The Florida Roundup - Fact-checking DeSantis’ State of the State, Canadian drug imports, condo reform and Florida GOP’s new leadership

Episode Date: January 12, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we fact-checked Gov. DeSantis’ State of the State address with PolitiFact (01:39). Then, we spoke with the former secretary for the Agency for Health Care Administration about Florida’s plan to import prescription drugs from Canada (09:16). Next, we heard from Sen. Pizzo (D-Hollywood) about his push for condo reforms (20:37) and then spoke with the new chairman of the Florida Republican Party (29:23). Plus, an update on winter storms from the Florida Public Emergency Network (37:20) and some recent education news (40:44). Finally, we ask: is it “Sani-belle” or and “San-a-bull” (46:01)?

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being along this week. A new year is a chance for a new beginning. Ron DeSantis' message to lawmakers as they begin their election year law writing session, more of the same. My message is simple. Stay the course. The state of our state is strong. Let's keep doing what works. Let's continue to make Florida the state of your household? 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. Or email radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Now, we're taking your calls and emails only for the next eight minutes or so, so don't delay. Get in now. 305-995-1800. We want to hear from you. This legislative session begins as Governor DeSantis wants a new job, president of the United States. In his opening address, he called Florida, quote, the refuge of freedom and sanity.

Democrats, including House Minority Leader Francis Driscoll, blasted the governor, saying he is focused on the presidential campaign instead of the needs of Floridians. There were no new ideas. It was a rehash of his greatest hits. When he opened up his remarks, I was wondering, when is he ever going to talk about Florida? My God, Chicago, California, New York, D.C., everywhere but Florida. Home insurance, affordability, health care. What are some of the issues you want your representatives to focus on? 305-995-1800. Katie Sanders is along with us now. She's the editor-in-chief at PolitiFact and our news partner, PolitiFact Florida. Katie, welcome to the program. Thanks for having me. The state of the state speech, well, these are places where governors, you know, lay out their priorities and proclaim their accomplishments.

Governor DeSantis certainly made a lot of claims about his policy record. So let's start by hearing from the governor on education. We have earned rankings of number one for education, number one for education freedom, number one for parental involvement in education, number one for talent development, number one for public higher education. So a lot of claims made by the governor there, Katie, what does PolitiFact make of them? These are really broad measures, right? Parental involvement, education. Some of them are non-standard measures. I think in the very big picture, when you hear these number one rankings is you have to consider the source, where it's

coming from, consider what other sources might say and how they may rank Florida differently. And again, remember, these are not all standard terms. So on the education rankings, he has a point. U.S. News and World Report did place Florida number one overall for education. If you look into the details, it was the top state for higher ed, but 14th for pre-K to 12th grade. But I think you have to keep in mind that it's not universal. We're not universally number one on education. And that's because different metrics take in different factors than U.S. News and World Report. And U.S. News has been criticized for

overly focusing on some factors and ignoring others. We know that the economy is the number one issue for voters, always is, and certainly will be this election cycle. Jobs, inflation, housing costs. The governor made several claims about the state's economy under his leadership. Let's listen. Number one for domestic in-migration for the third consecutive years. Number one in new business formations. Number one in GDP growth amongst large states and better than almost all countries throughout the world. We are number one for entrepreneurship. So maybe some of these measurements are a little more quantifiable than parental involvement is, Katie. How accurate is the governor on these economic stats?

This is a mix for accuracy. I'm going to take it in order. So on domestic net migration, we found that that is accurate. Florida did lead for three consecutive years. But on new business formations, this is unsupported. They didn't get back to us about what they're using. But when we checked federal data, we found Florida did lead some months, but not others. So there's no number one overall. And we found that that is the case. Florida's GDP growth did outrank the United States, but did trail some other countries that maybe you wouldn't think of as being on our same level. But again, on entrepreneurship, this one is kind of funny to me. It traces back, this is a non-standard term, and it traces back to one website's ranking. And amid some traditional factors, they also worked in search interest on Google for the word how to start a business and people who started a business by choice and not a necessity. So once you dig into the details here, you find maybe this isn't science.

Yeah. Nicole sent us an email saying that it's important to me that across all different categories, policies and laws are optimized and functioning properly. I think a lot of voters would certainly agree with you there, Nicole. Thanks for that email to us, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. The governor did mention a program that provided rebates for commuters who rack up a lot of tolls driving around Florida. A listener from Tampa left us this voicemail. My name is Eileen Grimm. I'm listening to Ron DeSantis' State of the State. The toll reduction plan for commuters ended as of January 1st, 2024.

And he is touting that as one of his accomplishments, but doesn't say it ended. So, Katie Sanders with PolitiFact Florida, the governor claimed this program helped more than a million drivers save money on tolls. And Eileen in the Tampa area said, OK, maybe, but it's no longer in place. Yeah, I thought the listener was smart to point out something we see a lot, which is that even when a politician's literal words are accurate, they're not always committed to giving the full picture. And, you know, there's a reason he didn't mention this. And that part of the story in a state of the state is because it's politically unpopular, that something that was helpful to people's pocketbooks is no longer in effect necessarily. In fact, Florida leaders were warned by Moody's Investor Service to anticipate some political and social pressure when the program ends. So we'll see if they do anything about it this session. Now, after the State of the State address, the governor was quickly back to the Hawkeye State in Iowa, where the caucus is being held on Monday.

He was there for a Republican presidential debate with Nikki Haley, who was prepared with her own fact checks on the Florida governor. We're going to find out tonight that there's going to be a lot of Ron's lies that have happened. There are at least a couple of dozen so far that he's done. So what we're going to do is rather than have him go and tell you all these lies, you can go to DeSantisLies.com and look at all of those. All right, Katie. Well, I'm not going to ask you what you think about Nikki Haley encroaching upon your area with fact checking politicians, a politician checking a politician. But what do you make of Haley's own fact checks? They both did it. You know, they were trading websites.

But Haley was so distinctive in mentioning this website 16 times. So we had to look into it. Right. mentioning this website 16 times. So we had to look into it, right? And when we did, we found that this website does link to a lot of work by PolitiFact and other media organizations. But if you were listening to that and you thought, what did PolitiFact say? We don't use the word lie in the same way she does. Our Truth-O-Meter rating considers statements on a broad scale. And many of the things that she considers a lie, such as Ron DeSantis saying she said the retirement age was way too low. Well, we don't call that a lie.

We call that half true because she did say in an August interview that the age when Americans can collect Social Security, Medicare benefits is way too low. But DeSantis and Trump, former President Donald Trump, have left out context about this not affecting current beneficiaries or even people who are entering the retirement pool soon. She's talking about people who are her kids' age and their 20s. Context is so important. And taking a step back here, Katie, we've got the State of the State Address now. We're right ahead of the Iowa caucuses and we've seen plenty of

political coverage. What do you make about the truthfulness of the state of politics as we're in this election year? Just real quick, just kind of what's that headline for you from PolitiFact Florida? People need to be skeptical of what they're are, I'm not saying that politicians don't say accurate things sometimes, but when we were watching that debate, we had fact-checked many, many of the claims, and many of them were false. So people, when you hear something, please don't take it to the bank as true. Hit in a Google search and use the words fact-check after you type in some keywords so that you find a source that's reputable.

Sourcing matters. Katie Sanders is the editor-in-chief of GreatSource, PolitiFact with PolitiFact Florida. Florida will be the first state to buy prescription drugs in a foreign country and import the medicine here. The Food and Drug Administration okayed the plan for the state to buy certain medicine in Canada, potentially saving millions of dollars. But few Floridians will be able to get the cheaper drugs, at least at first. We spoke with Mary Mayhew.

She's the CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. She was the secretary for the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration when the state began the process to ask to import prescription drugs from Canada. for the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration when the state began the process to ask to import prescription drugs from Canada. Mary, nice to have you on the program. Why did you want, why did Florida want the OK from the federal government to buy medicine from Canada? There have been so many efforts over the last several decades to improve the affordability

of prescription medications. This is yet another opportunity that Governor DeSantis and the Florida legislature have been pursuing. Congress authorized this back in 2003, but it had never been formally approved by Washington. And Governor DeSantis and the legislature began pushing for this. And this is really just fundamentally about understanding that far too many people are still choosing between food and getting their medications, their prescriptions filled. That federal regulation you referred to has the FDA that allows importation of prescription drugs if those medicines will, quote, significantly reduce the cost to the American consumer without imposing additional risk to the public health and safety. So how does the Florida plan achieve those two goals?

Well, certainly the Florida plan, consistent with those requirements, I think that's really important to emphasize that the structure around dramatically improving the affordability, consistent with the quality, but we would expect nothing less in terms of the quality standards between the United States and Canada. But we know that prescription drugs are far more affordable in Canada. Also important to remember, it is currently limited to benefit individuals for certain diagnoses who are receiving their supports through the Florida Department of Children and Families, through the Department of Health, through the Department of Corrections. Now, the state is also interested in expanding that to those individuals enrolled in Medicaid.

Yeah, so it's not every patient in Florida that's going to have access to this imported medicine. No patients on private insurance, no patients with a plan through healthcare.gov, and no one on Medicare will have access to these Canadian imported drugs into Florida, correct? That is how it is today structured. What the federal authorization that Congress adopted would have potentially envisioned a broader approach, ultimately, to grant greater access to other individuals. This is a baby step forward to take advantage of that provision. Again, that's been around since 2003 to recognize prescription drug prices have increased significantly last year on, over a 15% increase for those drugs that saw price increases. So we've got to

look disruptively at opportunities to make prescription medications more affordable. Is it fair to say that this step, you call it a baby step, makes prescription drugs more affordable for the state of Florida, which is the payer for these patients who would receive these drugs. It is exactly that. And I want to be clear, it's a monumental movement, but perhaps an incremental step in our efforts to expand access to affordable medications to all. The medicine that will be imported will be coming from Canada, not necessarily going through the regulatory process with the Food and Drug Administration.

Is that of any curiosity for patients, any concern, Mary? Or is it the same medicine that essentially the drug companies, the pharmaceutical companies sell in the United States? We know that certainly there have been concerns raised from the manufacturers. We would be hard pressed to believe that there's any difference in quality, but the framework of this, the protections that are a part of this infrastructure as directed by the federal government will assure a chain of command that the quality is maintained. That needs to be the focus. We want that to be the focus. And we know that the state has that as its priority. that as its priority. What are the potential savings for the state of Florida here? Because again, the patients that will be receiving these imported prescription drugs are going to be

patients receiving their health care through the state of Florida. We've got to be looking at millions of dollars in savings when the state is able to capitalize on this type of an arrangement to purchase those prescription medications, to import those from Canada. And again, at the end of the day, the state is very much focused on the affordability of healthcare, the sustainability of these safety net programs administered and paid for by the state. The more that the state can save money on prescription medications, it allows them those dollars to be reinvested to expand these programs for some of the most vulnerable Floridians.

Does this plan envision state employees that have healthcare through their jobs with the state getting access to these Canadian drugs? Not at this time, at least in terms of, again, my understanding. So roughly about how many patients do you anticipate to be involved with this step? Again, remembering that they want to expand this ultimately to Medicaid enrollees. We today have over 5 million Floridians who are enrolled in Medicaid. What's the timeline for those patients who are eligible here from the get-go to see these medicines imported from Canada?

here from the get-go to see these medicines imported from Canada? You know, I know that we all wanted this yesterday. We're all certainly excited that we've now received, that the state has received this approval. So hopefully this authorization allows the agency to swiftly move forward so that within this year, individuals could start to benefit from this. You led that agency as it went through the state legislative process several years ago to kind of set the stage for this request by the state of Florida to the federal government. You're now at the Florida Hospital Association. What role would or could hospitals play with imported drugs in Florida? The opportunity here to expand access to more affordable prescription drugs from Canada, that helps to support the mission of our hospitals to improve the health of the communities of the patients that they're serving. Our hospitals

are certainly ready to partner with the state, with these state agencies that will be specifically involved in this initiative. And certainly as that extends to the Medicaid population, we will be ready to support in any way we can. Is it too much of an overstatement, Mary, to say perhaps the monopoly that pharmaceutical companies have had on keeping their drugs solely in the United States for sale in the United States is beginning to crack? You know, I think a lot of this is about the way in which so much of our health care is influenced globally today. Think just in terms of our supply chain and the dependencies we have on other countries. But a lot of our medications are produced in other countries today.

produced in other countries today. What Americans have been so frustrated about has been the significant disparity in pricing and what we're having to shoulder for a financial burden in the United States for medications that is so much higher than other countries. So we've got to look at this differently, and we need to be disruptive in the approach in order to really reset the table, to recognize these are life-saving medications, life-changing medications. And so we do need to look at every opportunity to improve access and to improve affordability. Mary Mayhew is with the Florida Hospital Association. She's the former secretary of the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration. Mary, nice to have you on the program again. Thanks again. Thank you so much. Still to come, the rising cost of living in a condominium. And later,

the new leader of the Republican Party in Florida will be along with us. Stick around. You are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks again for being along this week. Next week on this program, kratom. It comes from leaves of a tree in Southeast Asia and is turned into a powder that's sold across the state at stores, gas stations, restaurants, and online.

It's often marketed as a way to control anxiety and treat opioid addiction. Lori Damp's son was 33 years old when he died from an overdose in 2021. His friends pulled Chris and I aside and said, we think, you know, Jonathan was using this substance called Kratom. And he said, you know, it's lethal. You can buy it in any convenience store, any gas station. The Tampa Bay Times found more than 580 people in Florida have died from overdoses connected to Kratom in the past decade. Over that same decade, Florida lawmakers have considered banning Kratom three times, but it remains legal. Legislators have required buyers to be at least 21 years old. So do you use Kratom or know someone who does?

What are the dangers? And how could it be regulated in Florida? Email us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. We may share your story next week. Now, rising insurance premiums, higher maintenance fees, and sticker shock special assessments. That may be what it's like living in a Florida condominium after the horrific collapse of the Champlain Towers South killed dozens of people a couple of years ago. That tragedy brought new pressure on condominium boards, buildings, and owners. Jason Pizzo is a Democrat in the Florida Senate. He represents parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, including Surfside, where the Champlain Towers South once stood.

Senator Pizzo, welcome back to our program. You said in November, nobody in Tallahassee gives a bleep about people living in condos. Do you still believe that at the beginning of this law writing session? uh i believe that my statement has helped to create an interest um possibly and i would say partially academic at best but because of that statement in order to refute and rebuke uh my position and sentiment i think we're seeing uh some good legislation finally so what what what by whatever means necessary to get to where we are. Well, we'll let the bleep speak for itself in November. In 55 days, I guess, at the end of the law writing session, Senator, we'll find out what impact it may have.

You have introduced another condominium reform bill. I want to ask you about that. But first, let's talk about the reforms that have been put in place after the Surfside tragedy and the collapse really brought scrutiny to how condominium associations are managed and fiscally managed. Previous bills, for instance, have raised maintenance requirements. Are you seeing success? I know you're hearing howls of financial pain. So for a very long time, association fees, which are basically the monthly collection fees paying for percentage portions of people's insurance and the maintenance and staff, they've been artificially suppressed, just objectively so. We find ourselves in a situation rather analogous to smoking a pack of cigarettes and eating cheeseburgers

every day and not exercising. And yeah, at some point years later down the road, the doctor is going to give you some bad news and tell you about tough love measures that you'll need to go ahead and employ, you know, or else. And we have, I think, passed the tipping point of the or else period. And finally, requiring and necessitating what for years, Tom, you have to understand is condos were considered second and third homes in the mind and culture of Tallahassee. I am the only one of 40 senators in the state of Florida who actually lives in a condo. To say that it was out of sight, out of mind, or just rather indifference is probably accurate. But it took the loss of 98 folks in my district really to bring this to the forefront to create action.

This year is an important year for those previously passed reforms because these milestone inspections for buildings that are at least 30 years old are due at the end of this calendar year. What are you hearing from condominium associations that are being forced to undergo those inspections in places where local ordinances don't require it? From a lot of them, there are a significant chunk who have deferred maintenance for a generation, who have artificially suppressed association fees to remain popular and get reelected on the boards who have cut services and programs associated with the building over time to be able to keep it low. And now for them,

I guess it's a bit of reckoning. And my email inbox over the last week or so since this bill has been published has been filled with every variety and every and every type of comment and position on behalf of associations who are not very happy. So this bill is the new proposal that you have floated in a bipartisan way with the Republican sponsor that would require condominium associations with 25 units or more to post documents online. It would require association boards to meet at least four times per year. It makes an effort to cut down on what the bill term strategic lawsuits that boards take against perhaps a squeaky wheel of a tenant who is making a case for financial oversight. What do you hope to come out of the legislative process, though?

The previous reform effort started with dozens and dozens of pages and wound up, I think, with 16 pages that made it through the process. So a lot of this bill, SB 1178, is the substance and large verbatim chunks of what I filed over five years ago. This is the tragic ultimate legislative. I told you so. The bulk of this bill is everything I pushed for and drafted and filed several years ago. And here we are. And it's a pattern. It's a theme. And you mentioned that it's being carried by a Republican state senator, Jen Bradley, pattern, it's a theme. And you mentioned that it's being carried by a Republican state senator, Jen Bradley, who I have the utmost respect for. So, you know, polarization, divisiveness,

partisanship has delayed, I believe, the sense of urgency, not the sense of urgency, the underlying sense of urgency, but certainly its success in passing legislation in Tallahassee, both because of the combination of, I think, of my party affiliation and because, again, I'm the only one that lives in a condo. For a condominium owner in Florida, someone who owns one now or is contemplating owning one as a primary residence or as an investment, for instance, how does this legislation, one, legislation, one, make sure that their condominium building is safe, structurally safe and sound, and two, that the association is fiscally sound? Great question. In both parts, taking the second part first, on the fiscal soundness, solvency, and passing sort of stress tests, it's in the production of records and data itself where people are able to see the flow of finance and how things are working with greater transparency, getting professionals involved instead of guesstimates

and eyeballing and using best guesses. We refer to boards of these buildings as unsophisticated, not as an insult or criticism. Some of my board members and associations are brilliant brain surgeons and incredible financial advisors and professors and every walk of life, every background. But as it relates to the operation of a condominium, because it's volunteer in nature, we don't hire professionals to be professional board members. That's why it gets the term. And that's why they're considered civilians. And as they were volunteers, not a lot of attendant responsibility or obligations legally. What your listeners should

take away as someone who lives in, used to live in, or is contemplating living in a condominium is that condos will now, from a financial perspective and from a structural perspective, the integrity of which has now been codified into statute to be requiring an architect or an engineer to oversee those inspections, should know not quite as close examination as perhaps airline maintenance for commercial airlines, but something more akin and closer to requirements that are set upon corporations and their reporting requirements. Public companies, for example, and by way of analogy, have reporting requirements, have audit abilities, and have checks and balances that should more closely resemble the conduct and operation of a condominium. Senator Pizzo, thanks so much for your time. Nice to see you again.

Thank you so much. Now, just a side note to our interview with Senator Pizzo there. We spoke with him via Zoom this week. He was in his Tallahassee office with the seal of the Florida Senate right behind him. Also behind him was a telephone. You're not referring to the digital phone, the Cisco branded phone that's issued by the Florida State Senate. Over my left shoulder, I have a Mickey Mouse phone that my family got Disney World 42 or 43 years ago. Yes, it was one of those phones where you have to hang up the receiver by putting it in Mickey's hand. I don't know. I thought it would be nice to have at my desk when I'm doing a number of interviews and perhaps being asked about that same company and some member of the executive branch who is rather adversarial.

If you know, you know. The Florida Republican Party has a new leader this week, Evan Power. He takes over after the former party chairman, Christian Ziegler, was removed. Ziegler is the target of a sexual assault police investigation for allegedly raping a woman who'd been involved in a three-way sexual relationship that included Ziegler's wife, Bridget. She is a member of the Sarasota County School Board. Christian Ziegler has not been charged in the ongoing police investigation and denies the rape accusation. The new chairman of the Florida Republican Party, Evan Power, joins us now from our partner station, WFSU in Tallahassee. Evan, welcome to the program and congratulations.

Thank you for having me. You take over the Florida Republican Party at quite a moment in time, an important election year. The top officeholder is running for, of course, the top office in the nation. But let's start with what led to you taking over here. What is your message to Florida Republicans who have seen the now former chairman accused of rape and admitted to being involved in a sexual three-way with his wife and another woman? Well, the Republican Party is bigger than one person, and what you saw is the Republican Party move very quickly to get rid of our former chairman and to elect his successor,

which is me. And we're moving forward, and we've hit the ground running this week, continuing to run the party and moving it forward. You were vice chair, and you called for the meeting of the party's executive board in December and then the meeting this week that led to Ziegler's removal from office. Does the former chair have any role at all left with the party, any job? He is still the state committee man from Sarasota County, but he's not involved in the day-to-day running of our party any longer.

Voter registrations for Republicans under his leadership have far outpaced Democrats. Ziegler once tweeted, quote, the work is not done until there are no more Democrats in Florida. Is that a sentiment that you support? Well, I think I want to continue registering Republicans, and I want to convert Democrats into Republicans. If you look at what's happening on our state government, Florida is leading the way here locally and across the nation. We are the conservative beacon of freedom. And I think we need to just convince more and more Democrats that the Republican Party is where they want to be. Is there space for Democrats in Florida? It didn't seem like your predecessor had any space in Florida for the opposing party.

I think we always like to hear differing opinions, but it's our job as a party to win elections. And we've been doing a very good job of that, and we hope to continue winning big. What are your priorities as you take over the chairmanship of the Republican Party at this moment in Florida? The number one job I have is to fundraise. We've hit the ground running there. And the second part is to build infrastructure to turn out Republican voters. We're able to win by 20 points in 2022 because we turned out our voters much better than Democrats did. So we want to build that infrastructure so we continue turning out Republicans and winning big races. How does the governor's presidential ambitions impact efforts to raise money for state candidates this election cycle?

Well, I think the attention that the governor and the former president, both being from Florida, bring as being presidential candidates puts a spotlight on Florida, and it's allowed us to sell what is happening here in Florida. We really are the beacon of freedom for the rest of the country. We're speaking with Evan Power. He's the chairman of the Florida Republican Party. He was promoted to that position this week. You are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station.

Evan, talk a little bit more about this infrastructure that you mentioned in terms of voter turnout. How do you envision that working as we move into the March primary and importantly into the general election in November. What we want to do is let everyone know how they can vote, whether that's by mail, early voting, or on Election Day. Make sure that they know what they need to do and then continue to turn out those voters by following up with them in person, via text message, via email, and just making sure we turn out every eligible Republican to vote for our candidates. You mentioned the three ways to vote there, early voting, election day, and of course, vote by mail.

A former Republican Party chair, a predecessor of yours, and the current state senator, Blaise Angolia, has proposed a bill that would do away with most vote by mail ballots. His proposal would essentially have voters swear that they cannot vote in person or vote on Election Day or early voting. Is this an effort you support? I think it's something that people are looking at how to safely count all the ballots and how to safely have people vote. I'm happy to have that conversation, but what the law is now is we have mail early in election day, and we're going to do the best to play within the rules as they exist today to build infrastructure and get people to vote in the ways that they feel comfortable.

As you are looking to build party infrastructure in this election year for the Republican Party in Florida, what role do you see vote by mail playing into the November election? We've invested heavily in that in some of the special elections, and we'll continue to do that as it's an available option. I think that it's important for us to get people to request those vote-by-mail ballots, even if they take those ballots in to turn them in at an early voting location or a precinct. Just having that ballot and allowing us to chase them is a benefit for us because we have much better infrastructure to turn out voters than the Democrats do. In 2020, about one out of every

three registered Republican voters voted by mail, and about one out of every two Democrats did. Is any effort to curtail vote by mail voter suppression? Well, if you look at that number more historically, Republicans over a lot of period of time have voted by mail in higher numbers than Democrats. That changed, of course, during COVID. So I think you have to look at it long term. I think what Republicans are trying to focus on is making sure that when people vote, they vote securely and that we're making sure we're identifying and accounting for who is casting those ballots so that there is an election integrity in place for our elections.

As you have the ear of Republican candidates, as the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, I suspect that you get your text messages or voicemails returned to you pretty quickly by candidates. What are the issues that you want the candidates to address that you are hearing from voters? to address that you are hearing from voters? Well, if you listen to most voters, they feel that under the Joe Biden administration, they're less safe, they're less prosperous, and they're less hopeful. And so Republican candidates need to show people that when Republicans are in charge, things are more affordable, the economy is better, they get paid better. And if we focus on those pocketbook issues, we're going to win, because the Biden administration has really let the American people down.

Well, we have seen historically low unemployment in the state of Florida during a Republican governorship with Governor DeSantis and a Democratic president in the United States. Well, I think Florida keeps winning no matter who's in charge. Imagine what we could do if a Republican president was in charge also. Evan Power is the new chairman of the Florida Republican Party. Evan, a pleasure to have you on and again congratulations. Thank you very much. Don't forget that you can always keep in touch with us. Send us your thoughts. Our email inbox is always open to you. It is radio at the Florida Roundup dot org radio at the Florida Roundup dot org.org, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. We love to hear from you on any issue,

radio at thefloridaroundup.org. And if you have missed any of this program, any other past programs, you can also subscribe to our podcast. Just search The Florida Roundup on your favorite podcast app. We got plenty more to come on this edition. Tornadoes in the Panhandle,

a lawsuit over public school book restrictions, and how do you pronounce it? Sanibel or Sanibel Island? The Week That Was is next. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. It was a stormy welcome to the new year in parts of Florida.

Winter storms brought high winds, rain, and tornadoes to the Panhandle and South Florida. Look at that! Oh my god, the boats are getting crushed. Now it's going to crush the bridge. This was Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, where a tornado damaged homes and boats. No one was injured. It was different on Tuesday, though, when at least eight tornadoes touched down, including one in Panama City. Is everyone okay? The tornado left one home leaning over onto its neighbor. The twisters also ripped up an RV park in the panhandle. Several people were injured from that storm on Tuesday. Megan Borowski is a meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio

Emergency Network. Megan, thanks for your time today. What's the total tally of tornadoes this week from the storm systems? So the National Weather Service meteorologists are still doing some storm surveys, but as of the latest count from what I have, it looks like we've got nine confirmed tornadoes, most of those over the pan handle from Tuesday, Tom. How unusual is this kind of weather? It was two storm systems, first of all, right? There was the one that was in South Florida that produced the twister in Fort Lauderdale than the others that were more damaging up in the panhandle. But how unusual is this kind of flow?

Yeah, so you'll notice we just keep getting in this pattern of cold fronts passing through the state every few days. Now, typically the winter time is our dry season. We don't get a whole lot of precipitation. However, when we are in an El Nino year, that tends to aggravate the jet stream a little bit is how I like to describe it. And that helps to get cold fronts to scrape their way through at least the northern half of the state. And some of the stronger cold fronts can really clear the entirety of the state. So it's during those El Nino years that we get these cold fronts and those thunderstorm risks coming on through.

So what is it about the jet stream? Is it that it's dipping lower and bringing this colder air further south where it's clashing with the ocean air? So it helps the jet stream to become more wavy. So it helps those low pressure systems and those storm systems to have more southerly track, right? So then we'll get a surge of warmer air ahead of that low pressure system. And then just like you said, behind it, we'll get those northerly winds and that'll just bring in this shot

of colder and Arctic air. So we're on quite the seesaw this winter. And unfortunately, El Nino was going strong. It looks like at least for the next two weeks or so, we're gonna be riding that wave with periods of warmer weather and then periods of some rainy and stormy weather coming on through thanks to those cold fronts. How wet could this dry season be for Florida? Well, above average in terms of precipitation. I don't have forecasts as to totals, but parts of

our state actually really do need the rain, especially the Tampa Bay metro area. They, during the rainy season this year, really were starved of some good thunderstorms. So hopefully that can alleviate the drought and catch most areas up on rainfall that has not occurred during the summertime months. Still no snow shovel necessary. No. In the Sunshine State. No, Frank Kevin. It is possible, though, in North Florida in 1989, we did have measurable snow in Jacksonville. In the late 70s, the day it snowed in Miami. It can happen, although not

on the forecast. No, not at all. Megan Borowski, meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. Thanks, Megan. Thanks, Tom. Let's get you caught up on some public school news from this week. The second largest school district in the state decided against having its own police force. Broward County is home to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were killed and 17 injured almost six years ago in Parkland. Rich Walker is the mayor of Parkland, and he addressed the Broward school board this week. Keep your eye on the ball and stay focused to what your true intention is supposed to be and that is education, educating our children. For now, Broward will continue relying on some of its own police and security staff and contracting with local municipalities

for the rest of its school resource officers. The third largest school district in the state, Hillsborough, has bought hundreds of new college entrance exams for its students. The classic learning tests are known as the CLT. They come with some controversy. This is the first year Florida high school students can take the CLT in order to graduate. Nancy Guan reports now from our partner station WUSF in Tampa. If students do not pass other state standardized tests, they can take the classic learning test to earn their diploma. School officials say using the exam gives more opportunity to students and

can raise graduation rates. But Hillsborough School Board member Nadia Combs says she's worried about lowering standards. I think about how we have to compete globally. You know, to think that we are taking a test that is now just being in Florida and it started kind of in Florida in some states kind of concerns me. The school board approved purchasing a batch of 8,000 CLT exams. Officials say this way students can access the exam easier. I'm Nancy Guan in Tampa. There was a hearing this week in federal court in Pensacola. It was in a lawsuit over restricting access to certain books in public schools. The Free Expression Advocacy Group, Penn America, and others sued Escambia County Public Schools and

the school board. They argue restricting access to the books violates the First Amendment and equal protection rights. Now, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's office filed an argument in support of the local school board, saying the board's actions were government speech, so they're not subject to the First Amendment. The school district asked for the suit to be thrown out, but on Wednesday, a federal judge threw out the district's efforts to stop the lawsuit from going forward. Education reporter Kate Payne from our partner station WLRN spoke with director of Pan America's Florida office, Katie Blankenship. What is the significance of that being tossed out at the state? I don't really think it could be understated how significant this is.

So what the state is arguing for is an extreme application of what's called the government speech doctrine in a way that has never been applied. There's a lot of different ways to look at how the First Amendment works in education. But when you look at the progeny of education cases that have touched on this really in all of these different ways, there's never been ever a Supreme Court opinion or anything with precedential value to this case that has said anything close to there is just absolutely no First Amendment protection in these sort of decisions. So if the government had won on that or if the judge had found that it held really any water whatsoever, one, we would have lost our case. It would have been dismissed and it would have had absolutely devastating impacts for everybody out there who's trying

to fight against this wave of censorship in Florida and beyond. What do you all see as the harm being done by the school district restricting access to these books? I don't think we can understate the harm that's happening. It's on multiple fronts. So one of the things that we find absolutely most egregious is that when these books were pulled largely for anti-LGBTQ and anti-Black, brown, BIPOC discrimination animus. When that's allowed at these levels, these school boards, and that books are banned because of this, it's not only devastating to the text itself, but what it also says and what happens when you try to erase these identities from the books is that you are telling students, especially and particularly those

that see themselves in these books, they are being told that they are of lesser value, that they do not equate to a valued student in this school system. That is devastating to our youth. Then there's all of our interests, all of Americans' interest in maintaining our democracy in a pluralistic society. We need our children to have access to a robust public education, to access to multiplicity of ideas and viewpoints, access and opportunity to grapple with the difficult parts of our history and understand their impact so these things are not repeated, so that we continue to evolve as a society and that we have young people that can engage productively in a pluralistic society. It really cuts at the heart of our democracy. So what are the next steps as this case proceeds? The judge took pains to make some very specific comments about why he thinks this case is one that

would be a good candidate for settlement. You know, he's yet to find for sure that they're violating the First Amendment, but he definitely showed that we have a right to argue that and that we're going to have our day in court over it. That was Katie Blankenship with PEN America speaking with reporter Kate Payne. And I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Finally on the Roundup this week, Dale Carnegie, the guy who wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People, he famously observed that the sweetest sound anyone can hear is their own name. Well, Mr. Carnegie, that may be in the ear of the beholder for a small but popular barrier

island in southwest Florida. Here's Janine Zeitlin with WGCU in Fort Myers. Sanibel Island, Florida is a beautiful spot on the Gulf of Mexico. We thought we knew how Sanibel was pronounced. Until... Next up, we have City of Sanibel, Mayor Richard Johnson. I want to thank you for supporting the City of Sanibel. Wait, did he just say Santa Bull? We went to the mayor for answers.

Well, you pronounce it Sanibel. I pronounce it Sanibel. My father-in-law, Francis Bailey, was one of our original incorporators back in 1974. My family owns and operates Bailey's General Store and Bailey's Center. He taught me it is not Santa Ding Dong. It's Santa Bull. Other Islanders, including the mayor's wife, Meade Johnson, she's also Francis' daughter. Question the Sanibel pronunciation. I'm not sure where that came from, because you don't get bull out of B-E-L. She pointed out that the name Sanibel is linked to the island's point Ebel.

San Ebel can be traced back to the 1500s. Back then, the island was noted in charts as Es Nivel. But these days, Sanibel seems to be the preferred pronunciation. How would I say that? Yeah, how would you say that? Sanibel. Sanibel. Sanibel. Sanibel. And yet Francis's way of saying it lives on. Francis's granddaughter, Callie Johnson, is firmly Team Sanibel. That's how Grandad said it. I've had people correct me. If someone cares enough to correct me, I'm glad they care so much about the island. You know, the choice between Sanibel and Sanibel reminds me of the great DeSantis and DeSantis debate. That was back in 2018 when he ran for governor. Is it a short E or long E in the last

name of the Republican gubernatorial candidate? Well, his wife says, everyone knows my husband, Ron DeSantis, is endorsed by President Trump. Ron DeSantis. The big-voiced television announcer says, Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis. Even the President of the United States, with the candidates standing right next to him on stage, says, Ron DeSantis.

Ron DeSantis. But the candidate himself? I'm Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis. I'm Ron DeSantis. Fast forward six years to his presidential commercials and Iowans are hearing this this week. I'm Ron DeSantis and I approve this message. Voters, like tourists heading to a Gulf Coast island, don't have to pronounce a name the same way.

They just have to find it on a ballot. That is our program for this week. The Florida Roundup is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF Public Media in Tampa. The program is produced by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter. WLRN's Vice President of Radio and our Technical Director is Peter Mertz. Engineering help from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels, and Jackson Harp. Our theme music provided by Miami Jazz Guitarist Aaron Leibos at AaronLeibos.com. Music provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at AaronLeibos.com. If you missed any of today's program, you can download it and subscribe to past programs at WLRN.org slash podcasts.

Thanks for calling, listening, emailing, and above all, supporting public media in your community. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.