| | | | | |  | | By Gary Fineout | Good Wednesday morning. The daily rundown — Between Monday and Tuesday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 9,594 (nearly 0.6 percent), to 1,667,763; active hospitalizations went down by 124 (nearly 1.8 percent), to 6,775; deaths rose by 227 (nearly 0.9 percent) to 25,673. And now for something completely different — Let's take a moment to step away from the frantic scramble for vaccines, the fallout of the Capitol riots and the looming Senate trial of former President Donald Trump, the searing debate over the role of Big Tech … and talk about the Olympics? Stripped from today's headlines — Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis fired off a letter this week to the International Olympic Committee after reports the Tokyo Olympics (which were postponed last year due to Covid-19) could be shuttered completely. This jumping into the news story of the day is a strategy that worked well for former Gov. Rick Scott, who first appointed Patronis to the CFO spot. But it hasn't generated a lot of buzz for Patronis… until now. The Olympics letter got a host of uncritical coverage — and somehow — a question at Tuesday's White House press briefing. And Patronis bashed the White House when press secretary Jen Psaki didn't give a full-throated endorsement of this endeavor. Here's the deal — Florida has not made a "bid" for the Olympics, nor has it set aside any money to do so. The same day Patronis was taking a victory lap, state Rep. Randy Fine, the House budget chief for K-12, was telling reporters that he may have to soon roll out massive budget cuts for education. When Patronis' office was asked about the astronomical cost associated with an Olympics, they gave Playbook this statement from the CFO: "Japan has made the bulk of their investments anticipating an event for a pre-pandemic world. Since the virus hit, many sports have become predominately televised events. Moreover, with all of the sports facilities across the state, Florida can successfully deliver an Olympic event to the world for little-to-no cost." Patronis is also arguing that since Florida is hosting the Super Bowl, it can handle the Olympics. Math is hard — The idea that hosting thousands of athletes and putting on weeks of sporting events will have "little-to-no-cost" is quite the statement to make. Let's forget that Florida tried — unsuccessfully — to move last year's Republican convention to Jacksonville. That itself was a gigantic logistical feat and this is 10 times, 100 times that with little time to make it happen. But hey, it got some attention for Patronis and that's all that counts, right? Now about that meltdown of Florida's property insurance market that has happened while he's been office… — WHERE'S RON? — Gov. DeSantis will hold a press conference in Sun City Center. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch: gfineout@politico.com | | | | TRACK THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: A new president occupies the White House and he is already making changes. What are some of the key moments from Biden's first week in office? Find out in Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter tracking the appointments, people, and emerging power centers of the first 100 days of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | |
|  | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES | | DOESN'T IT SOUND GOOD THOUGH? — "Experts question Florida bid to host 2021 Summer Olympics: 'Mind-bogglingly stupid,'" by HuffPost's Hayley Miller: "Economists and public health experts called into question a top Florida official's request to the International Olympic Committee to consider relocating the 2021 summer games from Tokyo to his state. In his letter to the sports governing body, Jimmy Patronis ― the chief financial officer for the state of Florida ― cited reports that Japan has decided to call off this summer's games due to the pandemic after already delaying the event by a year. (The IOC has called such reports 'categorically untrue.')" HIS SHOT — "DeSantis, Biden spar as Florida vaccine rollout is scrutinized," by POLITICO's Arek Sarkissian and Matt Dixon: What is becoming clear is the political vaccine shortage blame game is increasingly marring Florida's rollout. Appointments at hospitals continue to run out of doses. And at Publix, the supermarket giant tapped as a vaccine location in 18 Florida counties, supplies are increasingly drying up, something Democrats have said undercuts DeSantis as he travels the state to each day trumpet the vaccine rollout's success in near-daily press conferences. "We have got to stop this barnstorming of the governor on the rollout of the vaccination because it does not exist," state Sen. Linda Stewart (D-Orlando) said on a Senate Democratic caucus call last week. "Every day he is rolling himself out to someplace, saying look at all this stuff, and it is not there." — "Florida governor assures seniors they'll get booster shots," by The Associated Press' Bobby Caina Calvan — " DeSantis calls White House comments 'disingenuous,' says Florida is giving out all the vax it can," by Treasure Coast Newspapers Joshua Solomon WHERE SHOPPING IS NOT A PLEASURE? — "Publix deal leaves many seniors out in the cold; commissioner says she's 'absolutely disgusted ,'" by Sun Sentinel's Wells Dusenbury: "With Publix assuming near full control over COVID-19 vaccines in Palm Beach County, irate public officials are concerned that the rollout is unfair and leaves minorities out of luck. 'I am absolutely disgusted the governor of this state has 100% percent taken the ability to vaccinate our residents in Palm Beach County out of the hands of our public health officials and medical officials and given that authority to a corporate entity,' County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay said Tuesday." — " Sarasota County commissioners blame state for slow vaccine distribution," by Sarasota Herald-Tribune's Timothy Fanning MEANWHILE — "Florida hospitals told to look to health departments for vaccines," by News Service of Florida's Christine Sexton: "With frustrations mounting amid a constrained supply of COVID-19 vaccines, Florida's top public-health official urged hospital executives on Tuesday to turn to county health departments if they need to vaccinate newly hired staff members and patients. During a statewide phone call, Department of Health Secretary Scott Rivkees told hospitals they cannot use 'second dose' vaccine supplies to give initial vaccinations to more people. Rivkees' remarks came as Gov. Ron DeSantis makes vaccinating people ages 65 and older his top priority." THEN THERE'S THIS — "State switch of vaccination vendors at ALF's caused 'chaos,' confusion, misinformation," by Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas: "When national pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens weren't vaccinating residents and staff of long-term care facilities in Florida fast enough, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a $24 million contract with the subsidiary of the Miami engineering and emergency management firm CDR Maguire to staff up and get the job done. But the favored vendor had no experience working in long-term care facilities, and the result has been a rush to vaccinate that has been rife with miscommunication and frustration, and even fraught with misinformation that discouraged some people from getting vaccinated, officials from long-term care facilities said." WHAT A HAPPY WORKPLACE — "Broward Schools accused of 'spying' on teachers — catching them out and about despite COVID fears," by Sun Sentinel's Scott Travis: "The Broward School District has scoured Facebook pages of teachers working remotely to catch them partying, traveling and failing to wear masks at a time the educators say COVID-19 makes it too risky for them to return to campus. One teacher is pictured at her daughter's destination wedding in Jamaica. Another attended a political rally for Joe Biden. Others were pictured with cocktails in restaurants or enjoying a Disney or beach vacation with family or friends. The district used about 40 pages of research about remote teachers during an arbitration hearing last week with the Broward Teachers Union, which challenged the district's decision to end remote work assignments for most teachers." CONTACT TRACING — "Sen. Ausley says she was exposed to COVID-19 by maskless Rep. Shoaf; both can't be certain," by Tallahassee Democrat's Jeffrey Schweers and James Call: "State. Sen. Loranne Ausley, a Democrat from Tallahassee, said she is nearly certain she got the COVID-19 virus from Rep. Jason Shoaf, a Republican from Port St. Joe. Ausley announced Monday night that she tested positive for the respiratory virus on Sunday, and was quarantining herself from her family at a remote location. Her announcement came a day after Shoaf, a Republican from Port St Joe, released his own statement on Facebook Sunday that he had tested positive for COVID-19. 'There's no way to know with absolute certainty. However, I was at two delegation meetings Friday night, in enclosed rooms with a member of my delegation who was not wearing a mask,' Ausley said during a phone interview Tuesday." | | | | GET THE SCOOP ON CONGRESS IN 2021 : Get the inside scoop on the Schumer/McConnell dynamic, the new Senate Bipartisan Group, and what is really happening inside the House Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference. From Schumer to Pelosi, McConnell to McCarthy and everyone in between, our new Huddle author Olivia Beavers brings the latest from Capitol Hill with assists from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle, the indispensable guide to Congress. | | | | |
| | TRAIL MIX | | ANOTHER TRY FOR GRAYSON? — POLITICO's Marc Caputo reports: Progressive firebrand and former Rep. Alan Grayson is making calls about running against Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in 2022. "Repeal Rubio. That's all I have to say," Grayson told Caputo. Grayson, who got national attention for his 2009 remark that the Republican plan for health care called for sick people to "die quickly," ran for U.S. Senate in 2016 but lost in the Democratic primary to Rep. Patrick Murphy. | 
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks to members of the media. (Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images) | FEC ASKS RPOF ABOUT DONATIONS — The Federal Election Commission sent a letter this week to the Republican Party of Florida that raised questions about whether the party accepted excessive donations. The letter said it appeared that 20 individuals had given twice the $10,000 limit allowed in a calendar year. The letter noted that the listed contributions showed up on two different monthly reports. Republican Party of Florida chairman Joe Gruters said Tuesday he had not seen the letter. But Alia Faraj-Johnson, a spokeswoman for the party, said the contributions were raised as part of a joint fundraising effort and that the party reports "inadvertently included the same non-cash memo entries." She said the reports will be corrected. | | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO KNOW — "Florida GOP renews push to gauge 'intellectual freedom' on college campuses," by POLITICO's Andrew Atterbury: A Florida Senate committee on Tuesday backed legislation aimed at preventing college students from having to "self-censor" themselves on campus due to their political beliefs. The proposal, FL SB264 (21R), would gauge the "intellectual freedom" at 40 schools in Florida, likely leading to the largest-scale survey of its kind in the nation. Democrats and faculty unions oppose the bill, which has been sought for years by state GOP leaders who fear conservative voices are being silenced in higher education. POWER BEHIND THE THRONE — "Top House staffer Mat Bahl shuns the spotlight, but wields more influence than most lawmakers," by The Capitolist's Brian Burgess: "With that much institutional knowledge and experience, Tallahassee insiders say Bahl has more power and influence inside the state's House chamber than most of the legislative body's own elected members. And several of the lobbyists and political operatives interviewed for this article suggest that because of his institutional knowledge of the legislative apparatus, he wields more raw power than Sprowls himself. 'Mat Bahl is the guy you have to win over if you want to get things done, not Chris Sprowls,' said one Tallahassee lobbyist who declined to be identified for this story." MOVING AHEAD — "Florida's Senate president wants to stop the EAA reservoir. That isn't stopping progress," by Treasure Coast Newspapers Max Chesnes: "Progress on the $1.6 billion project was evidently continuing unbothered when TCPalm visited Jan. 13, two months after the new Florida Senate president said the state should stop building the reservoir, meant to curb Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. Sen. Wilton Simpson and budget chair Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne, have said the Legislature must consider the coronavirus pandemic's economic impact on Florida." HEFTY PAYCHECK — " State's investigation points to these non-profit executives making too much money," by Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas: "A Hialeah mental health center, the lead foster care provider in Tampa and agencies that provide child welfare services in Sarasota and mental health services in Pensacola are among the nine nonprofit organizations spending millions compensating executives above the limits allowed by state law, a preliminary report from the governor's Office of Inspector General has found. The nine agencies are all under contract with the Department of Children and Families and all receive state and federal funding for at least half of their annual budgets. According to a report released late Monday by the OIG, the total excessive compensation adds up to more than $3 million annually, but the amounts range from a high of $1 million in excessive compensation at Pensacola-based Lakeview Center to $8,724 in excessive payments at ChildNet, a community-based care center in Fort Lauderdale." — "Florida could expand government use of drones," by The Associated Press — " Florida bill would expand right for officials to visit jails," by The Associated Press — "Bill would allow claims for reform school abuse victims," by The Associated Press — " No-fault insurance repeal teed up in Senate," by News Service of Florida's Jim Turner | | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | WHAT HAPPENS IN ORLANDO — "A top MAGA gathering finds life complicated after Trump," by POLITICO's Gabby Orr and Daniel Lippman: Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller said that Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago abode is less than 2.5 hours away from the Orlando hotel where this year's conference will occur on Feb. 25-28, is not currently scheduled to make an appearance. Meanwhile, a senior American Conservative Union official would not answer whether Pence, who drew MAGA world's ire for certifying Joe Biden's election, had been invited to speak at this year's conference. A spokesperson for the former vice president did not respond to a request in time for publication. ACU chairman Matt Schlapp said he is convinced this year's conference will be no different from past years. "CPAC is going great," he told POLITICO on Tuesday, before then saying that his quote needed to be attributed without his name. Schlapp did not address questions about why some sponsors were not continuing their CPAC sponsorship. STANDING BY — "Rubio, Scott vote to declare Trump impeachment trial as unconstitutional," by Miami Herald's Alex Daugherty: "Florida's two Republican senators stood behind former President Donald Trump on Tuesday during a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate that may indicate whether there are enough votes to convict the ex-president in the looming impeachment trial. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott were among 45 Republicans to vote against an effort to table a motion by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to declare Trump's impeachment trial unconstitutional because he is no longer president." GREEN LIGHT — "Matt Gaetz says his push to oust Liz Cheney is being encouraged by the Trump family," by New York Times' Jeremy W. Peters: "Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of Donald J. Trump's closest allies in Congress, said Monday that the Trump family has given him "nothing but encouragement" in his effort to oust Representative Liz Cheney from her leadership post with House Republicans. But Mr. Gaetz added that he had not spoken to the former president in almost a week, and did not know whether Mr. Trump would get personally involved." STAYING PUT — " Florida commissioner who stoked a Trump crowd won't quit," by Associated Press: "A Florida city commissioner will remain in office but has agreed to step down from two boards after telling a local Trump rally before the attack on the U.S. Capitol that Vice President Mike Pence 'better do the right thing' or he'll face pitchforks and torches for failing to overturn the presidential election. Casselberry Commissioner Mark Busch, who also serves as vice mayor, refused to quit despite a petition drive that drew more than 1,600 signatures seeking his resignation." DROPPED — "Trump Plaza in Florida: Condo board votes to dump Trump name after Capitol siege," by Palm Beach Post's Alexandra Clough: "The Trump name has been dumped from a signature West Palm Beach condominium in the wake of the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. Last week, the board of the Trump Plaza condominium voted unanimously to change the legal name of the twin-tower complex. As a result, former President Donald Trump no longer will have a condo bearing his name across the water from his island enclave on Palm Beach." | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | DIG WE MUST — "A tunnel under Fort Lauderdale? Mayor says Elon Musk's company wants to build it," by Miami Herald's Rob Wile: "Could Elon Musk build a tunnel under the New River in Fort Lauderdale? Mayor Dean Trantalis spent Monday talking to Musk's Boring Co. about it. And Broward County officials are slated to have another discussion with the company Wednesday. The background: After years — if not decades — of discussion, new commuter rail is being planned along the Florida East Coast railway tracks in South Florida. While there remain numerous details to work out, a Coastal Link is now seriously being considered to supplement Brightline's express service. The problem: Should that commuter rail be built, it would further clog up east- and west-bound traffic — not to mention marine travel — at the New River." WADING IN — "Grahams, 4 Florida counties file briefs in tri-state water fight," by POLITICO's Bruce Ritchie: Former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham and his daughter, former Rep. Gwen Graham, have joined four Florida counties and residents along the Apalachicola River in arguing in court against federal reservoir operations upstream in Georgia… Gwen Graham told POLITICO on Monday that her 84-year-old father wanted to file the brief because he has been involved in Apalachicola River issues throughout his political career. "I feel very confident what we're doing is right," she said. "We're just trying to find some way to respect the water flow issues to help the Apalachicola River and Bay." | | ODDS, ENDS, AND FLORIDA MEN | | IT'S BEEN THE 21ST CENTURY FOR A WHILE — "Disney updates Jungle Cruise after insensitivity criticism," by The Associated Press: "Jungle Cruise, one of the original Disney parks' rides, is getting a 21st century remodel, criticized for its depiction of animatronic indigenous people as savages or headhunters. It's the latest update to a legacy theme park ride criticized in years past as being racist. The ride will updated by Disney 'imagineers' at the Disneyland park in California and the Magic Kingdom park in Florida with a new storyline and characters that 'reflect and value the diversity of the world around us,' Disney said in a blog post Monday." BIRTHDAYS: Doug Bell of Metz, Husband & Daughton, and former Rep. Rep. John Mica
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