Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Childhood poverty is not rare in Florida.
The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Florida Prosperity Initiative has studied it extensively and mapped the data down to the county and ZIP code levels. At the low end, about 8.5% of children in St. Johns County live in poverty. Hardee County fares worst, with a childhood poverty rate of 43.5%.
The Chamber didn’t research childhood poverty to produce factoids, however. It is looking to lead the way in solutions.
On Wednesday, the Florida Prosperity Initiative will hold the second in a series of webinars educating the business community on what they can do to help lift children up and give them an opportunity to succeed in adulthood.
Florida Prosperity Initiative data shows only about half of Florida children enter kindergarten ready to learn. By third grade, less than three-fifths are able to read at grade level.
The virtual event, slated for 10 a.m., will focus on how to get children ready to learn when they enter school. The discussion will show how high-quality child care and stable family environments are essential for the healthy development of children.
Scheduled to participate in the event are PGT Innovations SVP Debbie LaPinska, 4Generations Institute founder Jack Levine, Moore Inc. founder Karen Moore, The Learning Pavilion director Kim Sineath and Prosperity Initiative director Micheal Williams.
More information and registration details are available on the Florida Chamber website.
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The League of Women Voters says Florida has made progress in getting ready for electric vehicles, but there’s still plenty of work to do.
On Tuesday, the organization released its second annual electric vehicle report card. Entitled “Keep the Air Clean After Quarantine — 2020 Report Card on Charging Infrastructure,” the report shows Florida was the No. 3 state in electric vehicle sales as of December 2019 and that about a third of Florida counties have shown an above-average commitment becoming EV ready.
County rankings were based on EV sales; charging and fast-charging infrastructure; local government policies; and whether a county’s median household income was above or below the statewide median.
Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Broward made up the top tier in the report while another 15 counties were above average. That leaves 47 counties with subpar grades, including 11 with abysmal scores across the board.
“League members are deeply concerned about the health of our state’s environment and are committed to the enhancement of cost-effective, clean energy and transportation,” said Florida League President Patricia Brigham. “The transportation sector of our economy is now the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution in the United States.
“One of the most impactful changes we can make right now is to accelerate the shift to zero-emission electric vehicles,” Brigham continued. “With that in mind, the League of Women Voters of Florida adopted electrification of transportation as part of our State Program for Action and has produced this 2020 EV Report Card to measure how well Florida is facilitating the transition to EVs.”
LWVF said the county-by-county report card will be shared with county and city leaders across the state alongside recommendations for expanding EV adoption and charging infrastructure. The organization also plans to use the report card to educate Floridians about the economic and public health benefits of electric vehicles.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 436,867 FL residents (+9,169 since Monday)
— 5,110 Non-FL residents (+61 since Monday)
Origin:
— 3,481 Travel related
— 114,825 Contact with a confirmed case
— 3,469 Both
— 315,092 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 24,917 in FL
Deaths:
— 6,240 in FL
Unemployment numbers
As of Monday:
Total claims: 3,342,119
— Confirmed unique claims: 3,141,822
— Claim verification queue: 82,040
— Claims processed: 3,059,782
— Claims paid: 1,801,145 (+1 since Sunday)
Total paid out: $11.96 billion (+$70 million since Sunday)
Evening Reads
“AFT threatens ‘safety strikes’ in school reopening talks” via Juan Perez Jr. of POLITICO
“9,230 new coronavirus cases, record number of deaths in Florida on Tuesday” via the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“Child hospitalizations from COVID-19 surge 23% in Florida as schools statewide must reopen” via CNN
“Gov. Ron DeSantis remains tight-lipped on eviction moratorium extension” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics
“New COVID-19 cases in Jacksonville drop below 200 for first time since mid-June” via Drew Dixon of Florida Politics
“Pinellas, Hillsborough report near-record COVID-19 deaths Monday” via Janelle Irwin of Florida Politics
“Another 42 COVID-19 deaths in South Florida as Broward and Miami-Dade counties show 90% adult ICU bed capacity” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics
“Survey: 71% of small businesses are out of PPP COVID-19 money” via Drew Dixon of Florida Politics
“Why Florida could go Blue in 2020” via Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight
“Joe Biden announces plans to boost Black and Latino finances” via Sean Sullivan of The Washington Post
“Hollywood is finally admitting that the U.S. is a lost cause” via David Sims of The Atlantic
“Twitter gives Donald Trump Jr. a tweet timeout for pandemic misinfo” via Amanda Seitz of The Associated Press
“Club For Growth spends big boosting Byron Donalds, bashing Casey Askar” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics
“Mike Giallombardo optimistic about HD 77 primary and coronavirus response” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics
“Florida warns of ‘doom’ in Apalachicola water battle” via Jim Saunders of the News Service of Florida
Quote of the Day
“I think when you see those reports, those are probably reflective of infections and hospitalizations that have happened in the past. So, it’s more of a lagging indicator whereas I think the ED visits and some of the hospital visits are more of a leading indicator in terms of where things are trending.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying COVID-19 trends are good despite record deaths.
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