| | | | | |  | | By Gary Fineout | Presented by Florida Education Champions | Hello and welcome to Monday. Here we go — So there's another front opening up in Florida's mask wars, and this time Senate President Wilton Simpson is defending his turf against the administration of GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis. Where it started — The episode started after it was reported that Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky — who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer — asked recently appointed state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and two of his legislative aides to leave her office after Ladapo refused to don a mask at her request. Ladapo is meeting senators ahead of a confirmation vote during the upcoming 2022 session. Where it ended — Within hours of the story getting out, Simpson sent out a memo to senators and staff that stated that "it shouldn't take a cancer diagnosis for people to respect each other's level of comfort with social interactions during a pandemic. What occurred in Senator Polsky's office was unprofessional and will not be tolerated in the Senate. While there is no mask mandate in the Senate, Senators and staff can request social distancing and masking within their own offices. If visitors to the Senate fail to respect these requests, they will be asked to leave." So there's a lot to wade through here — Ladapo came into his job with a well-known viewpoint of skepticism about vaccines and masks and opposition to lockdowns and mandates. Now Polsky's public announcement of her August cancer diagnosis came out after her meeting with Ladapo, but she has been quoted that she told him she has a serious medical condition. After news of the incident began coursing through the Twitterverse, there was some pushback against Polsky because she was seen maskless on Oct. 12 at a committee meeting and she put a picture on her social media account dated that same day that showed her maskless with state Sen. Shevrin Jones. The senator's response — "Although I have certainly not been perfect about wearing a mask I have never declined to wear one when someone has asked met do," Polsky said in a text message. "I am also very thankful that the Senate President agrees that this is an issue of respect and that the bottom line is the Surgeon General should have respected my wishes." Key takeaway — Simpson, a successful businessman who plans to run for agriculture commissioner on the same ballot as DeSantis next year, is sending a signal to the DeSantis administration that the Senate expects some level of respect. The bigger question is what this means about the governor's legislative agenda in the still-not-scheduled and still-not-mapped out vaccine mandate special session. And there's also the question of Ladapo's confirmation and how this probably will prompt Democrats to lock down in opposition. What happens next? — Does this mean that Ladapo is really in trouble? That's hard to say. Remember that a no vote — or, just as likely, a refusal to consider his nomination — is a gesture that doesn't carry tremendous weight because under Florida law the Senate must refuse to confirm someone in two successive sessions before that person is no longer allowed to serve in their position. Still, there is a growing tension and friction here that may soon spill out even more into public view. — 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 Florida Education Champions: Florida voters demanded their voice be heard on the issue of expanded gambling. Our amendment does just that allowing the people to vote to authorize sports and event betting at professional sports venues, pari-mutuel facilities and statewide via online sports betting platforms. The benefit is that hundreds of millions of dollars generated from tax revenues must go to supplement public school funding through Florida's Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. Learn more and sign the petition. | | |
|  | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES | | The daily rundown — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 2,006 Covid-19 infections on Thursday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 2,348 beds were being used in the state for Covid-19 patients. The Florida Hospital Association reported Friday that 10.2 percent of adult patients in intensive care units are infected with Covid-19. The toll — The Florida Department of Health reported on Friday that 58,803 people have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic in spring 2020, including 106 fatalities that were reported between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21. But the overall death total increased by 944 during the past week. The number of deaths in Florida has increased by 50.4 percent since July 30. SPELLING IT OUT — "Senate President blasts Florida Surgeon General for his 'unprofessional' actions," by Florida Politics Christine Jordan Sexton: "Senate President Wilton Simpson late Saturday sharply criticized a top official in the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis for failing to adhere to a request from state Sen. Tina Polsky to wear a mask while visiting her in her office. Polsky, a Democrat from Palm Beach County who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is about to start radiation treatment, asked Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo to leave her office this past week after Ladapo refused to don a mask." | 
Senate President Wilton Simpson talking to reporters inside the Senate chambers. | Gary Fineout/POLITICO | SO, ABOUT THAT… — "With gentle pushback, businesses want Florida to let them choose their vaccine rules," by Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas: "Here, Florida businesses are saying they want lawmakers to let them keep their options open when it comes to knowing what's best for keeping their employees safe. 'We've always been against government mandating what business can do and can't do,' said Mark Wilson, executive director of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. While the Chamber is 'very interested in the conversation' over a special session, he said, 'we're not asking for legislation.'" — " Brevard Public Schools mask mandate allows parental opt-out as local COVID-19 cases fall," by Florida Today's Bailey Gallion — "I'm a Florida school board member. This is how protesters came after me," by Brevard School Board member Jennifer D. Jenkins for the Washington Post | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down and who really has the president's ear in West Wing Playbook, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | |
| | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | DON'T PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR — The Associated Press has opted against holding its pre-session gathering of leading Florida elected officials ahead of the 2022 legislative session. The annual meeting has usually featured sessions where top legislative leaders as well as the governor would answer questions from the media. The 2021 meeting was scrapped due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic and the decision was made in late summer during the height of this year's Delta variant surge to once again nix the forum. The session starts in January, so the AP had been looking at holding the event sometime ahead of the holidays. ON OFFENSE — "Weaponized surgeon general? Ladapo comes out swinging on social media, at DeSantis' side," by USA Today Network-Florida's Jeffrey Schweers: "Less than a month into the job, Ladapo has made a splash on Twitter and established himself as a regular presence by the Governor's side at news conferences, lending his medical pedigree to the governor's agenda. He's been using his newly minted Twitter account — @FLSurgeonGen — to promote the public health policies of his boss, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. But he's also used it to go after Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a frequent critic of the governor and potential opponent of his in the 2022 governor's race." EXPERIENCED WITH THIS — "Can Florida quit OSHA over vaccines? Top GOP lawmakers will try," by Tampa Bay Times' Lawrence Mower and Kirby Wilson: "House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, and Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, wrote in a joint statement that the federal agency's regulations are 'onerous' and that a state program could 'alleviate' state employers and employees. Simpson has a history with those regulations. The environmental cleanup company he owned was fined $18,000 by the agency after a worker fell and died in 2014. The roofing company owned by another top GOP senator, Keith Perry of Gainesville, was fined nearly $50,000 for six incidents between 2011 and 2017, including two in which employees fell and were hospitalized with serious injuries. The fines were later reduced to just over $21,000." DRAWING THE LINES — "Florida redistricting process moves slowly, but still deals Democrats setbacks," by USA Today Network-Florida's John Kennedy: "So far, Democrats failed to gain support for repeated calls to hold some kind of public hearings before maps are crafted. A decade ago, Republican leaders devoted four months to more than two dozen such hearings — but now say a pandemic-related time crunch makes a road show impossible." No status quo — "Earlier this week, in another setback for Democratic allies, Senate Redistricting Chair Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, ordered committee staff to begin work on their first maps — 'without regard to the preservation of existing district boundaries.' A coalition led by organizers of the voter-approved Fair Districts amendments in the state constitution had urged lawmakers to use current, court-drawn congressional and state Senate districts as a base, lessening the scope of change during the redrawing of new maps." DAMNING — "'These findings boggle my mind': Audit savages Florida program to aid brain-damaged kids," by Miami Herald's Carol Marbin Miller and Daniel Chang: "Case managers at Florida's $1.5 billion compensation program for catastrophically brain-damaged children didn't consult specialists to determine whether medications, therapy, medical supplies and surgical procedures were "medically necessary" to the health of children in the plan. They relied on Google instead." | | | | A message from Florida Education Champions:   | | |
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | FLORIDA MAN CONVICTED — "Giuliani associate convicted on campaign finance charges," POLITICO's Josh Gerstein: Lev Parnas, a business associate of former President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was found guilty Friday of funneling foreign money into U.S. political campaigns and illegally making donations in the names of others. The Manhattan jury deliberated for about five hours before finding Parnas, 49, guilty on all six felony counts that were the subject of a two-week federal court trial. FOLLOW THE MONEY — " Anna Paulina Luna spent about $38k of campaign funds for legal fight," by Tampa Bay Times' Romy Ellenbogen: "Congressional candidate Anna Paulina Luna's unsuccessful legal fight seeking a permanent stalking injunction cost $37,612 that she covered by using money she's raised for her run for a St. Petersburg district in Congress. According to an October filing with the Federal Election Commission, Luna's campaign spent the money on Dickinson Wright PLLC, the firm where her attorney for the injunction case, Alan Perlman, works as a bankruptcy lawyer." | | Bidenology | | WHAT WE DID IN THE SHADOWS — "What Biden is keeping secret in the JFK files," by POLITICO's Bryan Bender: Much of what has yet to be released involves intelligence activities during the height of the Cold War that likely had no direct bearing on the plot to kill Kennedy but could shed light on covert operations. One heavily censored file involves a CIA plot to kill [Fidel] Castro. Another is a 1963 Pentagon plan for an "engineered provocation" that could be blamed on Castro as a pretext for toppling him. Then there's a history of the CIA's Miami office, which organized a propaganda campaign against Castro's Cuba. FALLOUT — "' An outrage against democracy': JFK's nephews urge Biden to reveal assassination records," by POLITICO's Marc Caputo: Two nephews of John F. Kennedy are calling on the Biden administration to release the final trove of secret documents on the 1963 assassination of the former president. The records were scheduled to be made public Tuesday, but the White House announced late Friday night that it would delay their publication until at least Dec. 15 — and perhaps longer if President Joe Biden determines it's in the nation's best interest to keep them confidential. "It's an outrage. It's an outrage against American democracy. We're not supposed to have secret governments within the government," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told POLITICO. | | DATELINE D.C. | | WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET? — "Progessive Congresswoman Lois Frankel trades in fossil fuel companies as gas prices rise," by Newsweek's Alex J. Rouhandeh: "Congresswoman Lois Frankel purchased somewhere between $4,004 to $60,000 worth of stock in two of the nation's top greenhouse gas emitters over the past year, according to House financial disclosures. Half of those purchases were made last month amid global energy concerns. The two companies the Florida Democrat invested in — Duke Energy and Dominion Energy — rank number two and 10 respectively, on the Greenhouse 100 Polluters Index by the Political Economy Research Institute. These investments incite potential concerns given the fact that Frankel sits privy to conversations concerning the direction of federal funding as a member of the House Committee on Appropriations." | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | |
| | THE GUNSHINE STATE | | MAGIC 8-BALL SAYS… — "Would Florida's Democratic candidates for governor sign a Nikolas Cruz death warrant?" by Miami Herald's Samantha J. Gross and Bianca Padró Ocasio: "As the gunman in Florida's deadliest school shooting faces a possible death sentence, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Miami Sen. Annette Taddeo all say they would support the death penalty in the most egregious of cases — and none supported the idea of abolishing Death Row." | | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | THE FLORIDA CONNECTION — "Far right Oath Keepers group had bigger presence in Sarasota/Manatee than previously known," by Sarasota Herald-Tribune's Zac Anderson: "More than 100 current and former residents of Sarasota and Manatee counties appear to have been affiliated with the far right Oath Keepers extremist group at some point, according to a list obtained by the Herald-Tribune." Those involved — "The apparent Oath Keepers membership list includes a close associate from Sarasota County of former President Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon, and a former candidate for sheriff in Manatee County who said he quit the group after he grew concerned about the local chapter becoming 'too radicalized' and wanting to become 'like a secret militia.' The federal government has charged 20 Oath Keepers — including nine Florida residents, two of them from Sarasota County — with participating in the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, saying they engaged in a conspiracy to stop, delay or hinder the certification of the Electoral College vote." | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | TRASH — "An unexpected pandemic consequence frustrates Florida's biggest city," by The New York Times' Patricia Mazzei: "One man in Florida's largest city wrote to officials that the smell and flies were getting bad, after six weeks of waiting for his yard waste to be picked up. Other residents sent photos of overflowing bins, stacked plastic bags and littered lawns. At one point, the fed-up neighbors of Almira Street in Jacksonville threatened to rent a truck and dump their trash on the steps of City Hall." INTO THE LIGHT? — " Judge expects to release sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's 2006 grand jury transcript," by Palm Beach Post's Jane Musgrave: "A Palm Beach County judge Friday signaled he would release secret grand jury records that could explain why serial molester Jeffrey Epstein didn't face serious charges for sexually assaulting dozens of teens at his Palm Beach mansion more than a decade ago. 'I'm probably going to release these records,' Circuit Judge Donald Hafele said after listening to The Palm Beach Post's arguments about why the transcripts of a 2006 grand jury hearing should be made public. Hafele didn't make a final decision. He said he would summon attorneys back to court when he has made up his mind." FOR YOUR RADAR — "BLM passage removed from Sarasota curriculum," by Sarasota Herald-Tribune's Ryan McKinnon: "Sarasota County School District officials have removed a reading passage from the fifth-grade curriculum over concerns that the excerpt may violate the state's ban on teaching critical race theory. The removed passage described the modern-day Black Lives Matter movement. The narrator described being in danger every day because of racist attitudes and beliefs. The new passage instead describes a civil rights protest from the 1960s. In an Oct. 11 letter to parents, the Elementary Curriculum Department said that school officials have been reviewing material to ensure it complies with the state Board of Education's mandate on critical race theory, approved in June." | | | | A message from Florida Education Champions: Monopoly.
It's not just a board game, but a bad business practice that flies in the face of free market principles and competition.
When one entity owns and controls the market on any business, Floridians lose. And who else loses? In this case, Florida public education.
Florida Education Champions' amendment authorizes hundreds of millions of dollars generated by its passage and implementation to go directly to supplement Florida's Educational Enhancement Trust Fund – without raising taxes.
By signing the Florida Education Champions petition, you can demand the ballot question be asked to allow Floridians, 21 and older, to use their favorite online sports betting platforms and ensure any new revenue MUST go to increase education funding in Florida.
Competition. Free Market. More Options. Education Funding.
That's what will be on the November 2022 Florida ballot, with your help. | | |
| | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — "Rod Stewart's plea deal on battery charge falls through," by The Associated Press: "A plea deal between British rock icon Rod Stewart and Florida prosecutors fell through Friday, meaning he and his adult son are again scheduled to stand trial on charges they battered a security guard during a New Year's Eve bash nearly two years ago. Neither Rod Stewart nor his son, Sean, were present when Judge August Bonavita announced that a hearing in which a deal was expected to be finalized had been canceled."
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