News: Florida politicians want — wait for it

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Florida politicians want — wait for it — more politics

Mar 28, 2023

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By Gary Fineout

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Hello and welcome to Tuesday.

All politics is local — In a state that has seen its political landscape steadily polarized in recent years, Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature is poised to upend local elections in a lot of ways.

School daze — The legislation drawing a fair amount of attention this session is a proposed constitutional amendment that would make school board elections partisan. Some of those races were supercharged last year after Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed a slate of candidates and he has come up with a list of 2024 targets as well.

The pitch — The proposal needs to go to the ballot because Florida voters already decided in 1998 to make school board races nonpartisan. But the measure is moving through the Legislature, where the GOP has a supermajority, fairly easily so far. State Sen. Joe Gruters, the former chair of the Republican Party of Florida, has maintained the bill is a push for “transparency” because political parties are already involved in school board races.

Everybody does it — “Both parties are guilty, both parties engage and they try to play tricks on the voters,” Gruters told a Senate panel on Monday. “They are trying to confuse voters.”

More to the story — But legislators may do more than just make school board races partisan. Other measures moving through this session would allow candidates in nonpartisan races to list their party affiliation in campaign ads (which is a response to a federal court case challenging the ban) and would impose eight-year term limits on both school board members and county commissioners. (Legislators and state officials are already subject to term limits.) This is a bill that has drawn the ire of both Republican and Democratic local elected officials, especially those in smaller rural counties.

Assertion — “Competition makes everything better,” said Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, another former Republican Party of Florida chair, who is sponsoring those two bills.

When four years isn’t enough — There’s another proposed constitutional amendment that would allow voters to recall county commissioners. Some counties through their charters allow for recall elections, but the majority of Florida counties do not. Those advocating for its adoption have said it’s needed to battle potential corruption — or when voters find out that an elected official has misrepresented their background.

But what about? — Let’s pause here to note that Florida law does not allow voters to try to recall the governor or the three Cabinet members. Sen. Jay Collins, who is sponsoring the Senate version of the recall amendment, sidestepped a question last week on whether state elected officials should also be subject to recall. Ingoglia, when asked, did say that yes, voters should be able to recall the governor and others.

Voting no — Democrats have been opposing these measures, but they have little power to change the legislation going through. “We have already politicized our school boards, they have already become battlegrounds,” state Sen. Lori Berman said.

— WHERE'S RON? — Nothing official for Gov. DeSantis.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch: gfineout@politico.com

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... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ...

‘IT IS MADDENING’ — From drag shows to pronouns: Florida GOP takes aim at LGBTQ issues, by POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury and Arek Sarkissian: Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature is now moving ahead with a second round of proposals that are alarming LGBTQ advocates who say they are being demonized to help GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ likely presidential campaign. The bills include prohibiting pronouns in schools, banning children from drag shows and outlawing gender-affirming care for transgender minors and expanding the state’s Parental Rights in Education law, known throughout the country as “Don’t Say Gay.”

Reaction — “It is maddening and it is sad to see the continuous attack of people who are quote unquote, other,” state Rep. Michell Rayner-Goolsby, a Democrat from St. Petersburg and the state’s first Black female queer legislator, said in an interview. “And that is what we’re seeing in this legislature, in this body, through the different types of legislation that is passed by the majority.”

Response — House Speaker Paul Renner said the efforts by Republicans on gender dysphoria and drag shows were in response to what he claimed are adults pushing their lifestyles on children. “I think the point of our members, and our side of the aisle, is let kids be kids,” Renner said. “There’s a time for them to make decisions about sexual issues, and they will do so and we will support whatever their decision is when they become adults.”

— Proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors clears last House committee, by POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian

TURNABOUT — Florida may spend billions to undo retirement changes pushed by Scott, by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout: Florida may spend billions in the next year bolstering up its huge pension plan for public employees by reversing parts of a controversial law that was muscled through more than a decade ago by then-Gov. Rick Scott. The move by Florida Republicans runs against recent efforts by some in the party to close off access to Florida’s pension plan and instead represents a big push to make public sector jobs more attractive.

Happening today — A House budget panel is poised on Tuesday to approve an overhaul that includes lowering retirement requirements for first responders while also reinstating annual cost-of-living adjustments that were eliminated or curtailed by the 2011 law. The proposed substitute for the bill (HB 239) also extends the time employees can participate in a popular alternative retirement program. Republicans say one factor in the change of heart is that there is a large vacancy rate — 16 percent — for both state employees and first responders. “Our prudent investments of state dollars produced budget surpluses that allow us to raise the pension contributions to our employees, first responders, and educators,” said House Speaker Paul Renner in a statement about the legislation.

BENDING — “Amid conservative media opposition, sponsor of Florida defamation bill seeks changes,” by Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas: “But the measure has come under intense criticism from First Amendment advocates, who say it is a direct violation of the free speech protections in the U.S. Constitution, and from both legacy media and conservative media outlets who warn that it will open the door to a barrage of lawsuits, including against conservative talk radio hosts. “This bill is effectively neutering our Conservative News/Talk radio station in Southwest Florida, 92.5 FOX News, from which most of you have benefited,” said James Schwartzel, the owner of the Fort Myers-based radio station, in a letter to legislators.”

— “GOP’s Mills calls defamation bills not worthy of ‘free state of Florida,’ by Orlando Sentinel’s Steven Lemongello

DONE — DeSantis signs Florida’s massive school choice expansion into law, by POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed historic legislation Monday that is set to give every K-12 student in Florida access to a voucher for attending private school, putting the state in line with others such as Arizona and Iowa in adopting “universal” school choice. Starting this fall, the policy change has the potential to add thousands of students to the state’s voucher enrollment, whether they leave a traditional public school, already attend a private school without a scholarship or even are homeschooled. Florida’s Republican policymakers are billing the measure as the largest expansion of school choice in the nation’s history — one that Democrats call a “coupon for millionaires.”

— “Senate panel moves pharmacy regulation bill, a top priority for Gov. Ron DeSantis,” by Florida Politics’ Christine Jordan Sexton

— “Hunting, fishing could be enshrined in Florida Constitution under proposal,” by News Service of Florida’s Jim Saunders

— “Florida’s immigration bill targets more than just undocumented migrants,” by WLRN’s Helen Acevedo

— “House moves on Gov. DeSantis’ call for centralized digital currency ban,” by Florida Politics’ Gray Rohrer

— “Push for partisan School Board elections advances,” by Florida Politics’ Anne Geggis

JOIN POLITICO ON 4/5 FOR THE 2023 RECAST POWER LIST: America’s demographics and power dynamics are changing — and POLITICO is recasting how it covers the intersection of race, identity, politics and policy. Join us for a conversation on the themes of the 2023 Recast Power List that will examine America’s decision-making tables, who gets to sit at them, and the challenges that still need to be addressed. REGISTER HERE.

DESANTISLAND

OUT IN THE FIELD — “DeSantis begins ramping up SC outreach for 2024, with backing from state lawmakers,” by McClatchy D.C.’s Alex Roarty: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies are starting to lay the groundwork for a presidential campaign in South Carolina, moving to build a political operation and court local leaders in a state likely to be fiercely competitive in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. The efforts — coming before DeSantis even formally launches a White House bid — mark the first test of his political strength in South Carolina, as he attempts to make inroads in a state whose loyalties in next year’s primary could be split between a popular former governor, sitting U.S. senator and a former president.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis greets supporters at a book signing event, Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Tallahassee, Fla. Allies of DeSantis are gaining confidence in his White House prospects as former President Donald Trump’s legal woes mount. Trump is facing possible criminal charges in New York, Georgia and Washington as he runs for president again. (AP Photo/Steve Peoples)

A 235K OUTING — DeSantis draws second ethics complaint over presidential ramp up, by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ groundwork for a potential presidential campaign has drawn a second ethics complaint, this time coming from the head of the Florida Democratic Party. The complaint centers on whether money DeSantis’ political committee spent on a three-day retreat at a Palm Beach resort hotel was an improper gift to the Republican governor. DeSantis in late February huddled with donors and Republican elected officials such as Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Tom Cotton of Arkansas at the Four Seasons at an event that was billed as a celebration of the “Florida blueprint.”

— “Pro-DeSantis super PAC hires another former Trump aide,” by New York Times’ Michael C. Bender

— “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will headline the Utah GOP convention in April,” by Salt Lake Tribune’s Bryan Schott

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TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP

FAMILIAR REFRAIN — “In his return to Fox News, Trump labels the Manhattan DA’s probe a ‘new way of cheating in elections,’ by NBC News Allan Smith: “But [former President Donald] Trump's saved his harshest criticism for DeSantis. ‘Not friends,’ Trump said of their relationship before DeSantis became a presidential prospect. ‘I didn't know him well.’ Trump described DeSantis as a ‘desperate’ politician who, he claimed, came to him with 'tears in his eyes' asking for an endorsement in a 2018 primary race for governor against Adam Putnum, then the Florida agriculture commissioner.”

— “Trump claims DeSantis would be working in a ‘pizza parlor’ if it weren’t for him,” Mediaite’s Jennifer Bowers Bahney

— Christie sees a lane in the GOP primary: Trump destroyer, by POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky

— “Trump extends election-rigging myth to his potential criminal charges,” by Washington Post’s Isaac Arnsdorf and Hannah Knowles

— “Former National Enquirer publisher testifies again in Trump inquiry,” by The New York Times’ William K. Rashbaum, Kate Christobek, Ben Protess and Jonah E. Bromwich

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PENINSULA AND BEYOND

PULLED — “Removal of ‘Ruby Bridges’ film from Pinellas school sparks outrage,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Jeffrey S. Solochek: “It never caused a stir until this year, as parents across Florida exert increased powers to question what children can see and read in schools. A North Shore Elementary parent who would not allow her child to watch the film when it was shown in early March later complained that it wasn’t appropriate for second graders. In a formal challenge dated March 6, Emily Conklin wrote that the use of racial slurs and scenes of white people threatening Ruby as she entered a school might result in students learning that white people hate Black people. Pinellas school officials responded by banning the movie from use by all students at the St. Petersburg school until a review committee can assess it.”

HMM — “Texts appear to show New College trustee coordinating motions to hire Corcoran and Galvano,” by Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s Zac Anderson: "Text messages released Friday by New College of Florida appear to show new Trustee Matthew Spalding coordinating with individuals behind the scenes on the motions he made in January to move towards hiring Richard Corcoran as interim president and Bill Galvano as general counsel, including texting with Corcoran himself. The text messages were obtained by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, which has filed a lawsuit against New College to compel the release of public records."

TO COURT — “Battle over ‘Parental rights/Don’t say gay’ Florida law is headed to appeals court,” by News Service of Florida’s Jim Saunders: "A challenge to a 2022 law restricting classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation has gone to a federal appeals court, as state lawmakers and education officials look to expand the restrictions. Attorneys for students, parents and teachers filed a notice of appeal at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal after U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor last month dismissed — for the second time — a lawsuit arguing the law is unconstitutional."

— “Disney to begin first of 3 layoff rounds this week, CEO says,” by Orlando Sentinel’s Katie Rice

— “Andrew Gillum wants to block Lil Wayne concert testimony, wiretapped bribery talks from trial,” by Tallahassee Democrat’s Jeff Burlew

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ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN

— “Miami Beach officials vote for a curfew and secured perimeter during spring break 2024,” by Miami Herald’s Aaron Leibowitz: “Miami Beach elected officials voted Monday to support a curfew in South Beach, a secured perimeter around Ocean Drive and a rollback of alcohol sale hours during the peak of spring break in March 2024. The move comes on the heels of a month that saw big crowds and two deadly shootings on Ocean Drive, one year after a pair of shootings injured five people on the same street during the same weekend in March. ... ‘Spring break as we know it is over,’ said Vice Mayor Steven Meiner. ‘Completely over. We’re done.’”

BIRTHDAYS: Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody… Ben Porritt, senior vice president corporate affairs for Brightline Trains

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