DeSantis, Florida better off with President Biden

Joe Biden’s election may be the best thing that could have happened to Ron DeSantis.

Florida’s governor never would admit that publicly, but consider how well things have broken for DeSantis since Biden took office just seven weeks ago.

Nationally, daily COVID-19 vaccinations have nearly doubled. The federal government has opened mass vaccination sites staffed by the Defense Department. Four of them are in Florida, and they encourage walk-ups.

Predictably, DeSantis first said that Florida didn’t need such sites. Imagine the outrage among Trump cultists if he credited Biden for anything.

In fact, the governor and the state need every bit of help Washington can send. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, Florida as of Monday ranked 35th in percentage of vaccines administered based on doses received.

Florida needs rapid vaccination because DeSantis continues to resist efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. He remains proud of never issuing a statewide mask mandate. Though local officials have begged, he won’t reconsider the executive order he issued last September that prevents cities and counties from enforcing their mask orders.

The governor remains stubbornly anti-science even as Florida has the most cases of the COVID-19 British variant. So far, Florida has been lucky. The New York Times quoted an epidemiologist from John Hopkins University who has been “watching Florida closely.” Case numbers are not yet “resurging. The longer we can hold the line, the more time we have to roll out vaccines. . .”Florida, though, never has held the line. Though virus metrics have been dropping, a little perspective is helpful.

It’s true that the state’s rate of new cases hasn’t been this low since late November. That rate, however, is still more than twice as high as it was on Oct. 1, just after DeSantis prohibited local mask enforcement.

The rate also is more than three times higher than it was last spring. That’s when DeSantis declared victory too soon and began reopening the state. That led to a surge. The September executive order led to a bigger surge, which holiday travel supercharged.

Indeed, numbers are down because people aren’t traveling. Deaths in Florida declined after cases dropped, though they remain well above the level on Nov. 1. The state’s COVID-19 death rate ranks 23rd.

DeSantis plans to campaign for re-election next year — and for president in 2024 if he wins — as the governor who handled the virus while keeping the economy open. The numbers don’t support that, but DeSantis will take credit for a vaccine program that under Biden is more aggressive and organized.

Then there’s the state budget. While Republican leaders in Tallahassee warned of cuts, DeSantis based his ambitious spending plan on more federal aid. Because of Biden, that money will come. Lots of it.

According to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, a combined $17.3 billion will go to Tallahassee and counties and cities from the COVID-19 relief bill. Final approval in the House will come this week.

DeSantis had complained about the allocation formula. It’s based on the rate of unemployment, not population. So New York will get the third-highest amount after California and Texas — $23.5 billion — even though Florida ranks third in population, ahead of New York.

That $17.3 billion, however, will be $17.3 billion more than Florida’s Republican senators wanted. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott voted against the bill.

Despite DeSantis’ boasts, Florida needs the money. According to a New York Times analysis, only four states saw a greater percentage drop in revenue than Florida between April and December of last year compared to the same period in 2019.

Scott never acknowledged how much the Obama stimulus helped when he became governor. DeSantis just slammed what he called Biden’s “pathetic failure of leadership” on reopening schools.

Biden’s COVID relief bill will bring $6 billion to Florida school districts. They will use that money to make campuses safe for teachers and students under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines — money that DeSantis didn’t provide as he badgered schools to reopen classrooms.

DeSantis couldn’t have become governor without Donald Trump. Ironically, as vaccinations pump up the economy, DeSantis may be invulnerable to Democrats in Florida because of the Democrat in Washington who defeated Trump.