Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
DeSantis’ priority: ‘Be bold’
Governor encourages lawmakers to take action on environment, education
TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis opened the legislative session Tuesday pledging more money for the environment while outlining traditional Republican proposals to expand school vouchers, boost vocational education, give teacher bonuses and ban “sanctuary” cities.
In a 30-minute speech, he highlighted the actions his administration has already taken to “reorient environmental policy,” get hurricane clean-up money from Washington and remake the Florida Supreme Court with three new justices. But he also declared that “this is just the beginning.”
“Be bold,’’ he told lawmakers. “Be bold in championing economic opportunity, be bold in protecting Florida’s environment, be bold in improving education, be bold in defending
the safety of our communities. Be bold, because while perfection is not attainable, if we aim high, we can achieve excellence.”
DeSantis laid out an agenda that largely continues the playbook the GOP has used to govern the state since taking control of the Legislature and executive branch 20 years ago: Keep taxes low, expand school voucher programs and reduce regulations.
But on the environment DeSantis signaled a change, calling for $2.5 billion in spending over the next four years to clean up waterways fouled with blue-green algae.
Other DeSantis priorities include using $423 million to give teachers bonuses of nearly $10,000 and using $10 million to forgive the student loans of 1,700 prospective teachers. The measures are needed, he said, to help stem the teacher turnover faced by school districts throughout the state.
He also wants to eliminate the 14,000-person waiting list for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, a school voucher program that allows parents to send their children to private schools, by creating a similar program called the Equal Opportunity Scholarship.
DeSantis’ agenda isn’t the only one that matters, however. Legislative leaders from both chambers laid out their priorities for the next 60 days as well.
House Speaker Jose Oliva, whose chamber is still investigating
$38 million in misspent funds by UCF for a new building, sounded a warning to the entire university system, pledging to “reform” how the schools pay for new construction.
“Each new building will require a space-utilization study to justify its need,” Oliva said. “Every building will require a down payment as well as an escrow account to ensure for its future maintenance. … There have been great excesses within the system and a propensity to fill the campuses, build new buildings and grow higher and higher paid administrative staff.”
Oliva also stressed easing or eliminating health care regulations, calling the health care system “a great financial threat to public and private coffers alike.”
He wants to pass bills to repeal the process to determine whether a new hospital is needed before it can be built, allow for more telehealth and let nurses expand their scope of practice.
Senate President Bill Galvano, meanwhile, stressed collaboration within his chamber. He has previously pushed for massive new investment in infrastructure to extend major highways through rural areas.
DeSantis’ relationship with lawmakers will be key to getting his platform accomplished, but he’s already off to a better start than his predecessor, Rick Scott, who often clashed with his fellow GOP lawmakers.
Sen. Manny Diaz said Scott had a CEO mentality, where DeSantis, who served three terms in the U.S. House, appreciates the pressures on the legislative branch.
“There were a lot of one-way conversations in which (Scott) wanted to tell you what was important to him but didn’t always understand the challenges that you have to face in the chambers,” said Diaz, R-Miami. “Governor DeSantis really understands what happens inside a legislature and respects the role of the legislature as a co-equal branch.”
Some of DeSantis’ early moves, especially on the environment, have also gained praise from Democrats. But leaders in the minority party on Tuesday chided his proposals on education, which include expanding voucher programs.
“While the governor says his plan is about helping kids get a better education, especially disadvantaged kids, make no mistake, the plan is all about draining millions of your tax dollars to give to private schools, while dismembering public education in the state of Florida,’’ said Senate Democratic Leader Audrey Gibson of Jacksonville.
In his speech, DeSantis honored Hunter Pollack, brother of Meadow Pollack, one of the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting last year that left 17 students and faculty dead. But he also made an explicit suggestion to senators to remove Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel from office. DeSantis suspended Israel for his actions following the massacre for what he called school security failures, replacing him with Gregory Tony.
“Why any senator would want to thumb his nose at the Parkland families and to eject Sheriff Tony, who is doing a great job and has made history as the first AfricanAmerican sheriff in Broward history, is beyond me,” DeSantis said. “But I judge not, lest I be judged.”
Under the state constitution, the Senate presides over trials of suspended local officials, making the final decision to remove or reinstate them. Galvano pushed back on DeSantis’ suggestion, calling it “an awkward moment for the governor.”
“He has every right to suspend him and has his reasons for doing so, but the Senate also has a role,” said Galvano, R-Bradenton. “We are going to do it right. We are going to have due process. We are not going to be a rubber stamp for the governor.”
DeSantis also urged lawmakers to pass a bill cracking down on cities with “sanctuary” policies in Florida. No municipality currently has such a policy on the books, but a bill making its way through the Legislature would require law enforcement to work with federal immigration officials.
“Florida will not be a sanctuary state -- we won’t allow someone here illegally to commit criminal misconduct and simply be returned to our communities,” DeSantis said. “And we won’t tolerate sanctuary cities that actively frustrate law enforcement by shielding criminal aliens from accountability at the expense of public safety.”