DeSantis: State will remain open

Governor lauds his handling of pandemic as Legislature returns

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off the 60-day legislative session Tuesday by taking a victory lap of sorts over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic while urging lawmakers to heed his funding requests for education and the environment and pass his agenda cracking down on Big Tech, riots and lawsuits.

“Friends, legislators, Floridians, lend me your ears: We will not let anybody close your schools, we will not let anybody take your jobs and we will not let anybody close your businesses!” DeSantis said during his State of the State speech.

DeSantis did not mention his decisions early on in the pandemic to shut down many businesses and schools. But he reopened the state much earlier than other governors and required schools to be open for in-person learning in the fall.

DeSantis acknowledged the toll the pandemic has taken on the state, with more than 30,000 lives lost to COVID-19, but he argued his decisions have helped Florida rebound from the economic shock, especially compared with other states. Florida has a 6.1% unemployment rate as of December, 0.2% below the national rate, and revenues have beat predictions of state economists, although they are still below pre-pandemic estimates and the state faces a $2 billion shortfall next fiscal year.

As an alternative to in-person guests spotlighted throughout the speech, DeSantis paused his remarks to show a video of Floridians thanking him for his policies on reopening and vaccine distribution that prioritized people 65 and older.

Democrats slammed the upbeat speech for ignoring the economic strain faced by many Floridians because of the coronavirus and the state’s problems in approving unemployment benefits checks, especially at the beginning of the pandemic when the system ground to a near halt.

“Pretty frustrating to watch videos of happy Floridians praising the Governor while my phone continues to get emails and DMs of folks still waiting for the (unemployment) payments,” Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, posted on Twitter. “We

should lift up stories of people struggling too, not ignore them & pretend like they don’t exist.”

DeSantis’ anti-riot bill:

In his address, DeSantis pushed lawmakers to pass a bill to increase penalties for protests that devolve into rioting, a measure responding to the Black Lives Matter protests of last summer against police bias and brutality against African-Americans, some of which turned violent.

“We will not permit localities to jeopardize the safety of their citizens by indulging in the insane fantasy of defunding law enforcement,” DeSantis said. “We will not allow our cities to burn and violence to rule the streets.” Another DeSantis priority is punishing five Big Tech companies — Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter — if they censor or remove users from their platforms without providing justification. That proposal came after Twitter and Facebook banned ex-President Donald Trump for his posts before and after the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

GOP leaders in charge of the Legislature appear eager to go along with his plans. House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson have each declared their support for the anti-rioting and Big Tech regulation bills.

Sprowls and Simpson will also have their own priorities that will drive much of the session.

Sprowls alluded to several in a six-minute speech: a plan to battle rising sea levels; push back against the “intolerance created by the rising “woke” agenda; and looking to close the racial gap in health care outcomes, especially for pregnant Black women. He is also pushing for better reading programs in schools and refocusing higher education spending on the needs of the workforce.

Underlying it all is the lingering pandemic, as masks, social distancing guidelines and cleaning protocols — including in the Capitol - remain a facet of life even as vaccines continue to be distributed throughout the state.

“All of these issues are wrapped around and reshaped by the impacts of COVID-19,” Sprowls said. “We have much work to do to address the pandemic and to ensure our laws align with the real-world problems that we have encountered over the last year.”

‘Frivolous’lawsuits: In his 15-minute speech, Simpson focused on legislation that would shield businesses and health care workers from “frivolous” COVID-19 related lawsuits, reforming the state pension system, overhauling the state’s child welfare system and expanding school choice programs.

He also wants to tackle issues that have hobbled the state during the pandemic. Talking to reporters afterwards, Simpson said he’s open to increasing Florida’s $275 weekly unemployment benefit, one of the lowest among states.

Simpson also is looking at increasing wages for the state’s lowest-paid workers, considering the minimum wage increase approved by voters last November will raise the minimum to $15 per hour for all workers by 2026 anyway.

“We should try to take significant steps to try to speed that timeline up for state workers,” Simpson said. “We’re going to tighten our belt this year in certain areas, but at the same time we do value these blue-collar workers.”

Congress is considering a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 package pushed by President Joe Biden, including $350 billion in direct aid to states and cities. Florida is facing a $2 billion shortfall and could be helped by the relief, but Simpson stressed federal funding would be a one-time boost to the budget and shouldn’t be used for annual spending, such as major programs or salaries.

“If we do get it, our priority should be to reinvigorate this economy,” Simpson said. “We can do that with dynamic, one-time investments in our shovel-ready road projects, our water infrastructure, and we ought to replenish our unemployment trust fund, which would be a major tax cut for our Florida businesses. The balance of funds should go into our state reserves.”

It’s unclear whether lawmakers will be able to direct how any federal funds are spent. DeSantis has spent money without legislative approval throughout the pandemic thanks to the state of emergency that allows him to override state laws to deal with the crisis.

Simpson, though, said he believes with the Legislature in session, DeSantis will recognize the Legislature’s traditional power of the purse.

Election restrictions:

DeSantis also is pushing lawmakers to pass restrictions of voting by mail, even though he boasted that Florida’s election ran smoothly last November. GOP mistrust of mail ballots, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud, is spurring Republican-run legislatures across the country to restrict how they can be cast. In Florida, lawmakers have filed bills to prohibit a third party from handling a mail ballot and restrict the use of drop boxes used to collect them.

“We need to make sure our elections are transparent and run efficiently,” DeSantis said. “There should be no ballot harvesting in the state of Florida. One person, one vote.”

For Democrats, the elections bill is aimed at restricting their supporters and his emphasis on Big Tech censorship and cracking down on protests while COVID-19 continues to take lives is misplaced.

“Instead of helping hardworking Floridians with common-sense solutions we heard an agenda that was driven by pettiness, imaginary threats and settling partisan political scores,” said Rep. Andrew Learned, D-Brandon. “This is a time for leadership, a plan to get COVID19 under control, to deliver relief for Florida’s families and build back our economy better.”