The week in Florida politics: DeSantis' "insensitive" way of marking MLK Day

Nova Southeastern University students from the Student National Medical Association carried signage in the parade along North Federal Highway during a Martin Luther King, Jr., Day parade in Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday, January 17, 2022.
Nova Southeastern University students from the Student National Medical Association carried signage in the parade along North Federal Highway during a Martin Luther King, Jr., Day parade in Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday, January 17, 2022.
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Floridians celebrated the legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King with parades and homages, while Gov. Ron DeSantis marked the holiday with the seemingly incongruous launch of a redistricting plan critics said would shrink the number of minority congressional districts.

In the state capital city, King's two visits to Tallahassee were remembered, including one in which he advised those attending his speech that: "Freedom is never given freely by the oppressor; freedom must be demanded by the oppressed."

From the Panhandle to the Southeast Coast, Monday was a day of parades, marches and community service. In Daytona Beach, King's birthday prompted a rally in support of voting rights.

That topic resonated louder than usual, because on the eve of the federal holiday, DeSantis' office offered up a new congressional redistricting map that would have increased the GOP's congressional advantage from 16 seats to 12 for Democrats to 18 Republican and 10 Democratic seats. It would have also curtailed Black- and Hispanic-leaning districts including wiping out U.S. Rep. Al Lawson's district, a move Lawson blasted saying the timing was "insensitive."

The Florida Senate, a Republican stronghold, snubbed the governor's offer as the chamber backed a plan that has received some bipartisan backing.

However, a DeSantis priority item, banning critical race theory in schools and constraining diversity training in business, advanced through the Legislature when a Senate committee gave that bill a thumb's up.

DeSantis and Republican lawmakers also gained ground on another cultural wedge issue, abortion. Democrats blistered a bill that would cease abortions in the Florida after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

But a House committee approved HB 5, by state Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, to eliminate more than two months of the current 24-week window in which a doctor can perform an abortion in Florida.

Lawmakers also moved forward with what has been a key GOP legislative wish item for almost two decades — reducing the scope of the state's erstwhile model open records laws. No fewer than 20 pieces of legislation cleared first committees hurdles, including a highly contentious proposal to shield the names of people applying to be state university presidents until finalists are selected.

That's a major issue as the search for a new president to lead Florida's flagship institution of higher learning, the University of Florida, looms. UF this week also learned a judge would rule on an important academic freedom case in the coming week.

All the wrangling in Tallahassee obscured what could be good news. Omicron cases dropped by 3.4% in the previous week, bolstering hopes that the COVID variant has peaked in the state.

Perhaps an even better signal was found in Palm Beach County, where sewage tests indicate the omicron wave may be nearly over in the northern part of the South Florida county.

Those were hopeful signs in a week that saw a grim rise in the coronavirus death toll across Florida, which has now lost more than 63,158 souls to coronavirus since the pandemic began almost two years ago.

Leon County was a microcosm of how the omicron variant spreads rapidly, and cuts across all facets of society, as county officials reported increases in new infections at Florida State University, the county's school district and jail.

In Sarasota, the Tidewell Foundation's Signature Luncheon at the area's Ritz-Carlton was rescheduled because of omicron caseloads. The luncheon, which was pushed back to April 1, was to honor 1970s Happy Days show star Henry Winkler, the "Fonze."

Jewish faith leaders stepped forward in Palm Beach County, where residents have expressed their share of frustration over the lack of testing capacity, to set up three testing sites.

Unfazed, DeSantis instead ordered up another round of monoclonal antibody treatment centers.

But he again stopped short of promoting prevention through vaccination. In fact, DeSantis put a Central Florida public health director on leave after the official told employees it was "irresponsible" to go unvaccinated.

The one thing omicron couldn't overshadow was the glaring spotlight on a purported rift between DeSantis and his political godfather, former President Donald Trump.

The tempest has been brewing since last summer, but it is being further heated now by disputes over COVID pandemic policies.

While that squall thunders, former New Jersey governor and no-longer Trump adviser Chris Christie broke ranks with the ex-POTUS during a speech in Sarasota.

But it's not a real Florida mud fight until political trickster Roger Stone enters the ring, and the pardoned Trump confidant jumped head first into the DeSantis-Trump fray by warning the governor to get in line.

Want to hear more about that? Listen to the Inside Florida Politics podcast now for the latest.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: The week in Florida politics: DeSantis' "insensitive" move on MLK Day