The Florida Roundup - One year after Hurricane Ian; State minimum wage to increase; Fact-checking Florida claims from GOP Debate 

Episode Date: September 29, 2023

This week on The Florida Roundup, we take a look back at Hurricane Ian one year later with reporting from Florida Public Radio member stations (01:05). Plus, we look at what the state’s minimum wage increase with FIU’s Dr. Maria Ilcheva (22:21) and then WUSF’s Gabriella Paul (30:18). And later, fact-checking Florida claims in the latest GOP Debate with PolitiFact’s Samantha Putterman (37:54).

Today on the Florida Roundup. You know people were devastated. People lost their homes, they lost everything. You know so it's been very hard this year. It's been one year since Hurricane Ian crashed into southwest Florida, killing over 140 people and leaving behind billions of dollars in damages. I'm thinking hopefully five years from now, you know, we're here living on the island and this is just a distant memory. Also, the state minimum wage goes up this weekend. So how's your paycheck keeping pace with the rising cost of living?

Email us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. And fact-checking the Florida claims from this week's GOP presidential debate. I'm Tom Hudson. The stories you're talking about this week coming up next here on the Florida Roundup. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for listening this week. It was the middle of the week in the middle of the afternoon one year ago this week when Hurricane Ian officially made landfall. But its winds and its surge of water had been battering southwest Florida for hours.

All right, so Ian is moving over the western tip of Cuba this morning. Ian came out of the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea, rapidly strengthening into a major hurricane in just two days. This is coverage of those days and hours leading up to landfall from the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. And very possibly makes landfall as a Category 4 hurricane. We're looking at a wind event, a rain event, and a storm surge event. The area is currently facing surge flooding more than six feet above the ground. You know, we're getting down to a pretty narrow hour of arrival of tropical storm type winds. Sustained winds around the eyewall up to 155 miles an hour. The center of the storm about... When the winds finally died down and the storm surge ebbed, Ian's scars stretched from the barrier islands to miles inland around Fort Myers, Port Charlotte, Venice, and into the Orlando area.

It is the third costliest hurricane on record with damage of $115 billion. Still, there is an undeniable draw to live near the water for some. Investigative reporter Eileen Kelly at WGCU in Fort Myers spoke with some of those calling barrier islands home. Barrier islands are nature's versions of dikes or natural flood barriers. That's why they're called barrier islands. People have been living on them for centuries. Near back-to-back hurricanes in the 1920s and the massive killer Hurricane Donna did not deter people like Stan Stauder. His family's been coming to Fort Myers Beach since the 1950s. My parents would come and every winter they would be here. And every year of my life I spent at least two weeks on Fort Myers Beach.

The resiliency of barrier island people has been tested once again after Hurricane Ian. The island's old businesses and bungalows took the brunt of the storm. Of some 12,000 single-family homes on Lee County's barrier islands, more than half sustained significant damage, and about a third of those homes have been deemed uninhabitable, and that's just single-family homes. According to records from the Lee County Property Appraiser's Office, one-third of the island's 11,500 condominiums have also been deemed uninhabitable. I don't think I could rebuild on the single-story and live here. I really don't even think I could sleep here on the first story after what happened

because I might have bad dreams of water. Homes like Carrie Lee's on Fort Myers Beach, where she lived with her 4-year-old son, cannot be repaired. She must tear it down. I just keep trying to think of the future. I'm thinking hopefully 5 years from now, you know, we're here living on the island and the school's finished and he's going there and this is just a distant memory. On September 28th, Lee and her son were home when the canal behind her house began to flood. And then ran out and looked out the front here and it was coming down the street.

Lee grabbed her son and headed out to her neighboring home on pilings 15 feet above the ground. I mean, when I was there for like maybe 30 minutes, the water was already halfway up my home and there were boats, there were huge boats coming down the street and running into our neighbor's homes. And then finally the water was like to the top of the house. And then that's when I forgot about my home and started focusing on my neighbor's house because the water was coming into their home. Suddenly just having this feeling in their home

that we were no longer in a home anymore, that we were like on a raft in the middle of the ocean. Though the islands have been gentrifying over the years, Bortmeyers Beach, Pine Island, Sanibal, and Captiva have largely held on to the last vestiges of old Florida. Much of that is now gone, carted off to sea like Burt's Bar and Matlachet. Bernard Johnson came down here in the 1970s. Among other businesses, he owned Burt's Bar, a staple in the old fishing village for decades. It was a community bar where locals were old friends and tourists became new friends. Never even crossed my mind that it'd be gone. When you think about it, it was

built back in the 30s, and it has gone from there to almost, what, 80 years. And it survived storms that probably weren't even recorded. The water would come up and then the water would go down and that was it. But nothing like this. A little piece of paradise is what drew Stauder, Lee, Johnson and Dan Allers, who is now the mayor of Fort Myers Beach, to southwest Florida's barrier islands. I think that's the culture of Fort Myers Beach. I think that culture will be back.

As long as I have a vote, I'm going to try to keep the culture as close as what brought me here. And I think there's a lot of people that share that same mentality. They like the mom-and-pop shops. They like the quirkiness. They like the eclectic nature of the island. And I think as long as we can keep that, it doesn't matter what the buildings look like. But so much of what visitors and residents like Doug Ekman hold dear is not likely to come back. We like the maritime feel with the shrimp boats and the combination of the beachfront community and the maritime vibe. Ekman and his wife had a 1959-era home on Fort Myers

Beach. The home is now gone. He is now mapping out plans on how to rebuild. But with the cost to rebuild to Hurricane Code hovering around $600 a square foot, he's aware that some of his old neighbors will not be able to rebuild. They can't afford to build back a new house to replace the house they used to have. That was Eileen Kelly reporting from WGCU in Fort Myers. The one-year anniversary of Hurricane Ian this week may bring back painful memories for some Floridians, especially those hit hard by the storm. Health News Florida's Stephanie Colombini reports. Vicki Guy gets goosebumps when she thinks about the immediate aftermath of Ian.

The Sarasota resident remembers anxiously trying to reach friends and family who lived further south and needed rescuing after the Category 4 storm flooded their homes. Her mom needed help with her own damaged house nearby. It was a lot of stress, a lot of trauma. You know, it felt like your whole world was shook up. And Guy had others to worry about. She's a program manager with the Multicultural Health Institute. The nonprofit helps residents with low incomes access health care and other social services.

Guy says many of her clients experienced similar distress after the storm, which displaced thousands of Floridians from their homes and disrupted parts of the health care system. It kind of left people scrambling. After the storm, there was people, a lot of people that went without medication. You know, doctor's appointments, the routine of keeping up their health sometimes goes by the wayside because you're so busy trying to survive. The Multicultural Health Institute shifted the way it provides services by adding a focus on those affected by Hurricane Ian, even expanding assistance south to the counties most impacted by the storm. As recently as this spring, they've

been helping with special relief efforts, providing basics like food and diapers, and they've been supplying medical equipment and offering free screenings to residents to help get their health back on track. Certified trauma specialist Helen Neal with the community group SRQ Strong has also been a partner in helping address Ian's mental wounds. You know, people were devastated. People lost their homes. They lost everything. You know, so it's been very hard this year. Neal offers a supportive ear to clients who need to talk through their pain and works with them on breathing exercises and other tactics to better handle stress. You know, what's happened has happened. You can't change it, but what you think about it, you can, and that can help you move forward. So that's kind of what I do. The one-year

anniversary is going to be a tough time for many, Neal says. She worries especially about those connected to the nearly 150 people who died from the storm. Those grieving process comes back up. That hurt comes back up. And one year later, some people are still picking up the pieces. They're waiting for relief money or insurance payouts to fix homes and buildings still moldy or unlivable from storm damage. For working class families, that can add more stress and lead to other health problems.

Dr. Lisa Merritt, executive director of the Multicultural Health Institute, says Ian highlights inequities in the region, where recovery is often limited to the wealthy. And yet the people who serve those people, the essential workers, the caregivers, the gardeners, the restaurant workers, you know, the basic, just making it people that are really suffering the most are still struggling. Adding to the problem is that the storm struck Florida as the state was experiencing an affordable housing crisis and one of the highest inflation rates in the country. Challenges that persist now.

Just imagine you're living somewhere, you kind of make it through the storm, you're doing all right, and then the next thing you know, bam, they raise the rent. And then on top of it, your child's inhaler is going to cost you $250. As part of their ongoing work, Merritt's staff helps residents apply for financial assistance to access and pay for things like housing and health care. She says helping residents get to a stable place year-round will better prepare them mentally and physically for future storms. For Health News Florida, I'm Stephanie Columbini. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. A year ago,

Hurricane Ian ripped through Florida, cutting across the Orlando area. Lillian Hernandez-Carabaggio from our partner station WMFE tells us the story of how one woman has been able to stay in her home, keeping her family together, thanks to the kindness of community. Vernita Tillman walks me through her home as keeping her family together, thanks to the kindness of community. Vernita Tillman walks me through her home as she lays out the repair plans. So we're going to work on the walls and the ceiling. Up until last year, the 62-year-old lived in her West Orlando home for 22 years with little trouble. But Hurricane Ian changed that. The heavy rain caused severe damage to the roof and drywall, but her insurance company denied her claim.

I showed them this water spot, and my concern of, you know, is that going to come through? And, you know, and they said it just wasn't enough. The spot Tillman references is now patched. Shortly after the insurer denied her claim, that part of the roof came caving in. Tillman lives on disability income and says she can't afford the repairs. Because she recently became the guardian of her three grandchildren, she must provide a suitable home for them. But she says it's hard without safety nets in place. So I struggle with being strong for all of them. There are so many of us out there trying to keep our families together.

According to the Office of Insurance Regulation, nearly 200,000 insured Floridians have had to foot their own repairs from Ian's devastation. Molly Hill is a program manager for Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit that helps people like Tillman make their homes safe and habitable again after disasters. While Tillman used her own money and help from neighbors to repair the dry wall, this organization repaired the roof and replaced the floor. In Ms. Tillman's case, being able to fix her roof allowed her to stay in her home with her grandchildren. So there was no risk of the state coming in and saying, hey, your home's not habitable, so they can't live here anymore, and then causing them to have to go into foster care. Hill says cases like Tillman's indicate we haven't made it through the last storm season

while amid another one now. She says there is one main roadblock when it comes to rebuilding. Money. Money is the biggest problem. When insurance companies come in, then if the insurance denies it, then it can snowball out of control and lead to something bigger. Hill says rebuilding together is currently working on 74 homes across the state and has already helped more than 600 homeowners. Back at Tillman's house, repairs are coming along. Hill says they still need to fix the ceiling, finish the walls, and replace the doors before the work is done. Tillman is resilient. She says she's grateful for the help she has received from her community

and has faith it'll all work out. When you do things for other people from your heart and not look for something in return, that's when you'll get your blessings. I want to give back. In Orlando, I'm Lillian Hernandez-Caraballo. Lillian is a Report for America Corps member. When it comes to storm surge, which was the big story of Hurricane Ian,

natural barriers are part of shoring up our shorelines. Here's Tom Bales, senior environment reporter at WGCU in Fort Myers. Mangroves left to grow freely between land and sea, stabilize coastlines, and counteract erosion. If not for the woody trees, experts say Hurricane Ian's damage would have been a lot worse. I don't think there is an ecologist working today that, you know, wouldn't, you know,

put their life on their line to protect, restore, and conserve mangrove forests. Michael Savarese, a coastal geology professor at the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University, studies how important mangrove forests are, not just to critters that call the trees home, but for the incredible way the roots and branches beat back storm surge. Savarese was amazed that hurricane Ian's storm surge grew to 18 feet in places. He worries what would happen if a similar wall of water hit another estuary that didn't have so many native mangroves. The mangroves undoubtedly helped attenuate that surge. In Bonita Springs at the Vester Marine Field Station, a tall mangrove

forest protects nearby luxury homes. But mangroves were removed from immediately around the FGCU facility when it was just a mom-and-pop hotel before being donated to the university. The established mangrove forest saved millions of dollars in residential property that Hurricane Ian would have destroyed. I have no doubt, as harsh as that storm surge was on southwest Florida, that it would have been many times worse if we hadn't put energy starting in the 1970s to protect mangroves as much as we could. Any physical barrier to the movement of

water is going to slow the water up and back it up. So if you've got a mile of mangroves slowing that water up then whatever storm surge happens on the backside of those mangroves is going to be delayed, is going to be less deep, and it's going to be less long. They're probably our best green infrastructure for preventing those storm surges from being worse. Without the protection of mangroves, the Vester Station is still being rebuilt a year later due to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian. Everham said, in Pinellas County, they need to plant mangroves because they don't have any left. In southwest County, they need to plant mangroves because they don't have any left.

In southwest Florida, we need to plant mangroves because we don't have enough in the right places. Because of development, but more because of sea level rise, we don't need to put mangroves where they were 50 years ago. We need to plant mangroves where they'll need to be 50 years from now, 10 years from now, 5 years from now, next year. Mangroves can play a real role in making our communities more resilient. That was Tom Bales reporting from Fort Myers. Growing mangroves can take years. Replenishing beaches scrubbed by Hurricane Ian takes tens of millions of dollars. WGCU's Sandra Viktorova takes a look at rebuilding Lee County's beaches.

That's the sound of a critical beach makeover. Trucks will haul in about 70,000 tons of new sand to replace what Mother Nature took away in northwest Sanibel. This is an erosion trouble spot that Hurricane Ian made much worse, and it's not just about restoring the beach for sunbathers. That road is the only way folks can evacuate from Captiva Island and a portion of northwestern Sanibel. So it's a key part of our evacuation infrastructure for that part of the county. Steve Futel is the Marine Operations Manager with Lee County Natural Resources Division. He says it will take 3,200 truckloads of sand to complete the job, which also serves as a vital barrier against waves that can destroy Sanibel Captiva Road. We know we're going to have additional waves that are going to come in and attack that shoreline.

We know for sure that in the wintertime, the cold fronts will start coming through and sort of over the long term, those are the weather events that cause a lot of our background erosion. So we need to get the sand out there as soon as we can. Combating Mother Nature's impact comes with a considerable price tag in Lee County. At least $50 million to repair erosion loss caused by Ian from Boca Grande to Bonita. to repair erosion loss caused by Ian from Boca Grande to Bonita. Wittels says his team looks for the most cost-effective way to source that sand.

Sometimes crews can get it from offshore if a large amount of it nearby can be easily moved. Not in this particular case, though. The storm washed the sand offshore. So given the amount of sand we need, in this case we're turning inland and we're looking at some of the really relic beach deposits that are now inshore. And so we're dealing with what used to be beach sand and is now coming out of private mines that are able to meet all of the standards that come to us from the state to be able to match the sand quality in terms of the size and the color that we expect to see out on our beaches. That matching sand is coming from the Immokalee area, but beachgoers shouldn't be the wiser. You know, we're used to seeing all those shells on our beaches. The sand that's coming out of the mine won't have that initially. So until the sand kind of moves around and the shells mix back in, it will look a little different from that perspective, but that should be about it. Butel says they're also

taking steps to protect the animals that depend on these beaches. The county works with state approved foundations to make sure creatures like sea turtles who might lay eggs here have their nests safely relocated. In Sanibel, I'm Sandra Victorova. Still to come on our program, how is your paycheck measuring up? Email us, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Minimum wage goes up this weekend in Florida. Let us know how your paycheck has been looking. 305-995-1800.

305-995-1800. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. You're listening to the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being here this week. Next week on this program, school books. What's allowed and what's not? Confusion and controversy, certainly. Florida school districts have banned more books than any other state. And then there's debates around textbooks.

Districts across the state are wrestling with how to comply with laws governing what books and instructional materials are allowed in schools, as well as the process to assess them. When the policy was originally brought forward, it remained subjective. The ability for inconsistent application remains, and clear guidance has not been provided by the state. That's Caprice Edmond. She's a school board member in Pinellas County. So what is appropriate for a school library book? How should books and textbooks be judged and by whom? How does all of this affect what happens in Florida classrooms? Parents, teachers, librarians, let's hear from you. Students too. Radio at thefloridaroundup.org.

Email us radio at thefloridaroundup.org. That's next week on our program. radio at thefloridaroundup.org. That's next week on our program. On Saturday, Florida's lowest wage earners get a raise. The minimum wage goes up by $1 to $12 an hour thanks to a constitutional amendment approved by voters a couple of years ago. Ashley Hennican was at a job fair in Jacksonville this week. She's looking for work in an elementary or middle school. I do have my options open. I feel I could go to a different state if it were more suitable for me in accordance to the wages and opportunities that might be better for me. I do see myself moving out of state eventually, maybe Northern California, Colorado, Georgia, those areas. Darius Lockley was also at the job fair.

He wants to break into the health care industry. Looking for opportunities, stuff in the entry-level position as far as like administrative services and behavioral health services, considering that mental health is so widely ignored in society today. So I was kind of just looking into job stuff in order to get insight on like what positions they offer that could like benefit my skill set and help as much as I can. What about your take-home pay, your job prospects? How does Florida attract higher-paying work? Email us, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, or call 305-995-1800. Call now, 305-995-1800. Maria Elcheva is the Assistant director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International

University. Maria, welcome to the Florida Roundup. The minimum wage has been rising under a constitutional amendment for two years now in Florida, from $10 to $12 an hour this weekend. How has that affected people earning that minimum wage? First of all, I want to say that I'm glad we're on this glide path, but based on what we observe in terms of the labor market, in terms of other costs, that wage will be insufficient for most households who have two earners at this wage level to afford to live in South Florida. Across our region that wage is obviously insufficient and I think employers are reacting to it when we look at job postings. I just checked it earlier today and in August

only about two percent of job postings are actually twelve dollars or less. So obviously our labor market has already reacted to this and the labor shortages have caused wages to rise, both in terms of average and median wages, as well as what's being offered by employers. A job market is often described as a local market, right, drawing folks from the local workforce. But this minimum wage is statewide. This minimum wage is statewide. So it's not only impacting people who are trying to deal with the high cost of living in South Florida, but perhaps may experience a lower cost of living elsewhere in Florida. So how is that impacting wages across the state? Yes, there is a lot of variation in cost of living. of living, but most regions in Florida, especially when we talk about the urban densely populated regions, for most of these, where actually most of our workforce is concentrated, let's

make that clear, that has, I would say, minimal impact. If you look at even in 2022, only about 4,000, about 48 out of 700, more than 700 occupations had an entry level below $12. As I said, our job market has kind of precipitated this rise in minimum wage and it's almost obsolete at this point. It's become irrelevant from that perspective because the labor market is offering higher wages. To have competitive advantage, employers need to do that. So let's talk about those higher wages. You mentioned very few jobs that are being advertised are actually advertised at a minimum wage. So most jobs are paying more than minimum wage. Is it keeping pace with the higher cost of living in Florida?

At $12 an hour, we are many, many dollars behind what people, what households and families need to survive. using a two-person household for two adults working full-time at $12 an hour, that brings it up pre-tax household income at about $50,000. And when we look at basic necessities like housing, like transportation or healthcare, not even including childcare, not including recreation or disposable income, 96% of that $50,000 for the average household would go towards these basic necessities. Yeah, that's unsustainable, of course, for any household budget. But what about for those that are making more than minimum wage, which the majority of Florida workers are making well above $12 an hour in many cases?

And as you noted, so few jobs are actually being advertised at that level. Presumably they're paying more. Has this increase in minimum wage helped push up wages for all Floridians? I would think that other external factors are having a bigger effect on the rising wages in the state. And we do indeed see a rise in wages across the state and especially in the regions where employers are concentrated, as I said, the urban areas. So we are above $20 an hour average wage across the state of Florida. I think the factors that affected, as I said earlier,

is mostly the competition for workers, for employees, recruitment is pushing that, as well as to some extent the type of industry sectors that are growing, that may not have had the same employment before. I mean, we obviously have conversations about tech in other regions. They talk about manufacturing, and there is a growth in these non-traditional Florida sectors. So that's also driving wages up. As we have more infusion of these types of employers and occupations, obviously the labor market has a broader diversity. Yet the average wage in Florida, while well above minimum wage, but the average wage remains below the national average. So given the historic low unemployment rate that Florida continues to enjoy, one of the lowest amongst the largest states, why is that? Why is the

average wage in Florida still lagging the national number? Despite the diversification of Florida's economy when, you know, in international trade and finance and healthcare and other sectors beyond tourism and hospitality, our economy is still structured around these sectors, retail, the service sectors in general. And that's what's leading to the lower wages on average in Florida and South Florida in comparison to national figures. How do the future increases to minimum wage, to get it up to $15 an hour over the next three more years, how will those workers fare in that future economy? Lots unknown, of course, doctor, we know that. But as it marches toward $15, is that some special threshold, economically speaking, for income?

Look, we're talking about a small number of workers that are being affected, but that's not insignificant. but that's not insignificant. We're talking about still several hundred thousand jobs that will be impacted in terms of entry level. If you look at the data, as I said, there are very few occupations, but they employ a lot of workers. And obviously this minimum wage will not impact the food service in the same way it will impact other sectors. Bartenders and waiter and

waitresses they won't qualify for that minimum wage although the minimum wage for them is is also increasing so there will be an impact for entry-level jobs there will be a significant impact my the concern is always for the small employers? Our economy is based on small businesses. Will they be able to compete for workers with the larger establishments who may be able to afford to pay these higher wages, right? The Targets and the Walmarts, they can increase wages, but not in the same way as your cafecito shop on the corner of 8th Street

or your small retailer who is selling flowers. Or a surf shop in Cocoa Beach or a diner in Jacksonville. That was Dr. Marie Elcheva, the assistant director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University. So have you been able to get a raise? Have you changed jobs to chase after maybe a higher paycheck to make up for higher inflation? Have you changed jobs to chase after maybe a higher paycheck to make up for higher inflation? What do you think about your earnings power in Florida's job market with an unemployment rate below 3%? Call us now live on this Friday, 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800.

Gabriela Paul is with us from our partner station, WUSF in Tampa, where she covers the Paycheck to Paycheck beat. She's also a core member for Report for America. Gabrielle, welcome to the Florida Roundup. How does this increase in minimum wage happening on Saturday affect affordability challenges that the Tampa Bay region has been experiencing? Hi, yes, this is the question, right? You know, we're waiting see this increase really easing those affordability challenges. And as has already been mentioned, that's because the rate of inflation in Florida and in the Tampa metro, which is my coverage area, is really far exceeding what this wage increase could compensate for. this wage increase could compensate for. You know, one expert I talked to yesterday in our region said that not even that $15 minimum wage goal for 2026, if that was to come down the line tomorrow, that would still not offset these cost of living challenges that a lot of workers are facing. Certainly the cost of living has been concentrated around housing, but it goes so far beyond that.

And we're talking about just gasoline prices close to $4 a gallon these days, right? Yes, we are. And, you know, that tends to be an indicator that a lot of people look to. And I think it, especially in Tampa and in the Tampa region, is something that a lot of people feel because we are a community that relies on that sort of transportation. But, yeah, it boils over into all parts of the budget. And, you know, some people are feeling it at the grocery store. Some people are feeling it at the gas station. are feeling it at the grocery store. Some people are feeling it at the gas station. And for a lot of folks, like you mentioned, housing is taking that big chunk of the budget and just requiring different trade-offs, different creative measures to still make your wages,

make those ends meet. Yeah. And oftentimes for so many Floridians, they maybe barely meet at the end of the month if they meet at all. Tampa is also one of the fastest growing large metropolitan areas in the entire country. During the pandemic, lots of high income earners moved to Tampa, moved to Miami, moved to Florida overall. How have you seen this shift play out when it comes to just kind of daily expenses that residents have to deal with. Yes, this is a really important point. I mean, we are in Florida and in Tampa, we're experiencing a huge population boom. You know, a couple weeks ago, we got to see an update on how that growth is playing into our labor market. And I can tell you in Tampa, at least, not only are we growing in that population, but in our labor

market, our private sector is really growing. And so that's a lot of those higher paying jobs, you know, not really the folks that we're talking about here that might be impacted by the minimum wage increase. And so what we're seeing play out is a really interesting, you know, point in time where cost of living has been climbing. A lot of those big ticket items like housing is climbing. And at the same time, the landscape of our labor market is changing. And we're watching how the community and how our government officials might put in some policy changes to really, I don't want to say protect necessarily, but to reach those that have lived and worked here for maybe generations, you know, that aren't being served by the labor market anymore.

We are talking about the minimum wage increase in Florida that's going up tomorrow on Saturday, but just wages in general in Florida. How are you keeping pace with that paycheck? You are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio Station. 305-995-1800 is the phone number. 305-995-1800. Jay is listening in Miami. Go ahead, Jay. You're on the radio. Hi. Hi. Thanks for calling. You're on the radio. Go ahead. Yes. So So I'm an engineer, graduated during the last recession, and I had to go out of state to get my current job and then get it remote before the pandemic, way before the pandemic,

to get to have a decent paying job here in Florida. It's a job that requires me to travel worldwide, but now in order for me to get a job same position, just not traveling as much, I'd have to take a $20,000 or $30,000 pay cut. And it is mind-boggling. It's good to hear that the pace will increase here in Florida, but there is still a gap between the other states and this state. So how are you making up for that drop in income, Jay? I'm still traveling worldwide.

It impacts my family, and I'd like to be able to stay in one place, but I can't. It's a cost prohibitive. I live in Miami. A costly place, certainly, in Florida. Jay, listening in Miami. Jay, thanks for sharing that experience. We're speaking with Gabrielle Appal from our sister station, WUSF in Tampa. She covers the paycheck to paycheck beat. Gabrielle, what'd you hear there from Jay? Graduating during the Great Recession, tough market back in 2007, 2008, and having to make some of those professional choices.

Definitely. Well, I didn't quite catch all of that, but 2007 really jumps out to me, Tom, and that's because a lot of data that we can compare to right now, our current market, we look at that time gap. And we do know that wages have, say, for a very common job in Florida as a retail salesperson, those wages have gone up just about 2%. And then if you look at the CPI nationally, costs have gone up 3.3%. And then if you look at what's estimated in Florida alone, when you really factor in the index of costs that we have to deal with here, that's looking closer to about 3.5%. And so there's just some real tough calls that residents here are having to make, let alone the professional choices that also factor into that.

John is listening in Tampa. John, I have just about 30 seconds, but we want to hear from you. Make it quick, please, sir. Thanks for calling. Yes. You're talking about 3% unemployment in Florida, but I've been a college professor for 30 years, and most universities in this state hire very few people that are full-time. I've been an adjunct for 30 years.

I know you're affiliated with USF, and at one time I even taught for them. But that's a real problem because they keep pumping people out with degrees, and there's no jobs. Yeah. John, we appreciate that. I'm an adjunct myself. I know what that part-time instructor kind of looks like. John in Tampa there listening in here to the Florida Roundup. Gabriella, we'll leave it there. Gabriella Paul is the Paycheck to Paycheck reporter with our partner station, WUSFF in Tampa. Coming up, fact-checking Florida from this week's GOP presidential debate. Stick with us. in your community. Seven Republican presidential candidates met this week for their second debate. Notably absent, of course, was the former president, Donald Trump. Now, through plenty of interruptions, lots of talking over one another, and efforts to score rhetorical punches, the candidates were asked about the issues, the economy, China, immigration, and also Florida.

So let's fact check the Florida talk that was in the GOP debate this week. Sam Putterman is along with us. She's the Florida government reporter for our news partner, PolitiFact. Sam, welcome to the program. Thanks for your time. Hi, thanks for having me. Florida was center stage, literally. Governor Ron DeSantis was in the middle of that debate stage this week. So let's start with the first Florida claim. The candidates were asked about the impending government shutdown and if voters would blame populist Republicans. Here's what Governor DeSantis said. I'll tell you this, as governor of Florida, we cut taxes, we ran surpluses, we've paid down over 25 percent of our state debt, and I vetoed wasteful spending when it came to my desk.

And then former Vice President Mike Pence said this. You know, Ron, you talk a really good game about cutting spending, but you've increased spending in Florida by 30 percent. OK, Sam, what does the record show about Governor DeSantis's budget management? Yeah, so we rated a similar claim that Chris Christie made about the spending in Florida half true. So in 2018, the year before DeSantis became governor, Florida's budget was about $88.7 billion. In 2023, DeSantis signed a $116.5 billion budget. So that is about a 31% increase. But Pence's remark omits the other side of the ledger. From 2018 to 2023, Florida's tax revenue rose by about the same percentage as the state's population grew. And pandemic federal aid, you know, about the same percentage as the state's population grew.

And pandemic federal aid, you know, boosted Florida's budget as it did in other states. And the Florida legislature is required to pass a balanced budget for DeSantis to sign. So revenue up, spending up, a natural consequence there. OK, next up was crime. Here's Governor DeSantis. In Florida, we back the blue. We support the men and women of law enforcement. They are keeping us safe. We have a 50 year low in the crime rate. All right, Sam. So what about this claim of a 50 year low of the crime rate in Florida? Yes. So there is evidence that Florida's crime rate is declining. But this claim has been tricky because the data in the last couple of years has been incomplete and pretty hard to pin down.

So I think when we get more updated figures, we can truly assess exactly how low Florida's crime rate is. You know, when folks talk about a crime rate, it is kind of fuzzy because not all crimes are necessarily computed to come up with some kind of crime rate, right? Right, exactly. Yeah. So, okay, health insurance, another big piece of the expense of a lot of people's lives. The Fox Business moderator of this GOP debate pointed out that 11 percent of Floridians do not have health insurance, that they're not covered, and noted that that's a higher rate than the national rate, which is about 8 percent of Americans don't have health insurance. This was the governor's response. Well, I think this is a symptom of our overall economic decline.

Everything has gotten more expensive. You see insurance rates are going through the roof. So there the reference presumably was about health insurance rates as opposed to property insurance rates. That's another type of insurance debate that we can have later, Sam. But any connection between changes in the economy and how many people in Florida have health insurance? people in Florida have health insurance? No. Yeah. So the numbers from DeSantis' own state health department shows no correlation between the economy's condition and the number of Floridians without health insurance. So despite population growth and economic changes, Florida has had about 2.6 million

uninsured residents from 2018 through 2021, and about 2.4 million in 2022. So yeah, in 2022, Florida's uninsured rate was 11.2 percent higher than that 8 percent national rate, according to the Census Bureau. So no correlation. The governor in that same answer, when he was really pushed for why the Florida number is of uninsured of uninsured residents in terms of health insurance, when he was pushed by that, he went on in this answer to make this claim. Florida's new black history curriculum says, quote, slaves develop skills, which in some. Now, hold on here. I think this is a symptom of our overall economic decline. Everything has gotten more expensive.

Well, what he said was that our unemployment rate is the lowest amongst any big state. He said that Florida has the highest GDP growth of any big state. And in fact, Sam, right, Florida's unemployment rate is awfully low, 2.7% below those biggest states of California, New York, Illinois, and Texas. And Florida's total economy, while growing faster, is also the smallest among those big states too. So the law of big numbers are the law of small numbers here. Let's talk about education, because the moderator from Univision asked the governor about the state's new controversial social studies standards.

Here's the question and the governor's response. Florida's new black history curriculum says, quote, slaves develop skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit. You have said slaves develop skills in spite of slavery, not because of it. But many are still hurt. For descendants of slaves, this is personal. What is your message to them? So first of all, that's a hoax that was perpetrated by Kamala Harris. We are not going to be doing that. Second of all, that was written by descendants of slaves. These are great black history scholars. So we need to stop playing these games. All right, Sam, this cut made the rounds on cable news off a lot this week. Is this social studies standard that was read by

the Univision moderator a hoax by the vice president, as the governor claimed? No, no. DeSantis is dodging the facts here. The Florida Board of Education set new social studies standards for middle schoolers July 19th. In a section about the duties and trades performed by enslaved people, the state adopted a clarification that said, quote, instruction includes how slaves develop skills, which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit. Experts on black history told PolitiFact that such language is factually misleading and defensive. So what's the final ruling on this? And the governor has made this claim before, saying that this statement is a hoax perpetrated by the vice president who came to Florida to talk about this standard immediately after it was approved.

Right now. Yeah, we gave Kamala Harris a speech, a mostly true when she said that, you know, Florida decided that middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. The line is there. And then when the governor says we need to stop playing these games, what do you think he's referring to? That's a great question. Maybe her coming to the state and talking about it. But I think, yeah, you know, he was pressured about a line that really got a lot of people very upset and rightfully so. Yeah. Well, Florida playing center stage in that GOP debate this week. That's why we're fact checking those Florida claims with Samantha Putterman, the Florida government reporter for PolitiFact, our news partner. Thanks so much, Sam. We appreciate the ratings. Always appreciate it. Absolutely.

Thank you so much. You are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Finally on the Roundup this week, as we mark one year since Hurricane Ian, another big storm, also with an I name, brought back some native Floridians, flamingos. Yeah, the birds have been spotted as far north as Franklin County in the Panhandle,

including one nicknamed Peaches. Here's Julia Cooper from our partner station WLRN in Miami. Julie Rafe-Mail wasn't surprised to hear about flamingos showing up across the eastern United States after Hurricane Adalia, but she was thrilled to hear the news. First it was a couple, and then it was more, and suddenly there was a wealth of flamingos all over the west coast of Florida. Since the hurricane this week there have been sightings of these poised pink feathered birds on Treasure Island, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater Beach and Sanibel Island.

And we started seeing small sightings trickling up the east coast so South Carolina, North Carolina, Small sightings trickling up the East Coast. So South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia. More people were flocking to catch that rare glimpse of these birds this far north. And then Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania. Some birds are attracting a lot of attention. So it's a little bit crazy, but it's also really exciting. Having them on our beaches is not something really that's been seen in, you know, more than 100 years. Rafe Mell is executive director of Audubon Florida.

She says these striking birds on stilt legs used to roam the peninsula in flocks of thousands. Flamingos are native to Florida and historically bred here, particularly in Florida Bay and the Everglades. bred here, particularly in Florida Bay and the Everglades. Unfortunately, they were hunted to extirpation, which means that they no longer breed here in Florida. And today, they really only breed elsewhere in the Caribbean. Before they went locally extinct in the early 1900s, they didn't just live and breed here. They played a part in the ecosystem as well. As flamingos forage, they stamp their feet in shallow mudflats, stirring up algae and the small crustaceans that give the birds their distinct pink color. That process of stamping, stirring, and pumping water through their bills

helps circulate nutrients through our waterways. And while researchers don't yet have the full picture, they know that in any ecosystem where native species are taken away, imbalances can be created. This recent return as a result of Adalia has us all wondering, are we going to get a second chance at flamingos? This is what you hear when you walk into Zoo Miami. People from around the world are welcome to see the flamboyants. Yes, that is the name for a group of flamingos,

but a wild breeding flock hasn't made the state home since the early 1900s. Researchers at Audubon Florida and Zoo Miami are trying to find out why, and if they can help them come back. Frank Ridgely is Zoo Miami's head of conservation and research. After the storm crossed the Gulf of Mexico and battered Florida's Big Bend region, Ridgely got a call about a flamingo that had been found swimming out in deep water off of Florida's west coast. Flamingos can swim. They can kind of float. They aren't very graceful swimmers, but they can float. And this flamingo that was affectionately named Peaches seems like the feathers were getting waterlogged and the bird was exhausted probably from having to fly a very long distance. It did not look good for peaches, but a team of rehabilitators from the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores

nursed the bird back to health. Then they allowed Ridgely and Audubon Florida's head of research, Dr. Jerry Lorenz, to band peaches and give the flamingo a solar-powered satellite tracker. We made a very quick trip to Tampa because we didn't want to delay Peaches' release. What Peaches decides to do now will tell researchers a lot about whether the state can still sustain flamingos over 120 years after they were killed off for their meat and intricate feathers. If Peaches returns to wherever they came from, if they remember how to get home,

that'll be exciting because then we'll know and we'll be able to follow the adventures of peaches and where it goes. That was Julia Cooper reporting. And that is our program for today. It is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF Public Media in Tampa. Bridget O'Brien produced the program. WLRN's Vice President of Radio is Peter Maritz. Richard Ives is our Technical Director. Engineering help from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels, and Jackson Hart. Julia Cooper answered your calls. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at aaronleibos.com. If you missed any of

today's program or past programs, you can download it and all of our programs by subscribing to our podcasts. Just go to WLRN.org slash podcasts. Thanks for calling, listening, and supporting Public Radio. I'm Tom Hudson in Miami. Have a terrific weekend. WLRN Public Media.