News from the South - Florida News Feed
Where does Rick Scott now stand on in-state tuition waiver for Dreamers that he signed into law?
Where does Rick Scott now stand on in-state tuition waiver for Dreamers that he signed into law?
by Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
February 14, 2025
Rick Scott has yet to comment on legislation signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday that repeals the availability of in-state tuition rates for undocumented students at Florida colleges and universities.
That’s a far cry from two years ago, when the Florida Republican, who was just kicking off his campaign for re-election to the U.S. Senate, couldn’t wait to speak out against the possibility of the law being repealed.
“When I think of that bill, I think about a little two- or five-year girl,” he began when asked by the Phoenix about DeSantis’ 2023 proposal to repeal the measure.
“They were brought here,” he added. “They didn’t come here on their own volition. They live in this country. They went to school. Maybe they’re an honor-roll student. Maybe they tried to get Bright Futures [scholarships], with the belief that they can go to one of our great universities in this state. So, for them we cannot put this thing out of reach for them to live their dream. That’s not fair. So, it’s a bill that I was proud to sign. I believe in it. I believe that these individuals ought to have the opportunity to live in this country. It’s a bill that I would sign again today.”
Perhaps Scott will respond similarly when he eventually does weigh in on the repeal of the 2014 law, now scheduled to go into effect on July 1. The Phoenix has reached out to his office twice in the past month, including on Thursday, to get his thoughts on the matter, but has yet to receive comment.
That wasn’t the case on Feb. 23, 2023. In fact, it was just the opposite.
Scott appeared that day for a roundtable discussion with supporters at La Teresita, a historic Cuban eatery in West Tampa, one of the most Hispanic-rich areas in Hillsborough County. An aide to the senator approached this reporter before the meeting, requesting that the senator be asked about DeSantis’ statements from earlier that day in favor of repealing the measure.
One Florida Republican who supported the 2014 legislation and now says she doesn’t is Jeanette Nuñez, who left her position as lieutenant governor last week after six years in office to become interim president of Florida International University.
“It’s been more than a decade since this law was passed,” she wrote on X last month after DeSantis said he wanted lawmakers to repeal the law. “Our country looks very different today than it did then. It’s time to repeal this law. It has served its purpose and run its course.”
Dissent within the GOP
Not all Florida Republicans feel that way.
On Thursday, four of them in the state Senate supported an amendment from South Florida Democrat Jason Pizzo that would have grandfathered in all students now paying in-state rates. They included Northeast Florida’s Jennifer Bradley and three others from Miami-Dade: Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia, Ana Maria Rodriguez.
Gaby Pacheco is a Miami immigrant rights advocate and former Dreamer. She says that besides being “short-sighted policy,” the repeal marks an end to what used to be a bipartisan point of consensus.
“We agree with Senator Rick Scott, who signed the policy into law and less than two years ago reflected that ‘It’s a bill I would sign again today,’” she told the Phoenix in an email.
“As even Donald Trump said last December about Dreamers: ‘These are people that have been brought here at a very young age… In many cases they’ve become successful. They have great jobs. Some of them are running small businesses…we’re going to have to do something with them.’
“We agree,” Pacheco added. “Unfortunately, making it harder for first-generation college students to afford and graduate from college is self-defeating for Florida and moves our state in the wrong direction.”
Deborah Tamargo is a former Republican state representative from Hillsborough County. She said that there are still many Florida Republicans who support helping dreamers.
“I don’t think the attitude has changed on Dreamers, and even President Trump tried to pass something [on dreamers] his first four years and he has said he’ll try to do something again to hold the dreamers harmless,” she said.
“Through no fault of their own they were smuggled, brought, whatever into our borders and they’ve grown up speaking English, integrating into our culture, and consequently I think many of us think that they’re harmless, okay? Don’t penalize them for something that their parents did.”
Shifting politics
“That was then. This is now, and the Republican Party has shifted under Trump in a large way,” said University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett, in talking GOP politics over the past decade.
Following its 2012 presidential election loss, the Republican National Committee produced an “autopsy” report arguing the party needed extensive outreach to women, African American, Asian, Hispanic, and gay voters. It also called for backing “comprehensive immigration reform,” something that then-Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio pushed for as one of the bipartisan “Gang of 8” senators in 2013. That legislation included a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. (Rubio backed away from that support when he ran for president in 2016. Now he’s Trump’s secretary of state.)
Jewett acknowledges the situation has changed and that concern about undocumented immigrants is at a much higher level for not only Republicans but the general public after the encounters with migrants at the U.S. Mexico-border peaked in December 2023, according to the Pew Research Center.
“So many Hispanics, particularly in Florida, have changed their allegiance to the Republican Party in the last four years,” he said. “A plurality of Hispanics were registered as Democrats [in Florida] four years ag0, but now it’s a plurality that are registered as Republican.”
That makes it easier for some in the GOP to take a hard line on issues like repealing in-state tuition for undocumented students and “they still apparently are going to get a lot of the Hispanic vote,” Jewett said.
Trump defeated Kamala Harris among Hispanic voters in Florida last year, according to an exit survey of 500 voters in Florida conducted by the 2024 American Electorate Poll of Hispanic Voters.
Meanwhile, Gov. DeSantis, fresh off signing legislation on Thursday cracking down on undocumented immigrants in Florida, said that not only was it wrong to give in-state tuition breaks to undocumented college students, but that the state’s universities should not admit any students who lack permanent legal status.
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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
News from the South - Florida News Feed
‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Opens in Florida amid protests, praise, and legal threats
SUMMARY: Florida opened a controversial migrant detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” at a near-defunct Everglades airport, sparking protests, legal challenges, and political fanfare. The facility, praised by Trump and DeSantis, can hold 3,000 detainees with extensive security and amenities. Officials emphasize voluntary departure options for migrants, with same-day deportation flights. Environmental groups oppose the center, citing bypassed impact studies, while immigration lawyers raise due process concerns. Costing over $450 million, Florida currently funds the project, expecting federal reimbursement. Public opinion is divided, with recent polls showing declining immigration approval for Trump. The first migrants are set to arrive soon, barring legal blocks.
The post ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Opens in Florida amid protests, praise, and legal threats appeared first on www.abcactionnews.com
News from the South - Florida News Feed
Democrats face harsh reality as voters change party affiliation, Dems need to change their strategy
SUMMARY: The U.S. two-party system remains dominant, as seen in the 2024 election, but voter registration shows a rising trend in independents and third-party affiliations. Over 25 years, unaffiliated voters grew nearly 9%, with 32% of registered voters now independent—up 23% since 2000. This shift mainly comes at the Democratic Party’s expense, which lost 1.5% of registered voters recently. Independents are increasingly diverse and moderate. Political dissatisfaction fuels this change, exemplified by movements like the “No Kings” protests. The New York Democratic mayoral primary, where progressive Zohran Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo, signals a call for new leadership and messaging in the Democratic Party.
The post Democrats face harsh reality as voters change party affiliation, Dems need to change their strategy appeared first on www.news4jax.com
News from the South - Florida News Feed
US Senate after overnight debate unable to gain enough votes yet to pass GOP megabill
by Jennifer Shutt and Ashley Murray, Florida Phoenix
July 1, 2025
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans approved their signature tax break and spending cuts package Tuesday with a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance, following days of tense, closed-door negotiations that went until the few last minutes of a marathon amendment voting session.
The 51-50 mostly party-line vote sends the legislation back to the House, where GOP leaders hope to clear the bill for President Donald Trump’s signature this week, by their self-imposed July Fourth deadline. But frustrations throughout the House GOP Conference over changes made in the Senate could delay or even block final approval.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted against approving the legislation over concerns it would not benefit the country’s finances or Republican voters.
Changes made in final negotiations were not immediately clear or publicly available.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski , whose support had been unclear until the vote, and Majority Whip John Barrasso, of Wyoming, left the chamber to catch an elevator together just after 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
Asked if the bill was in the hands of the parliamentarian, Murkowski quipped, “I think it’s in the hands of the people that operate the coffee machine.”
Barrasso said “Yes” when asked if it would pass this morning.
Trump weighs in
Trump told reporters on Tuesday morning before leaving for a Florida visit to the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention site that “it’s very complicated stuff” when asked about Senate Republicans’ debate over spending cuts.
“We’re going to have to see the final version. I don’t want to go too crazy with cuts. I don’t like cuts. There are certain things that have been cut, which is good. I think we’re doing well,” Trump said. “We’re going to have to see, it’s some very complicated stuff. Great enthusiasm as you know. And I think in the end we’re going to have it.”
The heart of the nearly 1,000-page legislation extends and expands the 2017 tax law to keep individual income tax rates at the same level and makes permanent some tax breaks on business investments and research and development costs.
The bill would also put in motion some of Trump’s campaign promises, including no tax on qualifying tips, overtime or car loan interest, but only for a few years.
And it slashes spending on the Medicaid program for low-income people and some people with disabilities as well as shifting significant costs of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to states for the first time. It also overhauls federal education aid
It would also bolster spending on border security and defense by hundreds of billions of dollars, including line items for the “golden dome” missile defense system and additional barriers along the southern border.
The measure would provide a substantial funding increase for federal immigration enforcement for detention and removal of people without permanent legal status, aiding the president in carrying out his campaign promise of mass deportations.
The bill would raise the debt limit by $5 trillion, a figure designed to get Congress past next year’s midterm elections before the country would once again bump up against the borrowing limit.
On to the House
House approval is far from guaranteed.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can only lose four Republicans if all lawmakers in that chamber attend the vote. Several GOP members have voiced frustration with how the Senate has reworked the legislation, signaling an uphill climb for the bill.
House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith said as he left the Senate cloakroom just after 9:20 a.m. Eastern that lawmakers are “getting closer to a bill signing on July Fourth.”
“If you followed this journey over the last six months, over and over, people said that we could not accomplish a budget (reconciliation bill). We did. They said we would never pass it out of the House. We did. The Senate is going to pass it. The House is going to pass it, and the president’s going to sign it into law,” the Missouri Republican said.
Three amendments succeed
The Senate had adopted three amendments to the bill following an all-night amendment voting session, known as a vote-a-rama.
Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn was able to remove language from the package that would have blocked state and local governments from regulating artificial intelligence for five years if they wanted access to a $500 million fund. That vote was 99-1 with only North Carolina’s Tillis voting to keep the language in the package.
Blackburn said the change was necessary because lawmakers in Congress have “proven that they cannot legislate on emerging technology.”
Senators approved an amendment from Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst by voice vote that would disqualify “anyone making a million dollars or more from being eligible for unemployment income support.”
Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy was able to get an amendment adopted by a voice vote that would move up the date when Medicaid administrators must begin checking the Social Security Administration’s death master file to determine if a new enrollee is alive before adding them to the health program. It was set to begin on Jan. 1, 2028, but will now begin one year earlier.
Senators rejected dozens of amendments offered by both Democrats and Republicans, some of which deadlocked on 50-50 votes. Maine’s Collins and Alaska’s Murkowski broke with their party several times to vote with Democrats.
National private school voucher program
Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono tried to eliminate a sweeping private school voucher program that’s baked into the reconciliation package, but that vote failed 50-50. Collins, Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer and Murkowski voted in support.
The original proposal called for $4 billion a year in tax credits beginning in 2027 for people donating to organizations that provide private and religious school scholarships.
But the parliamentarian last week deemed the program to not comply with the “Byrd Bath,” a Senate process named for the late Sen. Robert Byrd, forcing senators to rework the program.
Details on the finalized version of the program remain unknown as the final bill text has not been released.
Safety funding for Virginia airport across from DC
Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner tried to add language to the bill that would have increased safety funding for airports near Washington, D.C., and established a memorial for the victims who died in a crash this January. The vote failed on a tied 50-50 vote, with Collins, Kansas GOP Sen. Jerry Moran and Murkowski voting with Democrats in support.
“Colleagues, we all know that on January 29 of this year, 67 individuals lost their lives when a military helicopter and a passenger jet collided near Reagan National Airport. This tragedy underscores the need for more safety improvements at National Airport,” Warner said. “The reconciliation bill increases, actually doubles, the amount of rent that National and Dulles pay the government but doesn’t use any of that money to make those airports and the people who use them any safer.”
He argued there was “no good rationale for increasing those rents and not using them for aviation safety.”
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz spoke against Warner’s amendment, saying the rents for the two airports in Virginia near the nation’s capital haven’t been updated in decades.
“The federal government originally calculated the rent in 1987 at $7.5 million dollars, massively below market rates,” Cruz said. “This bill increases that to $15 million, still dramatically below market rates.”
Cruz — chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation — said the legislation includes $12.5 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration to “transform the air traffic control system” and said his panel is looking into the collision in order to prevent something similar from happening again.
Trump budget director’s office targeted
Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen also got within one vote of having an amendment adopted when he tried to remove a section from the bill that would increase funding for the White House budget office by $100 million.
“This is at a time when (Federal Emergency Management Agency) grants to many of our states have been canceled, grants for law enforcement have been frozen, grants for victims of crimes are on hold,” Van Hollen said. “That is not efficiency. That is creating chaos and uncertainty. And I ask my colleagues, why in the world would we want to send another $100 million to OMB?”
Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson opposed the efforts, saying “the Office of Management and Budget needs to identify budgeting and accounting efficiencies in the executive branch. They need the resources to do it.”
The amendment was not added to the bill following another tied 50-50 vote with Collins, Murkowski and Paul voting with Democrats in favor.
Had GOP leadership wanted either of those proposals added to the package, they could have had Vance break the tie, but they did not.
Collins loses vote on rural hospital fund
Maine’s Collins tried to get an amendment added to the legislation that would have increased “funding for the rural health care provider fund to $50 billion dollars and expand the list of eligible providers to include not only rural hospitals but also community health centers, nursing homes, ambulance services, skilled nursing facilities and others.”
Collins said the additional $25 billion in funding for the fund would be paid for by “a modest increase in the top marginal tax rate, equal to the pre-2017 rate for individuals with income above $25 million and married couples with income above $50 million.”
Collins’ amendment was subject to a Senate procedural limit known as a budget point of order. She was unable to get the votes needed to waive that on a 22-78 vote.
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden spoke against Collins’ proposal, calling it “flawed,” and introduced the budget point of order against her amendment.
“The danger Senate Republicans are causing for rural hospitals is so great, Republicans have had to create a rural hospital relief fund so they can look like they are fixing the problem they are causing,” Wyden said. “It is a Band-Aid on an amputation. It provides just a tiny fraction of the nearly $1 trillion in cuts the bill makes to Medicaid. It would be much more logical to simply not cut $1 trillion from Medicaid in the first place.”
Collins received a mix of support from Republicans, including West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, Utah’s John Curtis, Nebraska’s Fischer, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Missouri’s Josh Hawley, Ohio’s Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno, Mississippi’s Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker, Louisiana’s Kennedy, Kansans Roger Marshall and Moran, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, Alaskans Dan Sullivan and Murkowski and Indiana’s Todd Young.
Also voting to waive the point of order and move forward with the amendment were Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and Virginia’s Warner, all Democrats, and independent Maine Sen. Angus King.
Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.
Last updated 12:22 p.m., Jul. 1, 2025
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
The post US Senate after overnight debate unable to gain enough votes yet to pass GOP megabill appeared first on floridaphoenix.com
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This article presents a largely factual report on the Republican-led Senate debate over a major tax and spending bill, highlighting the internal GOP divisions and the legislative process. The focus on Republican senators, their amendments, and commentary from GOP leaders like JD Vance and Mike Johnson, as well as former President Donald Trump, reflects a center-right perspective centered on conservative fiscal priorities such as tax cuts and spending reductions. Although it includes some Democratic opposition and viewpoints, the tone remains largely neutral but leans toward presenting the Republican agenda in a detailed and substantive manner without overt critique or praise.
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