During the nearly six years that Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) has been in office, Florida has moved from a battleground state to a solidly red state. Unlike counterparts such as Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa) — who has had to overhaul an uncompetitive tax code and fight for a number of other reforms to make her state more economically competitive — Governor DeSantis had the fortune of taking the helm of a state that, thanks to efforts and achievements of predecessors like Jeb Bush, already had one of the nation’s most attractive tax and regulatory climates.

The legislative session that recently concluded in Tallahassee demonstrated once again that, despite assuming leadership in a state that already boasted many policy advantages, Governor DeSantis and state lawmakers have not let that be an excuse for complacency. In fact, since Governor DeSantis took office, every year he and state lawmakers have pursued reforms to provide more tax relief, further expand school choice in a state that has long been a leader in education choice, and enact regulatory reform that makes Florida a less costly place to do business. The 2024 session was no different.

In signing Senate Bill 1600 on June 28, for example, Governor DeSantis made Florida the latest state to reduce barriers to employment by recognizing occupational licenses from other states. Twenty states have already enacted similar legislation, commonly referred to as Universal License Recognition (ULR), but as the nation’s fastest growing state, Florida needed this reform more than any.

Arizona lawmakers enacted the nation’s first ULR bill in 2019 and the benefits are already evident. In the five years since then-Governor Doug Ducey (R) signed the first ULR bill into law, more than 10,000 licensed professionals across a host of industries and trades have begun working in Arizona thanks to this reform.

In an opinion piece published in the June 14 edition of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Skylar Zander of Americans for Prosperity noted how SB 1600 builds upon licensing reform enacted four years ago, when Governor DeSantis signed the “‘Occupational Freedom and Opportunity Act.” That reform, Zander explained, “removed barriers of entry to certain professions licensed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation,” adding that SB 1600 “will do even more to get people to work and reform our occupational licensing system, so we can continue to flourish here in the Sunshine State.”

This easing of regulatory barriers to employment in a way that will make it easier for new residents to get to work, note SB 1600 proponents, will benefit more than the doctors, nurses, physician assistants, dentists, dental hygienists, and other licensed professionals who will now be able to get to work in Florida more quickly. SB 1600 is also helpful to the millions of people who already live in Florida, both longtime residents and recent transplants, who will be benefit from an increased supply of health care providers.

SB 1600 will help rectify the shortage of care providers afflicting many parts of the state. More than 5.5 million Floridians, for example, currently live in places that have been designated as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Enactment of SB 1600 will help rectify shortages of such crucial care providers.

With this action in Florida, nearly half of the country now has a ULR law in place. And for dentists and dental assistants specifically, this expanded access rises even further thanks to legislative action in nine states to join the Dental and Dental Hygienists Licensure Compact, a national agreement that enables dental professionals to practice in other states participating in the Compact if they are already licensed in a signatory state. At the current pace, most of the country will have either ULR or the DDH Licensure Compact by the end of this decade.

In addition, enactment of SB 1600 in Florida further solidifies ULR — along with the expansion of school choice and movement to flat income tax rates — as one of the top state policy trends of the past decade.

It took five years to go from zero to more than 20 states with a universal licensure law. Expect this trend to continue and for lawmakers in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and other states that have grown nearly as rapidly as Florida to be most inclined to consider this reform in 2025.

Florida spent $60,000 on new highway welcome signs that feature a campaign slogan used by Gov. Ron DeSantis in speeches and on merchandise.

Signs welcoming visitors to “The Free State of Florida” now stand at 24 locations along highways and at two welcome centers, said Michael Williams, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, in an email.

Williams did not answer questions about who decided to erect the new signs, which he said were created in-house at a department facility in Lake City. The state disclosed the cost of the signs, which were unveiled in a DOT news conference last week, in response to a public records request from the Orlando Sentinel.

The department was reviewing its messaging and “took the opportunity to offer a refresh of the signage, including now offering ‘Hurry back’ signage as motorists leave Florida,” he wrote.

The signage, he added, was “not unique to Florida as many states choose to offer a friendly message to drivers who are excited and look forward to crossing state lines when they travel.”

Gregory Koger, a political science professor at the University of Miami, said such a politically charged welcome to visitors was unusual.

“I’m certainly not familiar with anything like this,” Koger said. “Most of the road signage I’ve seen is based on ordinary state slogans. Drive into Georgia, and it’s the Peach State. When I drive into Montana, it’s Big Sky Country.”

The phrase “Free State of Florida” dates back to at least 2021, when conservatives began using it to describe DeSantis’ opposition to most COVID-19 restrictions. DeSantis then began using variations of the phrase himself, including in a 2022 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Orlando and in his 2023 inaugural address.

In his 2022 State of the State address, in which he called Florida “the freest state in the United States,” DeSantis said the state was “the escape hatch for those chafing under authoritarian, arbitrary and seemingly never-ending mandates and restrictions.”

Since then, the phrase has been repeatedly turned into political merchandise, including a $25 “Free State of Florida” Christmas mug available at the DeSantis campaign’s website beginning in 2022 and a “Free State of Florida” flag featuring DeSantis’ face available from the Bay County GOP for a $20 donation.

The new signs are “using the resources of the state to promote Gov. DeSantis’ brand, because it’s a phrase that’s associated with him,” Koger said.

“It’s not surprising,” he added. “He’s been using the resources of the state to promote his brand since he became governor, so it’s a continuation of that pattern. But it’s another piece of evidence that he doesn’t see a line between his own political interests and the best interests, the long-term interests, of the state of Florida.”

Asked about the appropriateness of the slogan on state signs, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez told WFLA, “We continue to stand by the ‘free state of Florida.’ We believe that we provide freedom. Freedom for the right to life, of course, for those babies. We continue to stand by freedom of opportunity. That’s something the governor prides himself on.”

Ironically, Florida’s state lines were the scene of a COVID-era DeSantis policy at odds with his later stance.

In March 2020, DeSantis ordered a two-week self-quarantine for anyone arriving in the state from the New York City region, which was experiencing an infectious wave at the time. That included highway checkpoints at the Florida border, many of them near the current “Free State of Florida” signs.

©2024 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.

STEWART AIRPORT – New York Stewart International Airport will expand its service again later this year with the addition of a new route to Vero Beach, Florida, served by Breeze Airways beginning in November.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the Newburgh area airport, announced the new service.

The twice-weekly service to Vero Beach will operate on Thursdays and Sundays beginning Nov. 21.

Port Authority said this will build on Breeze Airways’ previously successful service from Stewart, which includes routes to Orlando and Fort Meyers in Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina.

“We’re thrilled to see Breeze Airways offer even more service at New York Stewart, giving travelers more warm weather destination options just as this region experiences the cooler seasons,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in a statement.

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“We’ve seen tremendous demand from New York to Vero Beach in the last couple of years,” said Breeze Airways CEO David Neeleman in a statement. “So I’m thrilled to announce today that we’re adding service from New York Stewart, joining flights to the popular Treasure Coast from Long Island-Islip, Westchester, Hartford and Providence.”

Port Authority says New York Stewart is an economical, convenient alternative to the New York/New Jersey metropolitan region’s other airports, offering minimal wait times at security, seamless border and customs checks and simple baggage claims.

The airport’s other offerings include nonstop daily service to Reykjavik, Iceland, with connections to dozens of popular cities in Europe via PLAY Airlines; service to Orlando-Sanford, Punta Gorda and St. Petersburg-Clearwater in Florida and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina via Allegiant Airlines; and seasonal service to Vagar via Atlantic Airways, the nation’s first and only nonstop service to the Faroe Islands.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.