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  • Will the Abortion Vote Help Democrats Flip Florida in 2024?

    Will the Abortion Vote Help Democrats Flip Florida in 2024?

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    Biden could wind up concentrating on Florida more than he did in 2020.
    Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

    Not very long ago, Florida was considered the ultimate presidential battleground state. It determined the outcome of the 2000 election, and as recently as 2012 it was carried by a Democrat, Barack Obama. But after being won twice by Donald Trump, as Republicans swept every statewide elected office and increased their grip on the state legislature and congressional delegation, Florida is now perceived as decidedly red-tinged. Nevertheless, as Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign ponders a path to 270 electoral votes complicated by poor polling in key 2020 states like Arizona and Georgia, Florida’s 30 electoral votes remain tempting. That’s particularly true after the Florida Supreme Court simultaneously let a six-week abortion ban take effect while clearing the way for a November ballot initiative aimed at overturning it. The very next day, the same court cleared a November ballot initiative to legalize recreational cannabis use as well.

    Florida could theoretically become ground zero for a national Democratic strategy of making popular anger over abortion restrictions the big game-changer for 2024, offsetting economic unhappiness, border-security worries, and concerns about Biden’s age. As my colleague Gabriel Debenedetti has pointed out, ballot measures have become a turnout-booster for Florida Democrats: “In three of the last four election cycles, the party’s turnout appeared to be helped by ballot initiatives — on broadening medical marijuana laws in 2016, on restoring voting rights for felons in 2018, and on raising the minimum wage in 2020.”

    But is Florida likely to be close enough in 2024 to make this issue-driven reach for a win feasible? That’s not entirely clear. Perceptions of Florida’s trajectory are being heavily affected by the 2022 midterm blowout that gave Ron DeSantis a landslide 19-point reelection win. But at the presidential level, the red tide in the Sunshine State has been less dramatic, if still highly significant. Obama carried the state by a mere 0.9 percent in 2012 and then Hillary Clinton lost it by 1.2 percent four years later. Trump’s margin then increased to 3.3 percent in 2020, though the Biden campaign did not really target Florida. Demographically Florida has been a haven for tax-leery white retirees, including the blue-collar folk who have been trending Republican, and it’s also Exhibit A in the much-discussed Latino voter surge toward the GOP (much of it driven by conservative Cuban American and South American immigrants, with some drift among Puerto Ricans as well).

    Public polling of the 2024 general election in Florida has been sparse, but two polls taken in March both show Trump with a solid if not overwhelming lead (six points per St. Pete Polls and seven points according to Redfield & Wilton Strategies).

    There’s no question the twin abortion and cannabis ballot initiatives should be appealing to Democratic constituencies in Florida (especially the crucial youth vote). And the state’s 60 percent requirement for approval of state constitutional amendments means those votes will be tantalizingly close and heavily publicized. It’s also likely that the abortion policy fight will attract serious national money, with some perhaps coming from ultrawealthy Democratic Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker, who is already donating heavily to abortion ballot initiatives in Arizona and Nevada.

    On the other hand, past ballot-measure fights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022 have had a debatable effect on partisan-turnout patterns. Pro-choice forces have won them all, but often by attracting pro-choice Republican voters who still support their party’s candidates despite its anti-abortion positioning. The relatively late timing of Florida’s imposition of a near-total abortion ban (it was enacted last year but held up in the courts until this week’s judicial decision) could make the ballot fight in the state especially intense and accordingly dangerous for the Republicans responsible for this denial of basic rights.

    Perhaps the best way to characterize Florida’s status in the presidential race right now is that it’s on the Biden campaign’s watch list and could move near the top if (a) subsequent polling looks promising and (b) other states counted on to win the president an Electoral College majority appear problematic. No Democrat is simply writing off Florida right now, and even if it’s a reach, Team Biden would enjoy making a relatively cash-strapped Trump campaign devote precious resources to defending the 45th president’s home turf.


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    By Ed Kilgore

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  • DeSantis Thwarted In Florida Marijuana Court Ruling

    DeSantis Thwarted In Florida Marijuana Court Ruling

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    Score one for the voters

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been clear about his views on marijuana. He has called recreational cannabis a problem, lamented marijuana’s “stench” and grimly warned drugs are killing this country. After voters approved medical marijuana, he said it wasn’t enough and made them vote again where it passed by 71%. Despite his campaign receiving major funds from a few large players in the industry, his public state has been consistent.  As Florida put together a ballot initiative to legalize recreational, DeSantis signaled his displeasure. Ashley Moody, the attorney general of Florida and ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, asked the state Supreme Court to nix a proposed constitutional amendment which would legalize recreational cannabis.

    RELATED: Looks Like Virginia Is The Newest Marijuana Nanny State

    Today, in a 5-2 ruling, the Florida State Supreme Court advanced a proposed adult-use cannabis legalization initiative to the November 5, 2024, ballot. This delivers multi blows to the governor as it dismisses his and the state attorney general argument.  Marijuana, along with another ballot initiative are on the ballot and it is sure to drive voters who may not vote in line with DeSantis’s goals. And it shows despite his posturing, his administration, including the courts, are not in lockstep.

    “This is one of the most important cannabis legalization campaigns in recent years,” said Matthew Schweich, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. “We have the opportunity to end the injustice of cannabis prohibition for over 22 million Americans.”

    The ballot initiative, which is being spearheaded by Smart and Safe Florida, would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and over and allow legal sales through licensed businesses. In order to pass, the initiative must be approved by 60% of voters. Of the 24 states with an initiative process, Florida is the only state that requires 60% to pass an initiative.

    RELATED: Science Says Medical Marijuana Improves Quality Of Life

    If the ballot hits the 60% approval mark, the initiative would take effect six months after Election Day. The initiative would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of cannabis flower and five grams of concentrate. Medical cannabis dispensaries would be permitted to sell cannabis to adults over the age of 21. The legislature would retain the ability to issue more licenses in the future.

    Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed five of the seven justices. One justice said were “baffled” by the state’s argument about the language being misleading, and other justices were similarly skeptical of the state’s push against the amendment. This signals another blow  the court ruling against the governor’s stated position.

    RELATED: The Imagine Of Today’s Marijuana User Is Not What You Think

    As of this time, neither the Governor or the State Attorney General have provided feedback.

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    Terry Hacienda

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  • DeSantis suspends Orlando commissioner Regina Hill days after arrest

    DeSantis suspends Orlando commissioner Regina Hill days after arrest

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    Photo by Monivette Cordeiro

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill today, days after she was arrested and indicted for alleged elder abuse and fraud. The suspension came less than two hours before she was set to join a City Council meeting.

    DeSantis’ office at 12:12 p.m. Monday issued an executive order formally suspending Hill from her role as City Commissioner for the city of Orlando. Hill has served as the representative of the Parramore neighborhood and other parts of west Orlando since 2013. The executive order was emailed to the media about 15 minutes ahead of the start of the council’s 2 o’clock meeting.

    “Regina I. Hill is prohibited from performing any official act, duty, or function of public office; from receiving any pay or allowance; and from being entitled to any of the emoluments or privileges of public office during the period of this suspension, which period shall be from today until a further Executive Order is issued or as otherwise provided by law,” DeSantis’ order reads, in part.

    Under Florida law, DeSantis is authorized to suspend any elected municipal officer who is indicted or informed against for the commission of a state felony or misdemeanor, the order states. The governor may also suspend from office an elected municipal officer for “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, habitual drunkenness, incompetence, or permanent inability to perform official duties.”

    According to the city charter, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has 10 days after a suspension to call a special election, which must occur within 45 days of being called.

    During the city council’s scheduled meeting Monday afternoon, Dyer said city staff will be working with the Supervisor of Elections office to schedule that special election for Tuesday, May 21.

    City council plans to hold a special meeting to discuss the logistics of that process on Monday, April 8, Dyer added, with Hill absent from the dais.

    Commissioner Hill, a Parramore native, was arrested last Thursday following a grand jury indictment on felony charges of elder exploitation, personal identification fraud and mortgage fraud. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been investigating Hill for over a year, and the investigation, per the agency, is still ongoing.

    Hill pleaded not guilty last week to the seven felony charges she faces. The 58-year-old city commissioner was reportedly bailed out of Orange County Jail Thursday afternoon, the day of her arrest, on a $40,000 bond. If convicted of all charges, the FDLE has stated that she could face up to 180 years in prison.

    Hill, who has an arrest record dating back decades, has been accused of exploiting a 96-year-old constituent and defrauding the elderly woman by spending over $100,000 of the elderly woman’s money for Hill’s own personal benefit or best interest, using those funds for personal purchases such as vacations, home renovations for one of the victim’s properties, a facelift, and expensive perfume. (The victim is described in court documents as having a cognitive disability and age-related infirmities, so we are not naming her for privacy reasons.)

    The FDLE alleges that Hill also fraudulently obtained a second power of attorney to buy a home worth more than $400,0000 with the elderly victim as the co-signer. The victim allegedly told FDLE agents that this was done without her knowledge or consent. Hill has denied the allegations, and told Spectrum News 13 in a statement last week that she “loved and cared for” the elderly woman “like my own family.”

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    McKenna Schueler and Chloe Greenberg

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  • Florida Supreme Court likely to rule on abortion, recreational marijuana amendments Monday

    Florida Supreme Court likely to rule on abortion, recreational marijuana amendments Monday

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    The wait likely will last through the weekend.

    The Florida Supreme Court appears poised Monday afternoon to issue rulings about whether proposed constitutional amendments that seek to ensure abortion rights and allow recreational marijuana will go on the November ballot.

    The court Thursday evening issued a statement that said it will release “out-of-calendar” opinions at 4 p.m. Monday. The court typically releases opinions each Thursday morning, with “out-of-calendar” opinions released other times.

    Justices had been widely expected to rule on the proposed constitutional amendments Thursday because they face a Monday deadline on the issues. But the court said in an email Thursday morning that there were “no Florida Supreme Court opinions ready for release today.” The court will be closed Friday for Good Friday.

    The Florida Democratic Party, which is trying to make abortion rights a major issue in the November elections, sent out a fund-raising email Thursday that noted the delay.

    “This is nerve wracking, folks,” the email said. “We are still waiting to hear a decision from the Florida Supreme Court that will determine whether or not abortion access will be on the ballot in November.”

    Political committees behind the two proposed amendments have submitted enough petition signatures to reach the ballot. But the Supreme Court plays a key role because it must decide whether the wording of initiatives’ ballot titles and summaries — the parts that voters see when they go to the polls — meet legal tests. Those tests include whether the wording is clear and whether it deals with only single subjects.

    While the political committees argue that both proposals should get Supreme Court approval, Attorney General Ashley Moody and other opponents contend that justices should block the measures from the ballot.

    The committee Floridians Protecting Freedom announced the abortion-rights initiative in May after the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a law that could prevent abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The six-week limit is contingent on the outcome of a legal battle about a 15-week abortion limit that DeSantis and lawmakers approved in 2022.

    The ballot summary of the proposal says, in part: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”

    Meanwhile, the recreational-marijuana initiative, sponsored by the Smart & Safe Florida political committee, comes after Florida voters in 2016 passed an initiative that broadly allowed medical marijuana.

    The proposed ballot summary, in part, says the measure would allow “adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories” for non-medical consumption.

    If the proposals reach the ballot, they would need approval from 60 percent of voters to pass.

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    Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

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  • Gov. DeSantis signs bill allowing people to purchase giant bottles of wine

    Gov. DeSantis signs bill allowing people to purchase giant bottles of wine

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    Image via Gov. Ron DeSantis/Twitter

    Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a bill that will allow larger sizes of wine containers to be sold in Florida.

    During a bill-signing event at Wine Watch in Fort Lauderdale, DeSantis said the measure (HB 583) changes an “anachronistic” law that isn’t good for businesses or consumers.

    “We want our consumers to be happy,” DeSantis said. “And if that means they want to buy and sell a big old bottle of wine like this, then by golly they’re going to be able to do that in the state of Florida.”

    The law, which will go into effect July 1, will allow wine to be sold in 4.5-, 6-, 9-, 12- and 15-liter glass bottles.

    Current law generally prevents the sale of wine in containers that hold more than one gallon, or about 3.79 liters, but an exemption allows wine to be sold in reusable containers of 5.16 gallons.

    Also, distributors and manufacturers are allowed to sell wine to other distributors and manufacturers in containers of any size.

    This year’s bill, spearheaded by Rep. Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, was unanimously passed by the House. The Senate voted 38-1 to approve it, with Sen. Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, dissenting.

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    News Service of Florida

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  • Federal judges back Gov. DeSantis’ congressional map that eliminated Black district

    Federal judges back Gov. DeSantis’ congressional map that eliminated Black district

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    Photo via Ron DeSantis/Twitter

    A three-judge federal panel Wednesday rejected a constitutional challenge to a congressional redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Legislature in 2022, saying opponents did not prove lawmakers acted with “racially discriminatory purpose.”

    The decision was the second time in less than four months that courts have upheld the map in cases focused on the overhaul of a North Florida district that in the past elected a Black Democrat. The state’s 1st District Court of Appeal on Dec. 1 backed the plan — a decision that has been appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.

    The federal-court lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs such as Common Cause Florida and the Florida NAACP, alleged that the map involved intentional discrimination and violated the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and 15th Amendment. The 14th Amendment ensures equal protection, while the 15th Amendment prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote based on race.

    But Wednesday’s opinion shared by Judges Adalberto Jordan, M. Casey Rodgers and Allen Winsor said the plaintiffs had not met a key test of showing that the Legislature acted with racial motivation.

    “There are two relevant state actors in this case — the Florida Legislature, which passed the enacted map, and the governor, who proposed, pushed for, and signed the enacted map into law,” the opinion said. “It is not enough for the plaintiffs to show that the governor was motivated in part by racial animus, which we will assume without deciding for purposes of our decision. Rather, they also must prove that the Florida Legislature itself acted with some discriminatory purpose when adopting and passing the enacted map. This they have not done.”

    The opinion said the “plaintiffs freely concede there is no direct or circumstantial evidence of racially discriminatory purpose on the part of any member of the Florida Legislature.”

    “A public and collective decision-making body, like the Florida Legislature, is answerable only for its own unconstitutional actions and motivations,” the 58-page opinion said. “The unlawful motivations of others — whether constituents, the governor, or even a single member of the body itself — do not become those of the decision-making body as a whole unless it is shown that a majority of the body’s members shared and purposefully adopted (i.e., ratified) the motivations.”

    But Jordan and Winsor, in concurring opinions, took opposing stances on whether DeSantis had racial motivations. Unlike ordinary federal-court cases, three-judge federal panels hear redistricting cases.

    Jordan, a judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote that “the evidence presented at trial convinces me that the governor did, in fact, act with race as a motivating factor.”

    “I do not think that Governor DeSantis harbors personal racial animus toward Black voters,” Jordan wrote. “But I do believe that he used race impermissibly as a means to achieve ends (including partisan advantage) that he cannot admit to.”

    Winsor, a district judge, disagreed with Jordan and wrote that the plaintiffs did not provide discriminatory purpose by the Legislature or DeSantis.

    “Florida governors, like United States presidents, routinely use their legislative authority to advance their policy goals, just as legislators do.” Winsor wrote. “Plaintiffs call the governor’s insistence here ‘bull(ying) the Legislature.’ Others might call it exercising political will. But one shouldn’t call it racist.”

    The North Florida district, Congressional District 5, in the past elected Black Democrat Al Lawson. The former configuration of the district stretched from Jacksonville to Gadsden County, west of Tallahassee, and incorporated areas with sizable numbers of Black voters.

    DeSantis vetoed a redistricting plan passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and muscled through a replacement that placed District 5 in the Jacksonville area. White Republicans won all North Florida congressional seats in the November 2022 elections.

    DeSantis argued that keeping a district similar to the former shape of Congressional District 5 would be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

    The three-judge federal panel held a trial in September and October. Meanwhile, a separate case was playing out in state courts. That case focuses on a 2010 state constitutional amendment, known as the Fair Districts amendment, that prohibited drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.”

    Leon County Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh agreed with voting-rights groups that the redistricting plan violated the Fair Districts amendment. But the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected that decision in December, citing the sprawling shape of the district that elected Lawson.

    The appeals court’s main opinion said protection offered under the non-diminishment clause and under the federal Voting Rights Act “is of the voting power of ‘a politically cohesive, geographically insular minority group.’” It said linking voters across a large stretch of North Florida did not meet such a definition of cohesiveness.

    The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by voting-rights groups, though it has not scheduled arguments. As a result, the 2022 congressional map will remain in place for this year’s elections.

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    Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

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  • Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill to end squatters’ rights, increase penalties

    Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill to end squatters’ rights, increase penalties

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    Image via Gov. Ron DeSantis/Twitter

    Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a bill aimed at quickly removing residential “squatters.”

    During an appearance at the Orange County State Attorney’s Office, DeSantis said that under the measure (HB 621), “If you’re the victim of squatting, you can simply fill out a form, give it to your local sheriff and the sheriff is instructed to go and remove the people who are inhabiting your dwelling illegally. And that will happen very quickly.”

    The bill, in part, could lead to second-degree felony charges for squatters who intentionally cause at least $1,000 in damage.

    It also could lead to first-degree felony charges against people who sell or lease residential property they don’t own. The law will go into effect July 1.

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    News Service of Florida

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  • Florida Gov. DeSantis and Disney settle ongoing legal feud

    Florida Gov. DeSantis and Disney settle ongoing legal feud

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    Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District have reached a legal settlement that includes nullifying controversial development agreements that the entertainment giant entered with the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.

    The settlement was announced Wednesday and approved by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board, which was created last year by the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District replaced the decades-old Reedy Creek district, which had close ties to Disney.

    The deal ends an Orange County circuit-court lawsuit that came amid a feud between DeSantis and Disney over the company’s opposition to a 2022 state law that restricted instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Disney filed a separate federal lawsuit and appealed after a U.S. district judge in January dismissed that case. The appeal remains pending.

    Walt Disney World Resort President Jeff Vahle said in a prepared statement the company was “pleased to put an end to all litigation pending in state court.”

    “This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,” Vahle said.

    A copy of the settlement was not immediately available.

    The district provides government services for a swath of Central Florida that includes Disney properties. Disney reached development agreements with the outgoing Reedy Creek board shortly before the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board took over.

    In the lawsuit, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District sought a ruling that the development agreements were “null and void.”

    DeSantis, appearing Wednesday at the Orange County State Attorney’s Office for a bill-signing event, said his actions on changing Reedy Creek and the education issue “have been vindicated.”

    “Going forward, we’re going to continue to govern with the best interests of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “So, I’m glad that they were able to do that settlement on those eleventh-hour (development) covenants and restrictions.”

    The state in the 1960s created the Reedy Creek district. But in pushing to revamp the district, DeSantis said “allowing a corporation to control its own government is bad policy.”

    Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board member Charbel Barakat said Wednesday the district is “eager to work with Disney and all other businesses to make the country’s tourism destination famous for a second reason, which is good government.”

    The settlement also came as the district board on Wednesday appointed Stephanie Kopelousos to the $400,000-a-year position as district administrator. Kopelousos was recommended by DeSantis and had worked for him as legislative and intergovernmental affairs director.

    Paul Huck, an attorney for the district, outlined the settlement to the board and also said Disney agreed to withdraw public-records requests tied to the litigation. Among other things, Huck said Disney agreed to work with the district to review a 2020 comprehensive plan for the region.

    In the separate federal lawsuit, Disney alleged state officials unconstitutionally retaliated against the company over its opposition to the education law. The company’s appeal is pending at the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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    Jim Turner, the News Service of Florida

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  • Looks Like Virginia Is The Newest Marijuana Nanny State

    Looks Like Virginia Is The Newest Marijuana Nanny State

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    Some politicians believe the majority of the public are confused or just smart.  They feel it is important to step in and change things.

    It seems the nanny state is on the rise!  Following Florida and Texas, Virginia seems to think their citizens are “confused” about what they want and their highest elected officials need to take care of a populace unable to care for themselves. Singapore, Korea and China are big examples of nanny states, but the trend is become popular in the United States.

    RELATED: Americans Are Choosing Marijuana Over Alcohol

    A perfect example is around legalized marijuana. According to Pew Research Center, an overwhelming 88% of U.S. adults say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults (59%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (30%). Only one-in-ten (10%) say marijuana use should not be legal.  It has become an almost $30 billion industry and a proven revenue driver for states. Consumer numbers show the stigma is gone. But some states aren’t having it.

    A few states feel they are better run by parental figures who know better.  These include Florida where over 71% of the public voted for marijuana but the current Governor does everything to block it.  Not to be outdone, Texas jumped on the bandwagon.  Meanwhile, in a fact based world, the Department of Veterans Affairs changed policy for veterans so they can use medical marijuana without losing their eligibility for care and services. The change was based on science, data and need.  Despite the step forward for veterans, it seems now it looks like Virginia is the new newest marijuana nanny state.

    Photo by Joe Raedle/Staff/Getty Images

    In a messy fight, the Old Dominion Governor Glenn Youngkin has made it clear he has no intention of allowing legal marijuana. The tourism slogan is Virginia is for Lovers, but the top elected official is showing any for cannabis, even as some of his allies soften their stance.  No doubt there are looking at states like Missouri who are pulling in significant amount of tax revenue.

    RELATED: Maine Is Getting It Right About Legal Weed While California And Others Struggle

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doesn’t care polls reveal a majority of Texans support legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use. Abbott stated his position has not changed beyond what he’s proposed in the past — reducing the criminal penalty for marijuana possession to a Class C misdemeanor, but not legalizing the drug.

    Texas embraces his policies which include going days without power and voters in Houston votes no longer count.

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    Terry Hacienda

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  • Settlement reached in lawsuit between Gov. DeSantis allies and Disney

    Settlement reached in lawsuit between Gov. DeSantis allies and Disney

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    Allies of Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney reached a settlement agreement Wednesday in a state court fight over how Walt Disney World is developed in the future following the takeover of the theme park resort’s government by the Florida governor.

    In a meeting, the members of the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District approved the settlement agreement, ending almost two years of litigation that was sparked by DeSantis’ takeover of the district from Disney supporters following the company’s opposition to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.

    The 2022 law bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades and was championed by the Republican governor, who used Disney as a punching bag in speeches until he suspended his presidential campaign this year.

    The district provides municipal services such as firefighting, planning and mosquito control, among other things, and was controlled by Disney supporters for most of its five decades.

    Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement Wednesday that the company was pleased a settlement had been reached.

    “This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,” Vahle said.

    As punishment for Disney’s opposition to the law, DeSantis took over the governing district through legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and appointed a new board of supervisors. Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees, claiming the company’s free speech rights were violated for speaking out against the legislation. A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit in January.

    Before control of the district changed hands from Disney allies to DeSantis appointees early last year, the Disney supporters on its board signed agreements with Disney shifting control over design and construction at Disney World to the company. The new DeSantis appointees claimed the “eleventh-hour deals” neutered their powers and the district sued the company in state court in Orlando to have the contracts voided.

    Disney filed counterclaims that included asking the state court to declare the agreements valid and enforceable.

    Under the terms of Wednesday’s settlement agreement, Disney lets stand a determination by the board of DeSantis appointees that the comprehensive plan approved by the Disney supporters before the takeover is null and void. Disney also agrees that a development agreement and restrictive covenants passed before the takeover are also not valid, according to the settlement terms.

    Instead, a comprehensive plan from 2020 will be used with the new board able to make changes to it, and the agreement suggests Disney and the new board will negotiate a new development agreement in the near future. 

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  • Over 20 AGs from around country, except for Florida’s Ashley Moody, call on Congress to change hemp definition

    Over 20 AGs from around country, except for Florida’s Ashley Moody, call on Congress to change hemp definition

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    A bipartisan group of 20 state attorneys general and the AG of the District of Columbia sent a letter to congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. last week, calling on them to address the “glaring vagueness” created in the 2018 farm bill that they say has led to the “proliferation of intoxicating hemp products across the nation.”

    Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody was not among those signing the letter, but perhaps she didn’t think she needed to be, given that the Florida Legislature passed a bill earlier this month (SB 1698) that does much of what the attorneys general across the country are asking for.

    The Florida bill creates a new definition of lawful hemp that outlaws many current legal cannabinoids and imposes new THC caps on hemp-derived products. THC is the main component in cannabis that provides the psychoactive or “high” effect.

    Meanwhile, Congress still hasn’t addressed the farm bill when it comes to redefining hemp, which is what prompted the state attorneys general from blue and red states alike to ask the chairs and vice chairs of the agriculture committees in the U.S. Senate and House to address the issue soon.

    “This year’s anticipated reauthorization of the Farm Bill and the need for this reauthorization to make much-needed improvements to the statute established in 2018 comes at a critical time, as our states are being tested in our efforts to regulate these potentially dangerous products,” the AG’s wrote. “These intoxicating hemp products, by virtue of their potential hazard to consumers, must be regulated by each state. The definition of hemp should be amended to clarify that there is no federal hemp intoxicants loophole, and the 2023 reauthorization should reaffirm that members of Congress do not intend to limit states in restrictions or regulations related to cannabinoids or any other derivatives of hemp which are deemed intoxicating.”

    The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, an organization that represents the hemp industry, is telling its members to call on Congress to protect the current definition of hemp under federal law.

    “[B]y suggesting that Congress change the definition of ‘hemp’ – without specifying how – mischief could ensure which could likely result in the federal criminalization of currently-legal and popular hemp products. As we have seen in some states, efforts like this have even resulted in bans of non-intoxicating full-spectrum CBD products.”

    While Moody did not respond to the Phoenix’s request for comment about the letter, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson did.

    “I think it is appropriate for Congress to address hemp nationally,” Simpson told the Phoenix on Monday. “Florida, like many other states, is seeing too many consequences of the hemp loophole. We acted based on the advice of law enforcement and health care professionals. This commonsense law will save lives.”

    The Florida bill would ban not only delta-8 THC, but also delta-10 THC and other compounds. It also puts a cap on the amount of THC in hemp-derived products to 5 milligrams per individual servings, and 50 milligrams per container, leading to criticism from members of the hemp industry that those caps are so low that it will reduce demand for the items and could drive them out of business.

    But Manatee County Republican Tommy Gregory, who sponsored the bill on the House, said on the floor earlier this month that if it were up to him, there would be zero milligrams per serving.

    “I wish we could go to zero, but we don’t have the votes here today to do that. And some of my colleagues agree with me that we should just ban them all right now,” he said.

    Since its passage by the Legislature earlier this month, opponents of the bill have been calling on the governor to veto it.

    “By classifying products like CBD, including well-known strains such as Charlotte’s Web, as controlled substances, SB 1698 will shut down over 5,000 licensed local businesses, and the livelihoods of over 64,000 employees earning $7.3 billion in wages,” reads a form letter that the Florida Healthy Alternatives Association is asking their members to send to DeSantis.

    “This will be a devastating loss of jobs and economic stability for countless families. Many of these businesses moved to the Free State of Florida to escape rampant government over control in states like California and this bill will pull the rug out from under their feet.”

    The Legislature has yet to send the bill to the governor. Once received, he’ll have 15 days to sign the measure, veto it, or do nothing and allow it to become law.

    Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: [email protected]. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

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  • DeSantis approves social media ban for Florida kids, despite looming legal fight

    DeSantis approves social media ban for Florida kids, despite looming legal fight

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    With the state preparing for a legal challenge from the tech industry, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a high-profile bill aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms.

    “You better believe, I am going to fight like hell to uphold this in court,” Attorney General Ashley Moody said during a bill-signing event in Jacksonville.

    Lawmakers this month overwhelmingly passed the bill (HB 3), which House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, made a priority of the annual legislative session. The bill, in part, seeks to prevent children under age 16 from opening social-media accounts on at least some platforms — though it would allow parents to give consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to have accounts. Children under 14 could not open accounts.

    Renner and other key supporters argue that social-media companies have created addictive platforms that harm children’s mental health and can lead to sexual predators communicating with minors. But critics, including tech-industry groups, argue the bill is unconstitutional and point to courts blocking similar legislation in other states.

    The industry group NetChoice this month urged DeSantis to veto the measure, arguing it would violate First Amendment rights. Spokeswoman Krista Chavez said in an email Monday that the group does not publicly discuss legal strategy, but it quickly recirculated the veto request and earlier statements about the constitutionality of the bill.

    “An unconstitutional law will protect exactly zero Floridians,” Carl Szabo, NetChoice’s vice president and general counsel,” said in a statement. “HB 3 is also bad policy because of the data collection on Floridians by online services it will in effect require. This will put their private data at risk of breach.”

    Renner, however, said the bill focuses on addictive features of the platforms and not on social-media content — an approach that he said is designed to withstand a First Amendment challenge.

    “You will not find a line in this bill that addresses good speech or bad speech because that would violate the First Amendment. We’ve not addressed that at all,” Renner, an attorney, said. “What we have addressed is the addictive features that are at the heart of why children stay on these platforms for hours and hours on end.”

    The bill does not name social-media platforms that would be affected. But it includes a definition of such platforms, with criteria related to such things as algorithms, “addictive features” and allowing users to view the content or activities of other users.

    DeSantis, also an attorney, vetoed an earlier version of the bill (HB 1) after raising concerns about constitutional issues and infringement on parental rights. But he negotiated with Renner on the plan that was signed Monday.

    A significant change was that the revised plan would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to open accounts with parental consent. The earlier version would have prevented 14- and 15-year-olds from creating accounts without a parental-consent option.

    In another change, the earlier version would have directed age-verification requirements for platforms. Those requirements would have affected adults creating accounts.

    But the revamped plan does not include the requirements. As an alternative, supporters hope to ensure compliance by opening social-media platforms to lawsuits for violations of the age restrictions. That would include lawsuits filed by the attorney general and lawsuits filed on behalf of minors.

    If the tech industry files a lawsuit, it would be the second major court fight against Florida social-media laws in recent years.

    NetChoice and another industry group, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, challenged the constitutionality of a 2021 Florida law that placed restrictions on large social-media companies, such as preventing the platforms from banning political candidates from their sites and requiring companies to publish —- and apply consistently —- standards about issues such as banning users or blocking their content.

    Federal courts have blocked much of that law on First Amendment grounds. Florida took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments last month but has not issued a ruling.

    During Monday’s bill-signing event, Renner said he expects NetChoice to file a lawsuit over the new law, which will not take effect until Jan. 1. But Renner expressed confidence that the state will win in court and cited dangers of social media to children.

    “This is an issue where we can no longer stand on the sidelines because of what we know,” he said.

    The bill also will require age verification to try to prevent minors under age 18 from having access to online pornographic sites, though that issue received relatively little attention during legislative debates.

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    Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

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  • Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bills supporters say could improve access to health care

    Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bills supporters say could improve access to health care

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    Image via Gov. Ron DeSantis/Twitter

    Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a package of bills that supporters say will help improve access to health care, boost the number of doctors in Florida and address issues such as mental-health treatment.

    “What they (state leaders) are tackling right now are some of the biggest challenges that we face in the Sunshine State, and that’s access to health care in a reliable, reproducible, sustainable kind of a way,” said Tampa General Hospital President and CEO John Couris, who took part in a bill-signing event in Bonita Springs. “We’re facing a myriad of challenges in the health-care industry, in the health-care system. There are critical shortages in the health-care workforce. We’ve seen an exceptional growth in labor costs. Patients are struggling to access the care they need, and the demand for behavioral-health services is at a record high.”

    The bills were a priority of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples Republican who dubbed them the “Live Healthy” initiative. Passidomo pointed Thursday to trying to meet health-care needs of a rapidly growing population.

    “Unfortunately, the new Floridians are not bringing their health-care providers with them,” Passidomo said. “We’re going to change that. The good news is that Live Healthy will help grow Florida’s health-care workforce, increase access, incentivize innovation so Floridians can have more options and opportunities to live healthy here in the Sunshine State.”

    DeSantis signed five bills, though much of the attention has focused on a wide-ranging measure (SB 7016) that includes $717 million in spending. The bill, for example, will provide money for increased residency slots for doctors and put additional dollars into loan-forgiveness programs for health-care professionals.

    The bill also will take workforce-related steps such as helping clear the way for foreign-trained physicians to practice in Florida.

    “Health care workforce is a challenge,” state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who took part in the bill-signing event, said. “It’s tough to get appointments oftentimes, especially with specialty physicians. It’s tough to get a physical therapy appointment. It’s tough to see a nurse practitioner.”

    The bill also includes issues such as trying to shift patients away from hospital emergency rooms for non-emergency conditions. It will require hospitals to take steps to divert patients such as by creating a “collaborative partnership” with federally qualified health centers or other primary-care providers.

    The bill also includes allowing “advanced birth centers” that could provide cesarean-section deliveries for women who have what are considered low-risk pregnancies. Birth centers already exist but are not allowed to provide cesarean sections, which are surgical procedures done in hospitals.

    Other bills signed Thursday included a measure (SB 7018) that will provide $50 million a year for a revolving-loan fund program for health-innovation projects. The program will provide loans with a maximum interest rate of 1 percent, with priority given to applicants such as rural hospitals and organizations that provide care in medically underserved areas.

    Another bill (SB 330) will designate four behavioral-health teaching hospitals linked to universities to help address issues with treating patients for mental-health conditions.

    The linked behavioral-health teaching hospitals will be Tampa General Hospital and the University of South Florida; UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville and the University of Florida; UF Health Jacksonville and the University of Florida; and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and the University of Miami. The bill also will allow the state Agency for Health Care Administration to designate additional behavioral-health teaching hospitals as of July 1, 2025.

    The bill will provide $100 million a year over the next three years to the teaching hospitals, with additional money provided for such things as residency positions for psychiatrists.

    “I’ve said, look, I want more beds for mental-health patients, particularly people that are not able to function in society,” DeSantis said. “And so this is going to be, I think, a key component of that, and I think it’s something that’s going to be very, very meaningful.”

    Other bills signed were a measure (SB 1758) that addresses programs and services at the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and a measure (SB 322) that creates a public-records exemption for certain health-care professionals.

    The bills moved through the Legislature with almost no opposition, though Democrats repeatedly argued that the package should include expanding eligibility for Medicaid — an idea rejected for the past decade by Republican leaders.

    Passidomo made clear as she began moving forward with the legislation that she would not consider expanding Medicaid.

    “Access to health care is important at every phase of life,” Passidomo said Thursday. “Insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare, does not guarantee access. Even Floridians with great insurance face barriers to care.”

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    Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

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  • Gov. DeSantis signs bill aimed at preventing homeless people from sleeping in public

    Gov. DeSantis signs bill aimed at preventing homeless people from sleeping in public

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    Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a controversial bill designed to prevent homeless people from sleeping in public places, continuing to say he doesn’t want Florida to become like places such as San Francisco.

    DeSantis, who signed the measure (HB 1365) during an appearance in Miami Beach, said the bill will keep sidewalks from becoming “tent cities” and “ensure that Florida streets are clean and that Florida streets are safe for our residents.”

    Democrats and homeless advocates who opposed the bill contended it would increase local-government costs and drive homeless people into wooded areas.

    But DeSantis said the bill “is the absolute right balance” of providing safety while addressing issues facing people who have fallen on “hard times.”

    “I don’t think there’s any other way you could approach it and expect to have a result different than what’s happened in places like San Francisco and New York City,” DeSantis said.

    The bill will prevent cities and counties, starting Oct. 1, from allowing people to sleep on public property, including at public buildings and in public rights of way. It would allow local governments to designate certain property for sleeping or camping if the sites meet standards set by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

    Such areas, which could only be used for one year, would have to include access to such things as restrooms and running water, have security and be deemed alcohol- and drug-free. Also, the sites could not harm values of nearby properties or safety.

    The law also will give legal standing to residents and business owners to file civil lawsuits against local governments that allow sleeping or camping on public property.

    Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said the measure “targets individuals who are homeless and creates a scenario for local governments, where the only option —- if they can’t meet the demands of the Legislature —- is to potentially criminalize homelessness.”

    “So, not only are we not offering clear solutions,” Eskamani said. “We’re actually making a bad situation worse and not helping people get out of that economic instability that they’re facing.”

    Jeff Brandes, a former Republican senator who founded the non-profit Florida Policy Project think tank, cautioned the measure is an “unfunded mandate” on local governments.

    “Nobody kind of said, ‘What happens next’ and followed the natural progression of that question,” Brandes said March 8 during an appearance on the “Florida This Week” program on WEDU in the Tampa Bay area. “I think when you get to the end of that, you realize people are still going to be living on the streets. Either the cities are not going to be able to do that or the jails are going to be full. And you’re going to hear from the sheriffs that you’re going to need to expand the jails.”

    An annual report from the Florida Council on Homelessness released last June said “over the past five years, Florida has seen a 9 percent increase in the rate of Floridians experiencing ‘literal homelessness.’”

    While acknowledging the accuracy of recent homeless counts were limited because of COVID-19 restrictions, the report pointed to issues such as rising housing costs.

    “According to an analysis conducted by the Government Accountability Office, for every $100 monthly median rent increase there is a 9 percent increase in homelessness,” the council report said. “Therefore, Florida’s unprecedented increases in rent rates will have a significant impact on the rate of homelessness.”

    DeSantis has repeatedly compared Florida’s handling of homeless people to other parts of the country.

    During his Jan. 9 State of the State address to open this year’s legislative session, DeSantis said, “Cities throughout the land have decayed: Washington, D.C. has experienced its deadliest year in more than two decades and San Francisco has fallen into a ‘doom loop’ whereby crime, homelessness and drug abuse have eviscerated the quality of life.”

    He held a news conference Feb. 5 in Miami Beach to support the homeless restrictions and stood behind a podium that said: “Don’t Allow Florida to become San Francisco.”

    House bill sponsor Sam Garrison, a Fleming Island Republican who appeared at Wednesday’s bill-signing event, also described “the great cities that we grew up idolizing” being “brought to their knees,” where families aren’t comfortable to have their kids walk the streets, and business owners close shop “because it’s just not safe.”

    The House voted 82-26 to pass the bill March 1, and the Senate followed with a 27-12 vote on March 5.

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    Jim Turner, the News Service of Florida

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  • U.S. Senator cites DeSantis’ claim that Citizens Insurance is ‘not solvent’ in request for financial information

    U.S. Senator cites DeSantis’ claim that Citizens Insurance is ‘not solvent’ in request for financial information

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    Photo via Gov. Ron DeSantis/Twitter

    Seizing on a comment by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee has ratcheted up a request for financial information about Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

    U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., sent a letter Monday to Citizens President and CEO Tim Cerio that cited a recent DeSantis comment that Citizens is “not solvent” and said Cerio had not fully addressed questions that Whitehouse raised in a November request.

    “The bottom line is that, according to Florida’s own governor, Citizens faces a major solvency crisis and would be unable to pay out all claims and expenses should a major storm hit Florida,” Whitehouse wrote in Monday’s letter. “This would, in turn, create the risk that Florida could seek a bailout from the U.S. government, further tapping into federal resources.”

    A news release Tuesday from the Senate committee said its probe of Citizens “built on two previous, still ongoing investigations into the insurance industry’s response to climate change amid the committee’s growing concerns about the economy-wide harms from a spiraling insurance affordability and availability crisis.”

    Citizens was created as an insurer of last resort, but it has grown in recent years to become the largest property insurer in the state because of financial troubles in the private market. As of Friday, it had 1.18 million policies, according to its website.

    State officials have long tried to reduce the number of policies in Citizens, at least in part because of concerns about financial risks if the state gets hit by a major hurricane or multiple hurricanes. DeSantis caused a stir when he said during an interview last month on CNBC that Citizens is “not solvent.”

    Citizens has access to billions of dollars in cash and reinsurance coverage to pay claims. It also could collect money from policyholders across the state — including from non-Citizens policyholders — through what are known as “assessments” to pay claims.

    In November and in Monday’s letter, Whitehouse raised the possibility that Citizens could turn to the federal government for a bailout if it faced catastrophic losses.

    “The (November) letter specifically set out my concerns about Florida’s uniquely large and growing exposure to climate-related property losses, Citizens’ rapidly expanding market share and state law allowing Citizens to levy special assessments on all policyholders in the event that losses exceed its ability to pay,” Whitehouse’s Monday letter said. “I noted that, if Citizens were unable to cover its losses, it is entirely possible that state leaders might ask the federal government for a bailout. Accordingly, I requested information and documents responsive to seven specific questions about Citizens’ storm exposure, risk modeling, possible need for a federal bailout, and discussions with relevant state leaders about those subjects.”

    Cerio responded with a letter in December and also pushed back publicly against Whitehouse’s assertions. During a December meeting of the Citizens Board of Governors, Cerio said Whitehouse’s November letter could cause “unwarranted panic” among Citizens policyholders and Floridians.

    “I cannot over-emphasize that the assumptions in the Budget Committee’s letter suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of how Citizens Property Insurance operates, and it under-estimates our claims-paying ability,” Cerio said. “And I’m speaking now, and I need to speak to our policyholders so they hear this, Citizens is structured so it will always be able to protect its policyholders and pay claims.”

    Citizens did not immediately comment Tuesday about the new letter.

    Whitehouse in Monday’s letter said Cerio did not “address my concerns that, should a major storm hit Florida and require exorbitant levies, Florida residents might be unwilling or unable to pay them, leading to further financial risks both to Florida and, possibly, the federal government.”

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    Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

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  • The Dead-Enders of the Reagan-Era GOP

    The Dead-Enders of the Reagan-Era GOP

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    For those of us who very much want to see Donald Trump defeated in November by the widest possible margin, the news on Friday afternoon that former Vice President Mike Pence would not be endorsing his former boss seemed encouraging. Not that Pence commands a large faction of voters. Given that he dropped out of the Republican presidential-primary race late last year after failing to rise above the lower single digits, there’s no reason to assume that he does. Still, every prominent, normie Republican who rejects Trump moves us further down the road.

    But toward what?

    A lot of my Never Trump allies on the center-right feel sure that Pence’s refusal to endorse the man he served for four years points the way (or “creates a permission structure,” as the fashionable parlance has it) for Republican voters to abandon the former president. By joining Nikki Haley, Mitt Romney, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, Bill Barr, Mark Esper, John Kelly, Mick Mulvaney, Dan Coats, John Bolton, H. R. McMaster, Liz Cheney, and a long list of additional former Cabinet members, present and former members of Congress, and state officials in opposing Trump’s bid to become president again, Pence supposedly helps guarantee Trump’s loss in November.

    But is this really true? I’m quite willing to believe that some measurable number of Reaganite Republicans may be persuaded to stay home, or to vote for someone other than Trump, on Election Day. (One wonders if somewhat more of them might have been moved to do so had Pence called the post–January 6 Trump unfit for the presidency, instead of focusing on Trump’s ideological heterodoxy.) But this will doom Trump’s chances only if he fails to pick up support from different sorts of voters to replace the ones he loses from the (former) GOP mainstream. Is it possible that the very act of Republicans of the Reagan and Bush eras distancing themselves from Trump could burnish the former president’s credentials as a man seeking to transform his party in a populist direction?

    [David Frum: The ego has crash-landed]

    The Trump presidency was peculiar. On the one hand, this highly irregular candidate who attacked the Republican establishment and dissented from the party’s long-standing policy commitments on a range of issues managed to win the nomination and the presidency. He also brought with him to the White House people such as Steve Bannon, who actively wanted to blow up the GOP’s electoral coalition in order to transform it into a “workers’ party.”

    On the other hand, these radicals were severely outnumbered in the administration by holdovers from the prior dispensation of the Republican Party. These GOP normies pretty much ran the show; their primary accomplishments were helping ensure a large corporate tax cut and the appointment of staunchly conservative federal judges and Supreme Court justices. Most of the Trump administration’s other, right-populist initiatives—such as anti-internationalism in foreign policy and funding the construction of a wall along the southern border—were blocked or slow-walked for four years.

    When it came time for Trump’s reelection bid, in 2020, enough upper-income, highly educated, suburban Republicans defected to Joe Biden for Trump to lose. One path toward Republican victory this coming November would involve trying to win back those suburban voters by portraying Trump as a safe alternative to Biden, who will mainly aim to get the economy back to where it was before the coronavirus pandemic sent the country into a tailspin. If this were the Trump 2024 electoral strategy, Pence’s refusal to endorse the former president might be a serious problem for the campaign—because it would signal to like-minded voters that Trump doesn’t deserve their support.

    Equally possible, though, is that Pence’s refusal to endorse hastens the GOP’s transformation into the party that Trump and Bannon had originally hoped to build eight years ago—a workers’ party that could more precisely be described as a cross-racial coalition of voters who haven’t graduated from college.

    The evidence in favor of such an evolution of the GOP has been mixed over the past few election cycles, but polling so far in this cycle has pointed to something bigger going on, with significant signs of a “racial realignment” under way. If such a shift proves real in November, it could well turn out to have been enabled by Pence, Haley, and others abandoning Trump over his divergences from Reaganite conservatism. The policies favored by those old-line Reagan-Bush Republicans are no longer particularly popular with less educated voters, and the highly ideological and inauthentic way in which the old guard talks and thinks also diverges from what Trump is teaching many of these voters to look for in a political tribune: unapologetic brashness, braggadocio, and bullshit.

    I’m not suggesting that this is a ticket to a Trump victory in November. All of Trump’s many liabilities remain. He’s despised by tens of millions of Americans. He’s been indicted in multiple jurisdictions. He faces dozens of felony charges. He attempted to overturn the 2020 election by spreading delusional lies about election fraud that he continues to affirm. He incited a riot that disrupted the national legislature as it tried to certify the results of the election, making him the first president in American history to attempt a coup to remain in power.

    [Damon Linker: Democrats should pick a new presidential candidate now]

    All of this and so much more will make the 2024 election a challenge for Trump. But the very fact that polls show the election is close, even tilting against Biden, points to a surprisingly high floor under the former president—higher than was the case in either 2016 or 2020. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s on track to win. But it does suggest that the GOP’s new electoral coalition is stable and possibly growing—even as Reaganite Republican grandees express constant outright disgust at the man who is somehow behind this stability and growth.

    Whether or not Trump manages to win, we’re likely to see the continued evolution of the Republican base away from what Pence, Haley, and others would like it to be. As I’ve argued before, the relatively few voters who pine for a Reagan restoration aren’t going to find it in the present-day Republican Party. They might not fully find it in the Democratic Party of Joe Biden either. But at least there, they can make common cause with centrist factions open to the Reaganite mix of low taxes, liberal immigration, free trade, and hawkish internationalism combined with a civil religion of American exceptionalism. In the post-Trump GOP, such views are actively unwelcome (aside from the tax cuts).

    That’s because a sizable portion of Americans who haven’t graduated from college, of whatever race or ethnicity, have different priorities—and, more and more, they form the base of the GOP. Those voters prefer to think of the nation as an armed camp; they want to see government power used to advance what they conceive as their own and their country’s interests, and they like that message conveyed in a muscular style of trash-talking vulgarity and humor. The old high-minded, edifying, and earnest Reagan speeches that portrayed America as a shining city on a hill, with the duty to defend democracies abroad, leave these voters cold. In this respect, “America First” really does work well as a slogan for the Republican Party now emerging, eight years after Trump first captured it.

    If Trump loses in November, none of this is likely to change. The new Republican base isn’t going to reverse course and suddenly decide it loves Pence and Haley after all. The old Reaganite approach is a dead end. Instead, the party will finally begin to look seriously for a Trump successor. Ron DeSantis auditioned for that role over the past year, and it didn’t work out; the voters decided they still preferred Trump himself. DeSantis will probably try again, but he’ll be joined by many others next time. (Conspicuous among them is J. D. Vance, who’s spending much of his first term as the junior senator from Ohio testing out elements of a right-populist agenda for a post-Trump Republican Party.)

    No matter who Trump’s successor turns out to be, that person will be someone who speaks the language of non-college-educated voters and views the world as they do. The GOP is now a vehicle for right-wing populism. Pence expressing dissatisfaction with this fact likely does more to confirm the completion of this transformation than it does to scuttle the new GOP’s political ambitions.

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    Damon Linker

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  • DeSantis signs bill targeting ‘community’ IDs for migrants in Florida

    DeSantis signs bill targeting ‘community’ IDs for migrants in Florida

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    Image via Gov. Ron DeSantis/Twitter

    After speaking behind a placard that said “stop illegal immigration,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed three bills that proponents argue will be deterrents to undocumented immigrants coming to the state.

    The measures, approved during the legislative session that ended last week, seek to crack down on the use of what are known as “community” identification cards, strengthen criminal penalties for people who previously have been deported and stiffen punishments for repeatedly driving without licenses.

    “We really appreciate what people are doing who are wearing the (law enforcement) uniform to help keep our communities safe. So I think these bills will go a long way to helping make their job easier and make them even more effective,” DeSantis said during a news conference at the Polk County sheriff’s office.

    Perhaps the highest-profile bill (HB 1451) is designed to further curb community identification cards. The bill will prevent counties and municipalities from accepting community IDs if the cards were issued by groups that have provided such identification to people who are in the country illegally.

    The cards, which typically are issued by non-profit organizations or other non-governmental groups, cannot be used for purposes such as driving or voting but are intended to serve as an alternative form of identification.

    Broward County, for example, authorized the use of community ID cards in 2021. Legal Aid Service of Broward County runs the Broward Community ID Project, providing cards to people who can prove they reside in the county.

    “Any resident of Broward County can apply for a community ID card. This ID is especially useful to formerly incarcerated persons, foster youth, transgender persons, the homeless, new immigrants, refugees, or anyone who might face difficulties obtaining a state-issued ID. Immigration status will not be asked,” the organization’s website says.

    Before signing the bill, DeSantis referred to community IDs as “rogue identifications.”

    But during legislative debate last week, Democrats defended the use of community IDs.

    Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said law-enforcement officials have backed the use of community IDs. Eskamani said the cards “can help residents who are experiencing homelessness” and “can help link some of our most-vulnerable residents to resources.”

    Rep. Johanna Lopez, D-Orlando, said “restricting access to valid identification jeopardizes public safety.”

    The bill builds on a measure approved last year that prohibited local governments from providing money for issuing identification cards to undocumented immigrants.

    During the appearance Friday in Polk County, DeSantis also signed a bill (SB 1036) that will increase criminal penalties for immigrants who are arrested for felonies after illegally re-entering the U.S. following deportation for earlier crimes. Also, he signed a measure (HB 1589) that will increase penalties for driving without a valid license more than once.

    “In the state of Florida, if you have been deported and you come to this state, and enter our state and you’re here illegally, and you commit crimes, we are throwing the book at you,” DeSantis said about the bill dealing with previously deported people.

    DeSantis also said the driver’s license measure is a deterrent for illegal immigrants to travel to Florida.

    “We don’t recognize drivers’ licenses from other states that have been issued to illegal aliens. So, that’s smart,” DeSantis said. “But you still have people that come and drive without a license. One of the big cures we can do for illegal immigration is to make sure people that are doing that are facing serious consequences.”

    The ACLU of Florida, however, has argued that the drivers’ license measure “disproportionately impacts and targets undocumented immigrants who the state refuses to allow to obtain a valid Florida driver license, and thus forces them to subject themselves to criminal penalties for the simple act of driving their children to after-school activities or doctor appointments.”

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    Jim Turner and Ryan Dailey, News Service of Florida

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  • Florida lawmaker, advocacy groups question DeSantis’ response to unrest in Haiti

    Florida lawmaker, advocacy groups question DeSantis’ response to unrest in Haiti

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    State Rep. Dotie Joseph, D-North Miami, and two advocacy groups Thursday questioned Florida’s response to unrest in Haiti.

    Joseph, the Florida Immigrant Coalition and the Family Action Network Movement issued a news release after Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced the state would increase deployments of law-enforcement officers, National Guard members and State Guard members to South Florida in anticipation of a surge in migration from Haiti.

    “Rather than harass refugees who are literally fleeing for their lives, the state government can focus its law enforcement resources on making sure shipments from Florida are properly screened for illegal arms and munitions,” Joseph, who was born in Haiti, said in the news release.

    “We can also ensure that state agencies are not weaponized to prevent churches and other nonprofits from caring for those who are legally admitted. Economically, we can work on integrating these hard-working and taxpaying migrants into our state economy at a time where employers are squealing about workforce shortages.”

    More than 250 officers and members from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida National Guard and the Florida State Guard are expected to be deployed, the governor’s office said.

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  • NAACP Warns Black Athletes About Attending Florida Universities

    NAACP Warns Black Athletes About Attending Florida Universities

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    The NAACP reacted to the shutdown of DEI programs after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to defund them in Florida.

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  • Florida exempts some social media sites from new limits on teens; no one knows which ones

    Florida exempts some social media sites from new limits on teens; no one knows which ones

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    The new ban on social media in Florida for young teens the Legislature rewrote and passed this week is so narrowly crafted that it’s not clear which popular online platforms might be covered — if any of them.

    Just days after a veto of an earlier measure by Gov. DeSantis, lawmakers approved legislation that would block anyone under 16 from using some social media but would allow 14 and 15 year olds to use the online services with a parent’s permission. The House passed the bill 109-4 late Wednesday, after the Senate voted 30-5 to approve it.

    The new version of the proposed law — rushed through by lawmakers with only days remaining in the legislative session — covers only social media platforms with 10% or more of daily active users who are younger than 16 and who spend an average of two hours or more on the service. Both conditions must be met, or the law doesn’t apply to that social media provider.

    Lawmakers haven’t identified which social media companies would be affected and which wouldn’t. They won’t meet again after this week until March 2025.

    The narrow requirements under the new legislation would appear to exclude Facebook, X formerly known as Twitter, Instagram, Reddit and other popular platforms but may include Snapchat and TikTok, which are more oriented toward young users, according to recent demographic figures each company has released publicly.

    To be clear, it’s not clear: Not every company has released data covering exactly how many of its users are under 16 and how many of those young users spend two hours or more online every day. The proposed law doesn’t say whether those figures must include a platform’s users only in the U.S. or globally, who would measure those figures or how they would measure them.

    On TikTok, according to usage data from the company, users across all age groups spent about 95 minutes on the app daily and young users spend an average of 87 minutes daily — below the two-hour daily threshold that Florida’s proposed law would require for users under 16.

    Even the top lawyer for NetChoice LLC, the trade association for social media companies that led the fight against the proposals, said it’s unclear which platforms would be covered — if any of them — if DeSantis signs the law. Carl Szabo, the group’s general counsel, said data on age demographics and usage are self-reported by each social media company.

    Szabo said the group was hopeful DeSantis would veto even the new version of the legislation.

    “Right now we’re looking at all options and really holding out hope that the governor will do the right thing, not support it for the Internet and veto a clearly unconstitutional law,” he said.

    Lawmakers dropped a requirement for social media companies to adopt strict age verifications that would have potentially required everyone in Florida to show an ID to prove their age online.

    The new legislation separately would require social media platforms that “knowingly and intentionally” publish or distribute material harmful to minors — or platforms that contain a substantial portion of material harmful to minors — to verify each user’s age. Legislative aides cited adult websites that include Xvideos and Pornhub.

    Many websites with pornographic or gambling content already require users to click past a window asking them to confirm they are at least 18 but requiring no proof of this.

    The proposed law also doesn’t describe exactly how those companies would verify a user’s age.

    Websites and social media services are already restricted in ways they can interact with users under 13 years old under a 1998 federal law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. That law requires companies to notify and obtain a parent’s permission before any personal information can be collected or used.

    DeSantis had complained that the earlier version of the legislation did not take parents’ rights into account. The proposed law doesn’t specify how social media companies — even for ones that are covered by the new rules — would verify that a parent approved a 14 or 15 year old to be online. The legislation will formally be presented to the governor soon for his signature.

    “Protecting children from the harms associated with social media is important, as is supporting parents’ rights and maintaining the eligibility of adults to engage in anonymous speech,” DeSantis told lawmakers in his veto letter.

    The new provisions in the Florida law won over some Democrats who had previously voted against the bill, including Reps. Ashley Gantt, D-Miami, and Michael Gottlieb, D-Davie. Both had criticized the earlier efforts.

    Gantt had proposed a similar amendment in January requiring parental permission for minors using social media — instead of a ban — when the House was considering the earlier legislation. Her amendment did not pass.

    Although the vote was less divisive than before, the bill continued to spark debate on the House floor on Wednesday. Rep. Daryl Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, said he was worried the bill was unconstitutional. He said the state government would be impinging on the rights of parents of children younger than 13.

    “I think by opening this Pandora’s box and setting this standard, we are going to start seeing a lot of things come forward where we’re starting to push back on things that are a foundation to our state, the foundation to our nation,” Campbell said. “We are taking away parents’ rights to actually be parents to their children.”

    One of the Democratic bill sponsors, Rep. Michele Rayner of St. Petersburg, championed the bill because of what she described as concerns about the mental health effects of social media on young children.

    “I don’t know if this is going to be the fix-all … but what I’m asking us to do is act,” Rayner said on the House floor. “I don’t know about you, but I am tired of seeing stories about children who are dying because of what’s happening on social media. If that is not enough for you to act, I don’t know what is.”

    In the Senate, the new version of the legislation won over all Republican Senators who previously voted against it and a few Democratic senators, such as Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Hollywood, and Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, D-Davie.

    Sen. Bobby Powell, D-West Palm Beach, had concerns over government overreach that he said still lingered with the new version.

    “I wasn’t elected to come and run your household,” Powell said during debate. “Sometimes I think that we start passing legislation that I believe is well intentioned but it really starts to become invasive into a person’s household.”

    Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, who led support for the effort in the Senate, cited research that 13-year-olds found content about suicide and eating disorders on their algorithms on social media apps.

    “We have to do something. We can’t stand by any longer and allow these companies to own our children,” Grall said.

    House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, called the bill the “best state legislation in the country” at a press conference Wednesday. It has been a top priority of his leadership in the House. Renner said he believed the bill would survive legal challenges.

    “It gives us a chance to be both effective as well as constitutional in protecting our children,” Renner said.

    ___

    This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email protected]. You can donate to support the students here.

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    Erina Anwar, Fresh Take Florida

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