Gas in South Florida is now higher than the national average at $4.39 a gallon and yesterday State lawmakers approved a gas tax holiday that will take effect for the entire month of October.

The gas tax is 26-and-a-half cents a gallon, and eliminating it for a month will cost the state $200 million dollars.

The state will use federal pandemic funds to cover the cost.

House Democrats postponed consideration of a stand-alone emergency funding package Wednesday night for the ongoing pandemic response until at least next week, after opposition from rank-and-file lawmakers to one of the offsets forced party leaders to strip the COVID-19 money from a broader $1.5 trillion fiscal 2022 omnibus bill.

Meanwhile state lawmakers have extended the current legislative session until Monday in order to pass the budget.

In addition, there is an effort to combat election fraud is moving forward in Tallahassee. The House a bill that creates a new office to investigate election crimes. Florida would become the first state to have such a department. The bill also calls for harsher penalties for some election crimes.