In this episode: After a pitched battle that dragged on for more than a year, the people of Fernandina Beach finally seemed to beat an effort by Rayonier Advanced Materials to build an ethanol plant in the historic seaport town. But then the company sent its lobbyists to the state Capitol with legislation to overturn to the decision. And the lawmakers who filed the bill on RYAM’s behalf tried to cover the company’s tracks.

Show notes

For more on the on-the-ground battle against ethanol in Fernandina Beach, check out this Craig Pittman piece:

Florida beach town faces explosive fight over ethanol plant

And don’t miss our previous episodes in this series:

A Republican megadonor got caught hosting a pigeon shoot. Then he got Florida politicians to change the law.

Florida’s largest landowner lobbied to weaken development rules on rural land

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In this episode: The largest private landowner in Florida is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Better known as the Mormon Church, it owns more than 600,000 acres around the state. About half of its land holdings are cattle ranchlands east of Orlando — where the the church has long-term plans to build the equivalent of a new city of 500,000 people. But voters in Orlando recently approved new rules meant to slow suburban sprawl on rural land. So the Mormon Church turned to Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature to step in. And the church had help.

Show notes

The bills discussed in this show:

Senate Bill 1118 — Land Use and Development Regulations

Senate Bill 180 — Emergencies

Time is a flat circle:

Lobbyists for developers pushed Florida lawmakers to block rules meant to save rural lands from sprawl

The top 10 landowners in Florida:

Land Lords

Reach more about the Mormon Church’s long-term development plans in central Florida (stories from the August 2017 issue of Florida Trend magazine):

Ranchland to rooftops in central Florida

Deseret Ranch — the Land

Rural Florida’s players and their projects

Tavistock’s Role in Developing Rural Florida

Duda's agribusiness development reach

This the second episode to come out of public records we obtained after the end of the Florida Legislature’s 2025 session. Here’s the first episode:

Florida Passed Bills for Pigeon Shooters?! (YouTube)

A Republican megadonor got caught hosting a pigeon shoot. Then he got Florida politicians to change the law. (audio)

And here’s the podcast mentioned in this show about the erosion of home rule happening Florida and other Republican-controlled states:

Your Town, Their Rules: How States Are Stealing Local Power (YouTube)

Your town, their rules (audio)

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In this episode: In recent weeks, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — and aides he installed as attorney general and education commissioner — have bent local leaders in Orlando and Tampa to their will in disputes over mass deportations and book bans. They’ve done so by twisting laws and then threatening punishment under their twisted interpretations. But there are ways communities can fight back.

Show notes

908.104 — Cooperation with federal immigration authorities

908.102(6) — Definition of “sanctuary policy”

Under duress, Orange County mayor signs ICE addendum to ward off threat of removal from office

South Miami mayor hopes lawsuit will help cities decide ‘without fear’ if ICE agreement works

How Florida’s new education chief is rattling schools with public threats

Judge strikes down parts of a Florida law used to ban school library books

Penguin Random House LLC v. Gibson — Order (Aug. 13, 2025)

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In this episode: In February 2024, a pair of animal-rights groups used drone recordings to expose a massive pigeon-shooting event at a ranch in Okeechobee, Fla., owned by Troy Link, the CEO of Jack Link’s Meat Snacks and a major donor to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican politicians A little over a year later, DeSantis signed a new state law that criminalizes the use of drones to record people on private property. That law, records show, was written by lobbyists hired by Troy Link.

Show notes:

Pigeon Jerky: Florida Beef Jerky Magnate Blasted for Hosting Live Pigeon Shoot

House Bill 1121 – Unmanned Aircraft and Unmanned Aircraft Systems

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In this episode: Late last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 180, a sweeping new law intended to help communities better prepare for — and recover from — hurricanes. But developers around the state are now trying to use the new law to undermine local rules that help slow suburban sprawl. One industry group used Senate Bill 180 to sue a county in southwest Florida that raised fees on homebuilders. Another developer is threatening a similar suit in Orlando to eliminate protections for rural land. Did Tallahassee Republicans and industry lobbyists quietly work together to pull a fast one under the guise of hurricane recovery? Or are developers exploiting a well-intentioned law that was merely meant to make sure homeowners can rebuild after a storm?

Show notes

Senate Bill 180 – Emergencies

A few recent stories about the impact of Senate Bill 180:

Legislature wants to make it impossible for local governments to build back better after hurricanes

Florida bill could block communities from rebuilding stronger after hurricanes

Facing threat of lawsuits, Orange County may scrap its rural boundary

Manatee receives threat of litigation over increased impact fees

Burdensomely Vague Intentions

And two other stories mentioned in the podcast:

Florida chafes under flood-protection rules

Apple quietly lobbied to stop ‘Right to Repair’ bill, records show

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In this episode: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is hiding $250 million in taxpayer-funded contracts tied to the new immigration detention camp Florida just opened in the middle of the Everglades. His hand-picked attorney general is showering public money on $875-an-hour lawyers. And his administration has been ducking auditors for nearly three years now. But Ron DeSantis wants you to think that its your local town council that needs to be audited.

Meanwhile, the governor just did a big favor for a billionaire donor — and he did it in a way meant to make sure nobody else noticed. Florida workers will pay the price.

Show notes

The tab for Florida's immigrant prison in the Everglades is $250 million — and counting

'Alligator Alcatraz' Contracts Disappeared From a Florida State Database

Maxwell: Florida flouts auditing law on ‘emergency’ immigration spending

House Bill 1219 — Employment Agreements

Lobbyist for a billionaire-run hedge fund wrote a bill allowing longer non-competes, records show

A billionaire is showering cash on Florida politicians

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In this episode: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just slashed millions of dollars in funding for river restoration, public radio, and well-behaved inmates who want to phone their families. But the Republican governor also approved pork-barrel projects supporting the Inter Miami Major League Soccer team, owners and breeders of thoroughbred racehorses, and a giant real-estate developer near Daytona Beach. We take a closer look at what DeSantis decided to veto — and, more importantly, what he chose to approve — in Florida’s new $115 billion state budget. 

Show notes

People in Florida prisons will get free calls for good behavior in new program

Free prison call program rewarded good behavior, cost taxpayers zero. DeSantis killed it

Ron DeSantis just pocketed nearly $1 million from an industry he helped

After a personal meeting, and a $10,000 donation, DeSantis approved a $10 million earmark

Florida lawmakers may unleash a last-second expansion of school privatization

A billionaire is showering cash on Florida politicians

Florida taxpayers will help fund a lavish pay package for a new university president

A few quotes referenced in the show from Ron DeSantis’ June 30th budget news conference: 

Schools of Hope charter schools

“We got an overhaul to our Schools of Hope program. So you’re going to have groups — like there’s a group in New York City, Success Academy, and they’ve been able to do very well in New York City, which is very tough because the unions want to kill charter schools up there and the elected officials are negative — they’re going to be able to go in the most dire areas of Florida and open up these schools and potentially change people’s lives for the better…I’m glad we were able to work with the Legislature to get that through in this extended session.”

Civics Seal of Excellence teacher training

“We created this Civics Seal of Excellence program. We created a 50-hour course — well, we didn’t, we got scholars from, like, Hillsdale, Heritage Foundation, all these places, and they devised this programming, basically lectures — about all these different things that went into the formation of the country and the values and principles that made us a unique experiment.”

 New College of Florida takeover

“We made sweeping appointments to the Board of Trustees, they replaced the president with a conservative who had been the commissioner of education under our administration in the first term, and now, all of a sudden, they’re bringing in these professors that are, like, really, really strong. And that is being transformed almost into, like, our version of a Hillsdale College.”

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In this episode: In the morning, Ron DeSantis celebrated the opening of an immigrant detention camp built on Everglades land he commandeered using emergency powers under what is now a nearly three-year-long “state of emergency” in Florida. In the afternoon, he vetoed a bipartisan bill intended to limit corruption in his administration by stopping him from interfering in future elections and making it harder for his aides to squeeze lobbyists for cash. It was a day that underscored just how much power the state of Florida has allowed to become concentrated in one person. 

Show notes

Republican Donors Cash In on ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Immigrant Camp

Florida Taps Contractors With No Detention Experience for ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

DeSantis vetoes bill aimed at limiting corruption in office

The best and worst of Florida's 2025 session (so far)

House Bill 1445 – Public Officers and Employees

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In this episode: Florida’s attorney general defied a federal court order and bragged about it on TV. A trio of appellate court judges colluded to strike down a state law. The board of education ordered a school superintendent to break the rules and ban more books. And the governor seized property to build an immigrant prison in the Everglades. Each of these would be an extraordinary story on its own. But taken together, they show just how far the authoritarian state has expanded in Florida.

Show notes:

Judge finds Florida attorney general in contempt over immigration law

How a Florida court took unusual steps to limit abortion access for minors

As Hillsborough book battle unfolds, other districts wonder who’s next

Florida seizes Everglades land to house detained migrants in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Read the federal judge’s order finding Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court

Read Uthmeier’s legal briefs and the Florida appellate court’s opinion in a case permitting parents to force their kids to give birth

Watch comments from Board of Education members ordering a school superintendent to ban more books and see the list of books they wanted banned

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In this episode: They say a budget reflects your values. And if that’s true, state lawmakers in Florida sure do value culture wars. The new state budget pours more than $100 million of taxpayer money into culture-war crusades — including cash for anti-abortion activists, new book-banning software, and an “economic freedom” center that invented an award for Ron DeSantis and praises Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Show notes

A few recent Seeking Rents stories on Florida’s new $115 billion budget:

In Tallahassee, a feast of tax breaks for businesses – and table scraps for everyone else

Florida lawmakers may unleash a last-second expansion of school privatization

Florida taxpayers will help fund a lavish pay package for a new university president

Lawmakers just slashed Ron DeSantis' budget for high-priced lawyers

Questions or comments? Send ‘em to [email protected]

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