Florida defies CDC guidance on new vaccines & Tampa's $1.9B budget
September 29, 2023 — This Week's Top Stories in Florida
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Here’s the latest from Florida…
Florida defies CDC guidance on new COVID vaccine
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has issued a recommendation that individuals under 65 years of age should not receive the new COVID-19 vaccine, contrary to the guidance provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC had advised the vaccine for everyone aged six months and older, especially as flu and COVID-19 season approaches. Ladapo's recommendation comes despite rising COVID-19 cases in Florida that saw an uptick over the summer and just weeks after the state crossed 90,000 total deaths since the pandemic began. The new vaccine, designed to provide better protection against an omicron subvariant, was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The state’s top health official alleges the new vaccine lacks "meaningful" clinical trial data in humans and proof of safety and effectiveness. However, he doesn't rule out the vaccine being administered to Floridians aged 65 and older. Ladapo has a history of opposing COVID-19 mandates and warning against vaccines for certain Floridians since being appointed by Gov. DeSantis in September 2021. His recommendations have largely been out of step with the views of the vast majority of public health experts, but despite accusations of spreading misinformation, he has earned the praise of DeSantis.
Tampa approves $1.9B budget after considering cuts after City Council rejects tax hike
Tampa City Council has unanimously approved a $1.9 billion budget for 2024, which includes a significant increase in funding for affordable housing programs. The approval comes weeks after council members rejected Mayor Jane Castor's budget proposal, which included a 16% property tax rate increase. Citing the area’s nation-leading inflation, rising cost of living, and lack of transparency by the Castor administration on how the additional tax revenue would be spent, the city council voted 4-3 to deny the millage increase. In a workshop held following the rejection, city leaders explored options to fulfill community priorities without imposing higher tax bills on property owners. Council members considered various cuts to the proposed budget, including eliminating vacant positions, funding for public events such as Boom by the Bay and the River O’Green Fest, contributions to organizations like Feeding Tampa Bay, and salary increases for nonunion city employees. They also discussed tapping into the city’s healthy reserves to fund important projects. City leaders believed they could find the necessary dollars elsewhere without raising millage rates – a task that proved more difficult than initially thought. However, despite competing interests, affordable housing, and public safety were among the priorities of the seven-member council. Funding much-needed renovations at aging fire stations and adding new stations in areas of Tampa with lackluster response times were also highlighted as priority items.
The $1.9 billion budget passed by the city council of Florida’s third-largest city reflects their commitment to these identified issues, allocating tens of millions collectively to address housing affordability and public safety needs. $12 million will flow to affordable housing initiatives – more than double the previous year's budget — with $5 million being redirected from the city’s reserves, a controversial move among members of the city council. Additional dollars were earmarked to fund new firefighter paramedic positions, upgrades for existing fire stations, and design plans for a new $1.5 million station in north Tampa. $7 million was approved for long-deferred street repaving. Among the cuts are 10% reductions in city contributions to museums and institutions, scaled back major public events, and decreasing scheduled pay raises for roughly 1,000 nonunion city employees from 4.5% to 3%. A proposed pickleball court in South Tampa was also nixed.
Mayor Castor’s now-failed proposed double-digit property tax hike would have added $45 million to Tampa’s $670 million general revenue fund, funding infrastructure like street and sidewalk repairs as well as public safety, parks, and affordable housing.
Meet Florida’s next Speaker of the House: Rep. Daniel Perez
Miami state Representative Daniel Perez, a 36-year-old Republican, has been designated as the next speaker of the Florida House for the 2024-26 Legislative Session, a position he will assume in November 2024. Perez's selection marks the second time in a decade that a lawmaker from Miami has assumed the speakership, highlighting the strong influence of South Florida in state politics. He will take charge during a period when his party holds a supermajority in both chambers and controls all statewide offices in Florida. Perez, well-respected among his colleagues, is known for being competitive, and a "straight shooter," and due to his personality, his peers expect him to reassert the independence of the House from the strong influence of the governor’s office that has been apparent in recent years. Gov. DeSantis has put pressure on legislators to cater to his agenda, including his culture war fights over the last two years, and lawmakers have largely acquiesced to help the Republican governor strengthen his resume in preparation for a presidential bid. Perez is predicted to isolate the House from the outside influence of the executive office. During his recent designation ceremony, the three-term Republican did not outline his agenda but emphasized his constituent’s appeal to him to address property insurance. Beyond that, he mentioned a focus on "limited government" and “balancing the competing needs” of Florida while avoiding using government power to reinforce a one-sided perspective. A Republican Party of Florida webpage created for the designation ceremony of Perez lists “healthcare, infrastructure, affordable housing, and property insurance” as “critical issues” he seeks to address during his tenure leading the lower Chamber. Additional condominium safety reforms will likely join his list of priorities after having a leading role in passing an inspection and repair bill last year in the wake of the deadly Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside. He has been aligned with Gov. DeSantis on many issues and carried the governor’s elections security reform bill through the House in 2022. Perez has also endorsed DeSantis for the GOP presidential nomination.
Perez is the oldest child of Cuban immigrants and has a younger brother, Brian, with autism which has given him a unique view of life. He was born in New York City and his family moved to Miami-Dade County in 1993. In a 2017 special election, the legislator was elected to District 116 to fill a vacated seat and subsequently elected in 2018, 2020, and 2022. Perez represents the Westchester, University Park, Sweetwater, and Town Park Estates areas of west Miami, where he lives with his wife Stephanie and their two young children. Outside of his role in the Legislature, he works as in-house legal counsel for a healthcare firm that specializes in providing insurance and prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. He is the former chair of the House Judiciary Committee, currently serves as the chairman of the Rules Committee, and is a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee.
Florida prisons embrace artificial intelligence to conduct surveillance
State prisons are employing artificial intelligence to surveil and transcribe phone conversations among its 80,000+ inmates, which began last month. The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) entered a $2.5 million contract with California-based Leo Technologies to implement its surveillance program, Verus, in August. Verus scans and transcribes incoming and outgoing calls, searching for predefined keywords by prison officials and the tech company's staff. FDC says the goal of implementing this technology is to ensure the “safety and well-being” of prison staff and inmates. Several states have been using AI to monitor phone calls and cited examples where it provided valuable, actionable intel on deterring violence, drug smuggling, gang activity, preventing suicides, and COVID-19 outbreaks. The contract, valid until June 30, 2024, permits monitoring and scanning of up to 50 million minutes of conversations, except those with lawyers, doctors, and spiritual advisors. The collected content is shared with law enforcement, prison staff, and prosecutors. With AI having been adopted in some states to monitor inmate conversations, concerns have arisen regarding its usage and effectiveness. A 2021 report by Reuters revealed instances where the technology was abused in other states with officials improperly using the program to flag conversations with specific keywords. In Florida, wardens serve as the primary point of contact with Leo Technologies, while the company's employees work with state employees to monitor prisons 24/7. In a story for the Tampa Bay Times, Leo Technologies and FDC declined to provide details on technology usage and recorded conversation minutes, citing a state law protecting surveillance techniques from public disclosure.
Citizens Insurance policyholders could see double-digit rate increases
Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has revised its proposed rate increases, which could result in double-digit hikes for many homeowners later this year. The revised proposal, sent to the state Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), suggests an average 11.5% increase for homeowners with the most common "multiperil" policies. When considering other personal-lines residential policies, the average increase rises to 12.3%. Some commercial policies, including condominium association policies, could see an average increase of 10.2%. These revisions followed concerns raised by the OIR regarding a previous rate proposal that regulators said was too high. While Citizens has responded to the concerns by slightly lowering the average rate increase, it has not yet received the necessary approval to implement the proposed amounts. Personal-line rate increases are slated for December 16, while commercial rate increases would take effect on November 20. The proposal comes as Citizens has more than doubled in the last three years to become the state’s largest property insurer with 1.387 million policies. A tumultuous home insurance market is to blame for sending homeowners to the insurer of last resort, as financial instability has led private insurers to drop policyholders, raise rates, withdraw from the state, or declare insolvency altogether.
Program that provides grants to homeowners to make storm hardening improvements sees strong demand
The My Safe Florida Home program, created to provide grants for storm-related home hardening, is facing a funding shortage as the popular initiative sees 800 new applications a day. Launched in November 2022, the program offers grants of up to $10,000 to help homeowners improve their properties to weather against hurricanes. The program provides funding for home improvements such as replacing windows, doors, and roofs, with the state contributing $2 for every $1 spent. Qualifying low-income applicants do not need to provide matching payments. Since its inception ten months ago, more than 38,000 people have applied for grants, with over 19,000 approved. However, the initial $115 million in funds ran out in the spring, and an additional $100 million was added in July. As of now, there's roughly $24 million remaining, but there are still 19,699 grant applications still being processed. Despite the backlog, the program continues to accept new applications with grants awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, even as funding is likely to run out before all pending applications are processed. However, if the program is renewed, homeowners will retain their position in line. Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis declared the My Safe Florida Home a “success” in a news release and said, “It’s critical that it is refunded next year so more Floridians can benefit.”
DeSantis suspends Miami commissioner following arrest
Gov. DeSantis took swift action to suspend Miami Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla following his arrest on a range of corruption charges, including bribery and money laundering. The arrest comes after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigation into a scheme to launder $245,000 in political contributions in exchange for Díaz de la Portilla's support for a proposed sports complex project in Miami. The governor’s executive order came one day after Díaz de la Portilla was arrested. State law authorizes the governor to remove elected officials from office for various reasons, including felony or misdemeanor offenses related to their official position. The now-suspended Republican faces charges of money laundering, bribery, criminal conspiracy, official misconduct, failure to report a gift, unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, and accepting campaign contributions in excess of legal limits. City commissioners in Miami convened in a special session on Saturday and voted to leave the District 1 seat vacant until the November 7 general election rather than to appoint a replacement. District 1 covers the areas of Allapattah, Spring Garden, the Health District, and parts of Flagami and Little Havana. Before his 2019 election to the Miami City Commission, Díaz de la Portilla served as a Republican in both the Florida House and Senate, in which he was majority leader during his final two years in the upper chamber. This isn’t the first time DeSantis has suspended a Miami elected official; last year, DeSantis removed former Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez from office following his arrest on felony corruption charges. However, that action came about three weeks after Martinez was charged. Díaz de la Portilla’s attorney stated that the commissioner is “innocent of the charges filed against him.” He posted a $72,000 bond one day after his arrest.
Miami restaurant settles lawsuit with state over drag shows
Miami's R House restaurant has resolved its yearlong legal battle with the state of Florida over a drag queen show after Gov. DeSantis accused the venue of attempting to “sexualize” children. The restaurant's owners agreed to pay a $10,000 fine to settle the dispute. They emphasized that the payment did not constitute an admission of guilt or a finding of violating laws. The legal conflict had gained political undertones as DeSantis last year took aim at restaurants and entertainment venues across the state that host drag queen shows, including the Hyatt Regency Miami and The Plaza Live theater in Orlando. This stemmed from videos posted on social media of children attending drag performances at these venues that some found to be overtly sexual or containing content inappropriate for minors. In the case of R House, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, an agency under the DeSantis administration, filed a complaint against the restaurant in July 2022, alleging that it exposed minors to “sexually explicit drag shows” and violated decency laws. The agency sought to revoke the restaurant’s liquor license. R House's owners clarified that their drag performances were not specifically intended for minors and introduced an age limit of 18+ in January 2023 to address future concerns.
Tampa gets $1M federal grant to plant more trees
The City of Tampa has secured a $1 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Urban and Community Forestry initiative to address the decline in the city's tree canopy. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced the grant, emphasizing the importance of mitigating the loss of trees in the region. A 2021 study revealed that Tampa's tree canopy coverage was the lowest in 26 years, contributing to a 2.5-degree increase in the city's average annual temperature since 1891. The grant aims to reduce air pollutants and carbon emissions and aligns with Mayor Jane Castor's goal to plant 30,000 trees across Tampa by 2030. The funds will target low-income areas with limited tree coverage, with a focus on underserved communities such as East Tampa, Drew Park, and Ybor City. Tampa's sustainability and resilience officer, Whit Remer, explained that finding space for new trees in the densely populated city remains a challenge, but creative solutions, including planting in stormwater ponds, will be explored. Each tree planted in public spaces could cost up to $1,000 as the city would be responsible for maintaining them. As a result, the grant is expected to finance the planting of approximately 1,000 to 1,600 trees, with efforts set to begin within three to six months after the funds become available.
Hillsborough County judge faces disciplinary actions over campaign conduct
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Nancy Jacobs may face disciplinary action following charges of wrongful conduct during her campaign to unseat then-circuit Judge Jared Smith and subsequent conduct. The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, responsible for regulating the conduct of Florida judges and judicial candidates, has found probable cause to charge Jacobs with violating campaign rules. The charges against Jacobs stem from public comments, text messages, and social media posts made during the campaign, including statements from her or her supporters that labeled Smith a “bigot” and "anti-Semite.” The circuit judge further criticized Smith for restricting a minor from having an abortion without her parents’ consent. Jacobs also publicized an endorsement by Planned Parenthood's political action committee, which the Qualifications Commission deemed as an inappropriate commitment to ruling a certain way on abortion cases. Since taking office, she allegedly sought to recruit a candidate to run against another judge and made discourteous remarks about a lawyer. Jacobs, who has admitted to the conduct and its violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct, has 20 days to respond to the charges. Disciplinary recommendations can range from a reprimand to removal from the bench, with the final decision resting with the state Supreme Court. Last August’s judicial contest for the 13th Circuit Court was an extreme departure from the usual standards in such races. The conduct and remarks of judicial candidates are tightly regulated by law, resulting in unexciting campaigns that are largely absent of negative campaigning, discussing specific issues, or commenting on opposing candidates. As for Smith, following his loss to Jacobs, Gov. DeSantis appointed him to an appellate court seat.
Hunters seeks to solve Florida’s python problem
The Everglades have been invaded by Burmese pythons over the past 30 years, causing significant disruption to the ecosystem with no natural enemies of their own. Irresponsible pet owners are believed to have released these snakes into the wild when they became too big to care for, leading to a decline in native wildlife, with the local populations of some small mammals declining dramatically or on the brink of total eradication – like foxes and rabbits. The problem has spiraled out of control since the first python was discovered and captured in 1979. To combat the problem, state officials initiated a unique approach a decade ago, sponsoring a weeklong hunt for the pythons, and offering cash prizes to participants. The inaugural python challenge in 2013 resulted in the capture of only 68 pythons. However, this year, the annual competition, which lasted from August 4 to 13, saw approximately 1,000 registrants capture and kill 209 pythons. Additionally, in 2017, Florida began paying approximately a hundred contractors to try and kill the snakes year-round. The hired contractors are estimated to have removed 11,000 snakes, while the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says just under 20,000 of the invasive reptiles have been killed since 2006. While the exact python population remaining is unknown, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predicts tens of thousands may be roaming the South Florida habitat, expanding their range as far west as Naples, as far north as Lake Okeechobee, and down to the Florida Keys. The state’s continuing efforts to pay contractors to eradicate the snakes year-round have yielded positive results as annual captures have ranged between 1,600 to 3,000, per FWC. This is up from just a few hundred to 600 snakes before the state contracted with hunters. However, a recent report by USGS says eradication is deemed nearly impossible as the resilient invasive species becomes even more pervasive and dominant in the Everglades. Further compounding the problem, Burmese pythons can lay anywhere between 50 to 100 eggs at one time.
Disney announces new attractions, experiences, and expansions at Destination D23
Early this month, thousands of devoted Disney fans descended on Disney World’s Contemporary Resort that was host of Destination D23, the "ultimate Disney fan event," which sold out quickly. Despite a challenging year for Disney, including financial struggles, clashes with Gov. DeSantis and Florida lawmakers, a writers’ strike, and company layoffs, the event drew eager D23 members who paid hundreds of dollars to immerse themselves in three days of Disney news, marketing, and shopping. D23, the official Disney fan club, has been a platform for fans to access exclusive merchandise and attend events like Destination D23, costing members of the fan club $99 per year. The event welcomed about 2,300 attendees from across the country with gift bags containing exclusive merchandise and a series of big announcements on new theme park attractions, cruise ship launches, TV content, and movie projects. Company executives detailed the latest news and developments, including a presentation on the future of Disney’s global network of theme parks by Chairman of Parks, Experiences and Products Josh D’Amaro. Here are some of the biggest headlines revealed from D23:
A major expansion is being planned for the world’s busiest theme park, Magic Kingdom, that will be as expansive and immersive as the $1 billion Star Wars; Galaxy’s Edge area at Hollywood Studios. The development schedule was not shared.
Animal Kingdom will replace DinoLand with a new tropical rainforest-themed land that will be inspired by “Encanto” or Indiana Jones. No timeline was provided.
Epcot will debut Luminous: The Symphony of Us, a new nighttime musical display of fireworks, lasers, water fountains, and lighting effects, on December 5.
Moana’s Journey of Water at EPCOT, an interactive walk-through attraction, is set to open on October 16.
The 1971 original Country Bear Jamboree attraction of audio-animatronic signing bears will be refreshed will new subgenres of country music.
The Tree of Life theater at Animal Kingdom will house a new show based on “Zootopia,” replacing Pixar’s A Bug’s Life 3-D special effects short film, “It’s Tough to Be a Bug.”
World Celebration at EPCOT, a new themed area that will welcome guests immediately upon entry to the park, will see construction completed in December 2023 – the latest completion of a multiyear overhaul at the theme park.
Popular fast-moving EPCOT attraction Test Track will deliver a new experience to guests as Disney Imagineers collaborate with Chevrolet to rethink the ride.
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