Historic relief for state budget. A reversal on felons. Text messages talk. And DeSantis consolidates power.

It’s Monday, March 15, and this is Sunshine Week in Florida when we celebrate that voters made access to government meetings and records the law — not an option.

First up, let’s review what will go down as historic — for Florida and the nation. The American Rescue Plan was signed into law by President Joe Biden and, after campaigning against the restoration of felons voting rights, Florida’s Republican governor and Cabinet removed the five-year waiting period for those with felony convictions and allowed for some automatic restoration of rights.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Billions headed to FL: The $1.9 trillion federal relief package sends a whopping $17 billion into Florida’s state and local budget coffers, eliminating the state’s $2.7 billion deficit and replenishing budget holes across the state brought on by the pandemic-forced slowdowns and emergency spending.

In a move that won bi-partisan praise, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wants to use some of the money to finance infrastructure investments intended to strengthen local communities against the effects of climate change. (no, he didn’t use the words “climate change.”)

Legislature will decide: Legislative leaders, who last year let the governor control the spending of $6 billion in CARES Act funds, now say they will decide where to spend the $10 billion the state gets from the Rescue Plan. One proposal, by Senate President Wilton Simpson, is to put $2 billion of it into the state’s unemployment fund to temporarily raise unemployment compensation payments from $275 a month to $375 a month.

Obamacare will expand: There are provisions in the American Rescue Plan that Tallahassee leaders won’t be able to control, however. For example, the measure increases federal subsidies for Americans purchasing health care coverage on federal exchanges. It also allows anyone who buys health insurance on the exchange to be eligible for a tax credit. These provisions, quietly tucked into the massive stimulus bill, will be the largest expansion of Obamacare since it became law in 2010.

Latin America could benefit: If the pandemic comes under control, the stimulus package is expected to spur the U.S. economy to the highest growth in decades, to 6% this year. That could have a beneficial spillover effect on Latin America, writes the Herald’s Andres Oppenheimer.

Immigration shifts: Meanwhile, two events marked the steady shift in U.S. immigration policy under the new administration. The Department of Homeland Security last week announced the “public charge” rule, implemented by Trump’s government to target poor immigrants who receive public benefits, was vacated and ended. That opens the door for more legal immigrants to obtain permanent resident cards or green cards.

Venezuelan victory: The Biden administration also granted Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans, shielding as many as 320,000 eligible individuals from the threat of deportation. The humanitarian protections will allow Venezuelans living in the United States to apply for work authorization, a decision celebrated at a rally outside of the El Arepazo restaurant in Doral.

Texts talk about 2020 and vaccines: Last week, public records laws were honored by Manatee County, and we learned something new about the vaccine favoritism given to select communities by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Text messages between the organizers of the vaccine distribution event in GOP-heavy Lakewood Ranch and the governor’s office showed that the event was intended to do more than vaccinate those over age 65. It was also organized to enhance the political optics for the governor’s 2022 reelection bid. “This can be huge for him,” wrote Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh.

By contrast, the governor’s open government office has slow-walked requests for text messages by news organizations for most of the last year.

Federal complaint looms: At the time of the Lakewood Ranch event, vaccines were in high demand in the community but, rather than rely on the county’s random selection system to find recipients, the messages show the governor’s office asked the organizers to create a VIP list for the vaccines.

Days later, a retired law enforcement officer who lives in Broward County filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Matthew Issman alleges that the Manatee County commissioner inappropriately gave a wealthy developer who contributed to the governor’s campaign accelerated access to the vaccine over other residents. “When it comes to people’s health, it should be a level playing field,” he said.

Softening vaccine demand: With demand for the vaccine softening among seniors, DeSantis last week announced that starting today, March 15, any Floridian 60 and older will be eligible for a coronavirus vaccination. He added that with the supplies increasing, vaccines may be open to all Floridians as early as April.

Bypassing governor’s order: Amid that softening demand, and the governor’s slow response to adjusting the criteria, a federally supported vaccination site at the Miami-Dade College North campus reportedly offered vaccinations to anyone over age 18 last week, for the second time in four days. The decision to ignore the governor’s guidelines drew a large crowd.

No vaccine for prison staff: Despite this trend, DeSantis has yet to make vaccines available to state prisons, even for corrections officials or the thousands of elderly inmates who meet the state’s eligibility requirements.

Miami’s new police chief: Miami’s next police chief will be announced today and he’s a surprise pick that few saw coming. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, leader of the fourth largest police department in the country and a man who forged a national profile the past year marching with police reform protesters after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, was selected by City Manager Art Noriega.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Preempting local fines: Meeting as the clemency board last week, DeSantis and members of the Cabinet took a surprise vote and ordered that fines imposed on people or businesses for violating local government COVID-19-related ordinances would be waived. The decision, which was not on the agenda, took local governments by surprise. It wasn’t clear whether the governor and Cabinet even had the authority to make such a motion, but the move was yet another consolidation of power over local government by this administration.

Containing chaos or red meat? Republican lawmakers last week advanced the so-called “anti-riot” bill, proposed by the governor last summer in an appeal to former President Donald Trump and a national audience after the Black Lives Matter protests. Supporters argue House Bill 1 is meant to prevent violence and chaos, while Democrats argue it is “red meat-based politics” that only enhances criminal penalties that already exist. DeSantis has acknowledged that protests in Florida were largely peaceful, but suggested a crack down on “violent mobs” was needed to prevent unrest seen in other parts of the country.

Quiet push to consolidate power: A key provision of the anti-riot bill would give the governor and the Florida Cabinet the power to approve, amend or modify a local budget. It is another piece of the governor ‘s goal of strengthening the executive branch, which also includes legislation.

Weaken Cabinet: For the second year in a row, DeSantis is advocating for legislation to eliminate Cabinet oversight over the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and to shift control solely to the governor. The Cabinet’s oversight of administrative rules and regulations would be eliminated as would disputes over local development districts and land planning for regional developments. The only Democrat on the Cabinet, Nikki Fried, calls it a “power grab.” Other Republicans have been silent.

In Florida, the governor shares authority with other Cabinet officials over many executive branch agencies. It’s all a vestige of the post-Civil War reconstruction, when a too-powerful governor was seen as a threat to the union.

Discouraging mail voting: Another DeSantis priority continues to advance through the legislature. Florida’s elections supervisors warn that SB 90, a bill to ban ballot drop boxes and limit mail-in ballots, will lead to “chaos and confusion”. It matters because 812,474 more registered Democrats than Republicans requested mail-in ballots in Florida in 2020 and about 45% of Florida Democrats voted by mail, compared with 31% of Republicans. For context, DeSantis’ margin of victory over his Democratic opponent was only 53,000 votes.

Restoring some rights: While Republicans want to discourage some minorities from voting, the governor and Cabinet reversed course last week and voted to automatically restore the right for felons with felony convictions to hold office and serve on a jury, as long as they have completed their sentence and paid off their court debts. The changes were long sought by civil rights advocates which led the successful 2018 change to the Florida Constitution known as Amendment 4.

Although DeSantis opposed the amendment, the decision to wipe out a requirement imposed by former Gov. Rick Scott, requiring for felons to wait five years after they leave jail before they can apply to have their rights restored, is seen as an olive branch to the supporters of the effort.

Online tax plan: Legislators are also moving a plan to replenish the unemployment compensation trust fund by requiring that all online transactions pay state sales taxes. Florida is just one of a few states that collect state sales tax but still do not collect the tax on all online purchases. By imposing the tax, legislators would raise $1 billion a year. The goal is to use it to help businesses avoid having to increase the unemployment taxes they pay to fund jobless claims. The unemployment compensation account has fallen from $4 billion before the pandemic to $777 million today.

Bright Futures change on hold: A contentious proposal that would reshape Florida’s popular Bright Futures scholarship program and other aspects of student financial aid was abruptly postponed ahead of its first public hearing last week amid growing opposition from student groups.

CONNECT pushes back: Executives of Deloitte Consulting told a Senate committee they had no responsibility for last year’s meltdown of the Florida unemployment system, known as CONNECT, which the company built. They said they delivered precisely what was asked for by Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity, which was overseen by former Gov. Rick Scott at the time. And they denied findings by the state inspector general, which found that the system as tested could only handle a fraction of the users that it was contracted to handle at one time.

Stay well and we’d love to hear from you. Miami Herald Capitol Bureau Chief Mary Ellen Klas curated this newsletter. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a note at meklas@miamiherald.com.

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