The Florida Roundup - Partisan school board elections, the push for abortion and marijuana on the ballot and weekly news roundup

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we talked about the proposed amendment to shift to partisan school board races in Florida with State Representative Spencer Roach (03:21) and FAU associate professor Meredith Mountford (12:29). Then, we discussed the push to get abortion rights on the 2024 ballot with the president of Women’s Voices of SW Florida (20:09). And later, we heard from a spokesperson for the campaign to put recreational marijuana up to a vote (32:00). Plus, we also caught up on some recent health (37:19) and environmental news stories from across the state (44:26).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for listening this week. First, it was mask mandates. These are our kids, not yours. We're our doors. This was in Sarasota County. Then, sex ed. I'm not going to be interrupted. I'm not going to be interrupted. Board attorney, do we have a sergeant at arms in this office that can help with this?

This was in Miami-Dade County. And then books. Sir, stop it. And roll back and forth from here to here. This was in Indian River County. Yes, sir, I ask you to stop. Public school board meetings throughout Florida have become political battlegrounds in the partisan fights over social policies. But school boards are officially nonpartisan and have been for more than 20 years. That may change if enough Florida voters want it

to. This is for the voter. This is for full transparency. And I can promise you we're way past the idea that these races are nonpartisan. That was Republican Senator Joe Gruters from Sarasota back in March. He sponsored a bill that puts the political party question for school board elections on the ballot this fall. A proposed constitutional amendment would require school board candidates to be elected in a partisan election. So candidates would be required to list their political party like Republican and Democrat or Independent. Right now, they don't have to. Last spring, when lawmakers were debating this proposal, Palm Beach County Democrat Lori Berman questioned why political

parties are needed for school board members. I don't understand why it's necessary. I don't understand what benefit there is to communities. We've already politicized our school boards. And at this point, why would we want to do it anymore? Miami-Dade Democratic Representative Kevin D. Chambliss argued during the House floor debate that politics does not belong in the public school system. I've never met a kid who's asked their school board member, hey, what party are you in? It's one of those places to where that doesn't matter. Several school board elections were high-profile campaigns after Governor Ron DeSantis endorsed dozens of candidates in the last election cycle. At a press conference in

Jacksonville last January, DeSantis threw his support behind this effort for making school board elections partisan. We want to embrace the idea that if you're campaigning for these positions, you can identify yourself however you want to identify yourself. And if that's what the political party, you're absolutely able to do it. Partisan school board elections. Does a school board candidate's political party need to be on your ballot before you vote for or against that person? How would a candidate's political party impact your school board vote? And how would it impact public education in Florida? You can email us now. Our inbox is open, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, or call 305-995-1800, 305-995-1800. You know, this is just one of what may be several proposed

constitutional amendments on the ballot this fall. We'll be talking about two others, abortion and recreational marijuana, later on in this program. Call now 305-995-1800. Representative Spencer Roach is a Republican from North Fort Myers. He sponsored the measure to make school board elections partisan when it passed the Florida House last spring. Representative, welcome to the program. Thanks for your time today. Representative is on Zoom. We want to make sure that Representative is unmuted as we try to connect with Representative Spencer Roach. Representative, can you hear us okay? I can hear you. There we go. Happy New Year and happy Friday to you. Indeed, the first Friday of 2024. Great to spend it with you, Representative. Hope you and

your family are happy and healthy as the year begins. Why is it important to have a school board candidate's political party on the ballot for Florida voters? Well, look, I think that every race, including judicial races, should be partisan. And there are a number of states already that have both partisan school board races and partisan judicial races. But look, the goal here when I authored this bill, it's not so much to help Republicans or hurt Democrats, but it's about transparency. I simply think as policymakers, we have an obligation to provide voters with as much information as possible about candidates to include party affiliation and let the voters make their decisions based on that information. So I don't think you

should ever be allowed to use the power of the law to hide your ideology or to hide your affiliations, whether it's with a political party or otherwise. And look, I heard the comments and I've often heard the criticism that these races and school education should be nonpolitical forums. And I agree with that to a large extent. And what I would say to those people who argue that we should keep politics out of school board races is that if you want to vote for an NPA, which is a nonpartisan affiliated candidate in Florida, you should support my bill because right now we don't know who those candidates are. So if you truly think education should be nonpartisan,

you should be voting for NPA candidates. And my law will allow you to know who they are on the ballot. And we do have a number of NPAs that get elected every cycle to school boards in Florida. So school board candidates currently, when they're on the ballot, And we do have a number of NPAs that get elected every cycle to school boards in Florida. So school board candidates currently, when they're on the ballot, do not appear with a political party affiliation. That individual may be a registered voter with a particular party, and that information could become, is public, and a voter could look that up if he or she wanted to prior to voting even in a nonpartisan election currently. Yeah, that's correct. And we do see that happen frequently. And, you know, look, the idea, there's sort of this romanticized notion that because these races are nonpartisan, that the candidates themselves are nonpartisan actors. And that's simply not true. I believe

it's kind of a legal fiction that these races are nonpartisan, that the candidates are kind of not motivated by political ideology or pure as the wind-driven snow. And you mentioned, or someone mentioned in your opening about the endorsements, you know, it may not surprise anyone that of the 30 school board candidates that Governor DeSantis endorsed, he did not endorse a single Democrat. And further, Charlie Crist, who was the Democratic nominee for governor, endorsed a number of candidates and none of his endorsements were Republican. So just to be clear, the former governor, Crist, made his endorsements after the current governor, DeSantis, decided to make endorsements, which was out of ordinary to have a gubernatorial

endorsement in a local school board election in Florida. Yeah, you're right. And, you know, when we look back at the last two election cycles, particularly in Loudoun County, Virginia, and in the state of Virginia, where I would argue Glenn Youngkin won the race based on dissatisfaction. Who is the governor of Virginia? Yeah, sorry, go ahead, Representative. Right. But we saw in 2020 and 2022 that these school boards became, you know, sort of ground zero in this battleground of the culture wars. And that's sort of what spawned this bill here in the state of Florida. And, you know, look, there are real, real differences in governing philosophy in the parties when it comes to school boards. Let me give you a couple of examples. And you don't need to even ask me which party is for which position,

but there are real differences in school curriculum and which books should be in libraries. There's differences in school choice, the role in funding for charter and private schools. There's difference in bathroom policies, boys playing on girls' sports team, whether guns should be allowed in school through the Guardian program, and then fiscal policies. Yeah, real issues, certainly. Many of those issues have been now decided by the legislature, by the state legislature or the State Department of Education, as opposed to the local school boards, which are locally elected by county borders in Florida. And the reason why, I think, because so many people were voting in these elections, had no idea what the governing philosophy was of the candidate they elected because there was no party affiliation and were deeply, deeply dissatisfied with the direction the school boards were going. I mean, you saw this absolute mayhem at school board meetings. People get arrested. The argument, Representative, would be the cure for that is the next election cycle, right, is for voters to then they're voting for and having a party designation is going to help them know where candidates stand on these divisive issues.

in 1998, making school board elections nonpartisan here in Florida. Why essentially repeal this vote 20 some years later? And we should note 71% of voters 23, 25 years ago voted in favor of nonpartisan school board elections. Yeah, that's correct. So this was passed by voters in 1998, implemented in 2000. But I would remind people that nonpartisan races are actually the anomaly. For 155 years in Florida, these races were partisan. They've only been nonpartisan for the last 22 years. And look, whether you agree or not that they should be partisan or nonpartisan, I think that we should let the voters decide, right? Let the voters, why shouldn't the voters be able to reevaluate that decision? And look, if the voters come out and say, we want to keep these races nonpartisan, I'll never bring it up again. And I will tell you, it's going to be a very,

very high threshold. We have to have 60% voters approve. It's going to be very close, but I think the voters should decide. Representative Roach, you're committing that if this, it is on the ballot in November. We know that if it fails to reach the 60 percent threshold, you will not attempt to put it back on the ballot during your state legislative career. Yeah, that's correct. I think at that point the voters will have spoken and I'm going to accept the will of the voters either way. Finally, Representative Roach, if I may, what's the proper place for politics in public education in Florida? Well, look, as I said earlier, I think it's really a legal fiction that these races are nonpartisan. The candidates are nonpartisan actors. And I think there are real differences in the party platform.

So I think that every race, including judicial races, should be partisan. I think voters should have as much information about a candidate as possible and let them decide. Representative Spencer Roach, Republican from North Fort Myers, joining us here. Representative Roach, thanks so much for your time and Happy New Year to you. Have a great day. Thank you. The question of having partisan school board elections will be on your ballot this year. You will get an opportunity to voice your support or dissension. You can voice it now. Email us radio at thefloridaroundup.org or call 305-995-1800. Sue Woltanski is the chair of the Monroe County Public School District in the Keys. She sent us this voice memo. Defenders of partisan school board races will claim it's merely a matter of transparency, allowing voters to know the candidates that align with their values.

But the real reason the legislature wanted to move to partisan school board races was the ability to close primaries, allowing the single dominant party to elect board members of their choice and disenfranchising the MPA and minority party voters. The governor has already targeted school board members he wants removed in 2024. Some of them are Republicans. Expect partisan shenanigans like ghost candidates to impact school board elections if the proposal passes. 305-995 is our phone number here on the floor roundup. Ira has been listening in from Sarasota. Ira, thanks for calling. You are on the radio. Ira in Sarasota on line two. Can you hear us? Ira, we slipped out of your phone there. Apologies, but you can join our conversation, 305-995-1800.

Meredith Mountfort is with us now, Associate Professor of Education Leadership at Florida Atlantic University and a former school superintendent in the Midwest. She's also the author of the book, Reclaiming Local Control Through Superintendents, School Boards, and Community Activism. Meredith, welcome to the program. Thanks for your time and Happy New Year. Hi, thank you for having me and Happy New Year to everyone. Indeed. You oppose this measure to make partisan school board elections in Florida. Is that correct?

Absolutely. And why is that? Absolutely. And why is that? Well, I've done a lot of research on school boards and superintendents in general, but one of the specific areas is motivation for membership. And while most, at least historically, most school board members do not run for political aspirations or that reason, but a reason such as climbing up the political ladder. But and I mean, a very small percentage, about 10 percent. So you're saying most school board candidates don't have a political aspiration beyond the school board per se. Correct. I see.

That is not their motive for getting on the board, but instead they have what I call personal agendas where they have a gripe or a very specific issue they're trying to fix, or they are there for what I call altruistic reasons, that which we hope every board member is on, which is to benefit the children and help write policy so we get the greatest results possible from our kids. School board candidates right now can be registered voters as private citizens and they have a political party on the registration if they choose to. And those are available for the public to see. So aren't candidates effectively isn't their partisanship already known if a voter wants to find that out? And also, Spencer mentioned that, you know, almost every state or a lot of to sponsor, the governor and others began to sponsor, and the GOP, and I'm sure the Democratic Party did some of the same, but sponsoring these board members and trying to get a board that's all one political, with one political affiliation. It's dangerous. Is that really what we want?

And would that be representative of the school and the community? It's doubtful that the whole entire community has one political affiliation. Meredith, stand by here and stick with us. One of the great things about public radio is it is a community, and folks are listening in from across the state, and we can join them in our conversation. Mary Kay has been listening from Venice, Florida. Mary Kay, on line three, you are on the radio. Go ahead.

Wonderful. The other day I saw a book review about Adam Grant's new book called Hidden Potential, and one of his statistics is by age 25, students who have had experienced teachers were earning more money, significantly more money than their peers. And that is part of the goal of education, right, is to make our students economically successful. Well, teachers are leaving Florida by the thousands every month because of legislation like this.

Instead of fixing problems, as you said, it's so easy to go and look at someone's party. It's on any kind of Google search. You can find that out. But instead, we're taking time to do votes like this when there are so many crucial issues for our students about mental health, et cetera. So I'm totally against this bill. And thank you for listening. Mary Kay, appreciate you lending your voice to our conversation. Meredith, what is the proper place of politics in public education? Public education can't escape politics in any place in the United States. So what is that proper place, do you think?

Well, I go back to how the framers looked at education in this country and what they sort of projected as possible or potential problems down the road. And so if you think about the purpose, yes, of course, getting them skilled labor and that kind of thing, of course. But that was not the original intent. And the original intent was to create future citizens who could participate in a self-governing democracy and then perpetuate democracy. perpetuate democracy. You got to remember that everybody, not everybody, a lot of children after they graduate, go off to college, come home and live in that community. It is a local community. I'm heavily involved with local control efforts and reclaiming that. We are, that is slipping away both at the state level and the federal level. These are our communities, and Boca Raton doesn't, it does not need or look like exactly Tallahassee or other places in the state. So, you know, this partisanship, it doesn't,

in fact, if there's more dysfunction when we move to a partisan based school board election and we know boards are sort of known for dysfunction, which is unfortunate. And I don't agree with that, but it is what it is. Then we're not improving. And we actually are spending this time and money to make something worse. Meredith, we have to leave it there. Meredith Montfort, a professor at Florida Atlantic University with us here on the Florida Roundup. Still to come, two other key questions, abortion and recreational marijuana. That will be coming up soon. How do you want to decide that fate of those two questions if they appear on your ballot this fall. Radio at the Florida Roundup dot org. The email open now or call 305-995-1800. This is the Florida Roundup.

I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks again for being along with us this week. 891,523. That's the number to remember. 891,523. Not an intuitive round number, certainly, but this is how many voters need to sign a petition to get an issue on the ballot this fall in Florida. Two efforts say they've done it. Now they have to withstand legal challenges if they are to appear on your ballot coming up in November. One would make marijuana legal for recreational use. The other would enshrine abortion access in the state constitution. What do you think about these two issues? How would you decide if they do appear on your ballot?

Radio at thefloridaroundup.org is our email address or call 305-995-1800, 305-995-1800. Let's begin with the abortion proposal. Sarah Parker is along with us with the Women's Voices of Southwest Florida. Sarah, Happy New Year and welcome to the program. Thanks for your time. Happy New Year to you as well. And thank you so much for having us. You've got some news to share with us.

How many signatures does your organization have for the abortion proposal? You know what? We are elated. We are so excited. As of 12 a.m. last night, we have 9,000, no, sorry, 910,946. I'm sorry. I had to look at my notes. Give us that number one more time, Sarah.

We have over 900,000 petitions, over 900,000, and we need 891,000 to begin with. And so that means you are over the threshold of that 891,523 number. That signature requirement is not only the total number, but also where the signers live. They have to live in at least half of the state's congressional districts. Do you know if you meet that requirement? Yeah, we meet all the requirements. I think we are good to go. Now we're going to be focused on the Supreme Court review. Yes, we are good. We have verified. We had volunteers out in every county at one point. We are good. Our petition collection is over. We have made it.

You mentioned the Supreme Court review, which I'll ask you about in a moment. But what are the next steps? Are these signatures certified? Has the Secretary of State stamped them and has made it official? This is according to the DOS website. So, yes, they are certified. They are verified. And they are good together, not just the ones that we have sitting, they have gone to the state.

Okay. So let's talk about the proposal itself here, Sarah. Describe how you explain what this proposed amendment would do in Florida. You know, I think it kind of brings it back to the Dobbs. And prior to Roe versus Wade being overturned and the 15-week abortion ban, it would bring it back to viability, which, you know, we believe is, it is already determined in health care. It's already determined, the word viability is already determined in health care, and as well, it's already determined in legalese. So we're pretty confident as far as the verbiage goes.

But it would just bring it back, you know, when after Dobbs got overturned, you know, they put the power back into the state's hands. And I think we just ran with it, you know, and it would bring us back to a time before, you know, we saw the 15 week abortion ban, before we saw the current now six week abortion ban. So you mentioned viability here. Let's listen to this proposed language specifically as read by an automated voice. Limiting government interference with abortion, except as provided in Article 10, Section 22, no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's health care provider. So that's the language that would be added to Florida's constitution

if this amendment appears on the ballot and is approved by 60% of voters. And it's that word, and you use that word, right, Sarah, viability. The Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has focused her argument to keep the proposal off the ballot. She argues that that word has two definitions related to pregnancy. She said that one is whether a pregnancy is expected to develop normally through a full term. And the second definition, she says, is whether a fetus can survive outside the uterus. She thinks those two definitions

make this wording confusing. What's your response? You know, I'm not a legal expert, so I can't give you a legal opinion, but I will say that we've had legal expert after legal expert look at this, look at the wording, read it, review it, and give us our opinion. We're confident. Not only are we confident, it's unfortunate, but I really do believe that it are not only politically motivated, but they're also hollow and disingenuous to say that health care providers, along with legal experts and along with Floridians, cannot read and understand this paragraph. Again, we are so confident. We're very confident that when this goes in front of the Supreme Court, they are going to push it through. We're very confident. We've seen previous voter approved constitutional amendments like the Restoration of Rights Amendment get tied up by how the legislature implements those rules.

Do you have any concerns about how the legislature might act to implement this proposal if it is approved? You know, when I look at the numbers, right, we have over 900,000 positions. I really, you know, I'm going to I'm going to err on the side of like I'm going to believe in Florida. And I really do believe the legislators are going to allow us to vote on this. I believe legislators are going to do the right thing because there are 900,000 petitions. It's not just all Democrats. It's not all leftists. We have Democrats. We have Republicans. We've had MPAs. We've had libertarians sign this petition. I think we're confident. We're very confident. Sarah Parker is with Women's

Voices of Southwest Florida in one of the groups that is supporting the abortion amendment for Florida's ballot this fall. Sarah, thanks for your time today. No problem. 305-995-1800 is our phone number. Ken has been listening in from Gainesville. Ken, thanks for your patience. Go ahead. You're on the radio. Oh, thank you for your time. Yeah, my general question and a formal question for a comment on the legislature.

Underneath DeSantis' leadership, the Florida legislature seems to be focused on passing a whole bunch of really frivolous laws. And, you know, on his campaign trail, he goes out and touts how much he's accomplished in Florida. But when you look at the content of those laws, they're pretty minimal compared to the problems we really have in the state. What do you think about the ability for voters to decide these particular issues between the nonpartisan school board races, these particular issues between the nonpartisan school board races, potential abortion access, and what we're soon to talk about here on this program, recreational marijuana? Well, I think the cornerstone of the argument there is that people do need to decide for themselves, but we need to elect some representatives here in Florida that are a little more focused on what they should do. I think that's a real problem.

The abortion issue is, of course, going to be a national issue, and that's going to be a tough one for everyone, but that's probably the most important one they need to focus on. The school board affiliation issue is kind of a split hair there. Sure, we want to know what somebody's running for the office is, what their affiliation is. But it really just seems like another one of those frivolous laws that they're working on. Gotcha.

Ken, appreciate you lending your voice to the conversation from Gainesville. Have a great weekend. Okay, thank you. Let's hear from Roger in Pinellas Park. Roger on line four. Thanks for calling. You are on the radio. Hi, thanks for taking the call. The whole process of the voters putting an amendment on a referendum is generally because the legislature has failed us. And there's an issue that with enough support support you get it on and let the people decide but we've seen that kind of hollow because in the case where felons who would serve their time

were allowed to get the vote now the legislature wants to get involved and they really watered down the whole process. Yeah, we've seen how implementation of some of these amendments is vitally important, and that debate and conversation needs to be part of that debate and conversation even prior to voting for voters to understand exactly what may happen. I appreciate you lending your voice, Roger, to the conversation. George has been listening in from Davenport, Florida. George, Happy New Year. You're on thevenport, Florida. George, Happy New Year.

You're on the radio. Go ahead. Yes, Happy New Year. Yes, I will vote yes for abortion and for recreational marijuana. Actually, voting for legalization is actually a pro-life policy because these young people will stop shooting each other over marijuana. Just a few days ago, a guy lost his life in my city in Davenport over $140. They're doing a marijuana drug deal. Can you believe that? So you're approaching it almost as an anti-crime measure as opposed to civil liberty. The price of marijuana will drop so low

that nobody will want to sell it illegally. It'll just be like tobacco. Nobody goes around trying to sell cigarettes illegally. George, listen, thanks for calling from Davenport. Appreciate you listening and supporting Florida Public Radio and your community. Let's hear from Zelda, who has been listening from Sarasota. Zelda, Happy New Year. Welcome to the program.

Zelda, are you with us? Yes. Yeah, go ahead. Well, I'm in Sarasota County, and what's really happening to us is that we have many Republicans who do not see our Republican Party in the state of Florida representing us at all. They have chosen an agenda that is almost czar-like behavior towards our laws that we've had existing and in place for many years. I've been a resident here since 1957. Since 1957. Yeah. Yeah. So you've seen a lot there. So you're a member of the

Florida Republican Party, Zelda? Yes. Yeah. Zelda Dale Walker. I'm a member of the Republican Party. Okay. Tell me a little bit more about your thoughts here about the party and representing your views. Well, just on the three issues that you have, we have a Republican governor, we have a Republican House and Senate in the state, we have no checks and balances. Apparently, they've been replacing school board members down in Dade County. Five out of five wereed by DeSantis.

That's crazy. Well, we did go through an election. I'm in Miami. I can almost go so far. Yeah, yeah. So far. I'll say that we did go through an election cycle. A few board members decided not to run for re-election. Those that were endorsed by the governor did win election by the voters in this last cycle. Zelda, I appreciate you listening and lending your voice. I hope to hear from you again.

Well, the main thing that you're talking about is the rights that we have towards our own body and the rights that we, as women, have our doctors involved and the rights that we have for medicinal marijuana. When you go through something, it's far better to have medicinal marijuana and recreational marijuana that can be affordable for everybody than opioids that people are going on. Yeah. That's terrible. Sounds like you're a yes if the abortion proposal gets to the ballot.

Is that correct? I'm a yes. I'm a Republican yes. And I think we have to the end of this month to send in petitions. And I've been sending them in. Yeah. With friends and neighbors, because this is terrible.

Yeah, February 1st is the deadline, and as you just heard, the organization collecting those signatures today announcing that they have exceeded the minimum number of certified signatures that they need to appear on the ballot. Zelda, I appreciate your call. Thanks for listening and joining the conversation. Great to hear from you. Yeah. Zelda there in Sarasota mentioning the recreational marijuana because that is a question that may also appear on your ballot. This effort has enough signatures to appear on the ballot. It now has to stand up to the Supreme Court review. Steve VanCore is along with us with the organization behind the effort called Safe

and Smart Florida. Steve, welcome to the program. Thanks for your time. Thanks for having me on. Yeah. So explain what this amendment would do if it gets on the ballot and voters approve it. So right now we're waiting any day, any Thursday now at 11 o'clock. We're waiting for the Supreme Court to let us know whether it meets their single subject and other requirements to get on the ballot. it meets their single subject and other requirements to get on the ballot. If it were to go to ballot, the choice that voters have is that it would allow adults in the state of Florida to possess, consume, or otherwise have a limited amount of cannabis

that is bought through a legal entity. So it would not allow them to buy it from their neighbor down the street. It would not allow them to grow it. It would just allow them to buy it from a licensed facility, which is a safety issue, because what you're seeing from the attorney general, what you're hearing is that more and more illicit marijuana being sold on the streets is being laced with additives. And right now, and currently in the medical marijuana market, every batch is third-party tested by an independent lab for purity, and we presume that'll also occur if the recreational adult use of marijuana amendment makes it. You are listening to the Florida Ronda from your Florida Public Radio station. We're talking about the effort to put a recreational use of marijuana on the Florida ballot this fall with Steve Vancore with Safe and Smart Florida, the organization behind the effort.

So you talked about adult use here. Adults are defined as 21 years old and older under this proposal. Is that right, Steve? Yeah, that's correct. Yeah. And how much marijuana could someone have? We're not talking about square groupers, as they used to be called down in the Keys, right?

Bales of marijuana. The floating groupers. No, it's limited. It's limited in ounces for flour or the actual unprocessed bud. And it's limited by grams, depending on whether they get an edible or other types of consumables. You mentioned the safety factor being one argument for this, as opposed to street sales, which would still be illegal under this proposal. Is that right? Well, it's two things to consider. Yes, that is correct. But also keep in mind, it is also still illegal at the federal level. So if you're engaged in anything related to the federal government, I guess on federal property crossing state lines would also be illegal there as well. I've got a question related to that coming up in a second, Steve, but let me just deal with kind of the sale of it.

Under this proposal, it would, the way I understand it, and tell me if I'm wrong, Steve, is that it would allow essentially the industry that has developed around medical marijuana to be able to sell marijuana recreationally for recreation users. Why limit the sale of recreational marijuana to the established medical marijuana sellers? Well, it doesn't do that. So let me correct that. It allows that, but it also allows for the legislature to expand that. allows for the legislature to expand that. And keep in mind, when this thing gets initiated, let's say it gets approved by the court, it gets 60% on the ballot, you'll have 44 licensees in the state. And the reason you want it to be regulated through that is to make sure you

engage in the third-party testing, make sure taxes are collected correctly, etc. So you don't want to just say, hey, anybody anywhere can sell it, because where we've seen other states do that, it's a disaster, because what ends up happening there is the illicit market takes off. The marijuana company Trulieve has funded this campaign, including your organization. Did Trulieve play any part in crafting this language? Absolutely. Trulieve has been the progenitor of this from the onset. Obviously, all expenditures must go through a political committee, but Trulieve has proudly been the sole funder of this. Would Trulieve welcome more recreational retail of marijuana, more companies selling it, should this thing get approved? Certainly. I mean,

like I said, we're looking at a potential, even if nothing else changes, there will be 44 other medical marijuana treatment centers, as they're called legally, but there'll be 44 licensees in the state of Florida. So we'll welcome that. I mean, our job is to bring safe cannabis to the public. Steve, I got less than 30 seconds left. It's a big question, but I want to squeeze it in. As you mentioned, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. So banking is tricky. Using a credit card involves transactions that cross state lines oftentimes. So how would recreational users pay for their pot?

Well, the current way they're currently doing it, either through a state charter bank or a bank that's approved, or there's all kinds of now debit card workarounds with that. We're fingers crossed any day we're hoping that they move from a Schedule 1 drug, which makes it completely illegal at the federal level, to a Schedule 3, and that will open up many facets, including taxing as well as banking. That's federal legislation, way beyond the scope of the Florida Roundup in this conversation. Well, it's not legislation.

It would just be by rule. But yeah, thank you. And thanks for having me on. Sure thing. Steve VanCore with Safe and Smart Florida. More to come. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson.

Thanks for being along with us. A couple of stories about health here as the new year gets underway. Florida is home to one of the highest proportions of people at least 65 years old. Almost one out of every five residents are that old or older. Nearly 600,000 of them have Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's care can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and often it's more costly than cancer treatments.

Veronica Zaragoza now reports from our partner station WLRN in Miami. Every week, Rosalba Reyes visits her daughter Vanessa Reyes in Palmetto Bay. It's like it's not a surprise. Yeah, surprise? She came to have dinner. Sometimes, Reyes doesn't recognize her family. What did you ask me, ma? Tu mama, tu papa, como se llama?

My mom and my dad? My mom is Rosalba, my dad is Juan. You don't remember? Now do you remember? Yeah. You're my mom? Yeah. Rosalba Reyes is 83 years old, and she has Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia. Over time, this brain disorder destroys memory, and eventually someone will likely struggle to carry out simple tasks. Reyes worked for many years as a federal immigration officer and receives a monthly pension. Her son, Richard Cheney, manages her finances.

Between her retirement and her Social Security, she gets about $5,200 a month. If she is going to go to a memory care place, that's going to wipe all of it out. Long-term care in Florida could cost more than $100,000 a year. Rosalba Reyes has family in Peru. We've been researching places down there, and it's a lot cheaper. It's like half the price. The places are very nice, top of the line in Peru. But Cheney and his sister know they wouldn't see her as much. So it's almost like he said one time, like seeing her to say goodbye. You know, she she goes over there, it's like saying goodbye. For now, Reyes still lives in her own house in Kendall, which requires a network of paid and volunteer help. We got Josue, we got Maite,

Vanessa, me, Jose, Milda, Luisa, Marcia, and Marcia's sister once in a while. So that's nine and ten people right there. They also pay for a security camera to monitor their mom who's been waking up in the middle of the night. For primary caregivers who do live with their loved one, they might have other costs. If the caregiver is working, are they having to take time off of work? That's Jennifer Braystead, the Director of Government Affairs for the Alzheimer's Association in Florida. Are they having to reduce their hours, which that's going to affect their finances as well. The next legislative session starts this month. Braystead and her colleagues

will push Florida's lawmakers to increase funding for Florida's Alzheimer's Disease Initiative. One of its roles is to help pay for respite care to give family members a break. This funding would help a lot of people. There's about 17,000 on the wait list just for this program. And to help more people learn about it, Braystead says she's also asking for funding for a statewide Alzheimer's awareness campaign. Because Black Americans are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's. Hispanic Americans are one and a half times more likely. So we want to be sure that there isn't that stigma.

They are having these discussions with their doctors. Especially women, who are often the caretakers and are more likely to develop Alzheimer's. Medicaid covers some costs for qualifying low-income Florida residents. Some people need loans, reverse mortgages, assets, or savings. Cindy Hounsell is the president of the Women's Institute for Secure Retirement. We have something called the caregiver hub on our website because a lot of times with caregiving is all of a sudden you're at work and somebody calls you and says your mother just whatever, and you don't know where to start. There's a lot of help. States have elder care locators to find agencies across zip codes, but Hounsell says you can't tap into the help without knowing it exists.

I'm Veronica Saragovia in Miami. That story was produced with support from the Gerontological Society of America, the Journalists Network on Generations, and the RRF Foundation for Aging. This week, Florida's Surgeon General continued his criticism of COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Joseph Lapido called for healthcare providers to stop using the most popular COVID-19 vaccines. Nancy Guan is with Health News Florida and our partner station WUSF in Tampa. Nancy, welcome to the program. What rationale does Lapido cite in his reasons for calling for a halt for the use of these vaccines? So in Lapido's letter, he calls into question the safety of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. These vaccines are distributed by companies like

Pfizer and Moderna, and it's what a majority of the population receives to fight against COVID-19 infection. Lapidus specifically says he's concerned about the possibility of DNA fragments within the vaccine that could contaminate human cells, even though the possibility of that is extremely low. What about any response from the Food and Drug Administration who received the letter or the Centers for Disease Control? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration disagrees with Lapidus' claims and says the likelihood of DNA contamination is highly unlikely. The CDC has called out the Surgeon General before for making misleading claims, but on this issue in particular, they've deferred to the FDA since

Lapidot is directly addressing the FDA in his letter. The FDA responded to LATIPO back in December when he initially brought up these concerns. They provided a point-by-point explanation for why those concerns were unfounded, that the Surgeon General's claims are pointing to theoretical risks that are really unlikely to happen. And when you look at the data, the FDA says, you know, billions of vaccines have been administered around the world. So the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks. So what about the science here with Lapido's claims? Well, the FDA and CDC both have repeatedly called Lapido's claims misleading and that they're not backed up by science. Epidemiologists and professors from the University of Florida, which is where Lapido actually works, have called him out for perpetuating a false study recommending that young men not get the vaccine. In short, health officials and experts have said that LAPIDO has brought up theoretical issues that are very unlikely to happen and that people should look towards health agencies like the CDC and the FDA for proper guidance.

Nancy Guan is with Health News Florida and our partner station WUSF in Tampa. Nancy, thanks for sharing your reporting. Thank you so much for having me. And I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. What's left on your plate after a meal of Florida oysters is not garbage. A group in Tampa is taking what normally would be trash and using it to help restore the eastern oyster population in Tampa Bay. Craig Kopp reports from our partner station, WUSF. So far, 11 restaurants are donating their shucked oyster shells. They are cured and then put back into the water to create homes for new oysters. Richard Radigan, the Shells for Shorelines program manager, says he's not surprised by the high

restaurant participation. He says people really feel like they're doing something to improve our local waters. To learn that even by going to a participating restaurant, they are helping individually to improve our waterways by increasing those oyster populations. Besides being great for shoreline preservation and habitats for a lot of fish, oysters can filter up to two gallons of water an hour. In Tampa, I'm Craig Kopp. The effort is collecting four tons of oyster shells a month from restaurants. From bivalve mollusks to reptiles now, we have an update for you on sea turtles, first from southwest Florida. Earlier this year, record numbers of nests throughout the region thrilled scientists and volunteers working to save the threatened species. But the joy was fleeting.

WGCU's senior environmental reporter Tom Bayliss explains why. Nobody was sure how last summer's sea turtle nesting season was going to shape up a mere six months after Hurricane Ian transformed the beaches of southwest Florida with its monster winds and 15-foot storm surge. Turns out female sea turtles are tougher than Ian. Following an instinct as old as time, the egg-laden reptiles waddled up to the shores and filled a record number of nests. That thrilled Eve Haverfield, director of Turtle Time, a volunteer group that monitors nests along Fort Myers Beach and points south. Fort Myers Beach has a berm that was constructed this past season, and the turtles laid their nests in that berm. Those nests were very,

very successful. But that success was rarely replicated. A combination of elements doomed the promising nesting season, including hatchling disorientation, flooding caused by Hurricane Ian, and record high temperatures that never let the cool of the evening signal to the hatchlings it was time to get going. Because the summer was so hot, they just never got that cue, didn't hatch, and basically they succumbed within the nest. They died because of the heat. With global warming, that's something we're very concerned about for the future. We're very concerned about nest hatching successfully. The combination of elements causing nests to fail lowered the hatch rate to less than 10%

on Sanibel Island and alarmingly low on southwest Florida's other nesting beaches. In Fort Myers, I'm Tom Bayless. And finally on the Roundup, if you made a New Year's resolution to improve your health or become more mindful or even just to get up earlier, reporter Kate Payne has a story of the unintended benefits when all three meet Mother Nature along Florida's coastline. My favorite way to start the day is with a sunrise beach yoga class at the 3rd Street Lifeguard Tower on Miami Beach.

It gives me an hour of peace and stillness before diving into another hectic news day. But in South Florida, the news has a way of finding you. On this one September morning, we were most of the way through the class when I noticed a commotion down on the shoreline. I thought it might be a medical incident. But we went down to check it out. Oh, it was baby sea turtles hatching. One turtle in the water.

Yup, one turtle in the water. I definitely did not have my recording gear with me, but I know a story when I see one. So I begged some of the people in my yoga class to share their videos with me. So I begged some of the people in my yoga class to share their videos with me. So thanks again to Miguel Araujo and Chris Watson for letting us share this moment. Sunrise, surf, and new sea turtles.

That is a Florida morning. And that is our program for this week. The Florida Roundup 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 Mertz. Our Technical Director is Richard Ives. Engineering help from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels, and Jackson Harp. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Libos at aaronlibos.com. Katie Munoz answered our phones. If you miss any of today's program, you can download it and listen to past programs at WLRN.org slash podcasts. I'm Tom Hudson.

Thanks for calling, listening, emailing, and supporting Public Radio. Have a great weekend.