DeSantis’ vaccine gambit, Proud Boys on trial and another insurance warning

It’s Monday, Dec. 19, and just when you thought the election season was done, the next one comes roaring in.

Florida legislators wrapped up their special legislative session on property insurance last week and, as with everything in Florida these days, the nation was watching.

DeSantis rises in 2024 polls: In a new round of polls, Gov. Ron DeSantis has emerged as the front runner in the GOP primary for president in 2024, even in a head-to-head matchup against former President Donald Trump. DeSantis, who is not expected to make an announcement until after the legislative session next year, led Trump 52% to 38% in the Wall Street Journal poll and 56% to 33% over Trump in a USA Today/Suffolk University poll.

Insurance test: With the Florida governor rising in popularity among the GOP base, the package of insurance proposals legislators drafted with the help of DeSantis’ office is being watched as a test of his handling of an explosive dilemma that is not about culture wars but is about something that can materially affect many people’s lives.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

New market warnings: The stated goal of the reforms is to stabilize the insurance market by lowering industry costs and halting the exodus of private companies out of Florida. But even as legislators finished their work, the reinsurance market was warning that legislators may not have done enough. The pressure to raise the cost of insurance, the experts fear, will continue for at least another year.

No immediate relief: Meanwhile, Florida homeowners who face the highest property insurance costs in the nation, will see no immediate rate relief. Instead, there are warnings signs that the rising costs will add stress to homeowners already on the brink. Thousands of homeowners across the state are increasingly choosing to forgo insurance, sell their homes or even leave Florida said Tasha Carter, Florida’s insurance consumer advocate. Consumers tell her daily they “are absolutely worried about losing their homes because they cannot afford their homeowners insurance premiums,’’ she said.

Homelessness on the rise: The result is that a new face of Florida homelessness is emerging as people are increasingly camping in county parks and sleeping next to luxury RVs while struggling to make car payments or save up for their next move.

Toll savings: And although lawmakers couldn’t guarantee that homeowners will see lower insurance bills, they delivered tax breaks to drivers who use toll roads. The $500 million program would provide a 50% discount on toll charges to drivers who go through at least 35 toll stations each month.

Hurricane damage breaks: Legislators also approved a tax relief package to help people whose homes were destroyed or left uninhabitable after they were hit by Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole earlier this year.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

COVID vaccines on the ballot? As legislators were debating the reforms, DeSantis was announcing a new initiative intended to signal that he is thinks the 2024 election will be a referendum on COVID-19 policy, particularly vaccines. He asked the Florida Supreme Court to call a grand jury to investigate if pharmaceutical companies criminally misled Floridians about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 shots. He said the grand jury would likely be held in Tampa Bay and is intended to “get legal accountability for those who committed misconduct.”

Trump’s right flank: The move is clearly an effort by DeSantis to drive a wedge between himself and Trump over an issue they both aggressively touted. Trump has boasted about the success of Operation Warp Speed, the program to rapidly develop the mRNA vaccines, and DeSantis, who previously called the vaccines safe, effective and “life saving,” is now raising doubts about them in an appeal to vaccine deniers.

Arkansas gov criticizes: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who is also considering running for president in 2024, took a shot at DeSantis in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press on Sunday.

“We shouldn’t undermine science. We shouldn’t undermine the medical community that’s very important to our public health,” Hutchinson said. “We are not good as a society —it’s not the right direction — if we diminish the facts, we diminish all the best information that we have from science at the time.”

Where was Florida? It’s worth noting that in the fall of 2020, while Colorado, California, New York, Washington, Michigan, Oregon, West Virginia, Nevada and the District of Columbia all said they were planning on analyzing data from the clinical trials before allowing vaccine distribution, DeSantis, who was then a Trump supporter, made no such similar announcement. The states said their decisions were prompted by doubts about the Trump administration’s contradicting claims about a vaccine timeline.

Late-night TV treatment: DeSantis’ vaccine announcement attracted the attention of cable networks and the late-night television shows. Host Stephen Colbert focused his monologue on the announcement and resurrected a series of recorded interviews of DeSantis touting the vaccine as safe and effective to prevent serious illness from COVID-19 infections.

Insurance commish resigns: A day after legislators completed their work, David Altmaier, Florida’s insurance commissioner, submitted his letter of resignation. He becomes the latest in a stream of officials leaving state government before a new law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2023, imposing a six-year ban on lobbying by former state officials of their own agency. The exodus of top officials is not unusual at the end of a four-year term in state government, but high numbers of people leaving now is also a window into the symbiotic relationship between regulators and regulated businesses in Florida.

Seminoles appeal over gambling deal: Lawyers for the federal government asked an appeals court last week to reverse a ruling that invalidated Florida’s attempt to give the Seminole Tribe a monopoly on sports betting in the state. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments from lawyers for the U.S. Department of Interior, the State of Florida, the Seminole Tribe and the plaintiffs — West Flagler Associates, which owns Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Poker Room near Naples. The case could influence how agreements with sovereign tribes are handled in the future.

Miami’s redistricting map challenged: The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal court last week accusing Miami city commissioners of creating racially segregated districts when officials redrew the boundaries of the city’s voting map in the spring. The lawsuit alleges the redistricting map splits districts along racial lines in order to make the five districts each have its own ethnic majority or plurality (three Hispanic, one Black, one non-Hispanic white).

Proud Boys on trial: Enrique Tarrio and other senior members of the Proud Boys will stand trial on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., on charges of conspiring to commit sedition, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and related offenses. They are charged with plotting a rebellion at the U.S. Capitol building to stop the lawful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden

New options for Puerto Rico: The U.S. House of Representatives wants to allow residents of Puerto Rico to choose from three status options in a binding special election and end its 70-year-old current territorial status. The bipartisan bill passed last week is known as the Puerto Rico Status Act. It would establish a plebiscite to be held in November 2023 in which eligible voters would choose from three options: statehood, independence, or sovereignty in free association with the United States.

Rebekah admits guilt to reduced charges: Former Department of Health data analyst turned whistleblower Rebekah Jones reached an agreement with state prosecutors to dismiss the criminal hacking charges against her. As a condition of the dismissal, Jones admitted she was guilty. Amid suspicions that Jones illegally accessed the Florida Department of Health System to send a message on the agency’s internal platform, police searched her home in December 2020. A subsequent search of her electronics suggested that she sent a message to 1,750 people, downloaded confidential data, and saved it to her devices, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Jones was later charged with an offense against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks and electronic devices, a third-degree felony. Jones officially admitted guilt as part of the Dec. 8 agreement.

Broward board reverses governor: In a rejection of the DeSantis approach to Broward schools, the Broward School Board last week handed Superintendent Vickie Cartwright her job back — at least temporarily. The board voted 5-3 to rescind Cartwright’s Nov. 14 termination made by four previous members appointed by DeSantis in a late-night vote. The four members have since been replaced by newly elected school board members.

Gender-related policies get scrutiny: Florida’s State Board of Education will meet this week to scrutinize whether 10 school districts are carrying out the state’s Parental Rights in Education law after state officials put the districts on notice last month suggesting their policies “may not comport with Florida law.” Some superintendents have complained that the so-called “don’t say gay” law is forcing them to “out” gay and lesbian children in their classrooms.

Few vets became teachers: Six months after DeSantis signed a law intended to help alleviate the state’s teacher shortage by allowing military veterans to become certified as K-12 teachers, only seven veteran have been approved for certification across all 70-plus school districts. Meanwhile, the shortage remains enormous. The report, by Military.com, found that when the school year started this fall, there remained more than 5,000 teacher vacancies in the state.

How conspiracies thrive: The Miami Herald and Florida International University investigated what was being said on Spanish-language talk programs, listening to more than 100 hours of programming from Oct. 17 to Nov. 11. The goal was to explore whether and how misleading accounts of political events and topics are disseminated across Miami’s media landscape.

The conversation seemed to be dominated by highly partisan and sometimes extreme conservative voices, often trafficking in hyperbole that can verge on outright misinformation without context on topics ranging from the border and immigration, to U.S.-Cuba relations and the COVID-19 pandemic, the study found.

Pumps as infra: Pumps. Get used hearing about them. They’re now a necessary fixture to sustain life in Florida as seas rise, floods persist, and people keep moving here for the good winters. They’re part of the growing and staggeringly expensive infrastructure that will be needed to keep South Florida habitable even as the seas rise and climate changes produce more extreme rainfall from hurricanes like Ian, which drenched a large swath of the state just months ago.

Griffin wants historic mansion moved: Billionaire Miami newcomer Ken Griffin, who has received an effusive welcome from local politicians as he moves his Citadel financial empire to the Magic City from Chicago, wants them to do something for him: Take one of the city’s most significant historic homes off his hands. In September, Griffin bought the expansive bayfront estate of banker and philanthropist Adrienne Arsht near the Vizcaya Museum for a record $106 million. Now, he wants it moved.

Thank you for reading. This is our final newsletter for 2022. For a review of the year in Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State, take a look here.

Have a happy holiday season!

Miami Herald Capitol Bureau Chief Mary Ellen Klas curates the Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State newsletter. We appreciate our readers, and if you have any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a note at meklas@miamiherald.com.

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