The Florida Roundup - Florida's Supreme Court considers abortion ban; Special session will address Iran; Flood mitigation in coastal communities   

Episode Date: October 27, 2023

This week on The Florida Roundup, we talk about the legal limbo around abortion access as the Florida Supreme Court considers a challenge to the state’s 15-week ban. We speak with a Florida-based OBGYN (00:57), the executive director of Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates (05:08) and Tampa Bay Times reporter Romy Ellenbogen (17:25). Plus, Politico’s Gary Fineout joins us for a preview of November’s special legislative session (27:18). And later, a collection of stories about coastal communities' efforts to mitigate flooding (37:14).

This is the Florida Roundup. Thanks for joining us. I'm Tom Hudson. Dr. Cecilia Grande's waiting room was quiet when I visited this week. There were no patients, no canned music to fill the silence. More than a dozen chairs sat empty. After checking in, her receptionist put a sign on the small counter saying, office closed noon until one. It was lunchtime, but Dr. Grande was in her office. She's a gynecologist, one of the medical specialties at the center of the debate over abortion here in Florida. Florida's state Supreme Court justices are weighing whether or not to allow a 15-week

ban on abortions. If that stands, a new law banning abortions after six weeks would take effect soon after. Meantime, opponents, supporters, patients, and doctors like Dr. Grande wait. I'm not an abortion provider. However, I've been doing gynecology for 19 years. And if a patient is in need of a termination, or if she tells me that's what she wants, I typically refer the patient for elective terminations. We've had very good providers that this is the only thing they do so I've had the good fortune of when a patient either needed or wanted a termination I had colleagues that were extremely good

at this and this is the only thing they did and their staff was also extremely good at this and I had that luxury that I could refer them. When I had a patient or have a patient who is pregnant and wants to have a termination, I have the luxury to refer them. I don't have to do it. I don't know if anybody's going to have that luxury because it depends on what happens right now at the level of the Supreme Court. So to tell you the truth, from now forward, I don't know what's going to happen. And that's the feeling of most of my colleagues.

We are saddened. We are angry. We are in fear of our patients. We can't comprehend why something that has absolutely nothing to do with politics is a problem that has been created by the politicians. In the last 20 years, the only thing is that my colleagues who perform terminations have had to change certain things, such as, for example, if a patient shows up, they need to sign a consent, wait 24 hours, and then go back. Other than that, until now, the 15-week ban on elective termination seems to not be that draconian. The main issue that we see is that a lot of the patients who want to have a pregnancy get their

obstetrical ultrasound for the anatomical survey at 16 weeks. And there's a lot of gray. There are certain anomalies that are completely lethal, but there are some that are not lethal. that are not lethal. We don't label ourselves as Democrats or Republicans. We're doctors. The politics is what muddies this. This should not be political. It's not what I want.

It's what is best for my patient. It is very sad that the reproductive freedom of our patient is now based on their zip code. So we are one nation, but depending upon where you live, your personal liberties are going to be restricted, depending on your zip code. When I left Dr. Grande's office, the lunch break was over and the waiting room was filling up. Today on the Florida Roundup, waiting. Waiting for a big abortion decision in Florida and the

push to have voters decide. A year and a half after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Roe v. Wade and the federal right to an abortion along with it, Florida has moved to put in place restrictions. So what do you make of those efforts? Do you want to vote on abortion access and why? You can email us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Email us radio at thefloridaroundup.org or call 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. The waiting for the Florida Supreme Court decision continues.

And in the meantime, abortion supporters are pushing ahead with an effort to have voters decide. A proposed ballot question would ask voters if they want to prohibit any abortion restriction before viability or to protect the health of the patient. I spoke about the court arguments and the possible ballot initiative with Laura Goodhue, Executive Director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood. Laura, welcome to the Florida Roundup. Thanks for your time. Thanks for having me. In 1980, when the privacy language was first added to the state constitution here in Florida,

do you think people really understood that that privacy would extend to abortion access? Yeah, I think the voters have shown time and again that they value making decisions about their own bodies free from government interference. And I think that was true in 1980. And I think it's true today. We've seen that not only in Florida, where there have been multiple attempts by Florida politicians to take away rights to health care, but to interfere specifically in our reproductive rights. Also in 2012, there was another effort, a ballot initiative that would have also removed our strong right to privacy that we have in our state constitution that has protected abortion. That was resoundingly defeated by the voters. And we're seeing great enthusiasm now for another ballot initiative to affirm once again that government should not be interfering in reproductive rights.

And I'll ask you about the referendum efforts here in a moment, but back to the decision that is in front of the justices of the Florida State Supreme Court. The state, as you know, argues that in 1980, conversations around abortion and privacy as it relates to the constitutional amendment in question here was not really part of the public record. Why should the justices consider what voters thought in 1980? I think what's important here is that Florida has a strong history of our privacy rights protecting access to abortion care. And that's what's really important. Previous justices have said that government shall not interfere in our personal private

decisions. That's clearly stated in the Constitution. And that includes the rights to decide if and when to become a parent and whether or not a person would be forced to give birth. And so there is a very strong precedence for that. Unfortunately, we have seen with a more conservative court over the past couple of years, different interpretations. We saw Roe v. Wade, which had affirmed a woman's federal constitutional right to an abortion overturned over 50 years of precedence. And basically, we're facing the same thing in Florida, right? So it doesn't necessarily matter that that's what the Constitution says. We are seeing increasingly conservative justices

overturning those rights. The question is a constitutional language question in Florida. That constitutional language talks about folks having the, quote, right to be left alone and free from governmental intrusion into a person's private life. It doesn't explicitly mention abortion. In Florida, 1989, state Supreme Court case extended that language to abortion. And the state argues that the original language is about personal data and information, not what it calls decisional autonomy. Why do you think it does extend to decisional autonomy? In other words, abortion? I think that I don't know that it could get any clearer than that. I mean, you basically read what Article 1, Section 23 says is that every

natural person should be let alone and free from governmental intrusion. And I think this is a disingenuous argument to say that this pertains to data. I don't think that there was a huge effort just to solely think about that one issue and that the Constitution should be interpreted to protect people's freedoms. And in fact, I think Floridians value that and they value that they have a stronger right to privacy in their state. So Laura, let me ask you, while Roe v. Wade was the law of the land prior to the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, that was seen as abortions allowed up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy. How is that not a violation of the Florida Constitution? But as you argue, the 15 week law, which is at heart in this case, is a violation of the Florida Constitution. Right. And so I want to preface this that I'm not a constitutional attorney.

And neither am I, by the way, Laura. But Roe v. Wade was really based on the Equal Protection Clause and an implied right to privacy. But Roe v. Wade was really based on the Equal Protection Clause and an implied right to privacy. I believe it's clear that that also pertains to, you know, our rights to be to be free to make these decisions about our bodies and our futures. Florida's right to privacy is actually called that in Section 23. It's actually spelled out. So it's but I guess you weren't implicit, but you weren't. But you weren't. But there was no court case challenging Florida abortion restrictions before it in terms of the time allowed for abortion under Roe v. Wade, which was generally agreed to be 24 weeks. Now the state law is 15 weeks and the contention by plaintiffs is that is unconstitutional. So why does the time make any difference about the right to privacy? Why does the time make any difference about the right to privacy?

So so the time. So there have been other challenges, but I think there was always a chilling effect. Right. In the in the state legislature where there have been laws passed by Florida politicians to restrict abortion access. Yes, but not necessarily on the time. It was access about notification, about the number of visits, those types of things. Parental. Oh, you mean the time of gestational age. But the times of gestational age, right. I understand what you're saying. Yeah, I'm sorry about that. So I think it's completely arbitrary, right? And what we've seen is that this 15-week ban has been very detrimental and dangerous for Floridians, even risking some lives.

I mean, we've seen women who have had life-threatening conditions who have not been able to end their pregnancies. Doctors have not been able to sign off on that because of these confusing laws and this completely arbitrary number of 15 weeks. It really doesn't take into thought the different circumstances of people's pregnancies. In fact, most people who have been pregnant know that you get that ultrasound to determine the gender rate of the pregnancy around 18 or 20 weeks. A lot of people think of it as a gender reveal, but really it's anatomy scan to see that everything's progressing well with the pregnancy. Well, if something isn't going right post 15 weeks in Florida, now it's very difficult to make decisions about that pregnancy, even though it's a very wanted pregnancy. And so that's why these are cruel laws that should be, you know, these decisions should be best left between the patients and their doctors and not politicians.

Laura, let me ask you about the effort to put a referendum question on the ballot for voters here in Florida in 2024 regarding abortion. That ballot referendum language as it stands now would essentially ask voters to approve an amendment that allows for no restrictions to abortion until viability or necessary to protect the patient's health. What's your understanding of that word viability? Because that's the word that the state attorney general, Ashley Moody, has pointed to as vague as she plans to challenge the language in this potential referendum. Yeah, so this is just another example of Florida politicians interfering in the will of the voters. The term viability is very clear. It's very clear in the dictionary, in the state. The term is actually defined in

Florida statute itself, as well as throughout the United States Supreme Court cases and the Florida State Supreme Court. And why not put that definition then in the language of the referendum? Well, because it's already defined, right? So it really wouldn't make sense to define every single word in the ballot summary. We want to make sure, you know, that voters are reading the summary and that it is very clear to them. And so what does it mean then? So viability means that a fetus is viable up until the time that it can survive outside the womb through standard medical measures. So a fetus is sustainable outside the womb through standard medical measures. So a fetus is sustainable outside the womb through standard medical measures. And how are voters supposed to interpret that in terms of a matter

of weeks, which is kind of among the many areas of language that abortion has moved into when it comes to the legal realm, right? 15 weeks, six weeks, 24 weeks. How are voters supposed to understand that definition? Well, so this has been the definition throughout time, right? Like I said, this has already been in Florida statute. This has already been defined and well-established throughout the history of the United States Supreme Court deciding these issues. And so I think it's just disingenuous to say that Florida's don't know what Floridians wouldn't know what they're voting for. And what Floridians will be voting for is to reject government interference in abortion. And that's what this ballot initiative

does. It says that laws shall not prohibit or penalize or delay abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health as determined by the health of the patient's health care provider. Laura Goodhue is the executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood. Laura, thanks so much for your time. Absolutely. Thank you so much. You can get in touch with us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, or call 305-995-1800, FloridaRoundup.org or call 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. If the 15-week ban is thrown out, Florida's six-week law would be nullified. If there's any other ruling from the state's high court, the six-week ban would take effect 30 days later. Now, in the meantime, there's the battle over that ballot question about abortion, which is taking shape.

305-995-1800 is our phone number. Now, supporters of the 15-week abortion ban expected the court fight and the decision the state is waiting for. Republican Erin Graal sponsored the bill that eventually passed. She welcomed that legal fight while debating the bill in February of 2022. The court's interpretation of our constitution is what is at issue. There is no right to abortion in the federal constitution or the state constitution. There is a right to life. Republican Kelly Stargill was the sponsor in the Florida Senate as that legislation was making its way through Tallahassee two years ago. I feel very

strongly that life begins at conception, but we're making some accommodations to make sure that women do have an option up to those first 15 weeks. And then after that, the baby's important and we're going to recognize that. By April of 2022, the bill had passed and Governor Ron DeSantis signed the 15-week ban into law. This will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation. Wilton Simpson was the leader of the Florida Senate at the time and joined the governor at the bill signing. Abortion kills children and forever changes the life of mothers, the father, and the entire extended family. Every unborn child is a special and unique human being deserving of protection from harm and the chance to grow up in a loving family.

We invited several people who support the abortion restriction efforts to join our program today, including the Senate president in Florida, Kathleen Pasadena, Representative Jenna Persons-Mulica and Representative Spencer Roach. They declined our invitation. and Representative Spencer Roach. They declined our invitation. We also invited others who support the 15-week ban, including current state Senator Aaron Grawl, Mark Minnick, the state chairman for Protect Human Life in Florida, and Dr. William Lyle, founder of Pro-Life Doc. But we did not hear back from those three

by the time our live broadcast began on this Friday. Your email is radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Stacey in St. Petersburg wrote us that she supports a ban after 15 weeks with exceptions for the health of the mother. Before then, Stacey writes, it's the woman's choice. Nancy sent us this email. They may call this the free state of Florida, but elected officials are doing all they can to take away our freedoms when it comes to accessing reproductive health care and protecting our right to privacy.

Nancy continues in her email. I had an abortion when I was 19 years old and it was the right decision for me. And then Margaret sent us this email. Short and simple. Yes, I would definitely vote for abortion, she sends. Romy Ellen Bogan is with us now. She is the state government reporter specializing in health care for the Tampa Bay Times. Romy, thanks for your time today. Is there any timeline on the Supreme Court's ruling? Thank you for having me, first of all. And no, there isn't really a timeline. Unlike the

U.S. Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court doesn't have a window where they have to release all of their opinions. So the decision could come down next week. It could come down next year. Governor DeSantis appointed five of these seven justices. We're going to have a bit of a longer conversation after we break. But just in a few moments, what do we know about the abortion views of the justices on the court? Yeah, some of the justices, including Justice Charles Kennedy, has known views because he was a politician before he was a Supreme Court justice. And as a U.S. representative, he introduced a bill that was called the Partial Birth Abortion Act. And that kind of is credited with popularizing the term partial birth abortion. And his wife actually is the co-sponsor of the six-week abortion legislation.

And then there's Justice Jamie Grosshans, who has done pro bono legal work for crisis pregnancy centers, which steer people away from abortion clinics. Romy, stick with us. We want to hear more about the setup in the state Supreme Court for this decision on the 15-week abortion restriction in Florida. More of your calls and emails coming up as well. And later on in our program, we're going to tackle the growing agenda for the special legislative session here in Florida that's coming up and how Iran figures into it. It's all coming

up next as you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. Thanks for joining us this week. I'm Tom Hudson. We're talking about waiting for the state Supreme Court to rule on Florida's 15-week abortion restriction and the effort to put an abortion question on the 2024 ballot. Lori has been listening in from St. Augustine.

Lori, thanks for calling in. You're on the radio. Thank you. I find that opponents of the bill or the supporters of the 15-week ban claims that abortion is not specifically listed in the Constitution. And I will stipulate that. I haven't read that statute. But I'm wondering how many other medical procedures are included. many other medical procedures are included? Does the Constitution refer to an appendectomy or open heart surgery or plastic surgery? Are any of those items specifically included in our Constitution? And if not, then how do we hold the standard for abortion care, which is medical care, that we don't hold that same standard for other

medical procedures. And I'll just add, I don't think we should have to be voting on this. But since we do have to, given the current climate, I support the idea of adding this measure to our election so that the people can decide. Lori, thanks for joining the conversation there from St. Augustine. Cindy is listening from the panhandle in Destin. Cindy, you're on the radio. Go ahead. Cindy, are you still with us on the telephone? Yes, I am.

There you go. Go ahead. I believe that the government should have no right between a woman's decisions and what she does with her body and to come between her and her doctor. They're not health professionals. They're politicians. They have agendas. And it has absolutely nothing to do with worrying about women's rights. Once a baby's born, they really don't care whether that child has enough to eat, whether that child has child care, whether that child has an equal education. They just want you to have babies, and they just don't want any

responsibility after that. I believe they care more about what happens to unborn children than they do about the ones that are walking around alive and the women who are walking around alive. Cindy, thank you for lending your voice to the conversation from Destin, calling in here to the Florida Roundup. I'll point out that the Florida legislature last year did expand access for child health care. Romy Ellen Bogan is still with us, state government reporter from the Tampa Bay Times. Romy, you heard there from both callers really talking about this issue as a health care issue. How would you characterize the role of health care in the legal arguments that have been put in front of the state Supreme Court to decide

whether or not this 15-week abortion restriction is constitutional or not? Yeah, it's an interesting question. I think the arguments have really not been as much about health care as it has been about the constitutional right to privacy and whether that does protect someone's right to access an abortion. And there are some references to what happens if you aren't able to access abortion and how sometimes carrying out a pregnancy can be quite dangerous. But that is not, I would say, the central argument that people are making here. It's about that right to privacy.

Lauren sent us this email, radio at the Florida Roundup dot org. Lauren writing abortion is health care. Lauren says, I have yet to hear any argument against it that are not based on religious views, to hear any argument against it that are not based on religious views, which means that those who are attempting to restrict women's choice are trying to impose their own religious prejudices on theirs. Clearly a violation of our U.S. Constitution, Lauren writes. Faith and religion, did that play much of a role in the arguments that the Supreme Court justices are weighing? No, I mean there isn't explicitly written any kind of reference to this is because of this religious principle or that religious principle. It does sort of come down to a constitutional frame point. in Florida here in 2024. We don't know quite yet. This legal fight over the referendum seems to be over the use of the word viability in the proposed language. Help walk us through understanding

the use of that word and the likely legal fight over it. Well, it's hard to know what exactly the state's argument will be because they haven't yet filed that full brief. But Attorney General Ashley Moody did write an opinion piece where she said her argument was going to be that you could define viability as that first point at about 12 weeks, where you know the pregnancy is likely to continue without a high risk of miscarriage. And then that second point of viability in that 21 to 24 week window where a fetus could survive outside of the uterus without major medical intervention. And so that would be, I guess, the state's argument. And the argument from like Laura Goodhe was saying from kind of pro-abortion supporters is that viability across states in Florida's own statute tends to be defined as that

20 to 24 week window where a baby can survive without medical intervention. Romy Ellen Bogan, state government reporter specializing in health care, joining us from the Tampa Bay Times. Romy, thanks for sharing your reporting with us. Thank you for having me. We're going to go to Fort Pierce, where Frances has been listening into the conversation. Frances, we'll give you the last word this time around. Go ahead. Okay, well, I signed the petition for the ballot referendum, and I'm getting others to sign it too, including men who are interested in signing it, as well as their significant others and women. So I'm hoping it will be on the ballot in 2024.

So I'm hoping it will be on the ballot in 2024. So that's it. The organizers need almost 900,000 verified signatures for it to appear on that ballot. And of course, there's likely to be some court fights over the signatures. And we know that there's likely to be a court fight over the language. But Frances will certainly be watching and talking about it here on the roundups in the week ahead. Great to hear from you, Frances, from Fort Pierce, listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Well, Florida lawmakers have been called back to work early. Governor Ron DeSantis pushed for a special session as he called for more state sanctions against Iran over that country's

alleged role in the Hamas attacks against Israel. Iran already is listed as a foreign country of concern by Florida. State agencies and local governments are limited in doing business with any company that also does business with the government of Iran. And a new state law this year bans Iranians from owning land in most of Florida. Now, before the call for a special session, Florida House Speaker Paul Renner said he was interested in picking up the governor's request for state action against Iran. We know the Iranian regime funds Hamas and assist other terror groups. Therefore, we support Governor DeSantis' legislative proposal announced last week to sanction Iran.

The relationship between Florida and Israel has never been stronger. Orlando-area Democratic State Representative Ana Eskamani's family fled Iran. She's skeptical of the governor's motivation for the special session. She spoke with public radio station WMNF in Tampa earlier this week. I do see this as just more politics. I see this as performance. And it's frustrating because Floridians need us to focus on things like property insurance and funding public education and the affordability crisis. Well, since announced that special session agenda has grown to include insurance and hurricane recovery and school choice.

Gary Fineout has been following all of this as he does each and every day for Politico. Gary joining us from Tallahassee. Great to have you back on the program, Gary. Let's start with Iran. What could state lawmakers do? Well, you know, part of what the governor initially outlined was sort of expanding the definitions of the companies that would be covered. You know, there's some definitions as to what sectors right now that you're supposed to be involved in that are covered. You know, the thing is that a lot of what Florida does is sort of also modeled on federal law and what the federal sanctions are in place.

So we haven't seen an actual proposal yet. I do anticipate, you know, that one of the other things that they also are going to do is they are going to probably provide a substantial amount of money to institutions such as Jewish day schools that they feel may have security concerns. And so I think a fair amount of the special session is actually going to be talking about money. It's going to be a lot of issues of setting Sunshine State and Israel to bring Americans back. And on Thursday, he has said that he has helped send drones, weapons and ammunition to Israel. So what do we know about the state expenditure thus far?

Well, yeah, there was some initial statements and then there were clarifying of the statements. And so here's what we what we do know we know that florida has issued purchase orders that are worth up to 32 million dollars to go to three different uh vendors and one of those vendors is had done the most of the bulk of the work for about it is in line to receive it right now 19 million dollars and gary these are the vendors for the flights to bring floridians and flights and and one of the vendors also arranged to to to do the cargo planes and so what happened was there were two cargo planes with supplies that was shipped to israel okay and what the state revealed yesterday was the planes included drones body armor and helmets for first responders

that's their definition so i'm assuming that includes police but the but they clarified that they did not the state did not purchase the body armor drones or helmets they merely the state paid to fly it to israel and said they did a request of Israeli officials. I see. Now, as to the weapons and ammunition, that's a little trickier. So as it kind of, we got a little bit more information, and the Israeli consul general has given some interviews in which he's sort of clarified it. So it turns out that there were some weapons parts that had already arranged, bought by others, and that the Israeli government was trying to get these weapons parts shipped to Israel. And there was some conversation about an clearance needed from the federal government and that the DeSantis administration weighed in and said, please give it clearance.

So that's apparently what the situation is with the weapons. And again, these weapons, these rifle parts, as they've been described, were not paid for by the taxpayers of the state of Florida. It's another transaction. The state was merely involved in trying to make sure that they got to Israel. The state essentially provided transportation for that gear. Well, no, they didn't even provided transportation for that gear. Well, no, they didn't even provide transportation for the rifle parts. They provided transportation for the body armor, helmets, and drones, not the rifle. Like I said, it's been, you know, we've been

trying to get a little bit of clarity. Yeah, no, it's complicated and complex, but also important about transparency, particularly if there's state dollars uh being used here and if so how right yeah right and and that's what i'm saying is that so at the end the state has come out and said no we didn't buy the drones we didn't buy the weapons we merely in one instance did pay to fly uh some equipment and in the other instance, you know, helped get clearance for the for the weapons. Yeah. For the state expenditure of money thus far with this aid and assistance toward and to Israel, where has that money come last couple of years is there has been there was a debate about giving the governor a an emergency fund that he could tap into during the disasters and things of that nature, which did not require a approval by the legislature. They've created that account. They've seeded it with money before the before the latest stuff with Israel. A economist with the state said about three weeks ago that there was close to 700 million dollars in the account. Now, understand the way this account was created was the legislature said you have to declare a state of emergency. was the legislature said, you have to declare a state of emergency.

This is money that has to be in response. Now, the thinking was that it's primarily for a disaster, but there was an emergency declared with COVID, and there have been emergencies with other things. And so in this instance, when the governor declared a state of emergency based upon the Hamas attacks on Israel, that gave him the power to then tap into that money. Gary, let me remind folks that they are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. My name is Tom Hudson. Gary Fineout is with us, a longtime Statehouse reporter now with Politico. We're talking about Governor DeSantis and his efforts to help and lend aid and assistance to Israel from Florida. So you're talking, Gary,

about this fund, this discretionary fund of about $700 million that the governor has access to. You have to declare a state of emergency, which he did with Israel's war against Hamas. That allows the governor to tap into this. Is there any other, lack of a better term, any other governor on the governor tapping into this discretionary spending? Are you asking me if any other governor in the country? No, no, no, no. If there's any other control, I guess. Is there any other oversight, is what I'm asking. Is there any other oversight uh is what i'm asking is there any other limitation on governor desantis uh i mean you know the the law is the law and it kind of outlines what's

allowed and you know so before you anyone calls or makes the question it's like if you ask me whether or not this type of emergency declaration and and and this type of expenditure is legal what i would tell you is it's legal until someone sues and gets a court to say that it's not yeah fair and and and and and and i did ask a couple of legislators right after it happened the republican leaders in the legislature as to their thoughts about it. And they told me that they thought what the governor did was right. And so I would not foresee the legislature themselves objecting to this. I would note that a few years ago, when Governor Scott spent some money to try to deal with one of the hurricanes,

the hurricane of Puerto Rico, there was a little bit of a push back from the legislature as to feeling that that wasn't something that they had appropriated. But in terms of the dealings with Governor DeSantis in the legislature, that has not happened over the last two or three years. Just about 60 seconds left, so certainly not enough time to get into all the details here. But property insurance has been kind of added to this agenda. What can property owners expect to come out of this legislative session when it comes to insurance? Real quickly, I mean, basically, again, it's a money thing. And basically, they're talking about some level of additional funding going to the My Safe Florida Home

Program. And essentially, that's a program that can provide up to two-thirds the funding for certain types of projects such as roof improvements and garage doors and windows and and basically um but they've run out of funding they they've put more than 200 million dollars into this program over the last couple of years and it's all tapped out there's like 17 000 homeowners waiting or applied for this money but it's at zero right now. So they're going to replenish it. Do we know how much they want to put back in? No, I've not yet seen an amount. In fact, I think the chief financial officer was asked about it earlier this week, and he said he doesn't know what amount is going to be asked for or provided for. But I would anticipate it would be some sort of significant amount, at least enough to get them through to the beginning of next year, because the legislature is coming back in January. Yeah, it's a quick turnaround, and they've

already begun their planning sessions, the so-called committee weeks, and they're going to squeeze the special session in this first week in November. Gary, find out watching the legislators and the lawmaking that's happening in Tallahassee for Politico. Gary, always a pleasure. Thanks for sharing your reporting with us. Thank you. Much appreciated. Still to come on this program, stick with us. Lots more to talk about. We're going to be sharing two stories with you about living with and fighting floodwaters in two Florida communities. Don't forget, you can always catch up on our podcast. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave us a review. You are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. Thanks again for joining us this week. I'm Tom Hudson.

Well, you know that living in Florida means living with water. No part of our state is more than about 75 miles from the ocean and a lot closer to freshwater. We want to bring you now two stories of flooding, one from a historic rainstorm in a big city, the other from a hurricane affecting a small community. Tiny Rabonia, Florida sits where the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is attached to land before it soars north across Tampa Bay. It's a historically black community that has experienced persistent flooding for years. Residents are still recovering after Hurricane Adalia brought more than three feet of storm surge to their neighborhood in late August. Kathy Carter now reports from our partner station, WUSF in Tampa. Kathy Carter now reports from our partner station WUSF in Tampa.

As he navigates his walker along a cracked driveway, Morris Goff takes visitors inside the home his parents bought nearly 70 years ago. Let me walk you through right quick. My sister's here. She's a caretaker of it. She and my brother. Goff and his eight siblings were born and raised in Rabonia. He says it's not unusual for water to flow from Terrasia Bay through the neighborhood after a storm, but Adalia brought the worst flooding he's ever seen. The water was coming up out of the grapes out there like it was a fountain. At the Goff home, the water's force caused a big crack on the floor and many of the rooms

remain mostly bare. It's a four-bedroom house and we had to take all the what was left of the rooms remain mostly bare. It's a four-bedroom house and we had to take all the what was left of the furniture and put it out. Either the county picked it up or some of the neighbors who thought they liked molded furniture, they took it. There are about 180 small single-family homes in Rabonia. Many of its original residents were freed slaves or their descendants. They came to Manatee County beginning in the 1920s to work as migrant farmers, and the community provided a rare opportunity for Black families to pursue home ownership. Many of those homes have been passed down through several generations. Luther Wilkins, president of the NAACP in Manatee County, says about 30 of them won't withstand another storm, and it's time to fix the aging homes for good. There is no foundation on these homes, so when they flood or if you pull up the floors,

you're looking at dirt. Wilkins says the local chapter of the NAACP, along with other non-profits and church groups, are coming together to help residents of Rabonia. Some of the homes will need to be raised and put on foundations. Others will need extensive repairs. Some elderly owners don't have insurance, and initial assessments from FEMA won't be enough to cover all of the costs. So, Wilkin says, the federal agency has provided a waiver allowing local groups to begin repairs on their own. That's good news for Rabonia resident Linda Lassiter, who looks after her 93-year-old mother.

My mom is elderly. She wants to stay in her house. We're trying to make it livable again. I don't want her to spend these days in a flood house that's full of mold. As Lassiter combs through a life's worth of papers and photographs, clothing and furniture remain in the garage where a faint smell of mildew lingers. I say this was one flood too many. Before Adelia Strzok, Manatee County government had completed a $4 million project to improve stormwater drainage in Rabonia.

But there's no changing the fact that the community sits below sea level. According to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, flood risk in the U.S. will increase by about 25% in the next three decades. And black communities are expected to face disproportionate harm. This community has flooded for years and years and this community has been neglected. The National NAACP recently signed an agreement with FEMA to better coordinate disaster preparedness and response efforts in black communities across the country. Back at the Goff home, help cannot come soon enough for Mary Goff who moved back to Rabonia from Atlanta several years ago to take care of her ailing mother. And her last word was, take care of my home. I stayed, went to work on the home.

Goff said she finished and paid $30,000 for renovations on the family home three weeks before Hurricane Adalia. three weeks before Hurricane Adalia. Then a storm came like a hit in the gut, and I can't get rid of the smell of the water, and I got shot all over. I'm Kathy Carter in Rabonia. Well, further down the peninsula, it was a different kind of storm that soaked Fort Lauderdale.

Six months ago, a storm dumped more than two feet of rain in a matter of hours on some neighborhoods, turning streets into streams. Hundreds of residents had to leave their homes because of the damage. From our partner station in South Florida, WLRN, Gerard Albert III reports on what city leaders are doing to prepare for future floodwaters. At this month's State of the City address, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis spent the first 20 minutes talking about the historic April floods. Then, he made an announcement. Over the next decade, Fortify Lauderdale will invest up to half a billion dollars in stormwater infrastructure construction in more than 17 neighborhoods. The plan is ambitious and expensive. A portion of that will come from utility fees residents pay, which will likely increase over the next 10 years. The plan is something Trantalis says should have been started years ago when the city learned about the

inadequate infrastructure. This is the most aggressive resiliency effort underway in our state, maybe our nation. It is what we need to do to protect our residents. The city is kicking construction into overdrive because they were caught off guard by an unprecedented disaster just six months ago. On April 12th, when more than 26 inches of rain fell on the coastal city, officials realized they weren't working fast enough. in the coastal city, officials realized they weren't working fast enough. Now, Fort Lauderdale Public Works Director Alan Dodd hopes to get ahead of the next flood that's bound to happen. And we need to adapt to climate change and get ahead of it. Sea level rise is having a greater impact. Heavier rainfall is having the impact. The city is pushing to accelerate projects they already had in place. But we need to do it faster.

We need to get the infrastructure in the ground. We can't wait. That's Alan Dodd again. He's the city's director of public works. We have bought additional temporary pumps, portable pumps, and also we ordered an additional Vactor truck. Vactor trucks are used to clear out drains so water can flow. During the flood, a total of 36 Vactor and pump trucks were moving water out of neighborhoods.

The Fortify Lauderdale plan and new equipment are all part of the city's acknowledgement that the April flood will not be a one-time thing. flood will not be a one-time thing. City leaders know that between climate change and sea level rise, severe weather events stand to affect residents more often in the future. I'm Gerard Albert III in Fort Lauderdale. Reporter Joshua Ceballos contributed reporting to this story. I'm Tom Hudson and you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Well, with water may come sand, and sand is one of Florida's most valuable assets. After all, millions of people come here to get it between their toes, something maybe that we take for granted when we live here, but it is vital to our economy and our environment. Now, there's a park in Flagler

County that borrows its name from its location, the River to Sea Preserve. It's now closed during the week to finish up an emergency dune restoration project. From our sister station in Orlando, WMFE, environment reporter Molly Duregg reports. Flagler County's coastal engineering administrator, Ansley Renke, describes the dune as minimal protection. Still, she says, during severe storms, the dune will be a valuable buffer for homes and infrastructure near the ocean. We've got this long-term erosion that's occurring, and it's been occurring for over a decade here, where the beaches are getting narrower and steeper and starting to erode the dune that protects the infrastructure behind the dune, like the roadways, the buildings. After Hurricanes Ian and Nicole last year, Renke says the dune receded by up to 35 feet. In some places, it was completely washed away. I'm Molly Duregg in Orlando. On the other side of the peninsula, Pinellas County is doing its

own repair job on the sand. That sand has been trucked in to Treasure Island beaches to help the shoreline devastated by Hurricane Adalia. Dalena Miller now reports from WUSF in Tampa. The sound of the waves at Sunset Beach was drowned out by the whirring of gas-powered augers being used to drill holes in newly planted sand dunes. The workers then dropped into the holes four species of vegetation, sea oats, bitter panic grass, beach elder, and railroad vine, along with hydrogel packets to feed them. Loring Dewing is overseeing the planting process.

She says each plant was chosen to help root and preserve the new sand dunes. So the grasses, for example, will provide a really strong root structure underneath the surface of the dunes and will help protect it that way. And the vine species that we're installing will help create kind of an armor over it. They can have vines 100 feet long, so they'll kind of anchor down the surface of the dunes as well. Visitors are asked to stay off the dunes so vegetation can have time to take root. I'm Dalena Miller in Tampa. The sand dunes on Sunset Beach have been restored,

and Treasure Island officials plan to reopen the sand on Saturday. And finally on the roundup, if there is sand, there may be shells down by the seashore. Not sold, but just waiting to be found. Sometimes by the thousands. Mike Braun brings us this story from WGCU in Fort Myers. Call them shell beds, shell benches, or shell piles. The rainbow-hued rows of shells extending for quite some distance are a natural phenomenon that is, actually, not that rare. Special enough, however, to bring dozens of shell lovers to the sandy beaches near Venice Inlet when the massive shells pile up ashore. Venice Inlet when the massive shells pile up ashore. We went from having almost no shells at all to this just happening in the last few days. There are tons of shells here.

This is totally my addiction. That was Rose Diehl, who was spooning through a pile of shells three feet high along the beach at North Jetty Park in Venice recently. Venice Beach is known more for the scads of shark teeth to be found in the shallows. But on this recent day, it was the shells, millions of them, that ruled. It was a perfect shell day for Deal, a Venice resident, and her daughter, Deanna Deal, from New York. Oh my gosh, this is just paradise. This is wonderful. Deal says she stays combing through the shells with a wooden spoon or her hands for hours every time a storm or the just-right tide washes the shell mounds in. I don't go to the casino,

I don't gamble, so I don't get excitement that way, but if I find a perfect beautiful shell that I've been looking for, that does it for me. It usually takes a disturbance such as the recent Hurricane Adelia or a particularly rough afternoon shower during the summer to deposit the shells ashore. Sometimes all it takes is no apparent reason and shells wash ashore en masse, resulting in shell piles without stormy weather. This is Mike Braun. Well, that'll do it for our program today. The Florida Roundup is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF Public Media in Tampa. Richard O'Brien produced the program.

WLRN's Vice President of Radio and our Technical Director is Peter Maritz, engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson and Charles Michaels. Richard Ives answers our phones. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at aaronleibos.com. If you missed any of today's program, you can download it and listen through past programs at WLRN.org slash podcasts. Thanks for calling, emailing, listening, and supporting public media in your community. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.