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Former state representative Mike Caruso, newly Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller, briefs council on 2025 Florida legislative session
Summary
Mike Caruso, who was sworn in as Palm Beach County Clerk of Court and Comptroller at 12:01 a.m. before the meeting, summarized the recent Tallahassee session—highlighting immigration, tort reform, commercial lease tax repeal and budget allocations including an appropriation for a town water project.
Mike Caruso, newly sworn in as the Palm Beach County Clerk of Court and Comptroller, briefed the Town Council on the 2025 Florida legislative session and described several bills the Legislature debated and the state budget outcome.
Caruso said the session focused more on stopping legislation he considered harmful than passing new initiatives. He told the council he supported the governor’s veto of an immigration‑related special‑session bill that, as he described it, would have restricted cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE and introduced penalties and catch‑and‑release policies he opposed. He also said the governor vetoed a measure that would have repealed tort‑reform policies; Caruso argued repealing tort reform would have raised insurance rates for property owners.
On enacted measures, Caruso said the Legislature passed bills maintaining law enforcement cooperation with ICE for certain immigration matters, barred unauthorized voting by non‑citizens, and eliminated Florida’s sales tax on commercial leases effective Oct. 1 (he described that repeal as the end of a seven‑year effort). He also said the Legislature expanded the Buy Safe Florida condo hardening program and made permanent a series of sales‑tax holidays, including exemptions for disaster‑preparedness items and a Second Amendment sales tax holiday running Sept. 8 through Dec. 31, 2025 that covers certain outdoor and sporting goods.
Caruso said the state passed a $117 billion budget with approximately 40–45% for health and human services (largely Medicaid), about one‑third for education and $22 billion for transportation, natural resources and the environment; he noted the enacted budget was roughly $2 billion lower than the previous year. He told the council the governor ensured a $127,000 appropriation for a town water project was included and not vetoed. Caruso also described the session as unusually long—about 105 days compared with a normal 60—saying much of the time was spent fighting proposals rather than passing new measures.
Caruso opened for questions and councilors thanked him for the briefing and congratulated him on his new county role.
