| | | | | |  | | By Gary Fineout | Hello and welcome to Wednesday. Getting together — Florida's three main Democratic candidates for governor gathered (virtually) last night for an hourlong "town hall" hosted by the United Faculty of Florida that focused primarily on higher education. The event was inspired in great part by the turmoil that is swirling around the University of Florida, including its initial decision to bar three professors from testifying in a lawsuit against the state's new voting law. Not a debate — Rep. Charlie Crist, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and state Sen. Annette Taddeo didn't use the event to make sharp points about each other. Instead, they directed most of their ire at Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature, including over the passage of HB 233, the contentious measure that requires an intellectual diversity survey on college campuses. They said Republicans want to suppress academic freedom and the First Amendment rights of professors. Worth noting — Fried, however, had two key points. The former student body president at UF essentially said she would dismantle the current governing structure for state universities that includes a statewide Board of Governors and Board of Trustees at individual universities. She said the current trustee system is "broken" and flatly asserted that appointees are required to pony up $100,000 in donations to the GOP if they want to be on the board. About that — Well, that second point got some pushback with Republican Party of Florida executive director Helen Aguirre Ferré telling Florida Politics it was a "bald faced lie." On the first one, however, it's worth pointing out that the current structure was championed by former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Bob Graham. Graham, a Democrat, helped push a constitutional amendment on the ballot in response to a decision by Republicans (google Jeb Bush, napkin, John Thrasher) to blow up the old Board of Regents. Context — Fried, who kept repeating that no elected official knows more about Florida's higher education than she does, contended that state universities are forced to compete with each other for money and recognition because of the current governance structure. That continues to be true — and anyone who has watched the yearly dust-up over pre-eminence funding in the Legislature is aware of it. — WHERE'S RON? — Gov. DeSantis will hold a press conference in Wildwood with Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. PROGRAMMING NOTE: Florida Playbook won't publish from Monday, Dec. 20-Friday, Dec. 31. We'll be back on our normal schedule on Monday, Jan. 3. Please continue to follow POLITICO Florida. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch:gfineout@politico.com | | | | JOIN TODAY FOR A WOMEN RULE 2021 REWIND AND A LOOK AHEAD AT 2022: Congress is sprinting to get through a lengthy and challenging legislative to-do list before the end of the year that has major implications for women's rights. Join Women Rule editor Elizabeth Ralph and POLITICO journalists Laura Barrón-López, Eleanor Mueller, Elena Schneider and Elana Schor for a virtual roundtable that will explore the biggest legislative and policy shifts in 2021 affecting women and what lies ahead in 2022. REGISTER HERE. | | | | |
|  | CAMPAIGN MODE | | AFTERMATH — "Report: Socialism attacks hurt Dems with Latino voters," by POLITICO's Sabrina Rodriguez: A new post-mortem on the 2020 election results reveals that GOP attacks claiming Democrats embrace socialism helped fuel Donald Trump's gains with Latino voters last year. More than 40 percent of Latino voters across the country expressed concern that Democrats are embracing socialism and leftist policies, according to a survey included in a report released Tuesday by Equis, a Democratic research firm. Among those who voted for Trump, more than 70 percent were concerned. And Latino voters said they are more concerned with Democrats moving to the left than with Republicans embracing fascist and anti-democratic politics. LET THE LATTE FLOW — "Tampa General Hospital can't give to politicians. Its coffee shops can," by Tampa Bay Times' Kirby Wilson: "Unbeknownst to most of its customers, however, this Starbucks serves up more than holiday cheer. For the past three years, House of Coffee Tampa, the company that runs that location, has been making venti-sized campaign contributions to a select group of Florida political candidates." By the numbers — "House of Coffee has given $307,000 to a political committee — Friends of Tampa General Hospital — since 2019, Florida Division of Elections records show. The coffee shop business is the political committee's only donor. Friends of Tampa General has passed along more than $226,000 to mostly conservative candidates and causes since 2019. In September, the committee gave $15,000 to Friends of Ron DeSantis, the governor's political committee." VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN — " 3 residents of The Villages arrested after casting multiple votes in 2020 election," by Orlando Sentinel's Joe Mario Pedersen and Monivette Cordeiro: "Three residents of The Villages were recently arrested and face charges of casting more than one vote during the 2020 election, according to affidavits. …State voter records show [Joan] Halstead, 71, and [Jay] Ketcik, 63, are registered Republicans. [John] Rider, 61, has no party affiliation. However, posts in support of former President Donald Trump can be found on Facebook pages appearing to belong to Halstead and Rider. News 6-WKMG reported that a Facebook page appearing to belong to Ketcik also had pro-Trump posts, although the page seems to have been deleted." NAME CALLING — "GOP billboard blasts Kathy Castor as a communist," by Tampa Bay Times' William March: "Is Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor, the longtime South Tampa congresswoman, former county commissioner, Florida State University-trained lawyer, mother of two and daughter of a judge and a university president, also a 'communist'? The Hillsborough County Republican Party says so. At a cost of around $5,000 a month, the party is paying for a billboard on a heavily traveled stretch of North Dale Mabry Highway that shows a picture of Castor and the words, 'Communism: Tampa's #1 Enemy.' It adds: 'Vote Republican.'" | | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES | | BREAKING IT DOWN — Nearly two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, we're beginning to get enough data to evaluate how well states handled the crisis. Each state shaped its own response differently, and you can see the results in POLITICO's State Pandemic Scorecard. Here are some core takeaways:
• States that imposed more restrictions such as stay-at-home orders and mask requirements did experience lower rates of death and hospitalizations. But they also tended to have worse economic and educational outcomes;
• States whose economies are heavily dependent on tourism suffered the most economically, with Hawaii and Nevada hit hardest;
• No state did well in every policy area;
• Overall, rural states tended to fare better than more urbanized states on economic and educational outcomes. Many rural states, despite being less densely populated, ranked poorly in health outcomes, however. Florida's grade — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has used his approach to the pandemic — including an aversion to lockdowns and mandates — to bolster his national image and it has established him as one of the top Republican contenders for 2024. Pushing back — Florida was one of the first states to fully reopen its schools and in the last few months, the GOP governor has constantly boasted that Florida was a haven for "freedom" that did not follow what he has labeled "Faucism." His approach has drawn constant ire from Democrats and he has battled with the Biden administration over mask and vaccine mandates. Not at the top or bottom — The scorecard gives a mixed grade to his approach. Florida was below average — but not at the bottom — in its health performance score while hovering in the middle on economic performance. The state had above average scores for both social well-being and education. | 
POLITICO data analysis | — "Covid's deadly trade-offs, by the numbers: How each state has fared in the pandemic," by POLITICO's Sean McMinn and Liz Crampton The daily rundown — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 3,067 Covid-19 infections on Monday. CDC records show that the last time Florida had more than 3,000 daily cases was in mid-October. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 1,411 hospital beds were being used in the state for Covid-19 patients. OVER — "Following federal scrutiny, FL Education officials returned $878,000 to certain local school boards ," by Florida Phoenix's Danielle J. Brown: "After several months of legal challenges, state sanctions, and a special session that outlawed strict mask mandates in public schools, the Florida Department of Education returned $877,851 in state funds to eight school districts that had been punished over a COVID-related mask controversy. 'It has been put back, so we do have that money,' Russell Bruhn, communication staffer with the Brevard County school district, told the Phoenix." — " Jason Pizzo files legislation to undo special session on COVID-19 protocols," by Florida Politics' Anne Geggis | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | |
| | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | DEFENSE MODE — "DeSantis fires back in legal battle over 'anti-riot' bill," by POLITICO's Matt Dixon: Gov. Ron DeSantis said controversial anti-riot legislation he championed will not have a "chilling effect" on the ability to peacefully protest, the latest defense in his administration's legal and political clash with groups like Black Lives Matter, which have challenged the new law in court. "Rather than pointing to any concrete, imminent harm, Plaintiffs manufacture concern by misreading the statute to introduce uncertainty about its application and heap speculation on speculation over possible future actions by policy and other protesters," read a DeSantis administration brief filed last week with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. LET THE SUNSHINE IN — "Walgreens must disclose Florida opioid profits, judge says," by News Service of Florida's Dara Kam: "After more than two years of squabbling over production of records in a lawsuit filed by the state, a judge ordered Walgreens to hand over documentation about the company's profits on sales of opioid drugs in Florida for the past 25 years. Pasco County Circuit Judge Kimberly Sharpe Byrd on Friday gave Walgreens until Dec. 31 to start turning over "financial information sufficient to show all rebates, discounts, chargebacks, coupon reimbursements and any other money back it received on opioids" it purchased or sold in Florida since 1996." DOE SPEAKETH — "Florida proposes 'victims of communism' lessons for high schoolers," by POLITICO's Andrew Atterbury: Florida's Department of Education on Tuesday introduced a proposed rule that would carry out a GOP education priority by instructing high school students about the dangers of communism. The proposal aims to ensure that students in U.S. government courses are specifically taught lessons surrounding the victims of communism as a way to honor veterans, "encourage patriotism" and "remember the more than 100 million people who have fallen victim to communist regimes across the world." | | DATELINE D.C. | | ON THE GROUND — "Rep. Waltz calls for more military aid to Ukraine, Russian sanctions after trip to Kyiv," by Orlando Sentinel's Steven Lemongello: "U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz returned from a secret trip to Ukraine on Monday with a stark warning that the U.S. shouldn't wait for a Russian invasion of the embattled country to react. 'I know I sound like a broken record, but only responding to a full-blown invasion? There's a lot of gray area there,' Waltz, R-St. Augustine Beach, said in a virtual press conference Tuesday. '... There's a lot of other destabilizing things [Russia] could do, short of an invasion, that will still be just as devastating to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.'" GETTING CLOSER — "House passes amended bill to ban Chinese goods made with forced labor," by POLITICO's Steven Overly: Legislation that aims to prohibit imports made using the forced labor of ethnic Uyghur Muslims in China will soon land on President Joe Biden's desk — and he plans to sign it. An amended version of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, now H.R. 6256, was approved by a voice vote in the House on Tuesday night and will now head to the Senate where it is also expected to receive broad support. Rubio priority — "The United States is so reliant on China that we have turned a blind eye to the slave labor that makes our clothes, our solar panels, and much more," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who co-sponsored the Senate bill, said in a statement. "That changes today." | | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | NOW THERE'S REGRET — "Largo Capitol rioter apologizes in letter to judge, asks for mercy," by Tampa Bay Times' Dan Sullivan: "A Largo man who admitted he threw a wood plank and sprayed and hurled a fire extinguisher at police officers during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol now realizes the wrongfulness of his actions, according to a letter he wrote to a federal judge. Robert Scott Palmer, who faces sentencing Friday, asked for mercy from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, apologizing in a lengthy handwritten note for his role in the attack that sought to subvert the results of the 2020 election. The note, which accompanied a sentencing memo filed by Palmer's defense lawyer, states that he now understands that he and others were lied to and manipulated by those in power." — "D.C. suing the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys for damage caused on Jan. 6," by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | LET'S MAKE A DEAL — "Seminole attorney: Joel Greenberg agrees to pay nearly $1.9 million to Seminole in restitution," by Orlando Sentinel's Martin E. Comas: "Seminole County's attorney Tuesday said he has reached an agreement with former tax collector Joel Greenberg toward the payment of nearly $1.9 million in restitution for public money that was misspent during his time in office. 'I have reached a tentative agreement, a verbal agreement — and I emphasize verbal — with Joel Greenberg's attorney for restitution in the amount of $1,870,351,' county Attorney Bryant Applegate told commissioners." NEW JOB — Art Acevedo is now a CNN law enforcement analyst based in Miami. He has served as chief of police in Houston, Austin and Miami and previously served in leadership positions with Major Cities Chiefs, National Latino Peace Officers Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. — " Massive water break left 7 cities dry for days. A jury blames the contractor, and businesses could get millions in damages," by Sun Sentinel's Rafael Olmeda | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — "Fort Lauderdale welcomes 'thrill seekers' in steamy Instagram ad," by Miami New Times' Joshua Ceballos: "If Virginia is for lovers, then Fort Lauderdale must be for swingers — at least according to a recent story posted on the verified Instagram account of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. The 14-second video — which was posted on Sunday night and then promptly taken down — captures an apparent ménage à trois between a sultry brunette and two hunks at a rooftop pool ostensibly somewhere in Fort Lauderdale. The woman gazes into the eyes of the man to her left, passionately caresses the face of the man on her right, and gazes toward the camera as text appears on the screen: 'WELCOME THRILL-SEEKERS. VISIT LAUDERDALE.'" BIRTHDAYS: Former Florida Democratic Party chair Terrie Rizzo ... Gabriel Groisman, attorney and Mayor of Bal Harbour.
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