Florida lawmakers wrapped up the 60-day legislative session last Friday, passing a $117.46 billion budget and a slate of new bills. Among them are new restrictions on social media use by teenagers, limits to where people experiencing homelessness are allowed to sleep and some tweaks to the troubled homeowners insurance market. Political journalist William March and Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald Tallahassee correspondent Lawrence Mower join host Matthew Peddie to discuss the highlights from the legislative session and what it means for residents of the greater Tampa Bay region.

An increasing number of people in Florida are experiencing homelessness. The surge in homelessness comes as state lawmakers are considering legislation that some advocates see as punitive: a law that would make it illegal to sleep on public property. Florida’s council on Homelessness reported 30,809 individuals experiencing “literal homelessness” last year. That means not having a fixed, regular or adequate place to stay, and includes people living in shelters. That’s a 9 percent increase since 2019. The number of students experiencing homelessness in Florida is even higher. On this episode we speak with Anne Ray, the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse Manager at the University of Florida’s Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, about the rising number of homeless students and the support that's available for them. We also discuss a specific group of students who experience homelessness: kids who are separated from their families because of abuse or neglect, but who aren’t part of the foster care system. We talk with a Tampa non-profit leader, Vicki Sokolik, who works to support those students, and we hear from Jamal, an alumnus of her program.

Dalia Colón talks with Florida Matters about hosting The Zest podcast and releasing her new cookbook, "The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook." In the introduction to her new book, "The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook," Dalia Colón writes about her first impressions of the Sunshine State: “By the time I’d unpacked my car, I’d came to a conclusion: In Florida, it’s too hot to eat.” For the first months in the state, she subsisted on smoothies and cheese toast. The last two decades have been a culinary journey for Colón. She became a vegetarian in 2013, and she hosts The Zest, WUSF’s podcast showcasing Florida’s food, foodies, restaurants, and recipes. After moving to Florida from Cleveland in 2005, Colón says it took her a while to appreciate the fruits, vegetables and herbs that the Sunshine State has to offer. We sat down with Colón for this week’s episode to discuss The Zest and the release of her new cookbook.

Arthenia Joyner was first elected to the Florida legislature in 2000, taking office amid the legal turmoil of the presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore. Her sixteen year career as a state lawmaker included two years as senate minority leader, and she was the first Black woman elected to that post. We sat down to talk with Joyner about her trailblazing career and an upbringing that helped shape her commitment to equality and justice.

As Florida changed its Black history curriculum and removed books from public schools… first-time Tampa city councilwoman Gwen Henderson pushed back and opened a bookstore. Florida Matters visited Henderson at the bookstore she runs in Tampa Heights with her daughter Ariel. It’s called “Black English.” Henderson, who wears a ball cap covered in buttons- Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Florida A&M University and others, says her mission is to elevate books by Black authors, especially graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs. We sat down to talk about being an educator, books, politics and her priorities for the district she represents.

This week, we talk with two Black women who are leaders in the community and who have each taken a different approach to politics. Former State Senator Arthenia Joyner was the first Black woman to serve as Senate Minority leader in the Florida legislature. We’ll hear from her later in the program. And long time educator Gwen Henderson is a first time Tampa City Council member and owner of Black English bookstore in Tampa Heights, which she opened last December. We visited Black English bookstore to talk with Henderson about being an educator, books, politics and her priorities for the district she represents. Later in the program, we sit down with Joyner for a conversation about politics, civil rights, and her trailblazing career as a lawyer and state lawmaker.

Four self-proclaimed Blerds discuss what Blerd culture is and how the Black lived experience affects artforms associated with nerdom, like comics and cosplay.

Legislative priorities for lawmakers in Tallahassee this year include increasing the number of health care providers in Florida and clamping down on children's social media use. Although the state legislative session is almost half over, there’s still more work ahead for lawmakers before they can pass a budget. On this episode, we get a progress report on some of the biggest proposals from political journalist William March and Jeff Brandes, former state senator and founder of the Florida Policy Project, a non-partisan research institute. Brandes and March talk about bills that could erode the rights of local governments to make decisions on the environment, development, and cultural issues like what flags to fly over government buildings. They also discuss the issues that aren’t really being addressed, including housing and homeowners insurance.

Supervisors of elections have a lot on their plate this year. Florida’s presidential preference primary will be held in March, but there’s also a slew of municipal elections all the way up until November. In the meantime, election officials are preparing to deal with a flood of new voters and changes to voting rules since the last presidential election. They are also dealing with security, making sure voters and poll workers are safe, and keeping an eye on new threats, like the potential influence of AI-driven misinformation adding to the drumbeat of election misinformation. On this episode of Florida Matters, host Mathew Peddie sat down with election supervisors Julie Marcus, Brian Corley, and Craig Latimer from Pinellas, Pasco, and Hillsborough counties. They talk about what keeps them up at night and what people need to know as they prepare to vote this year.

The choice of candidates for Republican voters in the presidential preference primary has dwindled to just two- former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and former president Donald Trump, the front runner in the race. That was not what Florida voters- and especially supporters of Governor Ron DeSantis- would have expected eight months ago when he launched his presidential campaign. DeSantis had a huge amount of campaign cash and political capital within the Republican party. He had momentum from a comprehensive victory in his re-election as governor, and grabbed national attention with a series of culture war policies targeting immigration, education and LGBTQ+ rights. But it all came crashing down after the Iowa caucuses. NBC senior national politics reporter Matt Dixon joins Florida Matters to explain what it means for Florida voters and lawmakers who had anticipated a legislative session with DeSantis out of town on the campaign trail