The Florida Roundup - The condo crisis, EVs and charging, abortion ballot initiative fact-checks, deaths in jail and hurricanes update

Episode Date: September 13, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke with Rep. Vicki Lopez about possible tweaks to new condo reform laws (06:55) Then, Miami Herald reporter Ashley Miznazi joined us to talk about the growing need for EV fast charging stations across the state (20:03). And later Samantha Putterman with our partner PolitiFact joined us to review some recent claims on Florida’s abortion ballot initiative (31:23). Plus, a look at the growing number of incarceration deaths (37:15) and an update activity in the Atlantic from meteorologist Megan Borowski (45:28).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being with us this week. I am pulling into a gas station here in South Miami-Dade County to refill my rental car. Gas is $3.17 a gallon at this Exxon station. I need probably six or seven gallons to top off my tank. From where I am pulling up to this gas pump, I can see a Tesla supercharging station. There are one, two, three, four, about a half a dozen cars or so there, hooked up to units recharging their batteries. That supercharging station is open 24-7. It took over what were some parking spots further out from a local shopping mall here. There are 20 supercharging stations in all at this spot. They charge 47 cents per kilowatt hour.

It opened just about a year or so ago. All right, let me get to the gas pump here and start the fill up. Regular, 318 a gallon. As my tank is filling up here, there are almost a quarter of a million electric vehicles registered here in Florida. And with demand increasing for EVs, so is the need for charging stations like the one I can see from the gas station where I'm at now. Pulling into a gas station, it's pretty easy, right? Plenty of them.

But finding a charging station when you need one can still be a challenge here in Florida, especially if you don't know where to look. Florida has tens of millions of dollars from the federal government earmarked toward a goal of putting in fast charging stations every 50 miles on interstate highways. So what's your experience with charging stations if you drive an EV? Have you thought about buying an EV, but maybe you've gotten charging anxiety? Call us now, 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800 or radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Radio at thefloridaroundup.org. All right, well, my gas is done. Let Let's see if I had to charge my car halfway it would have taken about 30 minutes and cost roughly 20 bucks My half tank of gas here. Let's see the damage

Five and a half gallons is what I needed. It's a little bit less than I expected 1763 My tank was filled I was back in the car. I buckled up and went on my way. It took less than five minutes. I now had enough gas to go about 400 miles, maybe more. That's enough to get me from Key West all the way up I-95 to about Jacksonville. Of course, there's plenty of gas stations on the way if I needed to fill up and get back on the road. Now a full battery on an electric vehicle will get you about 250 miles or so roughly Orlando to Tallahassee. And while there are

several charging stations on the way, some are at service plazas right off the highway, others may be a bit further off the route, and some of them may take quite a while to recharge. Now your phone calls and emails about charging electric vehicles coming up later on in the program. First, this was the week that Governor Ron DeSantis essentially put state lawmakers on notice. Do something about the building crisis among condominium owners. I think that the legislature, given that the deadlines are coming by the end of the year, will have opportunities in this calendar year to be able to provide some reforms and relief as appropriate. This is the Governor Monday in Miami Lakes. Reforms passed after the collapse of the Champlain Towers and Surfside require

condo buildings at least three stories tall and older than 30 years to be inspected and have money for necessary repairs. And the deadline is quickly approaching. It's December 31st. I think this is priority one. Our economy is facing a catastrophe or a calamity if we don't take action now. This is Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan. Now, despite its name, Sunrise is miles from where it would have unobstructed views of the first rays of sunshine over the Atlantic Ocean each morning. It's closer to the Everglades in western Broward County. There aren't any oceanfront high-rise condo buildings in Sunrise, but there are plenty of buildings that are subject to the reforms. Tim Johnson lives on the seventh floor of a high-rise just blocks from the sand in Miami Beach. I have a nice apartment. It's old,

but it's nice. You know, I face due west. I have beautiful sunsets, and I have a view of the Miami skyline, and I'm a block and a half away from the ocean. The building was built in 1968. He bought his condo nine years ago and says there has been a series of special assessments through the years. The latest totals $10 million. It was approved before the recent condo reforms were put in place. He's paying about $315 a month for the special assessment and will keep paying that for the next 15 years. $58,000 in all. Did you ever think about

selling? Well, yes, it crossed my mind, but I like it here. he's staying put in his condominium he says his building did not have any financial reserves before this latest big special assessment he also told me his pool and pool deck have been closed for repairs for six years all in he pays twelve hundred dollars a month in assessments. His insurance and taxes are on top of that. Condo owners like him are under increasing pressure as the deadline looms for reforms here in Florida. Condo prices are falling in many communities and more of them are being put up for sale. So do you live in a condo, own a condo in an older building? Are you ready for the reforms?

How is the financial situation for your association? Should the reforms themselves be reformed? 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800 is our phone number. Vicki Lopez is a Republican representative in the Florida House of Representatives. She is from the Key Biscayne and part of downtown Miami. Welcome back to the program, Representative Lopez. Nice to have you again. Thank you so much, Tom. I'm grateful to be here. It's an important topic that we're going to discuss and one that I think is critical.

Indeed, it is critical enough to support a special session before the end of this calendar year. So I think that that has been a question that I've asked myself, and I'll tell you why, because I think there's some misinformation as to when these assessments or what we call increases in reserves are going to be due. The only thing that's due by the end of the year is the actual completion of the structural integrity reserve study. And that will give you, it's supposed to be a prospective budget tool. And it also says, the law says that any budget passed on or after January 1st of 2025 must include those reserves. Now, here's the catch. Most condominium associations don't pass their budgets till the end of the year for the succeeding year. So that would mean that any budget passed in November or December of 2025 for the 2026 year would have to include those reserves.

So people aren't really going to see the effects of the structural integrity reserves until the beginning of 2026. So let me just parse all that timeframe out here. The structural integrity study, the milestone inspection for buildings three stories and over 30 years old or older, that's due December 31, 2020.

So no, there's been confusion. Milestone inspection is one thing, which only has to be done for buildings that are 30 years, three stories and above, and are 30 years old. And that is separate and apart from what is known as the Structural Integrity Reserve Study. All right. And what's the deadline for the Structural Reserve Study? That is at the apart from what is known as the Structural Integrity Reserve Study. All right. And what's the deadline for the Structural Reserve Study?

That is at the end of the year. The milestone inspections have been going on since the law went into effect in 2022. So if you're building, it's 30 years. And luckily for us in Miami-Dade and Broward, we've been doing recertifications since 1997. Yes. Those two counties have been doing this. It's the 65 other counties now that are getting captured by this regulation. So that's the inspection, the financial impact.

And that's what has so many of these associations and condominium owners so worried is that so many associations have no reserves or very little reserves so that if there is a structural issue identified in the structural integrity review, they simply don't have the money in the bank to take care of it. Well, and that's correct because, see, the structural integrity reserve study is a prospective tool. It's what you will need in the future. The milestone inspections is what tells you whether or not your building is structurally sound. And if it is, it usually results in some kind of repairs that need to be made in order to keep it structurally sound. And that is what's known as the special assessment, something you couldn't have predicted, something you couldn't have budgeted, and something that

you may not even have money for. And those are, in fact, ranging between like a million dollars to $34 million, which is the interesting part. And I guess what I would say to you, Tom, is that we don't really have all the information we need to identify what is the extent of the problem, how much are these assessments versus increases in condo fees are going to be. And I think that we have time to collect all that data in January and successfully come up with options that not only keep our buildings safe, but are also sensitive to the financial impact that maybe condo owners will be facing. So it sounds like, Representative Lopez, you don't feel the pressure to have a special session before the end of the

calendar year to provide what the governor this week called relief from the reforms? I don't. And I think what the governor was saying is we're hearing you, right? And a lot of this is anticipatory anxiety. Less than 50% of condo buildings in Florida have completed their CERS. So no one can tell me what in fact is the problem overall, right? When all 100% of condominium buildings complete their structural integrity reserve study, we'll have a pretty good idea of what is the increase in the condo fees. That's what I don't have right now.

So if I went into a special session today, I wouldn't know, is it just a problem in South Florida where the vast majority of condominiums are or is it across the state? So to be clear, you don't support the idea of having a special session before the end of the calendar year. Are you aware, it seemed that the governor said that lawmakers will have the chance this calendar year to address this. He stopped short of calling lawmakers back to work. He still could. Are you aware of any active legislation that's being crafted for a special session regarding

this issue in condominium reforms? I am not aware of that. And from what I can understand, of course, that's way above my pay grade. The leaders in both the Senate and the House would have to agree to something like that. I don't think anyone's talking about it right now. We do know that President Pasadena, the current president of the Senate, has said that she's not in favor of a special session, that in fact, we will have time during regular session to address all this.

And again, remember, no one's going to be paying for any increases in reserves until 2026. So I think she's right. I think we're going to have time to be very thoughtful and intentional about what our reforms should be. So if you are called back into special session, certainly you would, I suspect, wait to see what any kind of offer of legislation looks like. But it sounds like you're resistant to providing, to reforming the reforms that are already in place. I'm not resistant to it. I would absolutely then try to,

if I was called back into special session, I would then have to start guessing. I would have to say, well, if this is the case, what would a good reform be? So I wouldn't be able to have the benefit of any data, but I can certainly try to reform, you know, based on what I think I'm hearing, the anecdotal stories. Yeah, absolutely.

You've got hundreds of condominium associations in your own district. Where do you think that the reforms that are currently on the books in Florida need to be nipped and tucked? So I would say, yes, I do. I have 667 condo associations in my district. And I would say that we should be probably, if we had to do something, I would focus on the very, very old buildings, right? The ones that might be in a structural integrity situation, right? I've got plenty of condos that are in the 10 to 20 and 20 to 30, but the vast

majority of condominiums, at least in South Florida, are in the 30 to 40, and then they really grow exponentially in the 40 to more than 50 years old. Let's hear from Sue is calling here, Representative from Boca Raton. Go ahead, Sue. You're on the radio. Yeah. Can you hear me okay? Loud and clear.

Go ahead. Okay. So I just wanted to bring up the fact the program called My Safe Florida. I just wanted to bring up the fact the program called My Safe Florida. So here we are, condo owners, and getting these tremendous assessments, and the assessments are obviously for structural, but I've seen a structural report that includes doors and windows and roofs, and the My Safe Florida program, which gives funding to homeowners to make their doors, roofs, and windows

and structural safe. But yet, as it stands right now, the statute is only for single-family homes. So here we are as condo owners getting absolutely bombarded with fees, and there's money available, but not to us, only to single family homes. Sue, thanks for the point there. What do you think about that perhaps expansion of an existing program? So I actually already did that. So I wanted to let Sue know that in the last legislative session, I thought the very same thing that Sue did. I live in a condominium and I thought, why aren't we getting some benefit to harden buildings? So I was able to get the legislature to decide to create a pilot program for condominiums to see if it would work in a complete building. And so we've appropriated

$30 million for that program and any condominium can start applying for that. We spoke, Representative, in late June about this building issue. Clearly, the volume and the pressure has continued to build. You told us this back then. I'm telling people not to buy a condominium now. Wait for things to settle down. So here we are in September. Representative, is this still your advice to prospective buyers of Florida condominiums? So, yes, and I'll tell you why. I feel like if the structural integrity reserve studies haven't been completed, you don't really know what you're entering into when you purchase a condo. So I've actually said to everybody, you've got to make sure that you know what are all of the costs going to be, because I believe in transparency and real estate transactions. So how much is the

property insurance going to be? How much are you undergoing a milestone inspection what are those special assessments going to be and then when the structural integrity reserve study tells you what you're going to have to pay in the future what is that going to be because i've heard from at least i had 10 owners in one building who had moved in about eight months ago and then they were hit with a special assessment and they said i didn't even know about it and i didn't plan for that and now i don't know what to do so that that was where that comment originated when people started calling my office and saying i don't think it's fair that we didn't know what we were buying that and what was going to be you know part of the cost and that kind of advice is likely to cool what is already a quickly

cooling market for florida condominiums we've seen this show up in valuations that are dropping in terms of closed sales both the volume as well as the price and the number of condominiums hitting the market sellers or owners wanting to sell does that concern you in terms of the potential impact years down the road on the revenue for local and state government that comes from real estate? So I do believe that there is a sort of, it's created an unintentional real estate market crisis, but I do know that developers are prepared to come in and purchase. We don't talk about the condo terminations, but those are happening as well.

So that's when an entire building essentially agrees of separate condominium owners. They all agree to sell to a developer. A developer likely comes in and probably knocks down the building and builds up something new. Well, yes, because we're also hearing from the real estate market

that people don't want to buy in these very old buildings. They want newer buildings with newer amenities. And so that's an option that is that i think is we're going to see more of uh and then um how are the concerns around the um uh the interlocking nature of all this in other words we heard from the mayor of sunrise in western broward county worry that this is an economic catastrophe that's slowly developing. Do you think those concerns are overblown? I don't think that they, let's just say this, I don't know. We don't have enough data to know whether that just feels like it's an emotional reaction or whether that is absolutely supported

by evidence. I do think that there's just a lot of, I think that there is different things that are happening in the market right now that are in fact real. And we have to look at them. There's no way that we can ignore what may be going on. And I say, it's always a very complex situation because you also can't have this conversation without having the conversation that we don't have enough affordable housing. Because let's assume that you do sell your condo, right? Are you ready to leave? Where are you going to go is the next question. Well, that's for another moment here on the Florida Roundup in the weeks ahead.

Representative Vicki Lopez, Republican in the Florida House of Representatives from Key Biscayne and parts of downtown Miami. Representative, always nice to have you on the program. Thanks for your time. Thank you so much. Absolutely. We will be tackling electric vehicles. Lots of calls here

lined up we'll be taking those calls talking to you about evs and charging stations here in the sunshine state you're listening to the florida roundup from your florida public radio station this is the florida roundup i'm tom Hudson. Next week on our program, maybe you have found or heard the buzzing and then the slapping. Yeah, it's the mosquitoes. They're out all across the state. Mosquito control districts have been very busy and spending some big bucks trying to keep those bugs away. As they breed, hatch, and then fly around all of us, they certainly raise the risk of carrying and spreading disease. So how bad are the bugs in your neighborhood? Have you seen crews out spraying? And how are communities using your tax dollars to fight the bite? Email us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Mosquitoes and

your backyard, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. We may share your story next week. This week, there were about 50,000 electric vehicles registered in Florida back in 2020. That number has quadrupled in just the past three years. And while growing fast, it still pales in comparison to gasoline cars and trucks. About one out of every 60 cars here in Florida runs only on electricity. Now, as that continues to increase, so goes the demand for charging stations. Now if you drive an EV, what's your experience looking for a charge? 305-995-1800, our phone number, 305-995-1800.

Your phone call is coming up in just a couple of minutes. Ashley Miznazi is a climate change reporter with our news partner the Miami Herald. Ashley welcome to the program thanks for your time today. Thanks for having me. So what's the state of these EV charging stations here in Florida? Yeah so like you mentioned Florida has the second most EV drivers in the nation but I found that the shortage of chargers was a common complaint especially for some of the fast chargers which would charge up a car in 30 minutes compared to some of the slow chargers you might see outside of a Starbucks that

would take hours. And if you have a charger at home, it might not be the largest issue. But if you might have an apartment, then finding a place to plug in could be more difficult or, you know, trying to take a trip farther away. Yeah, definitely. So who's installing these stations that aren't in someone's home garage or a parking space near where they live? Yeah, so it's a mixture. With some of the slower chargers, it's a lot of businesses that you might see as a convenience. But I found that the South Dade Kia car dealership even, they put some fast chargers and slow chargers to help with their customers with what they hear a lot of range anxiety with trying to sell these vehicles. But then there's

also the gas giants like Buc-ee's and Wawa. And they've already had some partnerships, Buc-ee's, for example, they have a billion dollar deal with southern states to put some of these fast chargers. And Daytona, there's already 10 chargers in place there. So when it comes to the government, though, there hasn't been a whole lot of action in Florida. But you compare that to a state like Georgia, who's also Republican led, and they already have some of these chargers, you know, in the ground. So what is that mix, then between kind of private investment for these chargers, a company paying for them altogether, or government incentives or subsidies for the chargers to go on to a commercial property, for instance, not a government property

necessarily. Yeah. So the big chunk of funding that these businesses would really like to see opened up is called the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Funding. And that would give these businesses the opportunity to tap into the funding and have 80% of it covered. And so it's not just businesses that could tap into this funding to its other government municipalities, it can be universities. But for now, right now, it's people putting up the funds on their own for these gas stations. And so how has the state of Florida been,

I suppose, behaving in all of this? There was about $110 million that you reported on from the federal government for charging stations that the state of Florida has not spent. There was a question about whether or not it would apply for about another $90 million. It did after you published a report. So there's a $200 million pot of money. That's a substantial pot of money that could go toward EV charging stations. Yeah. So for some background, that funding was supposed to be used to put a charging station, a fast charging station every 50 miles of the interstate,

which would help with some of that range anxiety I was talking about for these trips, you know. But they put out their application and it's been three years. I'm sorry, they didn't put out the application for business to apply. They put out an application and it's been three years. I'm sorry, they didn't put out the application for businesses to apply. They put out an application to apply for this funding, receive the $110 million and then put their second application. But they haven't opened up the application for businesses to try to tap in to use it. And so that's where the concern is coming from some of these industry leaders and environmental groups.

And they've had some mixed signals, the Florida Department of Transportation, too, with whether or not they maybe want to use this funding. For example, they started a website called Roads Are Not for Politics, and they argued that the Biden administration is weaponizing some of these transportation dollars. You know, a quote on the website says, why would the government be so insistent on getting rid of one of the greatest inventions like the combustion engine? But then you compare it to they put out that plan to be able to receive the funding. And on there, they're saying that federal funds will expand EVs in Florida and make Florida a

national leader for EVs. But it doesn't seem like Florida is coming to be a national leader on EVs when 40 other states are already putting out these applications for businesses to apply and Florida has been sitting on the money. The state's not stroking the checks to put the electric pumps, so to speak, in the ground here. Ashley Miznazi is a climate change reporter with the Miami Herald. We're talking about electric vehicles and supercharging or just charging stations throughout the state uh martina sent us this email uh she writes here's my horror story i rented a vehicle for a trip to atlanta a five and a half hour drive tops i made this drive religiously for almost 20 years i reserved a gas vehicle when i arrived i was told they didn't have anymore i told them i didn't want the electric vehicle because i didn't understand

it i didn't know how to operate it and I didn't feel comfortable traveling out of state with it. I was told it was easy and just charge and be on my way. She writes, my trip went from five and a half hours to almost nine hours due to all the stops to charge the vehicle. It was a nightmare and costly, over $200 to charge versus the $80 I would have spent if I drove a gas car. And she writes then, I missed my hair appointment and I missed a surprise birthday party my friends had planned for me. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Tough news there. Interesting that, you know, she mentioned Atlanta too, because a driver that I met charging up at the Walmart in Hialeah and he was waiting cars ahead of him in line to plug in. He said that he commonly takes trips to Atlanta, and he doesn't have to wait as long for a charging station there. And maybe it's because there's less electric vehicle drivers, but to hear that, you know,

maybe if you're not super experienced with where these stations are, which ones are working, because that's something I found too. I would go to some of these stations and they would be out of order. They're not working, it's a barrier of entry tony has been listening in from gainesville tony thanks for your patience go ahead you're on the radio hi can you hear me loud and clear yes go ahead okay um i'm a 78 year old woman who lives in gainesville in 2022

i leased for three years a bw ib4 ev suv i love car, but at the end of my lease in June of 2025, I'm turning it back in and not getting another EV. And the reason is range anxiety. I have a charger in my garage, which is fine for around Gainesville, but once a year, I take a trip up to New England for the summer by myself, and I have so much anxiety about finding a charger on the way up that I just can't deal with it. So as much as I love the EV and the environmental advantage of having one, I'm turning it back in. The infrastructure has not kept up with the demand for charging. Yeah. Tony, thanks for sharing your perspective.

I want to hear from Mark. Mark has a little bit different of a experience. Go ahead, Mark. You're on the radio. Mark, can you hear us all right? Oh, yes. Hello. That's your turn. You're on the radio. Go ahead. You had a little different experience than what we just heard from Tony in Gainesville. Yes. I bought a Tesla Model 3 about a year ago, and I've had no problems at all. I charge at home on a 15-amp charger, and the kit that came with the Tesla, and that takes care of the majority of my needs. I only occasionally go to a supercharger for charging. I recently went on my first long trip to New Orleans, and my girlfriend and I had a wonderful time. No wait at any of the chargers.

The Tesla software maps everything out for you, so you know exactly when and where to stop and how many chargers are available and roughly the amount of time it's going to take to charge. charges are available and roughly the amount of time it's going to take to charge yeah but it did take a little bit longer than it used to take me in my prius to make a similar trip um but we didn't mind the slight extra bit of time on the road fair enough mark i appreciate uh you telling your story there ryan and lake worth uh writes uh i've driven more than 150 000 miles in electric vehicles over the last eight years within Florida. What people fail to understand is that if you own an EV, you should have a level two charger installed in your home. Over 98 percent of my miles have been powered by my home level two charger.

MJ says I live in southwest Florida, a Tesla Y, a Subaru Solterra, both of which are EVs, and a Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid, I can say that all work well with at-home level 2 charging for us at least 90% of the time. Ashley, is the concern or focus on these supercharging, fast-charging stations, is it overblown? Is there being too much made of this? I mean, I don't think so, because like you're reading there, it seems like these are folks who are able to have chargers at home. And I find it interesting that it's the Tesla that's finding these chargers because they have one of the most robust charging networks. It makes sense. But unfortunately, these other electric vehicle cars aren't able to tap into Tesla's charging network yet.

to Tesla's charging network yet. Eric in Miramar wrote us, I drive a Tesla and love its navigating feature that will map out the chargers you need for any possible road trip you'd have. I mean, that's a competitive advantage in the Tesla system. Yeah, and I saw it in the car. It pulls up a map and shows it along your route

where the chargers are. He writes, the only issue I've had finding chargers has been while driving in the middle of Florida. My wife and I loved a camp at Fish Eating Creek near Lake Okeechobee, but we have to take her car because there haven't been chargers has been while driving in the middle of Florida. My wife and I loved a camp at Fish Eating Creek near Lake Okeechobee, but we have to take her car because there haven't been chargers I can use along the way. Eric says, I'd like to see more fast chargers in across rural areas. And we were talking about every 50 miles on Turnpike 95, 75, I-10, lots of rural spaces that possibly would be in line for these chargers. Yeah. And it makes sense to have it along the interstate.

And a lot of these gas stations want it there because people are used to pulling off and going to a gas station. Maybe it's a little bit better than going to a mall parking lot at 2 a.m. if you're on a road trip. And there's a public safety aspect of this because we're in a season that shall not be named. And oftentimes, folks have to move away from where a storm is coming. And with range anxiety, charging anxiety versus topping off the gas at the gas station, how do folks, how do EV owners kind of, you know, understand all that new reality?

Yeah, I know. That's what I was hearing from some of these industry experts is Florida, you know, we're a tourist economy. And we also do have to be concerned about hurricane evacuations. And so I think that's why these industry leaders are pushing so hard for this funding to be opened up so they can start using it. Ashley Miznazi is a climate change reporter with the Miami Herald. Ashley, thanks for sharing your reporting with us. Appreciate it. Thank you for having me on. One week ago, the state agency responsible for health care published a website titled Florida Cares.

Florida is protecting life. And under that, it says, quote, don't don't the don't let the fear mongers lie to you. Those last three words are underlined in red. The site comes from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. Now, this week, the agency is the target of two lawsuits challenging this site. The latest is from the American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Legal Council, calling the site an unconstitutional misinformation campaign. Michelle Morton is a lawyer with the ACLU. We're challenging the misuse of taxpayer dollars to lie to voters about this amendment. This is not what government is supposed to be.

That's not what government is supposed to be. That's not what government is supposed to do. This is not normal. Now, earlier in the week, a Palm Beach County attorney sued, arguing the state is interfering with the election by advocating against the amendment to expand abortion rights. The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to hear that case quickly. The court gave the DeSantis administration until September 23rd to respond. I'm Tom Hudson, and you're

listening to The Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. As Election Day nears and voting begins, we are examining some key claims each week with our partner, PolitiFact. If you have a claim you want us to check out, just email it to us, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Maybe something you see on social media or a TV ad, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Sam Putterman is the reporter at PolitiFact who does the fact-checking for us. Sam, welcome back. Nice to talk to you again. All right, thanks for having me. Let's start with that website that the state published a week ago on this Friday. It says that the abortion amendment, quote, threatens women's safety. Now, here's how Governor DeSantis defended the site this week. We have resources to do public service announcements across a wide variety of fronts.

That goes to the Department of Transportation, for example, on safe driving. It's being used by the ACA agency to basically provide people with accurate information. ACA is the acronym for the agency. And among the claims, Sam, of the state website, the abortion amendment would put the state's parental consent for abortions law at risk. What's the political fact on this one, Sam? Yeah, so the amendment says that no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health. So legal experts say this wording could lead advocates to challenge a 2020 Florida law that requires written parental consent before a minor undergoes an abortion. The amendment's text does specify that it wouldn't override the

legislature's authority to require parents to be notified before the minor undergoes an abortion, but experts ultimately told us that the consent law's elimination isn't a foregone conclusion because it would likely be decided by the courts with the question possibly going up before the conservative state Supreme Court. Yeah. Another claim on this website from the state is that non-obstetricians could prescribe and perform abortions if the abortion amendment is passed by Florida voters and becomes part of the state constitution. What's the fact check on this one? Right. So the amendment says abortions can't be prohibited before fetal viability or when a health care provider determines it's necessary to protect a patient's health.

So critics argue that the broad health care provider term would let anyone like a clinic's receptionist to determine that health exception. But while the amendment doesn't define health care provider, legal experts said it wouldn't allow people who aren't licensed to determine what qualifies for that exception. The term is used and defined in Florida statute a bunch of different ways, and no single statute would apply. So its definition for abortion, if the amendment were to pass, would eventually be determined by Florida's Department of Health. And it's also important to mention that the state's doctors are regulated by the Florida Department of Medicine, and they must follow medical ethics and standards of practice. And OBGYNs also told us that they wouldn't provide an abortion until they personally determined that a patient qualified. The Florida abortion amendment question

was brought up during the presidential debate this week. Former President Trump was asked to clarify his position on the current law in Florida, the six week ban and the amendment. He has said in the past that the current restriction after six weeks was too short. And he has also said that he will vote against the abortion amendment and support the six week ban. Well, the reason I'm doing that vote is because the plan is, as you know, the vote is they have abortion in the ninth month. So this is the claim here, Sam, from the former president. The vote is they have abortion in the ninth month. So this is the claim here, Sam, from the former president. The vote is they have abortion in the ninth month. What's the political fact on this one? Right. So Trump makes it sound like this opens up abortion at any time for any reason. And

that really downplays the reason someone seeks an abortion that late in pregnancy. Abortions later in pregnancy are very rare. You know, more than 90% take place in the first trimester and less than 1% are performed after 21 weeks. And those typically involve an emergency. Meanwhile, you know, the amendments text specifies that abortion can't be prohibited before fetal viability or when necessary protected to the health of the pregnant woman, which returns Florida to the pre-Roe standard. And health professionals, you know, they widely advise that viability occurs around 24 weeks.

But again, the main argument here is that the provider can say anyone qualifies for the health exception for anything. But first, if the amendment passes, Florida's legislature has the power to further shape what kind of health exceptions would qualify. And second, it isn't really a reality anyway. In states with broader access, abortions are simply, you know, not happening in the ninth month unless something is seriously wrong. Sam Putterman, reporter for our news partner, PolitiFact. Sam will be back each and every week, PolitiFacting, political claims and TV ads, social media, and from the candidates themselves. If you hear something, see something you want Sam to check out, email it to us, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Sam, always a pleasure. Have a terrific weekend. Talk to you next week. Great. Thanks.

You too. You are listening to The Florida Roundup from your Florida public radio station. This is The Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. We want to tell you about a place most Floridians don't visit, prisons and jails. Conditions behind bars in Florida have been a problem for years. Bad food, poor health care, violence, and sweltering cells. A half dozen inmates at the Leon County Detention Facility have died this year from a range of causes.

Margie Manziel from our partner station WFSU reports from Tallahassee. Deaths that occur in Leon's detention facility must all be investigated, and these were. One man died of a stroke. A woman died of what's being described as blood intoxication. An inflamed stomach lining claimed the death of one man, and another death was heart related. The causes of the two remaining deaths have been redacted in the public records, but a jail official says one man was found hanging in his cell with no one else there. We also have had several die of natural causes as determined by the medical examiner. Leon County Undersheriff Ron Cave says

people who come to the jail often haven't had much access to health care before they arrive or they have pre-existing health conditions. And then we've had some instances where people have ingested drugs into their system, unfortunately, just prior to being arrested. The situation in Leon is consistent with research studies. A 2022 National Institutes of Health report found that on average, there are roughly 1.4 deaths per 1,000 incarcerated people annually. Of those, 44% are illness-related, one-third are suicides, and about 10% are due to drugs and alcohol. That means that more than 40% of deaths are due to either suicide or are drug-related, an issue that the Florida Sheriff's Association's Corey Godwin says has been an ongoing trend for decades. Those with behavioral health issues, not only behavioral health, but substance abuse or

addiction disorders, or more commonly, a dual diagnosis with both, obviously are ending up into our correctional facilities and jails across the nation. And Florida has certainly not been immune to that. There are so many people who wind up in prison or jail, in our case, our detention facility, that don't need to be there. They are suffering from tremendous mental health issues. That's Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil, who says local jails often become the largest treatment centers for mental health in their jurisdictions. That's not a place we'd like to be. We'd like to try to address these problems and issues with mental health

long before they get to our detention facility, but that's difficult to do. Former state Senator Jeff Brandes is the founder of the Florida Policy Project, a nonprofit think tank focusing on best practices in criminal justice, housing, transportation, and insurance. He says that jails and prisons are being asked to function as treatment facilities for people with mental health issues. And so they end up in our jails and our prisons, and oftentimes they end up in solitary confinement because even the jails and prisons don't know what to do with them. And that leads to a spiral of these individuals. They're putting these individuals in a room by themselves for hours, sometimes days on end.

It does not improve their mental state. And we do not currently allocate the resources necessary to deal with this growing population in our jails and prisons. allocate the resources necessary to deal with this growing population in our jails and prisons. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, there were 29 suicides statewide in fiscal year 2022-2023 and 321 natural deaths. The figures have remained relatively consistent over the past few years. The federal study from 2022 also emphasizes how jails and prisons can often make existing mental health issues worse. Denise Rock couldn't agree more. She's the executive director and founder of Florida Cares Charity,

a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of the incarcerated. She says reaching people with mental health issues early is exactly what's needed. The earlier, the better. Less police officers, more counselors and therapists and start addressing the mental health issues, which actually snowball once drug issues come into play, right? And many people that have mental health issues

treat with street drugs, and that, you know, exacerbates the problem. Judge Steve Leifman is an expert on the intersection of criminal justice and mental health. He works at the criminal division of the Miami-Dade County Court and says it's essential to use highly trained professionals to screen new inmates for the risk of suicide. The Miami-Dade Jail uses a professional screener from the Jackson Memorial Hospital Correction Health Services. And so if there's any indication that there may be any kind of behavioral health issues, the person is segregated immediately at the jail and they're seen by a psychiatrist

pretty quickly and, you know, extra eyes are kept on them to make sure that there's no suicide risk or suicide attempt. Leon's Cade says the detention facility generally maintains an average daily population of about 1,000. Of those, roughly 65% have a mental health issue. Some 40 to 50% are receiving psychotropic medications at any given time. Those numbers are obviously alarming to us, and so many people don't realize that. We truly have the largest mental health facility in our area. The Sheriff's Department has taken steps to mitigate inmate suicides.

They've substituted high-tech materials for sheets and blankets that could be used for hangings and welded holes shut to prevent their being used for leverage in such deaths. The department has also consulted with Florida State University, the Appalachee Center, and a suicide mitigation expert. If persons are going through personal challenges on the outside, that's going to obviously have an impact internally. So we created a form now where at check-on, when staff come in, they are advised of, all right, you know, inmate X just got sentenced to, you know, three years in prison.

We need to pay a close watch on them, even if they don't proactively say anything. As to the recent deaths, Cave says inmates with health issues already have medical care on site. care on site. In the last year, the facility has created a behavioral health unit with an advanced registered nurse practitioner who comes in four days a week and a psychiatrist who is there when the nurse is not. I'm Margie Menzel. There are about 3,200 people in the Pinellas County Jail on an average day. It has about 2,900 beds. It was built to fit 3,000 inmates. Sheriff Bob Gualteri says one reason the jail is over capacity is because of a new state law. It went into effect in January. The law aimed to have bail procedures consistent across the state. Now it makes it tougher for someone arrested for a misdemeanor to be released if they cannot afford bond.

These people are kind of getting lost in the system, and they're sitting in there for extended periods of time of two or three months when they have very low bonds of less than $500. The law also can make it more expensive for someone to get out of jail on bond before their trial. I'm Tom Hudson, and you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Hurricane Francine brought more rain to North Florida this week, and we've had a half-dozen storms so far this season. The seventh is likely forming way out in the Atlantic.

Meteorologist Megan Borowski is with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. Megan, nice to catch up with you again. Francine was a tropical storm. It was a strong tropical storm midweek. But boy, it blew up quick. Category two in about 24 hours. What happened? Yeah, so, you know, as we expected, the forecast had called for intensification quickly once

it became a hurricane and got that structure in the center. And we saw that. We had warm waters over the Gulf of Mexico, allowed it to intensify right before landfall. But, you know, the good thing was we did have wind shear right over the Gulf Coast. And so that actually helped to detract from any further intensification that might have happened if it had more time over the water. It made landfall officially in Louisiana. But, you know, the effects certainly were felt in the Panhandle in North Florida. Yep. So we were on the eastern edge more time over the water. It made landfall officially in Louisiana, but the effects certainly were felt in the Panhandle in North Florida. Yep. So we were on the eastern edge in

the Panhandle, and we had strong thunderstorms roll through, especially along the coastline yesterday. We had some waterspouts and tornado warnings along the Forgotten Coast there. Heavy rain continues today, and we still do have a risk for flash flooding and for a couple of strong thunderstorms in the Panhandle and in North Florida through the rest of the day today. Some of the rain amounts that we've been seeing here in Florida and with Francine just added on top of what has been a very wet, wet season already. I mean the ground appears to be saturated in lots of places. It's quite saturated. We keep getting these rounds of thunderstorms and we're going to see more flash flood warnings be issued. We do have a few flood warnings that were issued over the panhandle earlier today over Franklin

County. We still have a flash flood warning in effect. And then, you know, river flooding too, as we get drainage of all this rainfall, the river flooding is ongoing throughout much of the state. I mean, we're still trying to drain out in some areas from Debbie. And just the humidity. It is just so wet outside, even when it's not raining. Yep. Especially in South Florida, we still have those heat advisories that periodically get issued just because the dew points are so high and Francine circulation is drawing in that tropical moisture and not giving us any relief with those heat indices, especially in South Florida. If we start talking about dew points, Megan, we need to be careful. We're going to start sounding like a commercial for an insurance brand pretty quickly here, all right?

That's true. Meteorologist Megan Borowski with our partner, Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. Thanks, Megan. Thanks, Tom. And finally on the roundup this week, the Lady Knolls are on a roll. The Florida State women's soccer team has gone 30 games without a loss. 30. You have to go back to the semifinals of the championship two years ago to find an L on their schedule. The team is ranked number three in the country. Perhaps it's a bit of an underdog, considering the Lady Knolls are the defending NCAA champions. in Tampa by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter. WLRN's vice president of radio and our technical director is Peter Mertz. Engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels,

and Jackson Harp. Richard Ives answers our phones. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Libos at aaronlibos.com. If you missed any of today's program, you can download it, listen to past programs, share the program by going to WLRN.org slash podcasts, or easily find us by searching Florida Roundup on the NPR One app. Thanks for calling, listening, emailing, and above all, supporting public media in your neighborhood. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.