Last Call for 8.31.21 — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics

Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

Members of the House received an email Tuesday testing the water on a possible Special Session to ban vaccine and mask mandates.

House Democrats responded with a salvo of “Nos,” and “Nahs” and “Absolutely nots.”

The Special Session question landed as the masking feud between county school districts and the state continues to ratchet up.

Schools scored a victory last week when a circuit court judge ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order banning school mask mandates was unconstitutional.

Undeterred, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced Monday that the Department of Education would stop signing paychecks for school board members in Alachua and Broward.

The back-and-forth is sure to continue, but the fracas led Rep. Anthony Sabatini to put fellow members “on the record” about whether they support an emergency Session to ban mask mandates.

“The public has a right to know which elected officials will stand up for their rights,” tweeted Sabatini, a Howey-in-the-Hills Republican who is perhaps best known for preferring cosmetic face coverings to cloth ones.

What followed was a flood of responses that Democratic Rep. Michael Grieco described as “epic.” His official stance is “Hard no. Hard stop.”

A sampling of responses unveiled in his Twitter thread:

— Rep. Allison Tant: “Absolutely not.”

— Rep. Yvonne Hinson: “NO! My official position”

— Rep. Travaris McCurdy: “Nah”

— Rep. Michelle Rayner: “You tried it. Nope.”

— Rep. Nick Duran: “NO. I do not support this special session. Put that on record.”

— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani: “ … People are dying, some Floridians are poisoning themselves with medication meant for livestock — when will enough be enough?”

Sabatini’s poll is informal and carries no weight on if the Legislature will convene for a Special Session. According to Florida statute, the Legislature may only meet for a Special Session if called by the Senate President and House Speaker, or if three-fifths of lawmakers vote yes in a formal poll tallied by the Department of State.

Evening Reads

“Unencumbered by state expectations on masks, Florida private schools have varied approaches to policies” via Danielle J. Brown of the Florida Phoenix

“The new Puritans” via Anne Applebaum of The Atlantic

“After Hurricane Ida, how much longer can New Orleans’s levees hold?” via Elizabeth Kolbert of The New Yorker

“Bishop Sycamore, IMG and the high school football game that duped ESPN” via Ben Strauss of The Washington Post

“Go-to lawyer for Capitol Riot defendants disappears” via Alan Feuer of The New York Times

“A serial killer slaughtered at least three women in South Florida. Cops found him in his grave two decades later.” via Eileen Kelley and Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

“Welcome to the climate-COVID-19 convergence” via Melody Schreiber of The New Republic

“Vaccine hesitancy is still strong in many COVID-19-battered states” via Mary Radcliffe, Kaleigh Rogers and Alex Samuels of FiveThirtyEight

“How flying got so awful” via Mary Wilson of Slate

“An alarming new Supreme Court case could unravel Roe v. Wade as soon as Tuesday night” via Ian Millhiser of Vox

Quote of the Day

“Providing citizens with more information about the rampaging virus is not only consistent with public health, but with the reasons why Floridians overwhelmingly passed open government laws.” — Michael Barfield, FLCGA’s director of public access, on why the group is suing the DeSantis administration.

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