Jacob Ogles
Dane Eagle has officially moved out of the House Majority Office and into the Department of Economic Opportunity this week.
The Cape Coral Republican knows he’s taking the Executive Director post at a time of extreme scrutiny upon the agency. When the coronavirus pandemic sparked an instant recession, a beleaguered DEO-run unemployment system crumbled under a record number of claims. Failure to rapidly address problems led to the sidelining of former Executive Director Ken Lawson in April and ultimately his resignation last month.
As Eagle seizes the reins, he doesn’t want to be measured against his predecessor, but he does plan to bring change. Information must flow quickly and freely, something that hasn’t always happened.
“I don’t want to compare and contrast leadership, but one thing I saw that was apparent, we need to expand our communications,” Eagle said.
But Eagle said that’s largely a staffing issue, like many challenges at DEO. Now, a long-time politician who long demanded austerity in government prepares to make the case for better funding. Polls show Floridians want unemployment further extended in the pandemic. Lawmakers last week suggested the same may need to happen as well. Now Eagle must prepare to make the case.
“It’s tough. We’re looking into it now,” Eagle said. “A lot of it’s provided by Congress, the CARES ACT, the Department of Labor, a lot of passthroughs. And then there’s of course legislative acts that we can make. That’s all staff we are doing research on right now. But certainly, there is a case to made, a very apparent case, that this is a workload issue. There is such a high demand and a high amount of volume coming from the people of Florida on the CONNECT system, and then on the employees here as well. I would say that we are overworked and understaffed.”
There days into his new job, Eagle won’t speculate as to what degree the existing CONNECT system can be fixed and expanded, and when it must be replaced entirely. The latter, of course, requires time, to work with the Florida Legislature when it comes back into session, develop a long-term strategy and implement a system to to the public and state employees.
Of course, the nearly eight years spent in the House, not to mention a recent Congressional campaign, provide critics with rhetorical fodder to question Eagle’s dedication to growing an agency budget. Just in July, while Eagle was running for Congress, he criticized proposals for further funding of federal unemployment benefits.
“The American taxpayer should not have their dollars used to pay people more to stay home,” Eagle tweeted. “Let me say that again. The American taxpayer should not have their dollars used to pay people more to stay home. Democrats, do you understand?”
Eagle said the remarks were made “in the heat of the campaign.” The legislative leader came in second place in a field of nine Republicans in the primary in Florida’s 19th Congressional District, losing to fellow lawmaker Byron Donalds by 777 votes out of nearly 104,000 cast. But he’s left his tweet on his timeline.
“I will stand by it, and I don’t think any American wants to stay at home,” Eagle said. “I think that they would rather be able to have a gainful, employed job to be able to go to. And that was aimed at Democrats in Congress while they were debating the CARES Act and I was involved in a Congressional campaign. That was not aimed at everyday Floridians who are trying to get back to work.”
He knows plays a different role now that he heads an agency overseeing unemployment benefits. He has committed to stick around at least until 2022 and wants the agency strong and praiseworthy.
“This is not a partisan position for me,” Eagle said. “I have been given a task by the Governor to try to address a problem that all Floridians are facing. I’ve reached across the aisle and have spent countless hours on the phone with colleagues in the House and Senate.”
“I will take all ideas and suggestions. I don’t care what party that are from. If they make good sense for Florida, we’ll more forward on them.”
As a former lawmaker, Eagle said he knows the challenges all Representatives and Senators faced this year as their district offices became makeshift unemployment information counters. That happened in his Cape Coral office and across Florida.
The job also entails more than fixing unemployment. Eagle worked years representing Southwest Florida, an area where the economy is built on tourism, real estate and construction, all industries susceptible to recessions. So he wants to offer support to those fields.
But unemployment will be a priority. Eagle demurred when asked about an ongoing investigation of what happened with the CONNECT site. “The unemployment issue that we’ve been dealing with is bigger than one person, and it’s going to take a full team to address,” he said. “We have a great team assembled here.”
