Jason Garcia

Grand jury summoned in Hope Florida criminal probe In recent weeks, the State Attorney’s Office for the 2nd Judicial Circuit has issued subpoenas for witnesses to appear before a grand jury.

BREAKING: Grand jury summoned in Hope Florida criminal probe: www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...

aw that's kind of you to ask. I haven't set anything like that up. but it's something I probably ought to consider lol

Ron DeSantis is helping real estate developers exploit a hurricane relief law Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.

#Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous is helping real estate developers exploit what was supposed to be a hurricane relief law. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/ron-desant... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social

Ron DeSantis is helping real estate developers exploit a hurricane relief law Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.

Ron DeSantis is helping real estate developers exploit a hurricane relief law:

jasongarcia.substack.com/p/ron-desant...

This is a crazy threat for the DeSantis administration to make.

You have a DeSantis appointee and former chief of staff not-even-subtly hinting that the administration will withhold state funding from a county unless that county bows down to developers.

Last year, Manatee County voters united to force out the developer puppets on the BOCC and elect reasonable people who would not be a rubber stamp. DeSantis has basically been spitting on those (mostly deep red) voters for that "sin" ever since with local state reps going along. Locals are angry.

I don't want to be melodramatic here, but this could well be the last stand for home rule in Florida.

Land-use is arguably the one major policy area where cities and counties have lots of autonomy and power.

If Tallahassee can strip local governments of even that...

Meanwhile, John Kennedy of Gannett's Florida newspapers, reports that more than 20 cities and counties (including Manatee) have signed on to a coming lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 180 as unconstitutional:

www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...

Timeline:

July 18: Neal et al file suit claiming SB 180 forbids impact fee increase

Aug. 12: Manatee argues SB 180 does not apply

Aug. 15: DeSantis administration sends letter suggesting SB 180 does apply

Aug. 20: Neal et al file a new version of their suit citing the letter as evidence

This is even more brazen than I initially realized:

The DeSantis administration letter – which claims SB 180 could block an impact fee increase – was sent Aug. 15.

That was *3 days* after Manatee County filed a legal brief arguing SB 180 does NOT block an impact fee increase.

That’s not all.

Pat Neal is now using that letter from the DeSantis administration as evidence in a lawsuit he and others have filed against Manatee County – a lawsuit arguing that increasing impact fees is a violation of Senate Bill 180.

NEAL BUNDLES CHECKS TO DeSANTIS AT MANATEE PRESS CONFERENCE DeSantis and Neal NEAL BUNDLES CHECKS TO DeSANTIS AT MANATEE PRESS CONFERENCE After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made a speech in Bradenton on 7/24/2025 to announce an audit o

That letter, it turns out, was sent a few weeks after Pat Neal, a Manatee County homebuilder and a major donor to Republican politicians in Florida, bundled a bunch of checks to DeSantis, according to a local blog called the "Sarasota Phoenix"...

www.sarasotaphoenix.com/blog/neal-bu...

"If the board chooses to continue down the path, the consequences are inevitable," Kelly wrote

He went so far as to threaten state funding for roads, parks and economic development projects in Manatee County...

In his letter, Alex Kelly – the DeSantis aide who now runs the state’s Department of Commerce – specifically cited that provision in SB 180 when he warned Manatee County’s Board of County Commissioner’s against raising impact fees.

(SB 180 = Chapter 2025-19 Laws of Florida)...

The new law even tries to retroactively repeal many land-use and zoning changes that local communities have already made.

And it gives developers and landowners legal ammunition to sue cities and counties in order to block any land-use changes they don't like...

SB 180 – which supporters claimed was just meant to help communities rebuild after storms – includes a provision forbidding virtually every city & county in Florida from doing anything over the next 2+ years that would make things “more restrictive or burdensome” on developers...

Among other things, the DeSantis appointee claimed that Manatee County’s plan to increase impact fees on new home construction could violate Senate Bill 180, a new law DeSantis signed earlier this year that has been dubbed the “Hurricane Relief Act"...

Last month, the head of the Florida Department of Commerce – a political appointee who briefly served as DeSantis' chief of staff – explicitly threatened commissioners in Manatee County if they moved forward with a plan to raise a local tax on homebuilders...

Ron DeSantis is actively helping some of the state's biggest developers – and Ron DeSantis donors – exploit a new state law that was supposed to ensure communities could rebuild after hurricanes...

🧵...

Meanwhile, in Orlando – where developers are trying to use Senate Bill 180 to wipe rules that protect rural land from suburban sprawl – attorneys for Orange County have responded by asking the judge declare the law unconstitutional:

Neal is one of the biggest campaign contributors in Florida politics.

Just a sampling from over the years (note that "Empower Parents" and "Florida Freedom Fund" = Ron DeSantis):

Neal just recently gave another $25,000 to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed Senate Bill 180 into law and defend the legislation as developers have weaponized it against local rules around everything from wetlands buffers to rural boundaries to impact fees.

A Republican megadonor and homebuilder in southwest Florida (Pat Neal) has joined one of a several lawsuits that have been filed around the state in which developers are trying to use a new hurricane-recovery law (Senate Bill 180) to kill all kinds of local land-development rules.

Altogether, the DeSantis administration has awarded close to $400 million in contracts connected to the Everglades detention facility.

Florida taxpayers are starting to pay the bills on the immigrant prison camp the DeSantis administration built in middle of the Everglades.

The Governor's Office has approved nearly $30 million in payments to 'Alligator Alcatraz' contractors over the past 10 days:

Florida is cutting funding for transit — and exposing the true cost of business tax breaks Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.

#Florida is cutting funding for transit — and exposing the true cost of business tax breaks jasongarcia.substack.com/p/florida-is... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social

Lobbyists for a billionaire and a charter network pushed Florida lawmakers to expand a school privatization program, records show Miami billionaire Ken Griffin and New York charter school chain Success Academy lobbied for a new law that dramatically expands Florida's "Schools of Hope" program.

More evidence education policy is now being driven by whims of billionaires. Here's Florida, which is about to get a whole lot more Success Academy charter schools because one of its wealthiest residents likes them. @jasongarcia.bsky.social has the receipts jasongarcia.substack.com/p/lobbyists-...

Lobbyists for a billionaire and a charter network pushed Florida lawmakers to expand a school privatization program, records show Miami billionaire Ken Griffin and New York charter school chain Success Academy lobbied for a new law that dramatically expands Florida's "Schools of Hope" program.

The new law even allows Success Academy to open up new charters inside existing traditional public schools – without paying any rent to the school district.

Full story:

jasongarcia.substack.com/p/lobbyists-...

And that expansion just got a lot easier under the new law Success Academy helped write.

The network will have far more freedom over where to open subsidized "Schools of Hope" – including even in affluent areas and places that already have highly-rated public schools...

Success Academy, meanwhile, has been developing Florida expansion plans for at least a year. The charter network currently operates only in New York, but has applied for and received approval from state education officials to participate in Florida’s Schools of Hope program...