Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
U.S. Department of Labor data released Thursday showed new jobless claims in Florida slowed down last week.
There were 7,291 new jobless claims filed for the week ending May 29. During the prior week, 9,882 new jobless claims were filed in Florida.
The numbers for Florida fed into the national unemployment narrative. The US reported the lowest level for initial jobless claims since March 14, 2020, with 385,000 for the week of May 29, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week.
The data means the state is continuing on its rosy economic path, but that could be tested.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is banking on those lingering jobless Floridians finding employment. DeSantis, last week, made a decision to terminate the federal government’s $300 weekly unemployment benefit, effective June 26.
That could present a problem for people in Florida who are filing pandemic unemployment assistance claims, a program that gives unemployment benefits to people who have been adversely affected by COVID-19 and have exhausted other unemployment benefit options. Data for that program did not show much of a change. There were 2,041 new pandemic unemployment assistance claims filed in Florida for the week ending May 29, and 2,034 new claims filed for the prior week.
At a news conference Thursday, while calling on the Governor to change his mind about canceling the federal unemployment benefit, Democratic Orlando Rep. Anna Eskamani said her legislative office received 71 unemployment-related phone calls on Tuesday alone. The callers, she said, spanned as far north as the Panhandle and as far south as the Keys.
“My fellow colleagues in the Legislature have really failed on this issue,” Eskamani said. “Not just in the lack of constituent services, but just in the lack of compassion and understanding that this is a safety net.”
The Department of Economic Opportunity will release its own May report on June 18. In April, the DEO estimated more than 487,000 Floridians were out of work.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 2,286,332 FL residents (+1,832 since June 2)
— 43,535 Non-FL residents (+46 since June 2)
Origin:
— 18,931 Travel related
— 920,896 Contact with a confirmed case
— 24,985 Both
— 1,321,520 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 95,607 in FL
Deaths:
— 37,717 in FL
Vaccinations:
— 17,967,048 Doses administered
— 10,397,299 Total people vaccinated
— 2,004,239 First dose
— 823,311 Completed one-dose series (+6,080 since June 2)
— 7,569,749 Completed two-dose series (+34,735 since June 2)
Evening Reads
“Joe Biden offers tax concession in infrastructure talks with key Republican” via Seung Min Kim and Tony Romm of The Washington Post
“The U.S. economy is sending confusing signals. What’s going on?” via Ben Casselman of The New York Times
“Services boom? You ain’t seen nothing yet” via Justin Lahart of The Wall Street Journal
“Federal prosecutors looking into whether Matt Gaetz obstructed justice” via Marc Caputo of POLITICO
“How GOP state legislatures are remaking the country” via Ronald Brownstein of The Atlantic
“Talk of Donald Trump 2024 run builds as legal pressure intensifies” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics
“Florida and federal government at impasse over fate of cruise industry and vaccines” via Diane Rado of the Florida Phoenix
“Joel Greenberg set for sentencing Aug. 19 after judge approves plea deal” via Jeff Weiner of the Orlando Sentinel
“DNC wants a ‘thank you’ from Ron DeSantis for virus relief money” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“‘Idiotic’: DeSantis slams calls to reject Seminole Gaming Compact” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“‘We love the python challenge’: DeSantis kicks off Florida’s unique competition to remove an invasive species” via Haley Brown of Florida Politics
“DeSantis defends transgender athlete ban as ‘right thing to do’” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Attorney General asks judge to block DNA testing in another Orange County death penalty case” via Monivette Cordeiro of the Orlando Sentinel
“The odd places people come from to get vaccinated in Florida” via Cindy Krischer Goodman and Adelaide Chen of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Jobless Floridians push Governor to extend jobless benefits” via Bobby Caina Calvan of The Associated Press
“Florida AFL-CIO launches campaign to save federal unemployment benefits” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics
“Vaccine standoff puts cruise industry at risk, Mayors tell Governor” via Lisa J. Huriash of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Miami Commissioner Ken Russell says he’ll run to challenge Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate” via Joey Flechas and Alex Daugherty of the Miami Herald
Quote of the Day
“I think it’s just an example of some of these partisan politicians always trying to elevate themselves with any type of cheap headline they can get trying to inject Trump into this.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, on calls for the feds to reject the Seminole Compact.
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