Pandemic tops this session’s agenda

TALLAHASSEE — When Florida lawmakers ended their last session, the COVID-19 pandemic was just getting started. Nearly a year later, as vaccines are distributed and some can sense the end of the pandemic that has taken more than 30,000 lives in the state, lawmakers will return Tuesday for a 60-day session to deal with the fallout.

The coronavirus pandemic will color nearly everything the Legislature does, and not only because lawmakers, staff and reporters still face testing, social-distancing, and mask-wearing requirements.

“The goal would be ... if there is a pandemic in the future that we would not have to shut down our economy,” Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, told reporters. “The state, if we’re doing our job properly, we have to prepare for that moment again, and next time maybe not face the same type of outcomes.”

But lawmakers will have to deal with more than preparing for the next killer virus. The COVID-19 crisis bashed the tourism industry, caused revenues to tank, boosted enrollment in welfare programs and scrambled schools that moved to hybrid online and in-person learning modes.

Gov. Ron DeSantis will drive much of the agenda, as the GOP-controlled Legislature has largely let him respond to the coronavirus without their input, spending federal CARES Act money without legislative approval because of the state of emergency he declared.

DeSantis is pushing for liability protections for businesses and health care facilities from COVID19 lawsuits.

But the rest of his top goals have nothing to do with the pandemic. He wants to increase penalties for rioters and cities who “defund

police,” impose more requirements on mail ballots and penalizing and thwart the influence of Big Tech.

Democrats say he’s pushing partisan measures to appeal to his GOP base while ignoring the state’s rickety unemployment system and the economic pain still faced by many because of the virus.

DeSantis had recommended a $96.6 billion budget heavily reliant on federal aid that would prevent major cuts to schools and other areas. But GOP leaders are skeptical of some of his spending ideas and have been eyeing proposals to bring in more revenue without raising taxes, such as requiring online retailers to collect more sales taxes.

That proposal has faltered in previous sessions but as lawmakers stare down a $2 billion budget shortfall, measures to bring in more cash could be more attractive.

Economy

When the tourism industry came to a screeching halt last year, Florida’s unemployment system was flooded with claims, overrunning the system and leading to lengthy delays. DeSantis ordered an internal investigation, waived work search requirements and pulled in staff at other agencies to help.

Federal payments helped jobless Floridians, as the Department of Economic Opportunity has paid out $23 billion in unemployment benefits, but only $4.4 billion has come from the state. The federal help, though, will run out next month if Congress doesn’t extend it.

But the Legislature hasn’t had a hearing on the situation, despite calls from Democrats to hold a special session. GOP leaders also don’t appear interested in taking up bills from Democrats to overhaul the system, increase the maximum weekly benefit of $275 (one of the lowest in the country) and untie the number of weeks to the unemployment rate.

House Speaker Chris Sprowls says he’s concerned any increase would hurt businesses that pay the tax at a time when the state’s economy needs to rebound. Instead, he’s focused on retooling Florida’s workforce boards to ensure they’re actually connecting people with jobs.

“That money does come from somewhere — it comes from taxes on businesses,” said Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor. “I’m not saying these are easy choices. What I’m mindful of, though, is the businesses, the quicker they’re back on their feet and the quicker they get back to commerce the way they were before, the quicker they can rehire people and get them back in the workforce.”

Sprowls and Simpson also point to DeSantis’ priority of providing liability protection to businesses against COVID-19 claims as a way to rebuild the economy. Large business lobbies pushing for the measure say they fear a wave of litigation that could slow the pace of rehiring.

The bill, HB 7/SB 72, could be one of the first to hit DeSantis’ desk, as the House is poised to pass it off the floor in the first weeks of the session.

Education

Sprowls is on a search for 87,811 students, the gap between estimates made for this year before the pandemic hit and the actual enrollment, a more than 3% drop. He wrote a letter to superintendents urging them to find where the students who make up the shortfall of expected attendance came from.

At a recent House hearing, five superintendents from around the state said they have been searching, but many students have either moved or entered private school.

K-12 school funding is largely based on enrollment, but Florida public schools haven’t seen cuts this year thanks to CARES Act funding and a decision by the DeSantis administration to hold districts harmless. If the funding were reduced based on the actual enrollment, the districts would have lost $700 million, Sprowls noted in his letter.

But Sprowls’ letter indicates that may not be the case next fall if enrollment doesn’t return to pre-pandemic levels. Simpson said he agreed with Sprowls’ push but said the Senate will be building its budget assuming most of the students will return.

“I think it’s important in this budget that we get it as close to right as we can, and that’s subjective,” said Simpson. “But I do believe that those 88,000 children are going to show up, coming into next August.”

Colleges and universities could also see major changes this year.

The Senate would upend the Bright Futures Scholarships program by possibly reducing the 100% and 75% tuition awards and tying the money to which majors would be most likely to result in a job after graduation.

Health care

State economists in November increased their Medicaid enrollment estimates for the current year by 16.5%, to 4.4 million. Those in need of cash assistance and food stamps have risen, too, with a total of 1.3 million added to welfare programs since the pandemic began.

Even though the federal government has increased its share of Medicaid funding to the states, the safety net is being stretched, putting pressure on the budget. That could lead lawmakers to search for ways to cut money that haven’t gained traction before.

Some legislative health care panels have begun reviewing pharmacy benefit managers, companies that manage drug claims for health insurers after reports showed a more than $113 million markup on prescription drug costs in Medicaid. Officials at the Agency of Health Care Administration, however, have warned changing the system wouldn’t automatically save that amount and could entail other costs.

One measure that is advancing is a bill to give long-term care facilities and other health care providers liability protection from COVID-19 claims. The bill is separate from the other bill for most businesses but has received more pushback from critics, such as the AARP, who think it gives blanket protection to providers who didn’t take enough measures to ensure their frail residents were protected from the virus.

Environment

Simpson could be on a collision course with DeSantis over the Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir, a $1.6 billion project to which DeSantis has committed but which Simpson has called a “mistake.”

The state spends $64 million a year on the reservoir, designed to redirect water south of Lake Okeechobee. Simpson has cited the price tag and the anticipated $2 billion revenue shortfall this year as reasons to rethink the project and has urged more focus on projects north of the lake.

GOP fiscal hawks in the House have also expressed skepticism of other parts of DeSantis’ proposed environmental budget, including bonds to finance $1 billion in grants to local governments to stall or cope with the effects of climate change.

Big Tech

DeSantis is taking aim at five major technology companies — Amazon, Google, Apple, Twitter and Facebook — and looking to impose standards for removing someone from their platforms.

He pushed for bills to crack down on Big Tech after most social media outlets kicked former President Donald Trump off their platforms for inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and doing little to stop it. The firms have gotten too big, DeSantis said, with too much influence over national debates and elections, given their ability to shut down or amplify a given issue or news story.

Sprowls, Simpson and the GOP rank-and-file are backing him up, despite fears the bills could be unconstitutional because the government would impose speech standards on private companies.

Criminal justice

DeSantis began assembling his 2021 legislative agenda last September when he called for a bill to increase penalties on protesters who assault police officers, block roads and on local governments that “defund the police.”

The proposal came in the wake of a summer of Black Lives Matter protests across the country against police bias, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. Some of the protests turned violent, with looting and parts of cities burned, but there were few violent incidents in Florida.

The bills, HB 1 and SB 484, were filed on Jan. 6, the day of the insurrection by Trump supporters. DeSantis cited the Capitol riot as a reason for the bill, too, and said the penalties would fall on rioters regardless of ideology.

Democrats have blasted the bill, and Black Democrats are concerned the measure will be used to squelch any dissent of police conduct.

Moreover, Democrats bemoan their calls for police reforms in light of the Floyd killing have been ignored by Republicans.

Elections

After two decades of being an elections laughingstock, Florida’s relatively smooth 2020 election was lauded by officials of both parties. DeSantis and Republicans, however, are moving to impose new requirements on mail-in ballots after more Democratic opted for that method this year due in part to the pandemic.

Under SB 90, voters would be required to request a mail-in ballot each election cycle, instead of allowing the request to remain in place for two election cycles before it must be renewed. DeSantis also wants to reduce the use of drop boxes to collect the mail ballots and prohibit anyone other than a family member from handling another person’s ballot.

Democrats have slammed the proposal as voter suppression, since 2.1 million Democrats voted by mail last November, compared with 1.5 million Republicans.