Category: Florida

DeSantis, Fried Spar over Defunding Police Issue

Grant Holcomb

On Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried had a war of words related to governance issues related to the defunding police issue.

Fried, who is running as a Democratic candidate to unseat DeSantis in the 2022 gubernatorial election, said DeSantis was bullying local municipalities under the rule of Republican control in Tallahassee.

“Now, the so-called party of small government is yet again telling government closest to the people what they can and cannot do with their money,” she said. “So, as you vote today, ask yourself, who is really the big government bureaucrat in the faraway Capitol?”

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DeSantis Social Media Warrior Triggers Florida Media Outlets

Peter D'Abrosca
Christina Pushaw

The Press Secretary for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tussled Monday and Tuesday with two prominent Florida news media outlets, accusing them of political bias.

Of [South Florida Sun Sentinel]’s last 10,000 Tweets, ONE (1) was positive about [Gov. Ron DeSantis]. And it was a Letter to the Editor. Not written by Sun Sentinel staff. This is absolutely incredible. And they will still say the bias is all in our imaginations,” Christina Pushaw said, citing an account called District AI that claims to be run by an artificial intelligence engineer. 

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DeSantis Signs Bills Requiring Moment of Silence for Schools, Prioritizes ‘Religious Freedom’

Grant Holcomb
Gov. DeSantis signing bill

Earlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring Florida’s public schools to allow for one to two minutes of silence at the beginning of each day, before instruction begins.

DeSantis signed the legislation while at the The Shul of Bal Harbour, a Jewish community center in Surfside, FL. Principals in all public schools will be directed to set aside the moment of silence and teachers will be prohibited from making suggestions regarding the nature of the suggested prayer or reflection during the allotted time.

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Florida State Representative Michele Rayner Announces Bid to Replace Charlie Crist in Congress

Casey Owens

State Representative Michele Rayner of District 70 officially announced her campaign for U.S. Congress in 2022 to replace the seat left vacant by Charlie Crist and his bid for Governor.

Rayner, a Democrat and the first openly gay woman of color elected to the Florida Legislature, will join a list of candidates in the upcoming primary looking to represent the Democratic party in the 13th Congressional District of Florida.

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DeSantis Calls Out Biden, Big Tech on Fox News

Grant Holcomb
Screen cap of live comments from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called out President Joe Biden and Silicon Valley Big Tech companies for caring more about China’s interests than “middle America” on Maria Bartiromo’s Fox News program.

Biden’s big event last week was meeting with world leaders at the G-7 summit. DeSantis said Biden’s “performance may have played well with European elites, but not sure there was much in it for Middle America.”

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Mediation Talks Between Florida, CDC Unsuccessful in Cruise Ship Battle

Peter D'Abrosca
People boarding a cruise ship

Mediation talks between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the state of Florida have been unsuccessful, as the federal agency and the state duke it out in court over who controls the cruise ship industry’s return to business as usual. 

“Settlement talks have ended in the legal battle between Florida and the federal government about restrictions on the cruise-ship industry,” according to WKMG. “U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli, who has served as a mediator, said in a court filing Friday that a settlement conference was unsuccessful.”

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Florida Colleges and Universities Join Name, Image, and Likeness Law Beginning July 1st

Casey Owens
Person sitting in basketball hoop

Beginning July 1st, a new law will allow student athletes in Florida who play for a college or university the ability to profit from third-party organizations using their name, image, and likeness or NIL.

While NIL was set to be discussed on June 22nd by the Florida Board of Governors who oversee state universities, the proposal by the Board of Education Thursday established NIL rules to include state colleges within the new law.

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Val Demings Raises $1M for Senate Run, Touts Endorsements

Grant Holcomb
Val Demings

U.S. Rep. Val Demings (D-FL-10) raised $1 million in the first few days of her campaign against Florida Senator Marco Rubio for the 2022 election. The early momentum comes as Democrats will be backing Demings, who will likely be the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat, to try and expand their majority in the U.S. Senate.

Florida is continuing to be a major battleground state, and Republicans, likewise, will look to gain ground in the U.S. Senate by keeping Rubio in his current post.

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Chain-of-Custody Documents: View All the Ballot Transfer Forms from the November 2020 Election Provided by Fulton County to The Georgia Star News

Laura Baigert

On May 3, 2021, six months after the November 3, 2020 presidential election, Fulton County election officials provided The Georgia Star News with a thumb drive containing 30 files those officials said complied with an Open Records Request made by The Star News. The request made to Fulton County was one in a series of Open Records Requests made to all 159 counties in Georgia to produce all chain of custody documents, known as absentee ballot drop box transfer forms, from that election.

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Florida Sales-Tax Collections Exceeds Expectations in April 2021

Casey Owens
Florida’s Historic Capitol and Florida State Capitol

The month of April became the ninth consecutive month that the state of Florida exceeded its expected revenue calculations, with 56% of the total revenue gain coming from sales-tax collections.

Sales-tax revenue accounted for $2.7993 billion, which is 19% or  $447.6 million more than the estimated projection of approximately $2.3516 billion that was established by the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) at the General Revenue Estimating Conference.

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Florida Rep. Crist Proposes Gun Control Measures on Campaign Trial

Peter D'Abrosca

The former Republican governor of Florida turned Democrat congressman, who is once again mounting a gubernatorial bid, made his case for gun control during a Friday campaign appearance. 

“One of the most common-sense things that we can do is ban assault weapons,” Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) said in Miami Beach. “It is hard for me to imagine why we already don’t do that.” 

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DeSantis Reports $7.5 Million in May Contributions, Continues to Significantly Outpace Rivals

Grant Holcomb

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried raised only approximately $215,000 in May, according to newly filed campaign finance reports. Fried’s political action committee, Florida Consumers First, saw exactly $214,832 come in from primarily small-donor contributions. However, the May numbers do not reflect the campaign fundraising effort after she formally announced her candidacy on June 1.

Fried’s foremost competitors, Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), raised $1.2 million and $7.5 million, respectively. DeSantis has been on a fundraising crusade in recent months, raking in nearly $14 million back in April and capitalizing on his administration’s move to ban Critical Race Theory, banning transgender females from competing in female sports, and to push back against “cultural Marxism” in May.

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Florida Black Republican Hasn’t Been Allowed to Join Congressional Black Caucus

Peter D'Abrosca

A Florida Black Republican congressman blasted the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in an interview with CNN, calling the group “off-putting” for ignoring his request for membership.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL-19) said he has “not really heard much from the CBC” since he attempted to join the group, and that nobody on the caucus has reached out to him to explain anything.

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Florida Job Growth Grant Fund Accepting Applications

Grant Holcomb

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) tweeted on Monday they are accepting proposals for new projects to be a part of the Job Growth Grant Fund. DEO is accepting applications coming off Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing Florida’s $101.5 billion budget last week.
The grant program is getting an extra $50 million from this year’s budget and over $24 million left unspent from 2019. In all, the program will have over $74 million to spend on communities seeking “workforce training and public infrastructure projects to support growth and employment in Florida.”

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Visit Florida Leaders Receive over $130,000 in Raises and Bonuses

Casey Owens

The Board of Directors for Visit Florida, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, approved over $130,000 in raises for CEO of Visit Florida Dana Young and her staff members.

Visit Florida is a non-profit corporation established in 1996 as a public and private partnership by the Florida Legislature that appropriates public funds or taxpayer money to tourism marketing. In 2021, the Florida tourism marketing budget consists of $75 million in state and federal funds. 

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DeSantis Doubles Down on Banning Critical Race Theory

Grant Holcomb

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continued his push to ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) from Florida’s classrooms while speaking at the State Board of Education Meeting. He maintained the ideology, which is designed to distinguish people based on skin color and considers the United States’ systems of justice and governance as inherently racist, will not be featured as part of instruction, and will instead focus on “the best possible civics instruction standards.”

During the meeting, the State Board officially banned CRT from classrooms in an effort to prevent “state-sanctioned racism,” DeSantis said on Twitter.

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DeSantis Wants Bill Banning Chemical Castration of Minors

Peter D'Abrosca

In a Monday interview with Daily Caller, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) continued to bolster his chops as a social conservative, saying he would happily sign a bill preventing doctors from prescribing sex-changing hormone treatments to children. 

“I’m very much opposed to chemical castration of minors, I honestly didn’t know this existed until a few years ago,” DeSantis said during the interview. “That would be something I would sign for sure.” 

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Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Charlie Crist Begins ‘Voting Rights Tour’

Casey Owens

Gubernatorial candidate and current U.S. Representative Charlie Crist created a Voting Rights Tour of the state of Florida to advocate against GOP leadership in Florida and their efforts to establish stricter voting provisions for Floridians.

Crist began his tour on Tuesday and will visit seven cities in Florida before wrapping it up on Friday. The selected cities include: Tallahassee, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Broward County, Miami, Orlando, and Gainesville.

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Sabatini Challenging Rep. Murphy for Florida Congressional Seat

Grant Holcomb

State Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R-32) announced his intention to run against U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-7) in Florida’s potentially newly drawn congressional district as a result of 2020 U.S. Census data and Florida picking up two additional congressional seats.

Sabatini is highly critical of Murphy and her policies which he says are a reflection of “corporate interest groups” in Washington.

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DeSantis Vows Local Action Against Critical Race Theory

Peter D'Abrosca

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) joined appeared Saturday night on “Unfiltered,” conservative commentator Dan Bongino’s new Fox News show, where he vowed to take local action against Critical Race Theory. 

“We’re not going to support any Republican candidate for school board who supports Critical Race Theory in all 67 counties or supports mandatory masking of school children,” he said in the segment. 

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GOP Official Files Ethics Complaint Against Nikki Fried

Grant Holcomb
Nikki Fried of Florida

Chairman of the Leon County GOP, Evan Power, filed an ethics complaint at the end of last week against Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. He claimed the violation stems from her failing to disclose more than $400,000 in income on official financial disclosure forms, which she quickly amended after her official gubernatorial campaign launch on June 1.

One of the sources of her income increase is from Ignite Florida, a consulting firm where she is sole proprietor and lobbies the marijuana industry. Specifically, she amended a 2018 financial statement on May 28 indicating she received $351,480 from the firm. Previously, she had to amend the same 2018 statements on January 30, 2020 saying she received $72,000 in 2018 income.

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New Education Law Includes Provision for Parental Retention Request

Casey Owens
Two girls at table, writing.

A provision of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act that was signed into law Tuesday by Governor Ron DeSantis, involves public-school parents being able to request that their children be held-back for the 2021-2022 school year.

The provision will only affect students in kindergarten through fifth grade and is available due to what is known as the “Covid slide,” referring to the drop in learning progression in many students during the pandemic.

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Governor Ron DeSantis Vetoes $2 Million Related to Reversible Contraception Program

Casey Owens
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed $2 million dollars Wednesday that would have been included within the budget established during the last Legislative session for the upcoming fiscal year.

The money was intended to help low-income girls and young women have more access to long-acting reversible contraception or LARCs, and was backed by Senate President Wilton Simpson (R).

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Governor DeSantis Signs Three Bills to Assist Veterans and Military Families

Casey Owens
Governor DeSantis Signs Three Bills to Assist Veterans and Military Families

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed three bills (HB 429, HB 435,SB 922) in Ponte Vedra Beach Friday, focusing on military and veteran related issues regarding education and employment.

The new laws will establish a “Purple Star Campus Program,” help transitioning servicemembers gain workforce training, and enhance veterans’ preference in hiring, as stated in the Governor’s office press release.

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DeSantis Press Secretary: Governor Has ‘Earned’ National Spotlight

Peter D'Abrosca
Ron DeSantis

In response to an Associated Press story that describes Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as “seizing” the national spotlight, his Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told the Florida Capital Star that the governor has earned his newfound respect among Republicans nationwide. 

“Governor DeSantis has earned the national stage by demonstrating real leadership. For elected officials facing a crisis like COVID-19, it’s tempting to abdicate decision-making power to unelected bureaucrats in public health,” Pushaw said. “Governor DeSantis did the opposite. He sought out expertise from health professionals and scientists, he did his own research, and most importantly, he made decisions that were harshly criticized sometimes, but more than a year on, the data has proven that his approach was the right one.”

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NCAA Threatens to Pull Competitions Out of Florida over Women’s Sports Act

Grant Holcomb

The NCAA is threatening to pull key competitions and championships out of Florida since Governor Ron DeSantis signed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” yesterday. The new law prohibits transgender women from competing in high school and collegiate women’s athletics.

“In Florida, girls are going to play girls sports and boys are going to play boys sports,” DeSantis said, speaking at a private school in Jacksonville.

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Facebook to End Rule Moderating Speech for Politicians

Grant Holcomb

Facebook announced it will likely scrap its highly debated policy regarding moderating the speech and content posted on its site form politicians. Previously, politicians were subject to suspension or permanent ban under a different set of rules compared to regular Facebook users.

This decision comes on the heels of former President Donald J. Trump being permanently banned from Facebook, but no decision has come regarding whether to resurrect Trump’s Facebook account. Facebook’s Oversight Board is giving Facebook time to determine if Trump will be allowed back on the platform.

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DeSantis Signs School Choice Bill

Grant Holcomb

Last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill to expand school choice and education options. Some have said it could be the largest school choice expansion among any state in the country.
The bill will expand eligibility to for school vouchers to low-income students and students with unique abilities. Approximately 60,000 Florida students, including military kids, foster children, and adopted students, will now be eligible to receive vouchers to attend private, charter, or other home schooling.

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Miami Beach Mayor Asks Feds to Kill Gambling Compact

Peter D'Abrosca

In a Thursday letter to Deb Haaland, secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber asked the federal government to reject the newly-signed gambling compact between the state of Florida and the Seminole Indian tribe. 

“I support the goals of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (’IGRA’), namely, to provide Native American tribes with a pathway to greater independence and economic vitality. But the Florida Compact you are considering was not crafted in pursuit of those goals,” Gelber wrote in the letter. 

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DeSantis Slams Nikki Fried After She Enters Race for Governor

Peter D'Abrosca

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) slammed Florida Agriculture Commissioner and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried at press conference Wednesday in New Smyrna Beach, after Fried announced that she is running against DeSantis.

“Nikki Fried has done nothing in office. She does nothing,” DeSantis said. “All she does is emote on social media, virtue signal to small dollar donors in California and New York. She put her face, spent millions of dollars to put her face on every gas pump across this state, purely to boost her own image at your expense as a taxpayer.”

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Florida COVID Numbers Are Lowest in Months

Grant Holcomb

Florida is reporting the lowest number of COVID positive cases and hospitalizations in months. On Wednesday, Florida reported 1,234 new positive cases, which was the lowest 24-hour total since September. Florida also is currently only seeing 1,832 hospitalized patients for COVID.

The number of Floridians hospitalized was the lowest recorded single day number since the metric was initially tracked in July. The average of hospitalizations has declined 19 percent in the last two weeks and approximately 38 percent lower than one month ago.

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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Joins Keystone XL Pipeline Lawsuit

Casey Owens

A multi-state lawsuit against President Joe Biden that was filed in March 2021 had an amended complaint filed on Tuesday that was joined in support by Florida Attorney General, Ashley Moody.

The multi-state lawsuit is in regard to President Biden’s decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline that was initially permitted by former President Donald Trump in 2019.

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Nikki Fried Amends Financial Disclosure Ahead of Campaign Announcement

Steve Stewart

For the second time in less than two years Nikki Fried – the current Florida Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate – has amended her 2018 financial disclosure form filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics.

The latest amendment, filed on May 28, 2021, comes just days before she officially announced she would be running for governor.

The amendment relates to her gross income in part D of the form. Fried changed the amount of income she received from Igniting Florida to $351,480.

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Defiant DeSantis Signs Bill That Bans Transgender Girls from Girls Sports

Peter D'Abrosca
Women playing lacrosse

A defiant Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday signed a bill banning transgender girls – biological boys – from competing in girls sports. 

“At a bill signing event at the Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, DeSantis touted the ban as a way to protect the integrity of women’s and girls’ sports,” Tampa Bay Times reported, describing the bill as “controversial.”

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Predicts Above-Average Hurricane Season in 2021

Casey Owens

It is officially the beginning of hurricane season and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts an above-average number of named storms in 2021.

As stated on the NOAA’s website, forecasters predict a 60% chance of an above-average season, a 30% chance of an average season, while predicting only a 10% chance of a below-average season. An average hurricane season produces 14 named storms, 7 of which being hurricanes, and only 3 that are considered ‘major’ hurricanes.

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Florida Department of Education Launching Listening Tour

Grant Holcomb

The Florida Department of Education is launching a listening tour for two weeks hoping to get feedback regarding revisions to education standards for civics and English-language arts (ELA). The three tour stops will take place at:
Thursday, June 3 – Osceola County
Tohopekaliga High School
3675 Boggy Creek Road
Kissimmee, FL 34744
Wednesday, June 9 – Baker County
Macclenny Elementary School
1 Wildkitten Drive
Macclenny, FL 32062
A part of the new standards is a provision explicitly stating teachers and classroom instructors will not be permitted to “share their personal views or attempt to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view” that is inconsistent with state standards.

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New ‘SunPass PRO’ Expands Prepaid Toll Program to Include 19 States

Casey Owens
Sunrise Toll Plaza

Florida’s prepaid toll program, SunPass, announced the addition of the SunPass PRO on Friday that will allow Floridians to travel through other states’ tolls with only one toll account.

The announcement comes after the Florida Turnpike Enterprise partnered with 35 toll agencies across 19 states who utilize E-ZPass for prepaid tolls which will now accept SunPass PRO.

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Florida State University Refuses to Cancel Namesake of Football Stadium

Admin
Florida State University Tomahawk Chop

The Florida State University Seminoles will kick off their 2021 season in Doak Campbell Stadium once again, after university officials refused to cancel the stadium’s namesake.

The announcement to keep Campbell, a former president of the public university, on the stadium came after several task forces had debated the issue and an FSU grad had petitioned the school to rename the stadium.

The university’s anti-racism task force voted 12-7 against the renaming, after its Historical Legacy Subcommittee voted 3-3 on the name, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, a local paper.

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DeSantis Not Backing Down on Cruise Vaccine Passports

Peter D'Abrosca

After banning vaccine passports from the Sunshine State by law and by executive order, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is now tasked with bringing the cruise ship industry, a proponent of such passports, to heel. 

“We are going to enforce Florida law,” DeSantis said Friday. “I mean, we have Florida law. We have laws that protect the people and the privacy of our citizens, and we are going to enforce it.”

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Noah Valenstein to Step Down as Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary

Casey Owens

Noah Valenstein, Secretary for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), recently announced his resignation after serving in the position for almost four years.

Valenstein has worked for the Department under former Governor Rick Scott and current Governor, Ron DeSantis, who was updated on Valenstein’s decision on May 8th. On June 4th, Valenstein’s spot will be filled by Shawn Hamilton as interim DEP secretary.

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Florida State Senator Annette Taddeo Looks to Challenge Charlie Crist for Democratic Nomination in 2022 Gubernatorial Election

Casey Owens
Annette Taddeo

Florida Senator Annette Taddeo of District 40 is eyeing a run for Governor in 2022 that challenges her former running mate Charlie Crist for the Democratic nomination.

Taddeo’s announcement came Wednesday after initial speculation of her run circulated on Twitter the day before that stated her plan to run is in response to Florida Congresswoman Val Demings’ decision to run against Marco Rubio in 2022 for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

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