Legislative Update - May 21, 2021

The Legislature held a Special Session this week to discuss gaming issues.  The Florida House on Wednesday gave final approval to a gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that would include allowing sports betting in the state. The House, during the third day of a special legislative session, voted 97-17 to pass the bill. The Senate voted 39-1 on Tuesday to approve it. The only no vote in the Senate was by Senator Jeff Brandes. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe of Florida announced the 30-year deal, known as a compact, last month. The deal would lead to the state receiving $2.5 billion over the first five years. The tribe would operate sports betting and would receive other benefits, including being able to offer craps and roulette at its casinos. The compact is expected to face a legal challenge because of the sports betting provision. 

The Governor received the gaming bills yesterday and has 15 days to sign the bills into law, veto them or let them become law without his signature.  We expect the Governor to hold a bill signing ceremony very soon.

Sprowls Defends Gaming Commission, Says Nobody Has Inside Track to Post on Panel - House Speaker Chris Sprowls on Wednesday rejected assertions that a new gaming commission created by legislation passed Wednesday by the Legislature was created with an eye to being a soft landing spot for a legislator looking for a post-legislative job. Florida Politics

“‘People are going to sue’: Gaming Compact lawsuits expected” via Haley Brown of Florida Politics — The Gaming Compact now awaits DeSantis’ signature before it heads from Tallahassee to Washington, where the U.S. Department of the Interior has 45 days to sign off on the agreement under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. But the federal government isn’t the only hurdle the Compact will face. Under a 2018 constitutional amendment, any expansion of gambling in the state requires a voter referendum. Opponents say Floridians should vote on the mobile sports betting component. Even Fine is uncertain about the viability of the mobile sports betting component.

The Governor also received SB 7072 by Senator Ray Rodrigues that prohibits social media platforms from deplatforming candidates and requiring more disclosure to other users on how they might be banned from the platform.  This legislation is a priority of Governor DeSantis so we except the a bill signing ceremony for this bill too.

House Democrat Leaders Elected … Rep. Ramon Alexander, D-Tallahassee, and Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, will be the next two leaders of Florida House Democrats. The House Democratic caucus on Wednesday elected Alexander to serve as its leader for a two-year period starting after the 2022 elections. The caucus chose Driskell to serve as leader for the two-year period starting after the 2024 elections. The votes came after Rep. Ben Diamond, D-St. Petersburg, decided to run for Congress next year instead of seeking another term in the state House. Diamond had been slated to become House Democratic leader for the term starting in fall 2022. Current House Minority Co-leader Bobby DuBose, D-Fort Lauderdale, plans to run in a special election for a congressional seat that opened when U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., died. Co-leader Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, will be term-limited in 2022. Alexander currently is the Democratic caucus whip, while Driskell is the caucus policy chair.

New Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book has conflict of interest as Republicans quietly shower taxpayer millions on her charity  By Dan Christensen
FloridaBulldog.org  -- Lauren Book, the newly anointed leader of Florida’s Senate Democrats, has a financial conflict of interest that’s raising questions about her loyalties as her beleaguered party prepares for the challenge of redistricting in January.

NEW FLORIDA JOBLESS CLAIMS HOLD STEADY First-time unemployment claims in Florida were relatively flat last week as the state prepares to again require jobless people to look for work. The U.S. Department of Labor estimated 17,849 new claims were filed during the week that ended May 15, up from 17,555 the prior week. The figure for the week that ended May 8 also was revised upward from an earlier estimate of 14,872 claims. That was the 14th consecutive week that the state’s numbers were bumped up as additional data became available. Nationally, 444,000 new claims were filed last week, down 34,000 from the prior week. The national total last week was the lowest number of weekly claims since mid-March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began causing major job losses. Florida has averaged just under 20,000 claims a week since the start of February 2021. The federal government released the new estimates a day before the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity will issue an April unemployment report. The state agency on June 1 will also start requiring new unemployment applicants to follow a “work search” rule that requires unemployment claimants to apply for five jobs a week. The state suspended the requirement last year because of the pandemic. Last Friday, the Department of Labor reported the U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs in April, well below expectations, raising the national unemployment rate from 6.0 to 6.1 percent.

“NOAA predicts busy hurricane season” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects above-average storm activity during the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the federal agency announced Thursday. This year’s forecast comes after the most active hurricane season on record and marks the sixth consecutive above-average season. While NOAA expects a milder season in 2021 than last year, forecasters predict a 60% chance of an above-average season with 13 to 20 named storms. Of the expected storms in 2021, six to 10 could become hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher, NOAA said. Meanwhile, three to five major hurricanes are forecast with winds 111 mph or higher. The average hurricane season, comparatively, produces 14 named storms, of which seven become hurricanes and three grow into major hurricanes.

“Surge of New Yorkers relocating to Florida, new numbers show” via Matt Papaycik of WPTV — According to new data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 33,565 New York residents got Florida driver's licenses between September of last year and March of this year. That's a 32% increase from the same period the year before. The picture-perfect views, waking up to palm trees and Florida's loose restrictions during the pandemic are just a few reasons Nicole Rascionato decided to move to Palm Beach County from New York. "I feel free here compared to back at home where that's not happening, at least not yet," Rascionato said.

“DeSantis’ press secretary locks Twitter account after ‘harassment & threats’” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics —Pushaw, DeSantis’ new press secretary, locked her Twitter account on Thursday after she was harassed and threatened on the social media platform. In a Tweet she posted Thursday, the conservative journalist turned press secretary said the threats began after announcing her new gig with the DeSantis administration. Pushaw described the “waves” of harassment as “disgusting” and “deranged.” “Hopefully, it’s temporary,” Pushaw tweeted. “I have a lot of work to do & a lot to learn, so it’s better this way for now.” In a later tweet, Pushaw included a screenshot of a tweet she received that said, “your death would not be a tragedy.” Pushaw’s Twitter bio now says “temporarily locked” and references John 15:18 in the Bible.

COVID-19 …

“GOP resistance may be slowing Florida vaccine campaign. ‘We have to take this seriously’” via Lautaro Grinspan and Ben Conarck of the Miami Herald — Even as vaccines became increasingly available over the course of the year, Republican resistance remained high. Last month, polls found that nearly half of Republican respondents would avoid getting vaccinated if possible. Vaccine enthusiasm rose among Republicans from March to April, but that group continues to be the most resistant, with 1 in 5 saying they will “definitely not” get vaccinated. By contrast, just 13% of independents and 4% of Democrats expressed similar levels of opposition to the vaccine. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that partisan vaccine hesitancy extends to the health care industry, with 40% of front-line Republican health care workers indicating they are not confident in the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines (compared to 28% of Democrats).

“COVID-19 rule-breakers begin seeing their court cases dropped in Florida” via Rafael Olmeda of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — People who violated mask mandates and other COVID-19-related restrictions are starting to have their criminal charges dropped this week, just days after DeSantis promised to pardon anyone who faced fines and jail time. Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said he’s asking judges to vacate sentences against anyone accused of violating executive orders designed to stop the spread of COVID-19. Nearly 150 Broward residents were cited for violations between March and November 2020. Prosecutors declined to press charges in more than a third of those cases, and later dismissed charges in others. As DeSantis recently promised to pardon anyone in Florida, he said the health guidelines should never have been enforced by giving people criminal records.

— VAX STATS —

More than 7.65 million people were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Florida. Here is a breakdown, via the News Service of Florida, of fully vaccinated people by age group:

—Ages 15-24: 408,963

—Ages 25-34: 610,548

—Ages 35 to 44: 805,690

—Ages 45 to 54: 1,073,143

—Ages 55 to 64: 1,546,249

—Ages 65 to 74: 1,827,676

—Ages 75 to 84: 1,036,448

—Ages 85 and older: 342,859

Elections …

“Elections law hit with another challenge” via Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida — Alleging discrimination against Black and Latino voters, a coalition of groups has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Florida elections law that includes additional restrictions on voting by mail. The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee is at least the third challenge to the law, which was passed last month by the Legislature and signed by DeSantis during an appearance on Fox News. But the lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of the groups Florida Rising Together, Faith in Florida, UnidosUS, the Equal Ground Education Fund, the Hispanic Federation and Poder Latinx, contends that the changes dealing with issues such as voting by mail could curtail voting by Black and Latino residents.

“RNC, NRSC join legal fray over Florida’s contentious new election law” via Gary Fineout of POLITICO Florida — Republicans are jumping in to defend Florida’s newly adopted election law, which Democrats and an array of voting and civil rights groups are criticizing as unconstitutional. The Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Thursday filed motions to intervene in two separate federal lawsuits that have been filed in Tallahassee. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, using the same talking point espoused by Florida GOP officials defending the law, said in a statement that “Florida’s recent election reforms are aimed at a simple goal: making it easier to vote and harder to cheat.” Sen. Rick Scott, who is chair of the NRSC, contended that critics are lying about the effect of the law.

“Rick Scott continues to plead with Donald Trump to stay out of Senate primaries” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics — Scott made the comments on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show.” “What I’ve suggested to him is to let the citizens of that state pick their primary winner,” Scott said. “And then help those that win that he believes in.” “And so, but, you know, he believes in things that I believe in,” Scott said. “That’s what I think the candidates are that we’re going to get, and I look forward to him supporting the candidates that he likes,” Scott said. But whether Trump is next door or 1,000 miles away, Scott functions as if the heat is still on regardless, with the former President at odds with many establishment lions of the Senate.

“Nikki Fried says weighing gubernatorial run ‘makes sense,’ but holds off on official announcement” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — Fried is continuing to tease a 2022 gubernatorial run, as an expected official announcement is now less than two weeks away. Earlier this month, Fried released a hype video previewing a June 1 announcement, where many expect her to dive in officially. Fried again declined Wednesday to declare a candidacy many see as inevitable. But during a Forum Club of the Palm Beaches event, she did give credence to the idea that a run is in her future. “You’re going to have to wait for June 1 for that,” Fried answered coyly. “But certainly, as our only statewide elected Democrat, it makes sense for me to be talking about running for Governor.”

“Val Demings plans to challenge Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate next year” via Ryan Gillespie of the Orlando Sentinel

Congratulations!  Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff married John William Ward Monday in a ceremony in the Historic Senate Chambers of the old Capitol. 

RIP. Former Florida House speaker and education commissioner Ralph Turlington, who pushed through the state lottery, corporate income tax and open records law, has died at 100.  Associated Press