Florida News That Impacts You – April 20th, 2023
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida. Gas prices continued lower through the weekend.
- Recent movers in the state legislative session included the Facility Requirements Based on Sex bill. The legislation which mandates public restrooms are to be used based on one’s biological sex passed the house on party-line vote – it has multiple senate committee stops to go. Another mover, the Motor Vehicle Glass bill. The legislation which would ban the assignment of benefits of auto insurance coverage for windshield repair, a common form of insurance fraud, unanimously passed the senate and now awaits a full vote in the house. The Government and Corporate Activism, or “ESG bill”, which limits the use of ESG standards by investment managers in the state, passed the senate on a party-line vote and now heads to Governor DeSantis for his signature. DeSantis had pressed the legislature to pass this bill. Another mover was another priority of Governor DeSantis’ the Partisan Elections for Members of District School Boards bill. The legislation which would place a proposed constitutional amendment on next year’s ballot calling for school board races to become partisan races, passed the legislature on a party-line vote and is ready for the governor to sign. The Domestic Violence, or “Greyson’s Law” bill, which would amend child visitation procedures – considering the potential threat risk posed by ex-partners, unanimously passed the legislature and advances to the governor’s desk.
- Gas prices rose by another 3 cents per gallon Wednesday. Statewide the average price for regular unleaded is currently $3.72 per gallon – 15 cents higher than a week ago. In Palm Beach County the average price is now $3.87 per gallon, which is the highest price in the state. Related...
- Panic buying of gasoline has led to continued, sporadic, shortages of gasoline at stations across South Florida. As of Tuesday, once the state had shipped extensive gas supplies to our region from other parts of the state approximately 3% of stations were without gas. Yesterday that number grew to 5%. Officials emphasize that there is enough gas to meet the needs of all service stations and there’s no reason to panic buy or store gas – which is often unsafe.
- A new study of housing costs has found that in much of the state, including in South Florida, it’s commonly cheaper to build a new house than it is to buy an existing like home. Statewide the average savings for building vs buying the typical single-family home is $76,000 at today’s prices. The biggest gap is in Monroe County, which encompasses the keys, where the average savings is currently close to $1 million.