LobbyTools Policy Briefing 11/4/2022

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Here's your weekly wrap-up of legislative news in Florida. Brought to you by the policy professionals at LobbyTools, Florida's most trusted legislative intelligence company.

Higher Education

BOG to Take Up New Post-Tenure Review Rule

A Board of Governors committee is expected next week to take up a proposed rule that sets out what could be considered in newly-required reviews that tenured professors must undergo in Florida. The proposed rule would make clear that new requirements restricting how race and the history of race relations can be taught would be part of the review. The post-tenure reviews will be required every five years as part of a law passed this year as SB 7044. Requiring reviews for tenured professors – who normally have protections from interference meant to ensure academic freedom – was already controversial. The details of that review, including that the criteria to be considered will include efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative Republicans to restrict how racial issues can be taught in schools, makes it even more so. The restrictions on teaching about race relations in certain ways, particularly ideas collectively known as "critical race theory," which seek to explain how racism may have played a role in American society, passed by lawmakers in HB 7 this year, were also controversial during the legislative session. The proposed rule will unite the two controversial higher ed laws. Action News Jax / Draft Post-Tenure Review Rule

UF Trustees Vote to Name Sasse President?

The University of Florida Board of Trustees unanimously voted Tuesday to make U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse the school's next president. The appointment now needs approval from the Florida Board of Governors on Nov. 10, which is widely expected. Sasse will be the 13th president at the state university system's flagship school in Gainesville. He replaces Kent Fuchs, who is stepping down to return to the faculty. Opposition to the appointment has come from faculty – the university's faculty Senate approved a no-confidence resolution on the process by which Sasse was chosen – and from students who have protested the pick, based in large part on Sasse's positions while in the Senate against same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ issues. Opponents have also cited discomfort with how Sasse's name emerged as the only candidate finalist to be publicly named when the university was seeking to fill the job, and questioned whether Sasse is qualified to run a large flagship state university of more than 50,000 students. Sasse has been president of a university, but it was a much smaller school, Midland University in Nebraska. Florida Alligator / Gainesville Sun / Tampa Bay Times / Associated Press / Politico / Higher Ed Dive / Inside Higher Ed / Chronicle of Higher Education / Washington Post / New York Times / CBS News / University of Florida

Related: Student leaders at the University of Florida have moved to impeach the student body president because she voted in favor of the selection of Ben Sasse as the next president of the university, a vote student Senate members said went against the wishes of the majority of the student body. The group's formal resolution, dated Wednesday, contends that Lauren Lemasters, who is a member of the UF board of trustees as part of her student government role, neglected her duty to represent student voices. Tampa Bay Times / Florida Alligator

Gov Touts Low Cost Higher Ed

Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the state's low tuition rates, citing a recent College Board report that shows Florida's public universities offer the lowest cost for a bachelor's degree in the nation. He added that Florida ranked number one for tuition and fees, as well as received the top ranking for higher education overall, according to the U.S. News & World Report. On average, Florida students pay less than $3,400 for a bachelor's degree after taking into account financial aid, such as the state's Bright Futures program and the Florida Student Assistance Grant. The governor said tuition rates in Florida have held steady since the 2014-15 academic year, compared to an estimated national increase of 17%. The State University System also recently reported a 12% five-year rise in graduation rates. Florida's State University System has 12 public universities and more than 430,000 students, making it the second largest in the country. DeSantis Press Release

K-12 Education

How It's Going: Schools Trying to Get Back to Normal After Hurricane Ian

Students are back in classrooms in Southwest Florida after the cleanup from Hurricane Ian. Students returning to classrooms in the region have lost out on weeks of instruction, putting them behind on the year's planned curriculum. But some experts say there are even more consequential, long-term effects on their physical and emotional health. Researchers have found in the past that math and reading scores tend to drop in areas heavily affected by hurricanes. WFSU / Florida Phoenix

How It’s Going: Navigating New Requirements For Teaching Controversial Topics

In what local officials and school administrators say is an absence of clear guidance from the state, school districts and individual school administrators are having to provide rules for what books should be prohibited in school libraries and classrooms. In Pinellas County, district officials are putting together new rules to provide added protections for teachers, laying out procedures for reviewing materials that might be considered controversial because they contain violence, profanity, sexual situations, nudity or mentions of drug abuse. Teachers have to request books and justify why they're needed, the requests are reviewed by a media specialist and a media committee and the final say is then given to the principal. The district also has a "First Amendment Review Committee" for appeals. The State Board of Education in October approved a rule that could cost teachers their certification if they provide materials or lessons to students that aren't considered age-appropriate, particularly pertaining to gender or race. Tampa Bay Times

Farm-To-School: The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Florida $11.4 million to help connect local schools with underserved farms, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said. The grant aims to provide students with fresh produce while supporting local farmers. Eligible schools must be enrolled in either the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program. Fried Press Release

Election Law and Process

Feds: Election Infrastructure is Protected

Federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said the Biden administration has done all it can to protect election infrastructure and cautioned that the usual minor problems and glitches will happen on Election Day as they always have, and pleaded for people not to overreact to small electoral mishaps. Easterly's warnings come amid ongoing rhetoric raising concerns about threats to the election process and in the context of complaints from former President Donald Trump that the 2020 election was "stolen." CyberScoop

Administration Officials Could be Deposed on Redistricting

The plaintiffs challenging the state's new congressional districts in court can depose Gov. Ron DeSantis and his deputy chief of staff, Alex Kelly, a judge has ruled. Administration officials claimed executive privilege in a bid to avoid testifying, but Leon Circuit Judge Lee Marsh ruled against the governor. Kelly drew Florida's new congressional map, which was approved by lawmakers in April after DeSantis had vetoed an earlier map produced by the Legislature. Civil rights groups sued Florida over the new map, claiming the new districts reduce opportunities to elect minorities to Congress and don’t satisfy requirements of the Fair Districts Amendment in the state constitution. Marsh ruled that neither DeSantis nor Kelly are protected by executive privilege because drawing a congressional map was a legislative task. Florida Politics

Felon Voting: Probationers must now sign a form saying they’re responsible for determining whether they’re allowed to vote, a change that follows complaints by some ex-felons who were recently arrested after being told they were eligible when they weren’t. Several people registered despite prior serious offenses that should have precluded them from registering, but many said officials told them they could vote. Tampa Bay Times

Climate

Voters to Decide on Flood Protection Tax Break?

Florida voters will get the chance to vote on property tax breaks on infrastructure improvements that protect homes against flooding from rising oceans. Lawmakers in 2021 approved a joint resolution (HJR 1377) that would prohibit considering any improvement to residential property to improve resistance to flood damage when assessing the value of the property for taxes. The measure will require 60 percent voter approval to take effect. Florida Phoenix

Environment

Ian Unleashes Pollution in Local Waterways

Since Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida last month, municipal workers and others have filed hundreds of pollution reports to the state Department of Environmental Protection detailing discharges of potentially harmful material. Many of the reports concerned overloaded sewage systems, which sent harmful bacteria and viruses into waterways. Researchers say it could take months before the ocean flushes out the contaminated water. As of mid-October, monitoring teams had found numerous places in the region where the water was six to 10 times the state's safety threshold for bacteria like E. coli and enterococci. Washington Post

Red Tide in SW Fla?

One month after Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found high levels of the organism Karenia brevis that causes red tide. The agency's daily sample map shows red tide blooms along the Gulf coast near Charlotte and Lee counties. The data was collected last week through daily water samples gathered by FWC officials. An algal bloom, which was first detected in mid-October off the coast of Sarasota County, is still there according to the map. Some respiratory irritation has also been observed, but no fish kills have been reported yet this season. WUSF / Tampa Bay Times

Public Safety

The Struggle to Convince People to Evacuate Before Storms?

Counties in the Tampa Bay area were spared the worst of Hurricane Ian as it turned to the east before it got to the bay, and turned its force instead on Southwest Florida south of the Tampa area. But not long before the storm arrived, forecasters said there was a chance the bay area could get a hit. Local officials called for, and in some cases mandated, evacuations in certain areas. But few people showed up at area shelters. Local emergency managers said most people ignored evacuation recommendations, and are worried they will continue to do so. It's a longstanding problem in hurricane risk management – convincing people to get out of the way when so many times they've avoided danger without leaving. Tampa Bay Times

Fentanyl Warning: Attorney General Ashley Moody launched a website Thursday dedicated to educating the public on the dangers of illicit fentanyl laced in counterfeit pills. The website, called One Pill Can Kill, includes information on fentanyl, such as the types of illegal drugs that could contain synthetic opioids, how often substances are found in the illicit drug market, efforts taken to halt the trafficking of fentanyl from Mexico and preventative steps to help stop addiction. Moody Press Release / WEAR-TV

Health Care

Medical Marijuana Use Increases

Medical marijuana use is up by about 25% in the last year in Florida, along with dosage amounts prescribed by doctors. In the year before June 30, a total of 757,600 Floridians qualified for medical marijuana as a treatment, and of that number, 728,655 were eligible to smoke the plant, according to the 2023 Annual Report by the Physician Certification Pattern Review. The report also noted that 546 million ounces of smokable marijuana were certified for patients last fiscal year. Medical marijuana card holders can be prescribed low-THC or traditional, and doctors certify the administration of the drug, including routes such as edibles, inhalation, oral, smokable, sublingual, suppository or topical. The majority of patients eligible for medical marijuana use, nearly 40%, were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while more than 13% were prescribed the plant due to chronic, non-malignant pain. Low-THC cannabis has been legal in Florida since 2014, but medical marijuana became more broadly legal in 2017 after 71% of voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016, known as Amendment 2. Florida Politics

Housing and Real Estate

No Rent Control: An Orange County rent control ballot initiative won’t matter after an appeals court upheld a ruling invalidating the measure. The issue is on the ballot locally, but won’t count because of the ruling. Orlando Sentinel

Insurance

How Much Will Hurricane Ian Cost Insurers??

?Several insurance companies have made public their loss estimates for insurance claims from Hurricane Ian, or sent warnings to investors about how much the Category 4 Storm's hit on Southwest Florida will end up costing them. Insurance Journal has compiled estimates from companies facing more than $7.5 billion in losses, factoring in reinsurance. Insurance Journal?

Utilities

FPL Seeks Surcharges to Cover Storm Recovery

Officials at Florida Power & Light, the state's largest utility, said the company needs to recover $1.1 billion in electricity restoration costs from its residential customers to pay for the response to Hurricane Ian. Officials of FPL parent company NextEra Energy told investors during the company's third-quarter earnings call that all 4.6 million of FPL's residential customers in the state could see surcharges of at least $4 on their monthly bills to cover the cost of restoring power to 2.1 million customers after the storm last month. The recovery charge would need approval by the Florida Public Service Commission. Sun-Sentinel / Utility Dive

State Budget

AG Needs to Recruit, Keep Lawyers

Attorney General Ashley Moody's Office is asking lawmakers for $11.2 million to help recruit and retain lawyers. "While the Office of the Attorney General offers a favorable work environment and an attractive benefits and retirement package, the attorney salaries of many in the OAG remain below market," the office's legislative budget request states. This year's budget included pay increases for state lawyers but multiple senior attorneys recently left to work for federal agencies, local governments or in the private sector. If successful, base pay for all 454 full-time lawyers would increase and additional benefits would apply to those in specialties, such as Medicaid fraud and tax enforcement. Federal matching funds would help pay for 75% of the increase in the Medicaid fraud unit and some additional cash for salaries would be provided by increased rates charged to state agencies for legal services. The state currently only charges $99 to $119 per hour but the median rate for legal services is $300 per hour, according to a 2018 report by The Florida Bar. Florida Politics

Not Broke: A new study by Moody's Analytics found that 43 states have all or most of the cash they would need to get through a moderate recession without spending cuts or raising taxes. Pluribus

Taxes

Voters to Decide on Special Property Tax Exemptions

Voters in Florida will be asked next week whether additional property tax exemptions should go to teachers, firefighters, active-duty military, and other professions to help them with sky-high cost of housing. But a tax watchdog group says the well-intended exemption could have unintended consequences, including a loss in local government tax revenue. Florida Phoenix

Courts and Legal Policy

Supreme Court Justices Face Retention Votes

Voters this coming week will decide whether to retain five justices on the Florida Supreme Court. Retention votes are up this year for Justices Charles Canady, John Couriel, Jamie Grosshans, Jorge Labarga, and Ricky Polston. Canady and Polston were appointed to the court by Charlie Crist when he was governor. The other four are appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Based on the history of judicial retention votes in Florida, none are likely to be removed from the court by voters. Florida Phoenix

Immigration

Keys Migrant Arrivals Up 450% Over Last Year

The number of migrants, mostly from Cuba and Haiti, arriving by boat in the Florida Keys was up 450% in October over the same month a year ago, a Coast Guard official said. WFTS

DeSantis Appeals Migrant Flight Records Order?

Gov. Ron DeSantis is appealing an order requiring his administration to provide records connected to the Martha's Vineyard migrant flights. Leon County Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh found the governor's office was not complying with the state's public records law and ordered DeSantis to turn over documents requested by the Florida Center for Government Accountability. The required documents include text messages and call logs between DeSantis' Chief of Staff James Uthmeier and state Safety Czar Larry Keefe. The appeal, filed with the First District Court of Appeal, keeps the governor’s office from having to immediately comply. In September, two plane loads of mostly Venezuelan immigrants were flown from Texas to Martha's Vineyard as part of a DeSantis administration program to send migrants to sanctuary states. Earlier this year, Florida lawmakers appropriated $12 million in federal COVID-19 relief assistance to transport migrants out of the state but the move has since been met with controversy and litigation. DeSantis has said he has plans to continue flying migrants who entered the country illegally to cities and states run by Democrats. Florida Politics

Criminal Justice

Parkland Sentence: Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz was formally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday after a three-month trial. Cruz, now 24, was facing the death penalty for murdering 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day in 2018. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer was required to impose the life sentence, with the jury in Cruz's penalty trial not able to unanimously agree on the death penalty. CNN / Fox News / Reuters / Associated Press

Political Demographics

Pandemic Migrants Make Florida More Conservative

Nearly 400,000 active voters have moved to Florida since the start of the COVID pandemic in March of 2020 – and they're much more likely to vote Republican than Democrat. Nearly 200,000 Republicans have moved to Florida in the last two-plus years, while fewer than 100,000 Democrats have moved in. The overall impact isn't huge – about 3% of the state's registered "active" voters are people who have moved here in the last two years – but that's a relatively large percentage considering that some statewide elections recently have been decided by pretty small margins. Gov. Ron DeSantis was elected by less than half a percentage point in 2018. There's been little or no hard research yet on political motivations for moving to Florida during the pandemic, but some political observers believe politics have been a contributing factor – with conservative leaning Americans making moves deciding on Florida because of DeSantis' high profile positions during the pandemic that kept the state from putting in place many of the regulations that other states did. "People move to Florida in part because they're selecting for the politics in the same way (liberals) move to Vermont," statistician Nate Silver said on an episode of the FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast, though Silver acknowledged there's no hard data on how accurate that notion is. Some high profile business leaders have also either moved to Florida or talked publicly about doing so, citing higher taxes in their home states. Florida Politics

Related: Who are Florida's new voters? They're younger, and more likely to be non-partisan or Republican. Florida Politics

Republican Turnout Surge in Miami-Dade?

Republican voters are still outnumbered in Miami-Dade County but are voting in larger numbers than Democrats there, possibly signaling a generational shift in a county that has been a stronghold for Democrats, and sending signals about Republican chances in the current election. "This is not what we expected," said Christine Alexandria Olivio, the Democratic House candidate in Florida's 26th Congressional District in the Miami area. "We're getting our butts kicked right now." About 27% of GOP voters in Miami-Dade had voted by Wednesday, while only 21% of Democrats and 14% of no party or third party voters. That gave Republicans a slight edge in actual number of votes. Republicans are hoping Gov. Ron DeSantis may be the first Republican governor to win in Miami-Dade since Jeb Bush in 2002. Fresh Take Florida

Listen: Do Moderates Like Francis Suarez Have a GOP Future?

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is, according to the intro to the New Yorker Politics and More Podcast, "a proudly dissident Republican." Suarez "loves tech companies, welcomes migrants, and thinks his party can lead the fight against climate change." Does such a moderate have a future in an increasingly right-oriented Republican Party? The New Yorker Politics and More Podcast?

Political Culture

DeSantis Denounces Antisemitic Acts

Gov. Ron DeSantis' office issued a statement denouncing displays of antisemitism seen around the state. "Governor DeSantis rejects attempts to scapegoat the Jewish community – it has no place in Florida," the governor's press secretary said in the statement. "Through legislative proposals, laws, and decisive executive action, Governor DeSantis has a proven record of supporting the Jewish community and fighting anti-Semitism..." The statement also pointed out that DeSantis has opposed the "Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions," or BDS movement, which seeks to boycott or divest state funds from investments in Israel in protest of the country's policies related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Democrats had criticized DeSantis for not condemning recent acts of antisemitic hate more quickly. Last weekend, a homeowners' association property was defaced in Weston, anti-Jewish sentiments were displayed in several locations around Jacksonville Friday and Saturday, including at TIAA Bank Field during the Florida-Georgia football game. The governor's statement also noted DeSantis signed legislation (HB 741) in 2019 that formally banned antisemitism in schools and another bill (HB 1213) mandating teaching about the Holocaust. Florida Politics / Action News Jax

Campaigns and Elections

Legislative Elections – SD 3: Tallahassee-area legislative districts have traditionally favored Democrats, but the redrawn Senate District 3, which includes several rural more conservative areas, and features a well-known former football player as the Republican, has made for a race to watch as Election Day approaches. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Loranne Ausley is in a fight against GOP challenger Corey Simon, a Black Republican with strong name recognition from his time as a football player at Florida State. Simon has heavily outspent Ausley as the race has come down to the wire. Tallahassee Democrat

Legislative Elections – SD 5: Democratic Rep. Tracie Davis, well-known in the area after representing House District 13 since 2016, is seeking to move to the Senate and running in a Jacksonville-based district where Democrats outnumber Republicans almost two to one. Republican Kumar Binod has run twice unsuccessfully for the Duval Soil and Water Conservation District. The Senate district covers much of Jacksonville inside Interstate 295 along with some Westside neighborhoods in the city. Times-Union

Legislative Elections – SD 10: In a Central Florida district nearly evenly split in voter registration between Republicans and Democrats, Rep. Joy Goff-Marcil, D-Maitland is trying to move up to the Senate by taking on Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford. The district, which includes Seminole County and a part of Orange County, voted for President Joe Biden by just 4 percentage points in 2020. After redistricting this year, there are about 700 more Republican voters than Democrats in the district. Brodeur out-raised Goff-Marcil, but Democrats have put an effort into flipping the seat because of the narrow registration difference and in part because they hope Brodeur will be hurt by a scandal involving "ghost candidates," who ran in his race two years ago and were allegedly recruited to siphon votes from Democrats. Orlando Sentinel / Nicholson Student Media (UCF) / Daily Business Review Senate Races to Watch

Legislative Elections – SD 14: Sen. Janet Cruz is the leading fundraiser among Florida Senate Democratic nominees having brought in $2.5 million for her Senate District 14 against Republican Jay Collins, who has collected over $630,000 in campaign contributions. Florida Politics?

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