| | | | |  | | By Gary Fineout | Hello and welcome to Tuesday. Nice and easy — It looks like Florida legislators are trying to sidestep a potential confrontation with Gov. Ron DeSantis over millions of dollars in spending they plan to sign off on later this week. A new way — A panel of state lawmakers is scheduled to approve $175 million for 238 "local support grants" that will bypass the normal budgetary process, including the potential veto pen of the governor. This is money that will go to an array of hometown projects ranging from emergency generators to a charter school playground to closed circuit cameras for a local police department. The backstory — Earlier this summer the working legal theory from House Republicans, who championed this move, was that the provisions authorizing these grants were included in the $110 billion budget signed by DeSantis and they had the power to fund projects even if they had previously been vetoed. ( Back in July, I noted there are some constitutional questions about this theory.) Dear colleague — But House Speaker Chris Sprowls sent out a memo to House members on Friday where he maintained that while legislators could fund vetoed projects, they aren't going to do so. But there's some wiggle room here. Dropped — Sprowls explained there "were 90 items received that were classified as prior vetoes, which is less than 10% of the total requests received. While I believe this program is considered a new appropriation and the Legislature is not subject to statutory language related to restoring a veto, we have excluded these initiatives from consideration in deference to the governor and his review of these requests. There is no recommended funding for grant requests that were identical in amounts or purpose to items that were vetoed." Read the fine print — Note the word "identical." And there's a bit more. Sprowls added that "the remainder of the requests were classified as new initiatives or reasonably different from any prior requests." In other words, some spending items have been changed enough so it can be argued that legislators are not defying DeSantis. And yes, there are examples of this included in the final list. Moving ahead — DeSantis and his office have not weighed in publicly on this so the assumption is that the Legislative Budget Commission — which is made up of 14 legislators — on Friday will approve the grants, or what Sprowls is calling an "an exciting initiative." For legislators, and that includes members of both parties, it will give them some old-fashioned power of the purse talking points they can tout in the run-up to the 2022 election. Unless of course the governor decides to weigh in at the last moment. That's always a possibility. — 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
| | | | 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 our West Wing Playbook newsletter, 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. | | | | | |  | CAMPAIGN MODE | | AND AWAY WE GO — With the Labor Day holiday (and our brief newsletter hiatus) behind us, there are nine weeks left before the November election. The airwaves are expected to be saturated with television ads in both the governor's race and the race for U.S. Senate. An analysis done by tracking firm AdImpact shows that $25.7 million has been spent or reserved in the Senate race between Rep. Val Demings and Sen. Marco Rubio with nearly $16 million spent by Demings. Nearly $22.6 million has been spent in governor's race, including more than $12 million spent by the Republican Party of Florida to bolster Gov. Ron DeSantis and bash opponent Rep. Charlie Crist. Debate the debates — Oh, and the back and forth over debates has already begun to pick up. The DeSantis campaign told organizers of the long-running "Before Your Vote" debates that the governor has declined an invitation to participate in this year's Oct. 20 debate. The debate was scheduled to be aired statewide on 10 stations and was being sponsored in partnership with conservative organizations such as the James Madison Institute and the Florida Realtors, which has endorsed DeSantis. Organizers say they hope DeSantis — who participated in the same debate back in 2018 — will "see the bigger opportunity and merit with this long-respected debate series." Back and forth — The Crist campaign — which had been criticized for sidestepping debates from Nikki Fried ahead of the primary — slammed DeSantis' decision as "weak." However, the DeSantis campaign pointed out that the governor has agreed to another debate being hosted in October by a West Palm Beach television station. HAPPENING TODAY — Crist, the Democratic nominee for governor, will be in Orlando, where along with running mate Karla Hernández-Mats and congressional candidate Maxwell Alejandro Frost, he will announce a new campaign initiative. Demings is meeting with voters in Orlando and will hold a campaign rally in St. Lucie County. 'DOING EVERYTHING IN OUR COLLECTIVE POWER' — "DeSantis targeted LGBTQ Floridians like no previous governor. Now they're working to defeat him," by USA Today Network-Florida's Zac Anderson: "The first gay student body president at Pine View School in Sarasota County, [Zander] Moricz led a student walkout at the school to protest HB 1557, which was derided by critics as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill. He later sued to overturn the law signed by DeSantis. Now Moricz is working to derail DeSantis' reelection bid from his Harvard dormitory room in Cambridge, Mass. He plans to rally the 2,000 members of an activist group he organized in Florida and nationwide in opposition to DeSantis' reelection campaign." WEIGHING IN — Vote.org plans $10M-plus spend to engage young voters ahead of election, by POLITICO's Madison Fernandez: The campaign will focus on key states that Vote.org has identified as pivotal to increasing youth turnout — Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Hailey said these states were chosen because of their high populations of young voters and large communities of color. BY THE NUMBERS — Here's the breakdown for the most recently filed fundraising totals in the governor's race: DeSantis raised more than $1.95 million during the period from Aug. 20 to Aug. 26, while Crist raised nearly $1.79 million. The totals include money raised for campaign accounts and for political committees controlled by the candidates. Following the money — Those weekly totals included public matching money provided by taxpayers. Crist received $161,172 while DeSantis took in $141,051. Crist also received $100,000 from well-known Democratic donor Barbara Stiefel and $100,000 from attorney Francoise Haasch. Investment manager and billionaire businessman James Pallotta donated $250,000 to DeSantis, while a political committee called Supporters of Comprehensive Primary Care donated $200,000. Records show that the political committee — which was first created earlier this year — has received all of its funding from medical clinic operator ChenMed. In the bank — DeSantis has more than $128.5 million unspent, according to state reports (which don't reflect any future planned expenditures) while Crist has nearly $3.19 million. BEHIND THE CURTAIN — " How a record cash haul vanished for Senate Republicans," by The New York Times' Shane Goldmacher: "Now top Republicans are beginning to ask: Where did all the money go? The answer, chiefly, is that Mr. Scott's enormous gamble on finding new online donors has been a costly financial flop in 2022, according to a New York Times analysis of federal records and interviews with people briefed on the committee's finances. Today, the N.R.S.C. is raising less than before Mr. Scott's digital splurge. Party leaders, including Senator Mitch McConnell, are fretting aloud that Republicans could squander their shot at retaking the Senate in 2022, with money one factor as some first-time candidates have struggled to gain traction." | 
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THE DESANTIS DOCTRINE — "DeSantis puts his imprint on school board races in Florida," by The Associated Press' Adriana Gomez Licon: "Her long record of supporting conservative causes, however, wasn't enough to save her job after she wound up as a target of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. [Marta] Perez lost her school board seat in Miami-Dade last week to a former teacher who was among a slate of candidates endorsed by DeSantis. Perez believes she drew DeSantis' ire by voting for a school mask mandate a year into the pandemic, when Florida was in the grip of its deadliest wave of COVID-19. DeSantis opposes such policies. 'What it showed is that I was not in lockstep with the governor. I did not obey the governor, and that is unforgivable,' said Perez, who is 71."
HMM — "Joel Greenberg told investigators Brodeur knew of spoiler plot, transcript shows," by Orlando Sentinel's Jeff Weiner and Annie Martin: "Joel Greenberg, the disgraced Seminole County tax collector, told state investigators in a jailhouse interview this summer that state Sen. Jason Brodeur "absolutely" knew about a plan to recruit a spoiler candidate to join the race in which he was elected in 2020. In the June 23 interview, Greenberg said he was present in late 2019 or early 2020 when Brodeur, political consultant Eric Foglesong and Seminole County GOP Chair Ben Paris discussed the plan, apparently aimed at siphoning votes away from Brodeur's Democratic opponent." — " Val Demings says she supports abortion 'up to time of viability' after Rubio attacks," by Miami Herald's Bianca Padró Ocasio — " Voter fraud arrests reveal 'broken system' for screening felons, advocates say," by Orlando Sentinel's Skyler Swisher — "Naomi Blemur left with under $1,000 to battle Wilton Simpson's $1.6M ," by Florida Politics' Jacob Ogles — "What does Florida primary tell us about November elections? Is than an ominous sign for Democrats?" by South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Anthony Man — "Jimmy Patronis has massive cash lead over Adam Hattersley in CFO race," by Florida Politics' Gray Rohrer — " Florida let them vote. Then DeSantis's election police arrested them," by Washington Post's Tim Craig and Lori Rozsa
| | DATELINE D.C. | | SCOTT ON LIST — "Russia sanctions 25 more Americans, including Penn, Stiller," by The Associated Press : "Russia imposed personal sanctions Monday on 25 Americans, including actors Sean Penn and Ben Stiller, in response to U.S. sanctions against Russians stemming from the conflict in Ukraine. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was on the new sanctions list, as were several American senators: Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Rick Scott of Florida, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Russia's Foreign Ministry said the group, which also included business leaders, academics and government officials, would be banned permanently from entering Russia."
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | AS THE PAGES TURN — Judge orders halt to DOJ review of documents seized from Trump , by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney, Nicholas Wu and Andrew Desiderio: A federal judge on Monday ordered a halt to the Justice Department's review of materials seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, describing a threat to institutions and the risk of media leaks that could cause harm to Trump. "Plaintiff faces an unquantifiable potential harm by way of improper disclosure of sensitive information to the public," U.S District Court Judge Aileen Cannon wrote in a 24-page ruling issued on Labor Day. Cannon's order included permitting a so-called special master to review the seized materials for potential attorney-client and executive privilege. — "Trump suggests the Mar-a-Lago documents were bound for his library. But advisers say he's rarely talked about it," by NBC News' Peter Nicholas
| | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | BILLIONS AND BILLIONS — A new three-year financial outlook for the state is projecting a significant budget surplus ranging from $13.5 billion in the fiscal year that starts July 2023 to $15.5 billion by 2025. The outlook, which will be presented to the Legislative Budget Commission on Friday, is drawn up by state economists and legislative budget staff. Bringing in the money — Part of the budget windfall is driven by larger-than-anticipated tax collections that have resulted due to both inflation and the recovery of the state's economy as the pandemic has eased. The state's overall financial position has also been aided by money provided by the federal government during the pandemic as well as recent reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Watch for this — The three-year outlook attempts to evaluate both future revenue growth and anticipated expenses. Some significant expenses between now and 2025 include student enrollment, Medicaid and the need to eliminate a potential deficit in the $3.2 billion state health group insurance program that provides health insurance benefits to 350,000 state and university employees, retirees and their families. The outlook also assumes the state will spend $1.6 billion over the next three years on environmental programs, including on Everglades restoration and conservation programs. TRENDLINE — New data shows thousands of transgender Medicaid recipients sought care in Florida, by POLITICO's Arek Sarkissian: Florida saw the number of transgender Medicaid recipients seeking gender-affirming treatment almost double in recent years — yet the state still banned its program from covering such medical care. The number of adults and children who received Medicaid coverage for behavioral therapy, hormone treatments and, in rare cases, surgery for gender dysphoria increased from 593 enrollees in 2018 to 1,209 in 2021, according to new data from Florida's chief Medicaid regulator. TRANSITIONS — Jason Bertoch is now chief information security officer at the Florida Department of State. He most recently was network security engineer at the Florida Digital Service. — "DeSantis removed Tampa's prosecutor for 'defiance' on abortion law, but not Broward Sheriff Tony for outspoken opposition to anti-riot law ," by Florida Bulldog's Dan Christensen — "DeSantis asks judge to throw out ousted Tampa prosecutor's bid to get his job back," by Tampa Bay Times Sue Carlton — "On Labor Day, Charlie Crist demands Ron DeSantis get to work on Citizens insurance fix," by Florida Politics' A.G. Gancarski — " State leaders eye shift on property insurer ratings," by News Service of Florida's Jim Saunders
| | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | SHOOT THE MOON — "Why NASA is not rushing to launch the Artemis Moon rocket," by The New York Times' Kenneth Chang: "But top NASA officials stood behind their decision to call off Saturday's launch, and said that they were ready to wait longer, perhaps trying again later this month or in October, after the cause of a hydrogen leak is understood and resolved. 'The cost of two scrubs is a lot less than a failure,' Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, said during a news conference on Saturday afternoon. Though 322 feet tall, NASA's new rocket is not literally too big to fail. But in terms of the vehicle's importance to the space agency's moon plans, it perhaps is." | 
Photographers reset remote cameras near NASA's new moon rocket as she sits on Launch Pad 39-B, Sept. 2, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. | Chris O'Meara/AP Photo | TRYING TO MAKE IT WORK — "Medicaid extensions for new moms grow, may run into limits," by The Associated Press' Tom Murphy: "States around the country are making it easier for new moms to keep Medicaid in the year after childbirth, a time when depression and other health problems can develop. But tight government budgets and the program's low reimbursement may ultimately limit this push or make it hard for women with extended coverage to find doctors. 'A lot of things have changed since the pandemic,' said Venessa Aiken, a new mom in Orlando, Florida. 'A lot of places no longer take Medicaid or if they do, you have to wait like two months before you can be seen.'" — " Miami-Dade, Broward school districts targeted by state over school safety concerns," by Miami Herald's Sommer Brugal — " Proud Boy says his group 'greatly involved' in Sarasota School Board campaigns," by Sarasota Herald-Tribune's Zac Anderson — "Pasco schools ban 'safe space' stickers that show support for LGBTQ students ," by Tampa Bay Times' Jeffrey S. Solochek — "Melbourne police call report of sexual assault by transgender student at school 'unfounded,'" by Florida Today's Finch Walker and Bailey Gallion — "Broward man and 'Mother Theresa' accused of raising $196 million in a Ponzi scheme," by Miami Herald's David J. Neal
| | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — "Maxwell Frost is figuring out how to be Gen Z's likely first congressman," by Washington Post's Marianna Sotomayor: "One week after winning his first-ever political campaign, Maxwell Alejandro Frost was grappling with a fresh decision: Where should I go on vacation? Plans to ride roller coasters with his girlfriend in Tampa were scrapped due to unpredictable stormy weather, and now Frost was deciding between rerouting to Miami or Charleston in South Carolina. He wasn't convinced any of it was a good idea. 'There's so much to do because I just want to hit the ground running in January,' he said during an interview earlier this week at his quiet campaign office in downtown Orlando." BIRTHDAYS: Former Rep. Kendrick Meek … Abel Harding of First Horizon Bank, former Florida Times-Union columnist and communications director to former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown … Birthday week … (Was Monday) Former Rep. Ric Keller ... (Was Sunday) State Rep. Evan Jenne … Ryan Tyson … (Was Saturday) Former State Rep. Everett Rice (Last Friday) Rep. John Rutherford … State Rep. Spencer Roach … (Last Thursday) Former Rep. Ander Crenshaw … State Rep. Emily Slosberg-King … (Last Wednesday) State Rep. Lauren Melo | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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