DeSantis, Cabinet ignore Fried, barely talk about coronavirus in meeting
Agriculture commissioner wants focus on health, unemployment issues
TALLAHASSEE — Ignoring the pleas of the only Democrat, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet met Thursday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began but largely avoided discussing the crisis.
Emergency management officials spoke of the difficulty of developing a plan for shelters during hurricane season while still practicing social distancing, but the DeSantis administration’s response to the pandemic, the public health issues related to the disease and the ongoing problems with the unemployment system weren’t on the agenda, something Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried had requested.
“There is no reason, in the midst of a global pandemic that has seen over 2,300 Floridians perish, over 51,000 Floridians sickened, and over one million Floridians unemployed, that this Cabinet should not have met since February to consider state business, and to receive updates on our state’s response to COVID-19,” Fried said at the end of the 90-minute meeting.
DeSantis mostly ignored Fried’s comments, but he held a 15-second moment of silence for the 100,000 victims of the coronavirus in the U.S. at the beginning of the meeting at Fried’s request.
The Republican Party of Florida, however, bashed Fried.
“Seriously, (Nikki Fried)? This is NOT what Floridians want from their elected officials,” RPOF posted on its Twitter feed. “She is recklessly and irresponsibly politicizing a pandemic to try and boost herself — which has been apparent through her blatant actions. Let’s put people over politics.”
The Cabinet, which last met Feb. 4, held a teleconference instead of gathering in the Capitol, a decision made because of the COVID-19 crisis, a spokeswoman for the governor said. Fried was the only member to appear in the Cabinet meeting room in person.
DeSantis’ fellow Republicans on the Cabinet, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, defended the governor’s response, saying they’ve worked closely with “constant communication” between their offices. Neither, though, addressed Fried’s complaints that her requests were being ignored.
“Thank God we had Governor DeSantis and not (New York) Governor (Andrew) Cuomo,” Patronis said.
During the meeting, the Cab
inet approved a series of land buys in line with the state’s conservation plans and signed off on the refinancing of $257.7 million in education construction bonds that will save the state $103 million. It also gave the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, the state-backed reinsurer that insures private insurers, the authority to buy up to $5 billion in pre-storm bonds to provide insurance companies with liquidity if a hurricane hits.
But some of the most pressing matters related to the pandemic weren’t discussed. Fried said her requests to have briefings from Surgeon General Scott Rivkees and Department of Health officials, the Department of Revenue on the state’s fiscal situation in light of massive revenue losses, including an $878 million in April, were ignored.
“For the most critical nearly four months of this pandemic, this Cabinet has been left in the dark,” Fried said. “These agenda requests were made in good faith and were not acknowledged, let alone fulfilled. That’s a real shame for everyone who deserves the truth.”