| | | | | |  | | By Gary Fineout | Presented by The Great Courses Plus | Good Friday morning. The daily rundown — Between Wednesday and Thursday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 11,335 (1 percent), to 1,094,697; active hospitalizations went down by 11 (0.2 percent), to 4,548; deaths rose by 129 (0.6 percent), to 19,591. Where's the plan? — The vaccines are coming. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants everything to be as normal as possible despite recent spikes in coronavirus cases. But when will the Florida Capitol reopen for good? And more importantly, how will the Legislature conduct the public's business during a pandemic? Session is coming — Lawmakers are supposed to hold their first round of committee meetings ahead of the 2021 session next month. There's a lot we still don't know about how that will look. Will the public be allowed in? Will they be screened? Will legislators still meet with the public, or lobbyists in their offices? November practice — Florida legislators have already done a sort of dry run during the one-day organizational session that happened last month. There was lots of testing ahead of time. Masks were encouraged, but not mandated. There were limits on how many people could attend the session. And a total of nine legislators were forced to skip the event because they either tested positive for the coronavirus or they were exposed to someone who had it. Senate plans to test — Here's what we know right now: Senate President Wilton Simpson, who has brought in medical experts to held guide the chamber's plans, has notified his members that all senators and Senate staff will be required to be tested in advance of each committee week. Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for Simpson, noted however that a decision regarding session — which starts in March — has not been made yet. Meanwhile, the Florida House has not announced its plans but its expected to release some Covid-19 protocols for January and February sometime later this month. Sunshine — Legally, the Legislature has already concluded that it must conduct its business in person, so there won't be a virtual session. The question, however, is how to provide both social distancing and public access. Despite Florida's history of open government, the Legislature already has a reputation for cutting deals and scripting everything behind closed doors. We'll see if the pandemic fuels those impulses. — WHERE'S RON? — Nothing official announced for Gov. DeSantis. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch: gfineout@politico.com | | | | A message from The Great Courses Plus: Don't be stagnant, keep your mind active with The Great Courses Plus . Learn at your own pace with the ability to stream lectures like the Art of Investing anytime, anywhere. Tap into an expansive selection of over 13,000 video streaming lectures from some of the world's greatest minds. Learning should be enjoyable, so start learning today with The Great Courses Plus! | | |
|  | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES | | COMING SOON — Florida's plan to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine will start early next week with state Department of Health strike teams that will offer 21,000 doses to nursing homes in Broward and Pinellas County, Division of Emergency Director Jared Moskowitz said. Gov. Ron DeSantis first brought up the strike teams in a video update sent Thursday by his office. Moskowitz told POLITICO much of the White House plan to distribute the vaccines will be carried out by CVS Pharmacy and the Walgreen's Co. The two drug store chains will need time before the vaccines start hitting the streets. Strike teams first — "Just because vaccine has arrived doesn't mean things will just start flowing immediately," Moskowitz said. "The strike teams will get the vaccine out there the day the state gets them." He added that Broward and Pinellas were chosen for logistical reasons. The strike teams will be armed with vaccines made by Pfizer, which has to be stored in extremely cold temperatures. (from POLITICO's Arek Sarkissian.) HO HO HO — "DeSantis to host holiday party at governor's mansion, and Democrats accuse him of ignoring COVID-19 warnings," by Sun Sentinel's Skyler Swisher: "Gov. Ron DeSantis is hosting a holiday party at the governor's mansion for state legislators, despite objections from Democrats that it will send the wrong message to Floridians as the pandemic worsens. DeSantis has invited 160 state legislators and their guests to a holiday reception Monday night, despite warnings from health experts that Americans avoid large holiday gatherings." | 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a new conference about the surge in coronavirus cases. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) | ON CAMERA — "Bodycam video: COVID-19 analyst delayed cops serving warrant," by Associated Press' Brendan Farrington and Terry Spencer: "Bodycam video released by a Florida law enforcement agency on Thursday shows that officers tried multiple time to contact a former Department of Health employee who the state says sent an unauthorized message about COVID-19 data. The more than 20 minutes of video released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows officers knocking on Rebekah Jones' door multiple times and attempting to call her before serving a search warrant Monday morning. 'That was not smart what you're doing, OK, you need to calm down and get your head put on right now because you're making all the wrong decisions,' an officer said to Jones after she opened the door and law enforcement went inside with guns drawn." — " Exclusive: Rebekah Jones pushes back after dashcam video released," by Palm Beach Post's Chris Persaud — "Rebekah Jones: Questions linger over FDLE handling of search warrant as bodycam video released," by Tallahassee Democrat's Jeffrey Schweers — "Will raid on Florida data analyst have a chilling effect?" by Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas BUT OF COURSE — "With everyone masked up, bandits are hitting South Florida banks by blending in," by Sun Sentinel's Austen Erblat: "Bank robbers used to hide their faces behind baseball caps and sunglasses. Now they wear COVID-19 masks just like everyone else. South Florida has seen a rise in robbers who've exploited the pandemic for their own gain, walking into banks with masks on and benefiting from a mask no longer raising a red flag." RESTRICTIONS — " As Covid-19 cases spike, Miami will enforce midnight curfew as of this weekend," by Miami Herald's Joey Flechas and Claudia Chacin: "Miami city police will start enforcing a countywide midnight curfew this weekend after commissioners unanimously voted Thursday to follow the Miami-Dade rule while COVID-19 cases spike. City police, code enforcement staff and fire inspectors will immediately start educating business owners inside Miami city limits about the change before issuing citations over the weekend. Police Chief Jorge Colina said officers would start notifying people Thursday night and begin enforcement over the weekend, though he did not specify which day." — " Can New Year's Eve survive COVID? Miami Beach wants a curfew break from the county," by Miami Herald's Martin Vassolo — "Miami public hospital employees split on whether they want to receive COVID-19 vaccine," by Miami Herald's Ben Conarck — " COVID deaths likely to increase in Orange County despite vaccine hopes, health official says," by Orlando Sentinel's Stephen Hudak — "Florida's unemployment claims rise as U.S. filings spike during pandemic," by Sun Sentinel's David Lyons | | | | TRACK THE TRANSITION & NEW ADMINISTRATION HEADING INTO 2021: President-elect Biden is pushing full steam ahead on putting together his Cabinet and White House staff. These appointments and staffing decisions send clear-cut signals about Biden's priorities. What do these signals foretell? Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, it tracks the appointments, people, and the emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | |
| | TRAIL MIX | | BACKLASH — 'Seditious abuse of the judicial process': States reject Texas effort to overturn Biden election," by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney and Zach Montellaro: Officials from four presidential swing states forcefully criticized an effort by Texas and President Donald Trump to enlist the Supreme Court to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election, with Pennsylvania calling the last-ditch legal effort "seditious" and built on an "absurd" foundation. "The Court should not abide this seditious abuse of the judicial process, and should send a clear and unmistakable signal that such abuse must never be replicated," Pennsylvania said in a 43-page brief signed by Attorney General Josh Shapiro and his deputies. Here come House Republicans — A group of 106 House Republicans, including nine from Florida, filed their own court briefing that came out in favor of the Texas lawsuit and seeks to overturn election results in four battleground states. The nine Florida members: Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Mario Diaz-Balart, Neal Dunn, Matt Gaetz, John Rutherford, Ross Spano, Michael Waltz, Dan Webster and Ted Yoho. — "Miami Republican backs long-shot Texas lawsuit to invalidate ballots in four states," by Miami Herald's Alex Daugherty — "Florida Dems call out Ashley Moody for intervening in 'frivolous' Texas lawsuit on Trump's behalf," by Bay News 9's Mitch Perry LISTEN UP — "Abuela is always right, and other lessons from Florida 2020," by Scott Bland, Sabrina Rodriguez, Annie Rees, Jenny Ament and Irene Noguchi: It's an unspoken rule not to talk politics at the dinner table — unless you have a podcast recording, then it's fine! POLITICO's Sabrina Rodriguez gets real with her Cuban family — abuela Diana, aunt Gloria and mom Martha — about their 2020 votes, and how Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade County helped Donald Trump win Florida. Then she talks to Scott Bland about whether the ultimate purple state is drifting red. FOLLOW THE MONEY — " How the cruise industry secretly backed 'dark money' mailers about defunding Key West police," by Miami Herald's Taylor Dolven and Nicholas Nehamas and FLKeysNews.com's Gwen Filosa: "But the mailers left a trail of financial bread crumbs in tax filings, campaign finance records and corporate paperwork reviewed by the Miami Herald. They show that the cruise industry, which at least publicly stayed out of the campaign, secretly used a 'dark money' scheme to funnel funds to the nonprofit responsible for the mailers. The scheme, while legal, reveals how powerful business interests can seek to manipulate the public during political campaigns while keeping their hands clean. It effectively hid from voters the identity of those paying for the disinformation campaign, which failed at the polls when the referendums passed by wide margins." | | | | A message from The Great Courses Plus:   | | |
| | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS — "Mystery Florida group lobbying to fight big tech," by POLITICO's Matt Dixon: A mystery group is mounting a well-financed push to take on big technology companies with a rewrite of Florida's data privacy laws, but little is known about the people or the money behind the effort. Propel Florida LLC, which is behind the campaign, has no online presence and lists its address as a post office box. The corporation was established just eight months ago. Since its creation, Propel Florida has given $100,000 in political contributions to key Republicans and hired a lobbying team ahead of the 2021 legislative session. "The fact of the matter is Floridians can't trust Big Tech," said Shaun Keck, who identified himself in an email as Propel Florida's director. "For years, virtual platforms have been collecting personal, private information from all of us. After which they capitalize by renting and selling this private information." DIVERTED — "Oil spill cleanup hits a wall as lawmakers tap trust fund," by POLITICO's Bruce Ritchie: Tax revenue set aside to clean oil and gas spills is being tapped to balance the state budget, a move that could lead to more groundwater contamination and threatens to shutter companies that do the clean up work. The legislative sweep of the state's Inland Protection Trust Fund, which has been continuing for at least two decades, is getting more aggressive, with lawmakers demanding more money in the past three years to fund the general budget. The unexpected money grab has delayed cleanup of spills that threaten drinking water and could force companies to lay off workers and make other cuts, executives say. It also is increasing a tax paid by motorists, airlines, and other petroleum consumers that is used to finance the trust fund. — "Lauren Book, Evan Jenne push lawmakers to formally apologize for 'Johns Committee," by Florida Politics' Ryan Nicol | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | BLUNT ASSESSMENT — "Grand jury: Florida's mental health care system 'a mess,'" by Sun Sentinel's Scott Travis, Brittany Wallman and Megan O'Matz: "Florida's broken mental health system has 'urgent problems' and should be overhauled by a new commission with broad authority to investigate failures, a statewide grand jury says. In its third interim report, the grand jury, commissioned in 2019 to focus mostly on safety and security-related issues in the wake of the Parkland tragedy, also calls for major changes to school policing and reporting of school crimes." Dear Legislature — "The report makes recommendations for the Legislature to consider during its upcoming session. A final report was supposed to come out this year, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is now expected in April. More than half of the report is devoted to 'urgent problems' the grand jury sees with the state's mental health system: it's underfunded, and people with mental health issues face a 'patchwork of interlocking, often-conflicting sources of care.'" IMPORTANT RULING — "Harmony Allen, Port St. Lucie resident, gets 8-0 SCOTUS vote in her military rape case," by Treasure Coast Newspapers Joshua Solomon: "Two decades after Harmony Allen was raped while serving in the military, she said she finally has justice. Justice for the Port St. Lucie woman came Thursday from the U.S. Supreme Court when it ruled unanimously to effectively stand against statutory limits for members of the military to report rape. 'Today was the best Christmas present I could've ever wished for,' Allen told TCPalm following the Court's ruling. 'How many people can say they went to the Supreme Court and won?'" SOMETHING TO WATCH — " Cuba says it will open its economy to majority-owned foreign investments," by El Nuevo Herald's Mario J. Penton: "Cuba has announced it will open its centralized Soviet-style economy to foreign investments with Cuban minority participation, a key change because, until now, Cuba has insisted on keeping a majority of the shares when foreign companies build hotels and other projects on the island. 'We are, no doubt, facing what is probably one of the most relevant structural changes in the Cuban economy, especially because it leaves Cubans without participation in a process that the regime wants to put under its control,' said Cuban-Spanish economist Elías Amor Bravo." — "Daytona Beach Kennel Club seeks to stop plan for gambling facility near St. Augustine," by News Service of Florida's Jim Saunders | | | | JOIN TODAY - A PATH TO CLEANER SKIES: Before the pandemic, increased demand for air travel resulted in rising global emissions. Then, Covid-19 changed everything. As airlines start to recover from the resulting financial fallout, what is happening with the use of cleaner jet fuel, investments in technology, and international pacts to cut the airline industry's carbon footprint? Join POLITICO for a conversation on the future of air travel, climate change, and sustainability, as well as an executive conversation between POLITICO CEO Patrick Steel and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. REGISTER HERE. | | | | |
| | THE GUNSHINE STATE | | MOTION WITHDRAWN — "School district drops quest for social media posts of Parkland victims' families," by Sun Sentinel's Rafael Olmeda: "The Broward school district rescinded its effort Thursday to obtain the Facebook posts of the families of the victims of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, lamenting that media coverage painted their motion in an unfair light." | | ...HURRICANE HOLE... | | 'THEY SCREWED IT UP ROYALLY' — "Skanska seeks exoneration from liability over runaway barges in federal court," by Pensacola News Journal's Jim Little: "As the number of lawsuits filed in state court against Skanska over its runaway barges continues to mount, the company has turned to federal court to invoke maritime law to limit any damages it might have to pay… During Hurricane Sally, Skanska had 55 barges in Pensacola Bay, and the company said 27 of those barges came loose from their moorings during the storm. At least four barges hit the new bridge, collapsing multiple spans, while several other barges ran aground across the bay area or washed up on private property." — " Hurricane Sally debris cost goes up another $20 million, total will be closer to $70 million," by Pensacola News Journal's Jim Little | | MEDIA MATTERS | | SPIN CYCLE — "Capitalizing on sudden surge in popularity, Boca Raton-based Newsmax plans expansion, including three news bureaus," by Sun Sentinel's Anthony Man: "Newsmax, the conservative cable channel and website that's enjoying a surge in post-election popularity, is planning to expand its news operations. In the next two months, Newsmax plans to open three news bureaus — including one in Miami — Christopher Ruddy, CEO of the Boca-Raton based company, said in a telephone interview Thursday. Another, more immediate shift, is coming. Once the Electoral College votes are cast on Monday that will officially make Joe Biden the next president, Ruddy said he would be referred to on-air as president-elect. 'As soon as he's been named president-elect, we will respect him as the next president of the United States.'" | | | | A message from The Great Courses Plus: Are you an inquisitively curious individual that loves learning? Join a community of life-long learners, and learn more about any topic with The Great Courses Plus. Stream thousands of videos by some of this world's brightest minds. From the Art of Investing to the Theory of Everything, quench your thirst for knowledge with courses designed for the endlessly curious cat. With The Great Courses Plus, you'll enjoy being able to learn anytime, anywhere at your own pace. Now there's nothing keeping you from starting your educational journey. Learn now with The Great Courses Plus! | | |
| | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — "Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen to move to Miami's 'billionaire bunker,'" by New York Post's Emily Smith, Sara Nathan and Mara Siegler: "Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen will be Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's new neighbors on Indian Creek Island, also known as the 'billionaire's bunker' in Miami, Page Six can reveal. The couple, who are currently renting Derek Jeter's sprawling Jetersville mansion in Tampa, have bought 26 Indian Creek for more than $17 million." — "Pasco Commission votes to now allow alcohol sales on Sunday mornings," by Tampa Bay Times Barbara Behrendt: "Several months ago, Pasco County commissioner Kathryn Starkey said it would be nice if the county would allow boaters heading out for a Sunday on the water to buy a six-pack before launching their craft. Others might appreciate a refreshing mimosa with their Sunday brunch. But since Pasco County forbid alcohol sales before 11 a.m., that wasn't possible. This week that changed."
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