The Florida Roundup - FEMA disaster response, tuning out of politics and Florida's new leadership

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor about FEMA’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton (01:27). We asked Kelly McBride, NPR Public Editor and Chair of Ethics and Leadership at The Poynter Institute, about how Americans are consuming political news (14:27) and then spoke with Sen. Shevrin Jones about how the Florida Democratic party can reengage apathetic voters (21:59). And later, we turned to Samantha Putterman with our partner PolitiFact for more on what’s next for former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (33:06). Plus, we learned more about the Florida legislature’s new leadership (37:33) and heard a collection of environmental stories from across the state including a tally of agricultral losses from Hurricane Helene (40:45) and an update on La Niña (42:37).

Covering Florida Navigator Program provides confidential assistance for Floridians looking to explore health care coverage within the federal health insurance marketplace. Open enrollment ends January 15th. 877-813-9115 or coveringflorida.org. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being here. Let's start with an admission this week. We are going to talk politics today. Yeah, I know the flood of political news can be overwhelming, and we're actually going to talk about that too. In fact, we want to hear about how you are talking about politics these days, or maybe you're not. Gabrielle is a listener who wrote in an email to us, are you staying tuned into politics post-election?

My answer is most definitely a yes, Gabrielle writes. I'm a trans person, meaning I am the culture war. Granted, your average Republican voter probably doesn't care all that much in the grand scheme of things, but the people at the top love seeing me and my peers as a punching bag. Living through this is exhausting, and I would really like it if they would just be nicer. Well, how are you talking about politics, and with whom? Have you changed where you get your political news from? You can email us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Your emails, and we'll open up the phones coming

up in a moment. First, FEMA and Florida. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed a lawsuit alleging the Federal Emergency Management Agency violated civil rights of supporters of President-elect Trump in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Moody filed the federal lawsuit in court after reports that a FEMA supervisor directed aid workers to avoid going to homes in Lake Placid that had yard signs supporting Trump. Lake Placid is about halfway between Sarasota and Fort Pierce. Here's Attorney General Moody. I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat. It should not matter. We can't have federal agencies denying aid to Floridians that really need help after disasters because of who you supported for president. Last week, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell fired the supervisor.

This week, in front of a congressional committee, Criswell denied the directive was part of a wider effort to play political favorites with federal disaster help. This type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA, and we will hold people accountable if they violate our standards of conduct. I do not believe that this employee's actions are indicative of any widespread cultural problems at FEMA. Kathy Castor is the Democrat who represents Tampa Bay in the United States Congress. Congresswoman, thank you for your time. The former FEMA employee who told her co-workers to avoid homes in Florida with Trump signs says she was following orders.

The FEMA administrator said it was an isolated case. What do you believe to be the truth right now? said it was an isolated case. What do you believe to be the truth right now? FEMA is absolutely necessary to help us recover from the catastrophes that were hurricanes Helene and Milton. And that was an unfortunate incident. And I'm glad the FEMA administrator addressed it and dismissed that employee. But it is a it's a very unwelcome distraction from the important work that is going on now on rebuilding and recovery. I'll ask you about some of the funding, the disaster recovery funding toward that recovery in a moment. The state of Florida has sued FEMA over this, as you know, alleging a

civil rights violation. Do you believe that federal aid was withheld for any period of time from hurricane victims in Florida who had Trump signs in their yards? I don't think so. I witnessed FEMA inspectors on the ground in the days after the flooding of Helene and the buzzsaw that was Milton, we know that FEMA has already dispersed over $2 billion across the state of Florida, and that includes millions of dollars for debris removal. mean there haven't been issues with FEMA aid because people, they have to go to their insurance companies first. So that means they have to, if they had flood insurance, they have to get to their flood insurer for an inspection or property, their property insurer. So we're working to cut through any red tape when it comes to FEMA. But I've been impressed, actually, with the cooperation between all of our give FEMA, Small Business Administration, and our other agencies the hurricane recovery dollars that we're going to need to rebuild in a stronger way here across the Sunshine State. story of funding. Politico reports on Friday that the state attorney general here in Florida is gathering evidence in this case. Do you support a state investigation into this issue? I think that's within their purview. But again, it's we cannot let this kind of thing, this isolated incident distract from what is the big issue. And that's how we rebuild in a stronger, more resilient way. Congress okayed $20 billion for FEMA's disaster relief fund for the fiscal

year that began October 1st. It's a stopgap measure until a budget is approved. Now, on Wednesday, the FEMA administrator warned that disaster relief money is quickly running out after what she called unprecedented demand after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. These needs have rapidly exhausted our available funds. And without a supplemental, our ability to respond to new disasters could be jeopardized. Congresswoman Fima is asking Congress for $40 billion more for the disaster relief fund. What are the odds of the House taking this up before the end of the year and getting the spending in the pipeline? I think the odds are very good. But

we really need to work in a bipartisan way to get this done. And time is short. And we're, thank goodness, here at the end of hurricane season. But there are these disasters and catastrophes, whether they're wildfires, floods, extreme events are coming faster and they're they're more costly. So you have to have a functional disaster relief fund to address impending disasters so that FEMA has the funds to provide food, water, shelter when you have a disaster. And then the larger issue for Floridians moving forward is making sure we pass a disaster supplemental appropriations bill that provides the resources for us to rebuild, for homeowners, for small businesses to be able to rebuild in a more resilient way. Water and wastewater systems, we must modernize. And there are all sorts of critical infrastructure and assets. MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, our Coast Guard air stations and their assets that we have got to rebuild in a stronger way. What ought to be the priorities for those dollars if you and your other Congress representatives approve it? We've got to rebuild in a smarter way. And those hurricanes caused

immense damage to our water and wastewater systems. They overwhelm municipal sewage and water treatment systems. We had these very unfortunate pollution events that impacted the Tampa Bay area and the entire west coast of Florida. So we don't want to just rebuild water systems the way they were. We've got to modernize them with additional pump stations, backflow preventers, and lift stations. I mean, the city of St. Pete had a water main break that left people without pluggable water for days. And they also had to proactively turn off sewer treatment plants to protect from storm surge. Then there are very serious issues with power loss. One of the reasons small businesses and the community was so hard hit in the aftermath of Milton, was fuel disruption and power lines were down everywhere.

So we had many critical infrastructure entities like hospitals, emergency shelters, schools, wastewater systems, food banks that did not have power. So we have got to be able to fund modernization of the grid, new kind of microgrids and solar battery systems that can play an important life-saving role and cost-saving role. We simply cannot go without power for weeks on end. And with the escalation of these extreme events that are going to cut power, we have to be smarter and use every tool at our disposal to keep the lights and power on. These are significant big ideas, big infrastructure projects, some of them private with electricity. Oftentimes that's a that's a private company that's doing that distribution and generation in Florida with sewers. As you mentioned, those are usually municipal taxpayer paid for pieces. How much of that comes under the responsibility of FEMA? This will be billions of dollars. A lot of the money will go to the Environmental Protection

Agency when it comes to water and wastewater systems. Don't forget, all of western North Carolina has to rebuild water and wastewater. There's a lot of competition for these dollars. Exactly. So that's why the funding level has to be robust. How might the change in administration next year impact disaster recovery and rebuilding funding from the federal government for your constituents? Well, I'm hopeful that the Trump administration, especially now with so many Floridians there, will understand the critical needs to avoid costly disasters that are coming more frequently in order to save the taxpayer dollar. You have to rebuild infrastructure so that it can withstand these extreme flood events, extreme hurricanes. You don't want to just build it back the way it was. That would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. So unfortunately, sometimes these disaster supplementals become too political. The Tea Party movement after Superstorm Sandy, there were members who voted

against disaster aid. So hopefully we won't be fraught. And I'd really encourage Floridians to talk to their policymakers in Washington and talk to them about the importance of rebuilding water systems and wastewater systems and electrical grids in a manner that protects the taxpayer dollar. Congresswoman, let me ask you about one of those Floridians who may be part of the new Trump administration. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is President-elect Trump's new nominee for U.S. Attorney General.

What was your experience with Bondi? I respect Pam Bondi. We're friends from back in our law school days. But that doesn't mean I agree with her on many policy positions. agree with her trying to to rip away the Affordable Care Act that is providing affordable health care to over four million Floridians. More more Floridians rely on the Affordable Care Act for health coverage than than any other state in the country. So it's going to be hopefully they will she will not carry that view into the into the next administration. The president-elect, as you know, Congresswoman, has pledged retribution against his political enemies. What do you expect from

Bondi if she is confirmed as the attorney general of the United States? Well, remember, the United States attorney general takes an oath to the United States Constitution, and the Attorney General serves the interests of the country, is not the President's personal attorney. Now, I know President-elect Trump has tested the boundaries on that, but I'm hopeful that AG-designate Bondi appreciates that role that she has. She answers first to the United States Constitution and to the citizens of this country and to the Justice Department. What kind of law enforcement approach do you believe she'd bring to the Department of Justice? She's always been a strong supporter of law enforcement. Now, the Justice Department also is an important source of funds for our local communities, for example, and domestic violence and for policing and making sure that that our local communities and law enforcement agencies have the necessary tools they need in this modern era

to protect us all. And I look forward to working with her. She has good experience, good relationships with local law enforcement. But I hope she will also hear them that they need they need the tools for modern policing and victims have to be our victims assistance agencies and advocates need the tools they need to to make sure that victims of crime are made whole representative kathy castor democrat representing tampa bay in congress representative thanks for your time. Thank you so much. Now, how we're getting political news and talking about it. Television ratings for some cable news TV channels have dropped significantly, while others have jumped since the election. Newspaper subscriptions continue to be under pressure as more people scroll through social media or podcasts or videos. So are you tuning out of political news?

Have you changed your media diet for politics? Call us now, 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. Kelly McBride is the NPR public editor and chair of ethics and leadership at the Poynter Institute. Kelly, thank you for sharing your time with us. Do you think Americans are choosing to tune out political news or maybe just tuning out of mainstream sources of political news? You know, the information that I'm seeing shows that people are pretty informed.

They're definitely diversifying their news diets. So they might be getting a little less news from traditional sources like the television or the newspaper, but they're getting more news from podcasts, from social media, from other sources. They are actually getting more information now than they were getting last year or four years ago. And that's because there's more providers out there. But so with the more diversified menu of information options for an audience, and while maybe they're tuning out of the more traditional news options, what about the quality of the information and the news, the political news, particularly that they have the ability to consume?

What do you mean, What about the quality? I suppose the truthfulness of it. Are they getting accurate information? Is that what you're asking? I think that would probably be the best measure of quality when it comes to news. So, yes. You know, so the thing about that question is there's this presumption behind it. And the same was true in 2016 when Donald Trump was elected, that the people who voted for Donald Trump got bad information. And while I think that might have been a little bit more true in 2016. I don't think that that's true. Now, I think that the people who voted for Donald Trump got exactly the same information that the rest of

us got. And they decided that they recognize he is a flawed human being, but they feel like he's good for the country. News consumers are very smart about figuring out what's true and what isn't true. And when they believe something that isn't true, it most often isn't because they don't have access to good information. It's because they are choosing to believe something that isn't true. Sure. Yeah. Why do you think there's a presumption in the question of the truthfulness of news that somehow that presumes the way an audience member may have voted for the presidential election? I hear a lot of people asking questions about why the audience is behaving differently in the wake of Donald Trump's election in 2024 than they did in 2016. Because in 2016, there was this huge upsurge of news consumption in the wake of Donald Trump's election that sustained through his entire presidency.

And we're not seeing that this time around. And I don't think it's because people are misinformed or they're tuning out. I just think that the audience has different needs now than they did in 2016. Kelly McBride, NPR's public editor and chair of ethics and leadership at the Pointer Institute in St. Petersburg. Kelly, a pleasure. Thank you for your time and your expertise. You're welcome. Okay, if you're still with us, still want to talk some politics, or maybe you've tuned out of politics, let us know. Call now 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. I'm Tom Hudson, and you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Covering Florida Navigator Program provides confidential assistance for Floridians looking to explore health care coverage

within the federal health insurance marketplace. Open enrollment ends January 15th. 877-813-9115 or coveringflorida.org. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Next week on our program, we bring you reporting from the podcast Sea Change. One report explores how hotter ocean temperatures are affecting a prize in celebrated fish here in Florida, the mahi.

A second report will be on the storm in the state's home insurance market. Sea Change is a podcast from NPR member stations WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana. It dives into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast, including Florida. So join us next week after Thanksgiving. This week, we're talking about politics, or we're talking about tuning out from politics, talking about changing where you're getting your political news. 305-995-1800.

Chris in Tampa wrote us this email. My approach is to ask Republicans when they're willing to talk with me how and why they reach the conclusions they do, their sources of information, their background, socioeconomics, theology. Marcia in South Florida says, as a black woman, I don't have the luxury of tuning political news out completely. However, I must say that I am determined to reduce the amount of political news I consume for my mental health. And Marcia, she also said she makes sure to catch the Florida Roundup each week, so we appreciate that, Marsha. Thanks so much. Radio at thefloridaroundup.org is our email.

Omar's been listening and patient in Orlando. Go ahead, Omar. You are on the radio. Omar in Orlando, can you hear us, sir? There you go. Go ahead. Yes. Okay. So, hey, this is Omar. I'm a longtime listener. I love your show. You guys are like radio celebrities for me. I wanted to say that I am just exhausted. I invested so much time in my Democrat candidate. We are not going back.

I listen to podcasts. I watch the TV shows, the late-night TV shows, making fun of both sides. And I was like, we're not going to go back because I'm just exhausted by Trump. Then the reality set in, and I'm just not anymore. Nope. I need to find time for myself. So nowadays I'm binge-watching my favorite shows that I neglected on during the election campaign. Well, we'll have to do a different show to get your favorites on that one, Omar. Listen, we appreciate you listening, and we're just Floridians like the rest of us,

getting through life here in the Sunshine State. I agree. Thanks for listening. Appreciate your voice here from Orlando. Chevron Jones is with us now. He's a state senator representing parts of Miami-Dade County. He's also the chair of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party. Senator Jones, welcome back to the Florida Roundup. Nice to have you. Thanks for having me, Tom. You just heard Omar in Orlando talk about

what he said, my Democrats and his exhaustion with political news. As the county chair of the Democratic Party in Miami-Dade, what would you like to say to Omar? Well, listen, one, I can tell Omar that he can join the choir with a lot of Democrats who feel the same way, who are frustrated, who are exhausted, who are angry, all at the same time. And I want to be clear with everyone, I think we all should feel those emotions. And I think we should take some time to address those emotions that many of us are feeling with the last election. But I want to also encourage us at the same time that, you know, while we are figuring out what does it look like to Ford, what does Ford look like, making sure that we get back on the field because us just

sitting on the sidelines and doing nothing is also an option. But that option does not bring about the results that we desire and that we're looking for within the state of Florida and also nationally. And I think we we can agree the Democratic Party in Florida. I mean, we have to be focused on what does rebuilding our foundation from the ground up. What does that look like? And being mad at Donald Trump is not a strategy. Let me ask you what your role will be. The county party that you chair right now will hold a leadership election in December. And as of Thursday,

you had not applied to run to remain chair. Is that right? Oh, that's correct. So the bylaws do not allow for elected officials to run for chair. But also, I was also clear when I became the chair that I will only be chair until December to finish out someone's term. Okay, gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up. Now, in a commentary that you had published on MSNBC following the election, you talked about how the Democratic Party in Florida has lost the public's trust. You referred to it there.

Where, what is the source of that mistrust? Have you been able to identify that, the problem first, before you talk about the opportunities? Well, I mean, the problem is whether or not and how we are communicating the success of not just the president, but also locally and statewide, whether or not the success that the Democrats are doing, whether or not it's reaching the tables, the kitchen tables of

people's households. And the answer is probably no, right? I think if we look at right now how and what happened this election cycle. Many people stayed home. That's a sign. Not that's not it wasn't a good sign for Democrats, for sure. But it's also not a good sign for Republicans also. That makes it clear that the engagement within the political process is down. Listen to your last caller. He made it clear that he's exhausted, frustrated and angry.

But many people are feeling that feeling that same frustration. frustrated and angry. But many people are feeling that feeling that same frustration. Yeah, fewer Floridians voted in this presidential election than did four years ago. We're speaking with Chevron Jones, Democratic State Senator, chair of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party, talking about politics, the Democratic Party, talking about the exhaustion of political coverage. Philip has been listening in, Senator from Jacksonville. Go ahead, Philip, you're on the radio. Thanks. I just wanted to comment on some observations that your previous caller made. I'm sorry, I can't recall her name. The guest, Kelly McBride, who we spoke with previously. Yeah. Yes, Ms. McBride. And she felt pretty definitively that the people who voted for Donald Trump this time around were not getting poor information, that their news sources were of quality and fact.

And I just kind of categorically disagree with that. I think we're almost in a post-factual era now where we've got this chasm between reality and this sort of twisted perceived reality that people choose to accept because it fits their particular narrative. Like, you know, and I go back to the kind of hackneyed, overused story of the, you know, immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. You know, that was still that was still mainstream news on Fox and OAN and Newsmax and other kind of right wing channels. And I just if you have that kind of content being put out on such a regular basis, I don't see how you can say that, you know, both sides are receiving equal quality, factual based news.

Yeah. Philip, I appreciate that. Thanks for that perspective. Senator Jones, what about the echo chambers that not all voters, let's face it, but, you know, many voters tend to retreat to and have retreated to across the political spectrum. Retreat to what? Retreated to those sources of information that tend to either mimic or repeat or echo certain stories that, you know, may or may not have a basis in objective fact. Yeah, well, I don't want to put everybody in that category. Right, right. And neither do I. Yeah, yeah. I mean, people who are, I mean, individuals who are lazy for information that they will

go with the first thing they see, the first thing that they hear, and they'll go with the headlines. But individuals who are informed voters, those individuals will, I mean, they'll do their research and do what needs to be done. And I've said this before. I mean, I don't believe when you're looking at how the Republicans perform this go around, the utilization of misinformation and all the tactics that they use to share what they are doing. I mean, we don't have to look far. We can look right here in Florida. We can look at our homeowners insurance. We can look at our car insurance. We can look at the assessments on our condos. All of these policies that have been created by Republicans. But how are we messaging that? around the re-election, so to speak, of now President-elect Trump came down to kind of economic issues, particularly inflation.

And in the meantime, as you mentioned, right, Floridians have been suffering with high escalating insurance costs for a good number of years, home affordability issues, transportation and traffic challenges. And the Republican majority in Tallahassee goes back to at least 1996. And so while the analysis of the national election is, oh, it was the economy, the economic issues that hurt Vice President Harris in her effort to get elected. But yet those same kind of economic issues have not hurt the Republican majority in Florida. Well, I mean, you're absolutely right. It may have not hurt the majority, but I can tell you that there are individuals who are very clear on what's happening in Florida and what we saw.

But when we look at the election with Vice President Harris, I think we need to be honest with this. Now, while the economy was part of the reason why many people went in that direction, I also think that we must be clear that there is a bit of misogyny that was inside there. There was a bit of sexism and there was a bit of racism that was inside of that, all tied into that. And so I think we have to put everything on the table. And here, I want to make sure I say this again. I'm not saying that the economy and the other factors were not factors that dealt with this, but we have to put all the cards on the table and be honest in what that looks like. It also includes the Democrats on our side, how we engage these individuals. Did we do enough? Did we do enough to talk about the true, real solutions? I'll say

something like I said at the beginning of your interview. Just being mad at a candidate is not a winning strategy. And we have to put solutions on the table. Senator Jones, Al has been patient with us in Orlando. Go ahead, Al. Thanks for your time. You're on the radio, Al. Yeah, a couple of things. One, first of all, the election of Donald Trump said more about us than it did about him. Tells us exactly what kind of country we are and what kind of country we've always been. The second thing is, I agree with one of your previous callers talking about the exhaustion. It feels like everyone is lying, including the media, but in particular politicians who come on to shows like these and new shows,

they continually lie. We know they're lying, and the media never takes the opportunity to follow up and make sure that they answer the questions. The questions are never answered. The whole thing is just disgusting. It's exhausting. And you're right. Like I said, it says more about who we are as a people here in the United States than anything else. And so it's just exhausting. And I think a lot of people are starting to back off of the media and on politics altogether. Al, I hear your wariness in your voice, and I hope that you stick with public media in your community and continue to push for those answers. Senator Jones, you're

oftentimes on the end of these questions, and there is some elusiveness, shall we say, in politicians and trying to answer some binary questions sometimes. But, you know, as you sit even in committee meetings and hearings and try to get yes or no questions and some accountability. What what what do you what can you tell Al about his weariness? Well, I can tell Al that I don't disagree with him. I think that the elected officials, we have done a bad job in being transparent and honest with with the electorate. And I'm a politician myself, and I'll be very, very clear on the fact and how we deliver information to people and actually being, not just being honest, but being straightforward. Yeah. Have you made a pledge to yourself about,

you know, things are going to be different in this legislative session for you and your communication style? I'm going to be honest with you. I mean, I make a pledge to myself, period, that I think it's time for us to put all the cards on the table. But I also make it clear that when I speak to constituents, that I'm going to be very straightforward with constituents and what the process is. So they know that, listen, here's what we are putting on the table and here's what's not being heard. Because oftentimes that's what's happening in Tallahassee. You have a lot of good bills that help the everyday Floridians that are presented. But the question is, is the leadership hearing those bills question? And the answer, as you know, Tom, the answer is no. But no, elected officials, not only do we have to do a better job, elected officials need to do a better job and engage

individuals within the political process period. So people understand that this deals with your everyday life. It's up to us to do it and not just when it's time for us to run for reelection. Senator Jones, appreciate your comments to us today and look forward to catching up in 2025. Have a great Thanksgiving. You too. Yeah. Shevrin Jones, state senator and the head of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Just a little over a week after President-elect Trump picked Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz

as his nominee to be attorney general, that effort is over. This week, Gaetz withdrew his nomination as pressure continued to build over a House ethics investigation into alleged sexual misconduct. Now, Gaetz had already resigned from his seat in the House. And within the past hour, as we're live on this Friday, he said he will not return to Congress.

We'll sort all that part of the story out in a moment. Samantha Putterman is Florida government reporter for our news partner, PolitiFact, and joins us now. Sam, welcome back to the program. Thanks for having me. Gates wrote on social media that he was withdrawing, that his nomination was, quote, unfairly becoming a distraction. First, talk about the investigation. Why was, why did the U.S. House of Representatives investigate its member, Gates? Right.

So it started with the Department of Justice that began investigating him in 2020 when Trump was still president over allegations he was involved in sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl. He was involved in sex trafficking, a 17 year old girl that probe intensified when he was tied to Joel Greenberg. He was a former tax collector in Florida who pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, including sex trafficking. And then the House Ethics Committee began investigating Gates in 2021 over his purported involvement and initially, you know, had deferred to the Justice Department before expanding its probe to examine allegations, you know, that Gates used drugs, obstructed investigations and accepted improper gifts. And Gates has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, you know, in connection to all of this. And basically, the last thing that we have heard was the attorney representing two of the women involved said that both had told the committee investigators that Gates paid them for sex and that one of his clients had seen Gates having sex with a third woman who was then 17 years old at a Florida House party in 2017. This week, the House Ethics Committee tied when it voted to whether or not to release the results of the investigation. So for now, the details officially remain secret. Let's talk about Gates's political future.

We received an email from a listener on Thursday. Michael in Citra in central Florida wrote, now that Gates has dropped out of running for the attorney general, technically nominated for it, he can. Can he just resume his House seat when the new session starts since he was reelected? So, Sam, we know that Gates announced just within the last hour that, no, he's not going to return to the new Congress, but he could have. Right. I mean, explain that. Right. Yeah. So he could have returned since he did resign from the current Congress and he won reelection for the next Congress. So he could have been eligible to be sworn in with the rest of the new Congress on January 3rd. But as you said, he just came out to confirm that he's not going to, which makes sense as it would have opened him up to the very

real possibility of the ethics committee releasing that investigation since he would have been a House member again and dragging Republicans through that drama. You know, Florida law now requires a special election to take place if a House is vacated. And Governor DeSantis, you know, he had already instructed Florida Secretary of State Cord Bird to schedule special elections to determine the successors for both Gates and for Representative Michael Waltz, who Trump had appointed to national security advisor. Right. That was the Atlantic Coast Space Coast congressman, I believe, just around the Jacksonville and St. Augustine area there, which all this kind of answers Michael's second question here, Sam. And he has will he need will there be a special election essentially?

Do we know anything kind of about the timing of something like that? I think the time still is to be determined. of about the timing of something like that? I think the time still is to be determined. I believe Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, had said that there is possibilities that, you know, the these seats could be filled before the new Congress is sworn in. I'm not 100 percent sure. But and when it comes to Gates, if we want to know about the political scenarios of him going forward, is there is a chance that Trump appoints him to another executive branch job? Yes. Yes. It doesn't require Senate confirmation. None of this precludes the now former congressman from serving in the Trump administration in a political appointee position that doesn't have to go through

the United States Senate. Sam, always great to catch up with you for PolitiFact and have a terrific holiday for you and your family. Thanks so much. You as well. Samantha Putterman, Florida government reporter with our news partner, PolitiFact here on the Florida Roundup. Be sure to stick with us. I'm Tom Hudson. This is the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Covering Florida Navigator Program provides confidential assistance for Floridians looking to explore health care coverage within the federal health insurance marketplace. Open enrollment ends January 15th, 877-813-9115 or coveringflorida.org. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being here. This week, the new leaders of the Florida legislature were sworn into office. Daniel Perez is the new Speaker of the Florida

House. He's from Miami-Dade County. Ben Allbritton is the president of the state Senate. His district includes all or parts of five counties stretching from Lee north to Polk County. Both are Republicans and the GOP maintains its super majority in Tallahassee. They take over the law-riding process as Florida is growing. The state government has billions of dollars in its rainy day fund and many areas are wrestling with high housing costs, bad traffic, and expensive insurance. Perez has staked out more scrutiny of state spending as one of his priorities. Floridians want to decide their own destinations. They want the freedom to travel paths of their own choosing at their own speed. They expect the government to maintain the road, but they aren't looking for handouts. Perez has also pledged an across-the-board examination of state spending in his effort

to what he said is to, quote, build a state budget that values value. Not the online social media activists, not the lobbyists or interest groups, not the institutions that dominate our political conversations. I'm more interested in talking about the small business owner in Jacksonville, the abuela in Miami-Dade, the single mother in Orlando, the entrepreneur in Tampa. We are the Florida House of Representatives. We are the people's house, and it is the people of our state that should be our priority. House Minority Leader Fentress Driscoll is hoping for more bipartisanship this year in the Capitol after several divisive sessions, especially on culture issues like

public education. Florida is a beautifully diverse state. It's full of different people with different needs and one size absolutely will not fit all. Our work here should reflect that every single day, no matter what the issue. Across the statehouse in the Senate, Ben Albritton is a veteran lawmaker who's beginning his 15th year in the legislature. He enters his last two years in office as Senate president. One of his priorities is property insurance, telling insurers this week, quote, we are watching. Floridians have been paying faithfully their insurance premiums for years, sometimes decades. And now they expect their insurance company to keep up its end of the bargain. All Britain also wants to lead what he calls a rural renaissance in Florida.

When I see your opportunities to improve our rural quality of life, while preserving the time-honored way of life that's been deeply cherished for generation after generation after generation. I'm asking you today to join me in the fight for a rural renaissance in Florida. His Democratic counterpart is Jason Pizzo. Pizzo's district stretches along the coast from North Miami-Dade County into Broward. The issues are rather ecumenical across the board regardless of the partisanship. It has to do with infrastructure and the environment and resiliency and insurance and affordability and housing and that affects Democrat and Republican, Black, White, Hispanic, rich, core, inland and coastal. The Florida State Law Writing Session officially

begins in March, but lawmakers start meeting in committees in early December. One issue that may come up is support for the state's agriculture industry after damage from three hurricanes this season. A few weeks ago, a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers from Florida sent a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture asking for more help. Already, the federal government has okayed $143 million in insurance payments for crops damaged in Florida by winds from Hurricane Milton. This week, we saw an estimate for damage left by Hurricane Helene. Mahia Cookday from our partner station WUSF in Tampa has more. Florida's agricultural losses from Hurricane Helene are at least $40 million and could go as high as $162 million.

That's according to a report from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Institute Director Krista Cort says some types of land were affected worse than others. There's nearly 6.1 million acres, most of that being that grazing land that goes into the animals and animal products category, but a significant amount of field and row crops as well. About 18,000 acres of agricultural areas experienced what the report called high-intensity weather conditions. Court says that some farmers may have avoided additional devastating losses from Helene, but only because they had not yet replanted after Debbie hit just eight weeks

before. I'm Mahika Kukde in Tampa. Farmers and growers across the state, and really the rest of us, have been enjoying the end of summer weather, right? I mean, this week, many of us experienced the chilliest temperatures since last winter. Bundle up, It could get down to the upper 30s Saturday night in Lake City and Ocala, the 40s across the Panhandle, down to the mid-60s all the way in the Keys. This is socks with your sandals kind of weather, isn't it? It may not be too cold this winter, and it may be pretty dry during the dry season. La Nina conditions are expected to emerge next month. Now La Nina's usually push the jet stream north. That brings drier and warmer conditions here to Florida. Here's environmental editor Jenny Stoletovich with WLRN, our partner station in

Miami. The good news for Florida is this late arriving week La Nina sets the stage for a less stormy winter. The bad news is drier, warmer weather raises the risk of drought and wildfire. Rob Moeda is the chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Miami office. So warmer and drier from now all the way through April. In fact, the models are indicating that it's possible that the February to April period could tilt a little drier. Water managers are keeping an eye on Lake Okeechobee, the chief source of dry season freshwater, along with the sprawling water conservation areas south of the lake. The Army Corps is now letting the lake recede to help it recover from the wet season when high water levels can harm wildlife.

Mateel Ansar is an engineer with the South Florida Water Management District. So that's really a good thing when we have lake this high into the dry season. We should be in good shape as far as water supply. Even as the lake continues to drop, he says it's not expected to trigger any water restrictions. I'm Jenny Stoletovich in Miami. And I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. On the Gulf Coast, Pinellas County's storm-battered shoreline could get some help soon. Steve Newborn from partner station WUSF reports now that county officials there are working to get emergency approval for

a plan to nourish eroded beaches without having to go through the Army Corps of Engineers. Pinellas County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters says she's working with White House officials to do what she called an emergency workaround. It would bypass the Army Corps' rules that all beachside property owners have to allow public access on private property that has been replenished with new sand. She scheduled a Friday afternoon phone call to see if the process can be moved up before winter storms do more damage. I've been so happy with the response from the administration that if we have to wait a couple months, I'm incredibly optimistic that Senator Scott and whoever takes Senator Rubio's place and Congresswoman Luna are going

to continue the good work. And I believe we're going to be successful. County officials say many beaches have receded by six feet since Hurricane Idalia swept past last year. And about one million cubic yards of sand were washed away by the two hurricanes this year. I'm Steve Newborn in Indian Rocks Beach. We wanted to check our email inbox. It has been filling up with several messages about our recent program when we teamed up with the NPR station in San Francisco a few weeks back. Rochelle sent us this note.

I moved from California to Florida within the last eight years. California is considered a blue state because of the Bay Area and Los Angeles, but it's actually quite diverse politically. She writes, I thought when moving to Florida that it would also be a purple state considering the number of transplants. But Rochelle writes, conservative zealots have created a far more radical state than anything I experienced on the West Coast. Mike emailed, awesome way to converse with people on the opposite side of the country.

Super entertaining. It was like a radio road trip hearing people from other states. Hope that could be a monthly feature. Engaging different states, a great way to listen to what they're experiencing. And then Sarah in Palo Alto, California sent us this note here in Florida. Just listen to the joint program you did and wanted to chime in to beg you. Please, please do more of these shows. It's so valuable to share these perspectives across the states, and I think your programs are the perfect venue. Yeah, we think so too. It's a

lot of fun to do, Sayre. And if you have an idea that you'd like us to connect with another state, we'll give it a shot. Email us radio at the Florida roundup.org. Finally, this week on the roundup, as hurricane season winds down, Thanksgiving is still ahead. Yet this. This is the music that's been piped out of an outdoor shopping mall near where I live in South Florida. And this is not just this week. This has been the soundtrack at this mall for several weeks now. It started before Halloween. I chose to ignore it, but now, I mean, I just can't. Sure, the pumpkin lots are shifting over to Christmas trees,

but, you know, the Thanksgiving turkey is still frozen right now. And yeah, I know, I sound like a grumpy old guy. And hey, I like some Christmas tunes, but in December, when I'm in my flip-flops, at the beach, like any self-respecting Floridian who gave up their snow shovel years ago. That'll do it for our program today. The Florida Roundup is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF in Tampa by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter.

WLRN's Vice President of Radio and the program's Technical Director is Peter Mertz, engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson and Ernesto Jay. Richard Ives answers the phones. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Levos at AaronLevos.com. Thanks for calling, listening, emailing, and supporting public radio in your neighborhood. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend. Thank you.