The Florida Roundup - Can the Democratic Party regain strength in Florida?

Episode Date: March 3, 2023

This is the first time in over a century there’s not a single Democrat in statewide elected office. Also: the 2023 legislative session is coming, and the state may preempt local control over water quality, pollution and wetlands.

Welcome to the Florida Roundup. I'm Matthew Petty. Melissa Ross and Danny Rivero are out today. Both the Republican and the Democratic Party have new statewide leaders to steer them into the 2024 election cycle. Florida Republicans last month elected Sarasota County State Committee Chairman Christian Ziegler as state chair. Meanwhile, Democrats picked Nikki Free, the state's former agriculture commissioner, to be the party's chair. She replaces Manny Diaz, who stepped down in January following a punishing midterm election that saw Republicans seizing supermajorities in both legislative chambers. Democrats haven't controlled the governor's

mansion or either chamber of the legislature since 1999 however this is the first time in over a century there's not a single Democrat in statewide elected office 305-995-1800 is the number if you want to give us a call weigh in your thoughts, comments, questions on the state of both the Republican and the Democratic Party in Florida we'd love to hear from you too if you've maybe made a switch from one of those two parties thoughts, comments, questions on the state of both the Republican and the Democratic Party in Florida. We'd love to hear from you too if you've maybe made a switch from one of those two parties in recent months or years. Maybe you've changed parties. Maybe you're one of the growing

members of non-party affiliates in Florida. 305-995-1800. You can also send us a tweet. We're at Florida Roundup. Just a note too, we reached out to leadership from both the Democratic and the Republican parties. Nikki Freed was unavailable this week and we didn't hear back from Republican leadership, but the invitation to speak with us on the Florida Roundup stands. We're joined now by Christy Zizzo, digital editor with News 6 WKMG in Orlando. Christy, thank you so much for being with us. Thanks for having me, Matthew. And also joined by Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee correspondent Lawrence Mauer. Lawrence,

thanks so much for being here too. Thanks for having me. Well, Christy, I want to start with you. You've reported on the loss of voters that the Florida Democratic Party has experienced in recent years tell us a little bit more about what you found well what i found um after taking a look at registration uh the book closing reports for the um november 2020 election and the november 2022 election November 2022 election is that Democrats lost 331,810 voters to vote in those elections, which is quite large when you consider that no party affiliate voters, that body of voters gained voters. The Republican Party, we know,

The Republican Party, we know, gained voters and actually overtook the Democrats in 2021 for the first time in a century. So I started looking at why that was the case. And what we found was that there were many voters who left the democratic party and became no appeal no affiliate no party affiliate voters and even more uh some who became republicans we found some who have left the state yeah so i mean the question of where are voters going sometimes it's voters switching parties sometimes it's just geographical shifts right as you as you report one thing that gave me a bit of a chuckle in the article, Christy, was a person you spoke to said they're thinking of moving to New Zealand, and then their partner was like, no, that's too far. So people sometimes kind of think of geographical extremes when they want to, when they think about what's happening in Florida, but you did sort of dig into some of where people are going. So tell us a little bit more about that,

like people leaving the state altogether in some cases. Yeah, that is obviously harder to track. What we did was we took the voter rolls, which are publicly available from the state, the 2020 voter rolls from October 2020 and the November 2022 voter rolls. And we compared the voter IDs and found that no party affiliate voters, it was about 156,000 Democrats became NPA voters. 102,356 became Republicans. And as a small portion of that, about 16,000 became minor party voters. Now we don't, it's a little harder to figure out who left the states in that time period and fell off the voter rolls. And to distinguish how many of them fell off

because they left and how many fell off because of other reasons they died or something else happened they are no longer on the rolls florida does not they have told me does not do en masse voter roll purges right that as far as yeah christy as far as you know some of the folks you spoke to or reported on for this story and the reasons they gave for leaving either party, what did you hear? It was a mix of people who felt that the Democrats' message didn't resonate with them anymore. We did have a few people talk about wokeism as a concept, so-called wokeism, having problems with the Democrats' focus on trans rights. the state Democrats weren't present in their communities. They felt that they were just not around, not talking about the issues that matter. And they thought, why am I still part of this party if they're not going to represent me? And there were others. We actually did have a few people who flat out said, you know, what's the point of being part of a party if I have

no power? My vote matters, and I'm going to use it to try to make a difference where my vote matters, which they're going to try and vote, you know, in Republican races. Right. 305-995-1800 is the number. And of course, as we mentioned, the Republicans do have a super majority. They control pretty much every arm of government in Tallahassee at the moment. So some concerns from some folks, I suppose, voting Democrat. What good is their vote going to do if they don't have the elected leaders to act on that? Let's go to Sandy in St. Pete. Sandy, you're on the air.

What's on your mind? Good morning. I'm just calling to say that I think it has to do with the messaging. I think the Republican Party has successfully built it down. Sandy, it's a little bit hard to hear you. There's a little bit of wind noise there. I'll go inside a building. Is this any better? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go for it. Okay. I just think that it has to do with the messaging. Somehow Democrats have to get a better message out. They have to assume that it's always a teachable lesson. They think people understand how the system works better than they really do. So I just think that it has to do with the messaging.

We have to be able to get out what is good about voting for the Democrat versus the Republican, how it will affect their everyday life. Sandy in St. Petersburg, thank you so much for your call. I appreciate that. Christy, there's some quotes from some folks, Democratic Party insiders in your reporting, former Attorney General candidate Sean Shaw, for example. What did he say about what the party's doing wrong, what it's going to take to fix it? He had an interesting quote that actually didn't make the story. And I do want to talked about the lack of cohesiveness between the state party and the local democratic parties

and said, you know, you've got these local parties, you've got young Democrats, you've got college Democrats, You've got these little groups that are in local communities and in the counties. And you can tap those to help you get your message across. And that's free because, I mean, one of the biggest problems the Democrats have is they have no money. They just they're they're starved of funds so he said that he's um i'll quote him i've told my hillsborough people this that we need to be out in the communities more being out at the commission and the school board but there when someone has a press conference and then i did quote him saying you know if you're a democrat in Florida now, you better be loud.

Right. You need to get people excited. And Anna Eskamani feels the same way. Right. Yeah, she's quoted fairly extensively, not just in your reporting, Christy, but also she's been fairly outspoken saying the Democrats really need to get back to their roots, i.e. the grassroots, and kind of building things from the ground up. Let's take a call from Glenn in West Palm Beach. Glenn, you're on the air. Hey, good afternoon, both of y'all.

We have a good weekend. But yeah, no, one of my biggest concerns is, and you know, mind you, I'm a registered Republican, but one of my biggest concerns is the agenda that's currently happening. I may be cherry-picking, but, like, I saw bills being concerning about dogs sticking their head out of cars, making that illegal. One about fans rushing the field at public stadiums. And I'm just like, is this, like, what I'm supporting? Like, this feels like the epitome of a political circus.

And almost as if, like, we're in a really bad episode of the show, deep. I'm just like, you know, if we're accepting that the Republicans are going to be in power, then are they going to actually legislate or deal with these Mickey Mouse issues, so to speak? Thank you. Thanks so much for your call. I think the bill he's referring to there

is actually a Democratic-sponsored bill, but this is a good moment to bring in Lawrence Mauer, Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee correspondent. Lawrence, I'm not seeing a lot of bills being put forth from the Democrats. Are you kind of paying attention to some stuff that they may put up that has some legs, so to speak, in this legislative session? Well, the short answer is probably no. You know, the Democrats are in a, they're a super minority. So they have even less say than they've had in previous years. They've, again, not been in power since the 90s in either chamber. And so, no, their bills largely won't pass, but they do team up with Republicans on some practical issues.

You know, most of their bills, though, have been or many of them, I should say, have been focused on practical issues. I'm not talking about the dog sticking their head out of the window type bill necessarily, but, you know, on issues dealing with property insurance and cost of living, housing. You know, there was a bill, I believe, filed today by a Democrat. It might have been Eskamani, I believe, that kind of dealt with outlawing predatory landlord practices and excessive security deposits and move-in fees for rent. You know, basically kind of leveling the playing field between landlords and tenants. But those bills don't get much traction. Now, what you have seen get some traction, one of the biggest successes has been,

might have been Eskamani and a few other Republican or Democrats who proposed a tax break on diapers and other kind of practical things. Republicans actually picked that up and passed it and then, of course, took credit for it. But that was a Democratic issue. And so there is some daylight on issues like that that Democrats might have a chance of getting passed. Right. Let's go to Bill in Jacksonville. Bill, you're on the air. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. I think it's the packaging, the sales package of the candidate that has hurt the Democrats the most.

And what I mean by that is the social issues that are packaged a certain way to do with the child that wants to get a sex change or whatever. packaged a certain way to do with the child that wants to get a sex change or whatever. That doesn't really do anything for the constituents. But the fear of these kind of unusual things sells like hotcakes. Well, when I hear a politician, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. When I hear a politician talking about social issues, OK, it tells me that they can't get anything done legislatively. The lobbyists have so much pressure on them that when they talk about a social issue, that means they really can't get anything done. But they know how to do the reverse psychology to get the voter to go for it. That means they're not really doing that much legislatively for their constituents. The meat and bones, the kitchen table stuff matters more,

but for some reason the Democrats can't package that. They can't sell it like the fear of the unknown sells. Right, Bill, I hear what you're saying there. I would push it back a little bit, that on some of those issues. I mean, some of those issues are, you know, very real issues for many folks in the LGBTQ plus community. If you're in the trans community, there's some real fears and justifiably so about what's happening legislatively. But thank you so much for your call. Let's take Kimberly next. Kimberly, I believe you're calling in from Davie. What's on your mind?

Next, Kimberly, I believe you're calling in from Davie. What's on your mind? Hi there. You know, I recently moved to Florida from the Bay Area in California, and I was an avid Democrat. And moving to Florida, I have really kind of seen the light of the benefits of the Republican Party. The comparison of what's happening in these liberal states in their large cities is tragic. And some of the Republican policy really does speak to what's happening in the world and keeping communities safe and supporting our police and supporting our schools.

And I mean, I'm a convert. I never thought I would be. I was born and raised in one of the most liberal cities in Northern California. And I really feel that the Republican Party is like your strict parent where you don't necessarily want to do everything, but it teaches you consequences for your actions and fiscal responsibility. And, you know, it really has changed my life, kind of opening up my world to the Republican views. And I never in a million years would have thought that I, of all people, would have converted to the Republican Party. But I really am kind of changed, and so is my family.

And it is so much better here in a Republican-run state than what's happening in so many cities and states on the East Coast and the West Coast that lean left. Kimberly, thanks so much for your call. Appreciate that. I want to go back to you for a moment. Christy, in terms of folks becoming Republican, switching to that party, I wonder if you heard sort of much along the lines of what Kimberly was saying, rationale for switching parties like that. along the lines of what Kimberly was saying, rationale for switching parties like that?

I unfortunately have not, but I can tell you that there is definitely a big part of the movement for Republicans that has allowed them to continue to increase their voter rolls is this feeling of people who moved here from other states, in part because they liked what they were hearing from DeSantis about COVID restrictions and like what they hear from him about law enforcement. Those things are, it goes back, someone, one of your callers had said, kitchen table issues. I will say that David B., one of my interviewees, the COVID restrictions was one of the reasons why he left the Democratic Party.

He felt that the Democrats were not using common sense. And they, because of that, they attacked Ron DeSantis and treated him like an enemy and they felt he felt that it was unfair. And I had heard some of that. I don't know how many of them. Most of them that I heard from did switch to NPA, not the Republican Party. A lot of the people who switched the Republican Party did climb my interviews, my attempt to get them to talk. Let's just read a tweet here. This is Maxwell writes in via Twitter. My family plans to leave Florida soon. We have young children and the trajectory of education here would be knowingly intellectually abusive for so many reasons. The state will become a YouTube pipeline made flesh with the politics here combined with no state tax. So another view

there. Lawrence, just in the few minutes before we go to a break here, a few seconds rather before we go to a break here, I'm wondering too about the sort of the bigger picture here, the national influence on Florida. What kind of influence do you believe or do you feel the specter of the 2024 presidential election has on the legislative session this year? presidential election has on the legislative session this year? Well, a big one, obviously. I don't think it's any secret to anyone that DeSantis is going to run for president. I think that's what everyone's predicting. And he has basically unprecedented sway over the legislature. And really, nobody can remember a time in recent history where a governor had this much say over the agenda during a legislative session.

And so, yeah, I mean, this is a governor who has is very good about generating headlines, both if he feeds off of the positive ones in conservative media and the negative ones in mainstream or liberal media. media and the negative ones in mainstream or liberal media. And you're going to see a lot more of that this year. I mean, he's probably going to announce right after a session. And so, you know, it's really about, hey, how can he use this to his advantage? Lawrence Mao with the Tampa Bay Times. Do stay with us. Much more to talk about on the other side of this break. I want to say thank you as well to Christy Zizzo, the digital editor for News 6 WKMG in Orlando. Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you. Up next, a closer look at the legislative session as lawmakers debate gun laws, education, immigration and more. That's when the Florida Roundup continues. Welcome back to the Florida Roundup. I'm Matthew Petty. Governor Ron DeSantis' $114 billion budget proposal this year includes pay increases for teachers, money for the environment, and other items that may garner some bipartisan support. DeSantis is also supporting legislation that is a lot more polarizing, including a bill that would change the rules for carrying concealed weapons. We're going to talk more about the upcoming legislative session just around the corner, 60 days starting next week. 305-995-1800 is the number if you want to weigh in what bills are top of mind for you. What do you want to see lawmakers achieve this session and what

difference is it going to make to your lives?5 995 1800 you can also send us a tweet at florida roundup with us is tampa bay times tallahassee correspondent lawrence mauer and i want to welcome to jason garcia investigative journalist in orlando and publisher of seeking rents on substack jason thanks for being with us yeah thanks for having me lawrence let me come back to you for a moment. Session starts on Tuesday. What are the biggest issues you're going to be keeping an eye on over the next 60 days? Well, there's a lot. There's going to be a number of bills preempting local governments, basically telling local governments what they can and can't do. There's a pretty significant

bill meant to address affordable housing to create more affordable housing on the market. Lawmakers are eyeing the biggest expansion of school vouchers in the state's history. They were considering maybe limits on abortion, further limits on that, limiting lawsuits against businesses and insurance companies. You mentioned the concealed carry issue. Another one, another big issue would be requiring all employers to use this federal program called the E-Verify, which is something the Republicans have been wanting to do, or some Republicans have been wanting to do for years now, and including DeSantis, and he's going to make another run at that this year. Yeah, a lot to get through here.

Some of these bills have raised their heads before in previous sessions, right, but they may not have had much of a sniff then. It just seems a lot more kind of cut and dried this session, right? As we were talking about before the break, there's a supermajority in the House and Senate, the Republicans. We didn't see a lot of pushback from Republican lawmakers to DeSantis' agenda last year. It makes it a little different, right? Perhaps not as much debate as you might get in a regular session this year. Yeah, I mean, I don't think things are going to be practically that much different as far as like, you know, Republicans having a super majority that basically allows them to waive the rules and kind of, you know, squelch

democratic debate and resistance. But really, I mean, this is all about DeSantis. And these are issues that I mentioned, he verified that something that he that was a campaign promise for him. Back in 2018, he he made he tried to get the legislature to do it in 2020. They didn't. They passed a watered-down version of that bill. You know, it's a bill that the business community has serious concerns about. And in past years, legislative leaders, other Republicans have had serious issues with. And this year, you know, this is really just a test of,

hey, how far can DeSantis go? How much can he push these people to get his way? And I think that will be the real test case for him. Just on E-Verify, I mean, how popular is that among lawmakers? It kind of depends on your constituency, right? Because there are some agricultural interests, lawmakers? It kind of depends on your constituency, right? Because there are some agricultural interests, other industries maybe not so keen on E-Verify? Yeah, so basically this is a federal program that would require employers to screen and see if their employees are in the country legally, or I should say have the ability to work here legally. And yeah, a lot of businesses have had serious resistance to that. And Republican lawmakers, many of them have been resistant to that as well. Because, you know, hey, look at the agriculture community alone.

And so, yeah, people are very much divided about it. And I think that DeSantis clearly wanting to make another run at this thinks he can get it passed this year. You mentioned affordable housing and Lawrence, you've done lots of reporting on another aspect of housing, which is of course the, the homeowners insurance crisis that's been simmering away over the last couple of years. Lawmakers had a couple of extra goes since the last regular session at trying to fix the state's broken homeowners insurance market. Premiums are still going up for homeowners, though. But there is one piece of legislation that will have an impact on Floridians who think they aren't getting a fair shake from

their insurer. I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about that. shake from their insurer. I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about that. Yeah, this is another bill. So the insurance companies have blamed excessive litigation for driving up rates. And there are a lot of lawsuits, but that's not really what's going on. I mean, that is an aspect of why rates are going up. But Florida's insurance market is kind of are going up, but Florida's insurance market is kind of irrevocably broken right now for a variety of reasons. But yeah, there's a bill this year to further crack down on lawsuits against insurance companies. They want to basically reduce the incentives for lawyers to take cases against insurance companies and against companies in general. They want to reduce the statute of limitations, for example, for general negligence cases from four years to two. They want to reduce the amount that lawyers can win or can collect

when they win a case against insurance companies and businesses and basically it's all about like reducing the incentives to sue companies and this goes I mean would this resolve the issue in Florida's insurance market maybe a little bit and maybe temporarily but this will not solve the the. I mean, basically, Florida has a problem with storms and storm insurance. And it's got a bunch of little companies that make a lot of money when there are no storms. But as soon as storms hit, they don't have enough money to pay out claims. And that is a problem that is basically impossible to resolve without some kind of wholesale reform. And lawmakers are not going to be looking at this

session. I keep hearing that legislative leaders are tired of property insurance. They don't want to be dealing with this. They think they've addressed it already. And so I think the appetite is going to be pretty small for fixing this, beyond trying to limit lawsuits. Yeah. Let me turn to Jason Garcia now, because there is another bill heading to the legislature this session. It's been called a disaster for free speech by First Amendment advocates. The bill, sponsored by State Representative Alex Andrade-Rubbican from District 2 in Pensacola,

would remove some legal protections for journalists and make it easier to sue for defamation and libel. Win or lose, it would also leave journalists and make it easier to sue for defamation and libel. Win or lose, it would also leave journalists and media organisations on the hook for legal fees. And Jason, you point out in your newsletter, Seeking Wrench, that one-way fees are being introduced here and taken away in lawsuits against insurance companies, as Lawrence was just talking about. You write, So Jason, what does House Bill 991 aim to do, right. Ron DeSantis wants people to stop suing insurance companies and start suing newspapers.

So Jason, what does House Bill 991 aim to do and what does it actually mean for journalists and media organizations? Yeah, well, it undoes or at least it attempts to undo literally decades worth of First Amendment protections for journalists and for speech more broadly. It's important to note that big parts of this bill are intentionally unconstitutional. The goal here is to set up a showdown before the U.S. Supreme Court, where the governor is hoping that the court would eventually undo some major historical precedents when it comes to protecting journalists and protecting free speech. And sort of like you alluded to, broadly speaking, the goal here is to make it easier for people to file lawsuits for defamation, easier for them to win lawsuits for defamation,

and to really ramp up the cost of being sued for defamation if you're the target one. Even if you win the suit, the goal here is to make that a very painful and expensive process for you. And the real irony, like you pointed out, I mean, Lawrence talked about the, they are right now pushing, the governor specifically is pushing legislation that's designed to make it much harder to sue insurance companies and big businesses like D&E and Publix. And he has specifically pointed out to this incentive that Lawrence alluded to called one-way attorney fees. And the governor has said unequivocally, that gets abused by attorneys. We need to get rid of it. Except this bill

establishes a new scheme of one-way attorney fees solely for defamation suits. And sort of that's how you end up with the idea that Ron DeSantis wants you to stop suing State Farm and start suing the Tampa Bay Times. 305-995-1800 is the number. If you want to weigh in on the upcoming legislative session, talk about some of the bills that our lawmakers are going to be debating this session, 305-995-1800. You can also weigh in via Twitter. Al in Palm Harbor, Al, you're on the air. What's on your mind? Well, thank you very much for taking my call. I just read an article from NBC News in Tampa that a Republican state senator in Florida has introduced a bill that if passed would require bloggers who write about the governor, his cabinet, or state legislatures to register with the state of Florida. state legislatures to a register with the state of Florida. It's called the bill's titled Information Dissemination, and we require bloggers to disclose who's paying them for their posts

about certain elected officials and how much. I guess George L. 1984 has come to fruition. Thank you for taking my call. Thanks, Al. Jason, let me put that to you. We didn't talk about that bill, but there's another bill which would have some impact on folks practicing media in the Sunshine State, right? Tell us more about that. Now, I think the caller is referring to some legislation that attempts to liken bloggers to lobbyists. I think I read somewhere where the sponsor equated a blogger writing about public policy the same as a lobbyist trying to bend the ear of a politician about public policy, ignoring sort of the obvious distinction that one is happening sort of behind the scenes, whereas another is happening out where everybody to read, right? That's the goal of writing it is people to read it. Yeah, there are a lot of potential sources of independent power or opposition. Yeah. Let's go to Warren now, Delray Beach. Warren, you're on the air. I don't hold out much hope from this legislative meeting. I think the insurance companies, first of all, practically own this state. Where I live, they're making it impossible for people to remain.

They're moving out because the condo boards keep having to do these big assessments. having to do these big assessments. The educational system, bad enough, is being damaged more by deconstructing it, allowing rich people to get vouchers and go to private schools. And as for lawyers, don't get me started. There could be no justice in courts where these overpaid soothsayers who tell people how to lie in court participate. Warren, thanks so much for your call. Appreciate that. So a little bit of consternation there I'm hearing from Warren. I do remind you that you are listening to the Florida Roundup on Florida Public Radio. Let me take another call here if I could. And before we do that, I want to sort of ask you, Lawrence, about another aspect of this upcoming legislative session,

and that is the education vouchers. You kind of hinted on it at the start. I mean, what's the bill and what does that mean for public education? That is a pretty big expansion, right, to the education voucher system. Yeah, this would be the culmination of Jeb Bush's, former Governor Jeb Bush's education school choice initiatives. But basically it would offer education savings accounts to all school-aged children. It's House Bill 1. And this would obviously be a massive change. The big question here is how much would this cost, not just taxpayers, but also school districts? This would go to private school kids, for example. And so it's kind of what some Republicans, some big school

choice advocates have been wanting for a long time. And it looks like this is probably the closest chance it'll have to passing. But yeah, this would be a major change in Florida. Yeah. Let's get a hit from John. John, you're on the air. What's on your mind? Thank you for having me. Sure. My main concern is healthcare. Florida has a very large population of older, elder people, and we have not adopted the Affordable Care Act.

We're trying to kick people off Medicaid, Medicare. And there was a prominent economist who regularly speaks on WMFB, which is my local station, and said that we are paying a price for not adopting the Affordable Care Act. And I was a former member of the Republican Party, and I left because they don't seem to care about people. They care about cultural issues. They care about very wealthy people. And our own Rick Scott was trying to get rid of Medicare, Social Security.

He's the guy who refused to accept the Affordable Care Act. Yeah, I'm hearing what you're saying, John. Thanks so much for weighing in. I'd hate to cut you off, but I do want to just get some thoughts here from Lawrence. I mean, are we seeing a lot in the way of bills that address health care in this upcoming session? Not necessarily. You know, your previous caller was right. I mean, Florida actually leads the country in the number of people using Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act. We have not expanded Medicaid. And in fact, there's going to be a lot of people,

potentially more than a million people who are going to lose Medicaid coverage this year. There was an emergency during the pandemic, there was an emergency provision that, you know, basically subsidized states for offering expanded Medicaid. And they basically, the feds picked up the tab for that. And that emergency act expires in, I believe it's April. And there are looks like about what,

900,000 people who the state currently believes are no longer eligible for it, but they've been unable to be removed. So yeah, those people are going to lose coverage of this year. Now some of those people might already have coverage through a private employer. It's not exactly clear. The state needs to do analysis on this and stuff. But no, there are efforts to kind of reduce drug costs. But a lot of that stuff is, you know, DeSantis has this proposal to import drugs from Canada.

But there are other things the state could be doing to lower prescription drug costs, like capping the cost of insulin. That's something the Democrats have proposed in previous years that have gone nowhere. And you really haven't seen that. Yeah. In the last few seconds we have here, Jason Garcia, I just wanted to get your thoughts on whether you think House Bill 991, the one that takes aim at media organization, where do you see that landing? Yeah, I expect it to pass, or at least some version of it. I think this is, you know, more than anything, Lawrence alluded to this, this session is entirely around giving Ron DeSantis whatever he wants and whatever he thinks he needs to campaign for president. And there are few greater villains in a Republican presidential primary than the media. So this would be a bill that, regardless of whether or not it ever goes into effect, because it's going to immediately get challenged in court, regardless of whether it ever goes into effect,

he'll be able to go to New Hampshire, go to Iowa, go to all these places and say, I took on the mainstream media. It's yet another sort of enemy. Took on the media. We're going to have to leave it there. But Jason, thank you so much. Jason Garcia, investigative reporter and Tallahassee Times, Tallahassee correspondent, Lawrence Mauer, thank you. Welcome back to the Florida Roundup.

I'm Matthew Petty. Governor Ron DeSantis touted his environmental accomplishments in his re-election speech, highlighting his support for Everglades restoration. But environmentalists are sounding a warning over the upcoming session. Gil Smart, executive director of VoteWater.org, says it's likely to be, quote, a session of sprawl. There's concern's concern too about a bill that would preempt local control over water quality pollution and wetlands 305-995-1800 is the number if you want to weigh in on the environment and what may come out of the session you can also send us a tweet we're at florida roundup and for more now we're joined by gil smart he also serves as director of policy

for the friends of the everglades gil thanks thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me. And WMFE Environmental Reporter Amy Green. Amy, thanks so much for joining us as well. It's my pleasure. Thank you. Amy, I want to start with you. What are the Governor's environmental priorities heading into this legislative session? Right. Well, the environment continues to be a priority for Governor Ron DeSantis. He issued another executive order on the environment in January, where he called for more money for Everglades restoration and also the Indian River Lagoon, where, as you know, we've had this horrible manatee die off over the past few years. He's also called for continued support for his Resilient Florida program, which is aimed at hardening the state's infrastructure against the hotter temperatures and rising seas and more damaging hurricanes of climate change. And he called for improvements to local long-term planning to encourage sustainable growth. Yeah. Let me just ask you this too. I mean, thinking back to four years ago, DeSantis starting his first term as governor, he won a lot of praise for environmental advocates, particularly for his approach to the Everglades. Just remind us what

his environmental record has been after four years as governor. Yeah, well, you'll remember Governor Ron DeSantis ran for his first term during 2018 at a time when Florida was really in the grips of this horrible toxic algae crisis. And so that really became a central issue of his campaign. And he pledged to clean up Florida's waterways. And as governor, you know, compared with his predecessor, former Governor Rick Scott, he really has invested a lot of money and a lot of energy into the environment. He's close with the Everglades Foundation, of course, and the Everglades Trust. And that's really been a priority of his administration.

He's also invested a billion dollars in his Resilient Florida program. And he's also invested a billion dollars in his Resilient Florida program. But the environmental groups, I think, would be quick to point out that when it comes to clean energy and moving the state away from fossil fuels, which are accelerating climate change in this really vulnerable state, Governor Ron DeSantis has really not done a lot to move Florida toward cleaner energy. What are you hearing then from conservation advocates about bills that have some kind of bearing on the environment, this legislative session? Right. Well, a lot of the conservation groups are calling this the session of sprawl. Vote Water is one of those groups because of a lot of bills that they say would undermine smart development at a time when Florida is experiencing explosive growth. And the 2022 hurricane season really illustrated the need for sustainable building and growth and development.

And in fact, there's one bill that would effectively strip local governments from control over water quality and hand that control over to the state. And I would add that this is really the latest attempt by the state legislature to preempt local control over natural resources. We've also seen that on issues like clean energy. resources. We've also seen that on issues like clean energy. There was an effort called Rights of Nature that was aimed at expanding citizens' ability to bring legal action on behalf of natural resources and threats to those resources. And so because of a lot of those bills, conservation groups like Boat Water anticipate a you know, anticipate a lot of bills, you know, that they say encourage or would encourage more sprawl. Right. 305-995-1800 is the number. Are you worried about sprawl? Are you looking to your elected leaders to do something about it this legislative session? Or are you quite happy with the way the

environment's going? 305-995-1800. You can also tweet us we're at florida roundup anthony writes on twitter de santis has shown from his past term that he has little care for the environment especially piney point and all the red tide on the gulf coast i should point out too that i mean red tide is a naturally occurring phenomenon though of course environmentalists and ecologists know that there's some human impacts that that can exacerbate red tide uh gil smart let me bring you into this conversation from water.org um talking about sprawl uh and that particular bill especially uh house bills 1197 it would ban counties and municipalities from adopting laws, regulations, rules, policies relating to water quality or quantity, pollution control,

discharge prevention or removal, or wetlands. Pretty comprehensive there. What would this do? Would this impede any current local ordinances? And how do you see it working? Well, absolutely. I mean, this bill, and there's a counterpart to Senate Bill 1240, it's by far the worst bill this session. We're calling this particularly bill, particularly bill the Dirty Water Act, because ultimately that's what it would result in.

You already have in the state. In Martin County, it's very, very difficult, if not impossible, to destroy wetlands and pave over them for development. If this law, if this proposal passes, that would change. That sort of regulation would go away. A big question we have about this bill is what about county fertilizer ordinances? A lot of counties have fertilizer bans. The entire point of those bans is to prevent too much pollution from getting into the waterways. The way this bill reads, it would invalidate those sort of fertilizer ordinances at the county level because counties aren't allowed to pass their own rules having to do with pollution control.

So, you know, in virtually every case, you know, again, there are other counties and municipalities that take action on water quality, that pass their own stringent measures specifically because of problems they're having at the local level. This says, no, you're not allowed to do that. Only the state can do it. And the state, a lot of people believe, is not doing a very good job of protecting these things. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from Florida Public Radio. Carbon emissions, Gil, they're a form of pollution and protecting wetlands often pointed to as one of the best things the state and local governments can do to both capture and store carbon and to

help protect communities from flooding and storms. So, Serge, how do you see this bill affecting local governments' abilities to tackle climate change in that regard? affecting local governments' abilities to tackle climate change in that regard? You know, it doesn't specifically articulate that. So, but again, you know, if you're interested, you know, water quality regulations, you know, water quantity regulations. I mean, these are things, as Amy mentioned a few moments ago, we've got an estimated 800 people per day moving to the state of Florida, okay? per day moving to the state of Florida.

And unless we have extremely competent, extremely thoughtful, extremely stringent development regulation to prevent the worst outcomes from happening, the worst outcomes will happen. We are going to see. And that, again, goes back to our sort of objections to this whole slate of bills, which we're calling the session of sprawl. There's a half dozen of them, even more, that are going to result in more pavement, more impervious surfaces, more rooftops, more runoff, more problems. And it's interesting because, as mentioned earlier, Governor DeSantis did just put out a new executive order about a month, month and a half ago, Executive Order 2306, articulating his clean water priorities for his second term. And in there, he specifically says that he wants the Department of Environmental Protection to partner with the State Department

of Economic Opportunity and local governments to improve local government long-term comprehensive planning that ensures sustainable growth while protecting our natural resources, including prioritizing sewer connections, wastewater system, et cetera. So here you have the governor himself saying, we need to do more to strengthen comprehensive planning. But the legislature turns around and files all these bills that do the exact opposite and would undermine them. Let's go to Michelle in Dade City. Michelle, you're on the air. What's on your mind? Let's go to Michelle in Dade City. Michelle, you're on the air. What's on your mind?

Hi, thank you so much for taking my call. I agree with your current guess regarding the session of sprawl. I believe what he's talking about is what the Tallahassee Phoenix refers to as the Tallahassee switcheroo. I think it's hilarious that people are touting DeSantis as some sort of environmental hero when typically what he does is throw an enormous amount of money at something that's very flashy that people can sort of latch on to, while other builders simultaneously passing that undermine our water quality, our wetlands. We're still facing a terrible algal bloom crisis in this state that has become a yearly

occurrence now. The aforementioned manatee die-off, which is horrendous because of the algal bloom crisis in this state that has become a yearly occurrence now. The aforementioned manatee die-off, which is horrendous because of the algal bloom. The fact that communities of color are still suffering disproportionate lack of services. The fire that's burning in Doral. The sugar cane that is poisoning communities around Lake Okeechobee. Okeechobee itself, which is absolutely heartbreaking, our largest inland water body, and when we ignore it, no one ever talks about it.

Michelle, thanks so much for weighing in. Quite a lot to get through there. Gil, does the state have resources to properly oversee water monitoring and enforcement just in the last minute or so we have here? The state has never really done that. The state's signature pollution reduction program are called Basin Management Action Plans, or BMAPs. It's a very complicated program. The reality is the state is nowhere near achieving

the pollution reductions that this program has said we need to achieve. The state does very little, if any, enforcement of water quality regulations. Polluters are allowed to sort of get away with it, and we sort of look the other way. So again, local governments that are trying to do something about that and take their own steps to protect water quality in their communities are going to be told here with this House Bill 1197, Senate Bill 1240, tough. You can't do that. You have to live with what the state's doing and the state's not doing enough. Amy Green, in the last few seconds

we have here, what protections are you seeing in place? What's the state of Florida doing to preserve the natural environment going forward? Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of efforts going on around the state. You know, we talked about Everglades restoration and the Indian River Lagoon, you know, where the manatees and there's been so many problems. And yeah, you know, I think the caller makes a valid point. You know, Governor Ron DeSantis, you know, he has made the environment a priority of his administration. He has put a lot of money toward those things. He promised as a candidate to clean up Florida's waterways. Has he really done it? We have to leave it there, but Amy Green with WMFE, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.

You're welcome. And Gil Smart with Water.org, thanks as well, Gil. Support for the Florida Roundup is produced by WJCT Public Media in Jacksonville, WLRN Public Media in Miami, Heather Schatz, Bridget O'Brien, Natu Twayo, producers, Brendan Rivers is the associate producer, vice president of radio, our technical director is Peter Mance. I'm Matthew Petty. Thanks for calling and listening.