibilities including a “lean, critical-needs budget with minimal spending and no tax cuts.”But in a quest to lower state spending, the Miami Republican described a proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis to send $1,000 checks to homeowners as an “irresponsible idea.”

Legislative budget talks blew up Friday, as the House, the Senate and Gov. Ron DeSantis tangle over tax cuts.House Speaker Daniel Perez accused Senate President Ben Albritton of backing out of a “historic tax proposal” that the leaders outlined last week as they extended the annual legislative session to reach a budget deal. DeSantis, who wants to reduce property taxes, threatened this week to veto Perez’ priority of cutting sales taxes.

Days after a mass shooting at nearby Florida State University, the state Senate appears poised to scuttle a controversial proposal that would allow people under age 21 to buy rifles and other long guns.Senate Rules Chairwoman Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said Monday her committee won’t take up a House measure (HB 759) that would lower the minimum age to 18.

A bill aimed at preventing a return of efforts to build golf courses, pickleball courts and resorts in state parks is ready to go to the full Florida House.The House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday unanimously supported the measure (HB 209), which sponsor John Snyder, R-Stuart, said seeks to prevent “unintended development within the state park system.” It came after widespread opposition last year to a plan dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative” by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

In a top priority of Senate President Ben Albritton, senators this past week unanimously passed a more than $200 million plan to bolster health care, education, transportation and economic development in rural areas.Albritton, a Wauchula Republican who owns a citrus grove, said the bill (SB 110) would provide an array of programs that local governments could use “like a buffet” for their communities. He said the money isn’t “hand out” but a “hand up” to provide a chance for residents to “build a career and build a family” in communities where they were raised.