Governor Ron DeSantis will deliver his last State of the State address tomorrow in Tallahassee, kicking off Florida's regular legislative session for 2026. District 3 Representative Nathan Boyles, Northwest Florida's newest representative, won the seat in a special election last June. He spoke with WUWF ahead of the session.
Nathan Boyles: I'm certainly very excited, obviously, for the opportunity to go to Tallahassee and represent the great folks from District 3. It's been an interesting entry into the Florida House, coming in, you know, mid-cycle in a special election, and obviously with a lot of challenges or turbulence in state government right now, coming out of last session. So it's definitely an exciting time to be the new kid on the block.
Clear priorities going into this legislative session are going to continue to focus around affordability for Floridians.Rep. Nathan Boyles
Sandra Averhart: We'll get into some of your sponsored bills in just a moment, but I would like to talk about some of the main issues that lawmakers are expected to deal with that you're excited to get to work on.
Boyles: I think, you know, clear priorities going into this legislative session are going to continue to focus around affordability for Floridians. I think that insurance across the board, whether it's property, insurance, or otherwise, I think is going to continue to be a focal point. Certainly, we have a looming issue of property taxes, and how that is ultimately going to be treated and what's going to end up on the ballot for voters in a future election. Obviously, there may end up being a special session to deal with that issue, but it's also in play during the primary session. And so I think you'll see a lot of focus on those issues in the days ahead.
Averhart: I would think you would have a special or particular view of the property tax issue. With your experience as a county commissioner, what are your thoughts on what should be done relating to property taxes?
Boyles: Well, I'll say this, I certainly don't have the answer. And I know that coming out of Okaloosa County, so that's really the only county I can speak to personally. We have kept, in that county, property taxes very low compared to statewide averages, our millage rates, and generally speaking, in the Panhandle, most local governments have been very good at keeping those millages very conservative. I also know that, as you look around the state, that is not always the case. And I can speak from some recent experience. We actually purchased a small house in Tallahassee to make the commute back and forth a little bit easier. And I was a little bit aghast when we got our first notice of what the property tax rates were in those jurisdictions. And so I understand where the frustration with property tax levels in the state of Florida is coming from. And so I think we have to respect those concerns. I also understand very keenly the importance of those revenues to local governments and, therefore, to constituents. Whether it's sheriff's deputies or jails or ambulances, roads, parks, much of the local infrastructure that we rely upon is funded in part or wholly through property taxes. And so, finding a path forward that doesn't cripple local government's ability to provide those critical services, while ensuring that constituents are treated fairly across the state in the burden that they carry to fund those functions, you know, it's going to be important to try and find that balance.
Averhart: Artificial intelligence is also another issue that is really front and center in so many ways in our lives these days. And the state. Well, the governor has a plan for this. What are your thoughts on working on the AI issue in the state?
Boyles: Certainly, this is an issue that exceeds my capacity as a lowly garbage guy. And so I claim no special expertise in the area of artificial intelligence. I absolutely think that the technological changes that are coming are going to be significant, and I think that we will need to adapt to those. I'm also one to want to take a kind of slow and steady approach. And so, being careful not to overregulate too quickly, I think it is something worth being very mindful of. And I think, as with many technological advances that prove to be disruptions in the past, as a society, we tend to adapt pretty well to those changes. If you just look at the rate of change over the last hundred years or so, I'm optimistic that, at the end of the day, those coming advancements will be a net benefit to the constituents in the state of Florida.
Averhart: All right, let's take a moment now to focus on some of your sponsored bills. I would like to begin with HB 1317, regarding the protection of the Eastern Gulf Test and training range.
Boyles: I'm excited about that legislation. You know, it was an issue that was brought to me by a coalition that has an interest in ensuring that we protect the military range and the usage of the Gulf. I think that, you know, it's very clear in Florida that we have an economy that is built, certainly significantly, upon both tourism and on military defense spending. And, you know, I think nowhere is that more true in Florida than in the Florida Panhandle. And so, this bill, this legislation, simply kind of strengthens the message that Florida necessarily must prioritize those two pieces of our economy. This has nothing to do with the debate over (whether) to drill or not to drill or what type of fuel we should be using, but simply says that Florida's economy, which is, you know, functionally distinct, say, from Louisiana's economy. But Florida's economy is founded upon those other legs, and those are critical, and we can't do anything in Florida that would disrupt those two economic pillars for our state.
Averhart: Now, I would like to open it up to whatever bills you would like to talk about that you've put forth.
Boyles: There's a couple of bills I'm particularly excited about, and, you know, they're going to be a challenge, but hopefully we'll make some progress. You know, the first that I would reference would be the, what we have captioned as the JET Act or Judicial Efficiency Transparency Act. And so, you know, obviously, there are three branches of government. One of those that I think kind of sits quietly in the background frequently, certainly at the state level, is the judiciary. It is, nevertheless, a really critical component to the functioning of our society and fills a significant need for the citizens of Florida when you have to interact with that branch, which we, I think, all hope that we never will. But sometimes that's a part of life, or it's a part of business. And when you do so, you want to make sure that that system is functioning as efficiently as it can. And so this bill is really designed to just give some level of visibility to the individual work effort of judges. So those positions are, at a circuit or county level, they are elected positions. And so I think it's important for there to be some level of accountability back to the public and back to the legislature, which then has to make decisions on funding new positions that are requested by the courts. And so that bill will require, what's effectively a report card annually, where you'll be able to go and look up information on how efficiently judges are handling their individual dockets to get a sense of where there may be an issue on a judge that's effectively moving their docket versus a judge who may not effectively be moving their docket. The result can be really significant for businesses and individuals who have cases before judges who may not be prioritizing, moving those dockets along consistently, or effectively.
Averhart: Now, who would the reports go to? Straight to the legislature?
Boyles: So they would actually be published, under the current version of the bill, would be published by both the clerk and by each circuit on the circuit's website. So that information would be available both to the legislature and directly to the public.
Averhart: Okay, very good. And the other bill you wanted to highlight in particular?
Boyles: So we have seen significant growth in solar farm construction in Northwest Florida. There have been several instances, at least one of them very, very significant, of failures of stormwater systems on those facilities, resulting in environmental harm and harm to individual property owners. And so I partnered with Senator Bradley over in the Senate to file a bill that will strengthen the stormwater requirements for new solar farm construction. That bill will also provide greater protections when solar farms are built on farmland and ensure that once those solar farms are decommissioned, that that farmland is returned to its original state, and that all of that infrastructure is removed rather than abandoned and left in place. The legislation, I think, is going to be really important, in particular in Northwest Florida, where we're seeing accelerated construction of solar farm infrastructure and where we have a lot more topography. So you have a lot more elevation relief in Northwest Florida than maybe you do in South or Central Florida. And so this legislation is really important to our district to ensure that we are protecting both our farmlands and our waterways and water bodies from any adverse impacts of the construction of those solar farms.
Averhart: Finally, you said there are bills that are on the table right away when you get to work, and the lobbying has commenced. What are some of the bills that you'll be addressing as soon as you get to work?
Boyles: I think what I would say is, you know, for me as a new legislator, getting into the flow of the committee process. So we had six committee weeks at the end of 2025. Those moved relatively slowly. And so now that we're about to step into session, I serve on about six different committees, which will probably be hearing two dozen or more bills over the next three. The first thing I have to do is kind of learn the process of adapting to ensure that I am timely, reviewing all of those bills, and being prepared for each one of those committee meetings.
Averhart: Anything that you wanted to add as you get set to work in your first session?
Boyles: I think just a thank you to the constituents in District 3. I am really excited about this opportunity. I'll certainly ask for a little bit of grace as I learned the ropes in my first session, but I'm excited for the opportunity to go and do good work on behalf of the citizens of Northwest Florida. Hopefully, secure some of those hard-earned tax dollars back to our district and help to pass good legislation in Tallahassee.
Averhart: Well, thank you and good luck with this first session.
Boyles: Thank you, ma'. Am. I appreciate it.
