Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The state’s budget is now set in stone — or at least ink.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the $101.5 billion budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022, of which he boasted $9.5 billion in reserves.
“You would have said that a year ago — no one would have believed that would have been possible, and yet here we are,” DeSantis said, speaking at a restaurant in New Smyrna Beach.
The Governor credited lawmakers with spending conservatively and responsibly. But he also credited resisting lockdowns and prioritizing vaccinations to the 65 and older population with keeping the state’s economy afloat.
“We were also the landing spot for a lot of people that wanted to escape the insanity and come and get their mental … get recharged from escaping these lockdowns,” he said. “We served as kind of the de facto West Berlin through a lot of the balance of this for the United States, and I think it’s benefited a lot of people throughout the country.”
Senate President Wilton Simpson thanked the Governor for the “light touch” to vetoes in this year’s budget, made possible because the state’s economy repeatedly outperformed expectations.
But DeSantis wasn’t able to keep a light touch with one of his own priorities. The Governor had to veto a $1 billion Emergency Response and Preparedness fund that was his idea.
DeSantis blamed the veto on the federal government. The emergency fund was set to use federal funding from the American Rescue Plan, but recent guidelines released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury said states should use ARP money for “immediate economic stabilization,” rather than a rainy-day emergency fund as DeSantis and the Florida Legislature planned.
“We were going to run into the risk of having the feds come after us for it,” DeSantis said.
The new federal ARP guidance also affected another $350 million of ARP funds the Florida Legislature planned to set aside in a budget stabilization fund. DeSantis also vetoed that line item.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 2,284,500 FL residents (+1,185 since June 1)
— 43,489 Non-FL residents (+49 since June 1)
Origin:
— 18,835 Travel related
— 919,984 Contact with a confirmed case
— 24,961 Both
— 1,320,720 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 95,438 in FL
Deaths:
— 37,665 in FL
Vaccinations:
— 17,900,766 Doses administered
— 10,365,752 Total people vaccinated
— 2,013,507 First dose
— 817,231 Completed one-dose series (+6,175 since June 1)
— 7,535,014 Completed two-dose series (+23,169 since June 1)
Evening Reads
“Rick Scott bill would ax vaccine passports for domestic air travel” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Pressure mounts on Joe Manchin as ‘panic’ sets in among Democrats over voting rights” via Sean Sullivan and Mike DeBonis of The Washington Post
“NIH director: We need an investigation into the Wuhan lab-leak theory” via Peter Wehner of The Atlantic
“Feds argue that FL lawsuit could threaten ‘public confidence’ in cruise industry” via Issac Morgan of the Florida Phoenix
“Stimulus checks substantially reduced hardship, study shows” via Jason DeParle of The New York Times
“Bill Nelson makes 1st State of NASA address after nearly $25 billion budget ask; announces 2 new Venus missions” via Richard Tribou of the Orlando Sentinel
“Donald Trump blog page shuts down for good” via Kevin Breuninger of CNBC
“How could a federal infrastructure plan affect Florida?” via Haley Brown of Florida Politics
“Gov. Ron DeSantis signs $101.5 billion budget” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“When public business becomes a campaign stop: DeSantis rips Fried” via Michael Moline of the Florida Phoenix
“‘He can’t tell the truth’: Charlie Crist blasts DeSantis’ budget signing” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics
“Nikki Fried amended financial disclosure before campaign announcement” via Samantha J. Gross of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times
“DeSantis fundraises off transgender athlete ban” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Crist has raised $1.5M one month into Florida Gov. campaign” via Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics
“Laurel Lee seeks to scuttle elections lawsuit” via News Service of Florida
“DeSantis vetoes $1B emergency fund due to ‘federal guidance’” via Haley Brown of Florida Politics
“Governor nixes Southwest Florida projects, but will environmental trust bring some back?” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics
“New police radio system survives veto pen” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics
“Judge to decide whether to dismiss Superintendent Robert Runcie’s perjury case” via Scott Travis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Disney World at 50: Walt tours his Central Florida land” via Dewayne Bevil of the Orlando Sentinel
Quote of the Day
“We served as kind of the de facto West Berlin through a lot of the balance of this for the United States, and I think it’s benefited a lot of people throughout the country.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, crediting anti-lockdown policy with reviving the state economy.
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