| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | |  A person canoes through the flooded streets caused by Hurricane Idalia passing offshore on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | Good morning and welcome to Monday. Hurricane season started this weekend, and there’s a frightening forecast for the next six months. Scientists are predicting between eight and 13 hurricanes this year. Should the U.S. face multiple storms in a row, it could strain resources, electrical linemen and national guardsmen. That could potentially lead to weeks without power, gas or bottled water, said Bryan Koon, who led Florida’s emergency management division under then-Gov. Rick Scott. “No jurisdiction has everything they need,” he said, stressing the need to prepare. “Everybody relies on their partners at the federal government, and there's a finite availability. It’s going to be tough.” With that backdrop, here are three things to know about this season: 1. Property insurance is still expensive, at an average of $6,000 annually. But the market seems to be leveling out after new laws made it harder for customers to sue insurers, helping their bottom lines. According to Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation, nine insurers applied to reduce premiums for coverage and 10 more want no changes. “The big picture is a much healthier Florida home insurance market as we head into what could be a very rough hurricane season,” said Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, a research organization funded by the industry. But that could change if a severe hurricane hits Florida’s most populous places. “Major storm loss activity could have negative impacts on the progress that Florida’s insurance market has made to recovery,” Friedlander acknowledged. He advised Floridians also get flood insurance, as major flooding still happens far off the coasts. “There's this misconception that somebody's going to take care of you, somebody's going to bail you out — that somebody usually means the federal taxpayer through FEMA, HUD and other programs,” agreed Craig Fugate, former FEMA administrator. 2. There’s some storm prep relief. A tax holiday started Saturday and runs for two weeks, and there’s another from the end of August to early September. The holidays lift Florida’s six percent sales tax on items like gas tanks, tarps and portable generators. Officials say now’s the time to stock those supplies as well as water and nonperishable food. “You don't want to be the person that's trying to go to Lowe's or Home Depot three days before a hurricane makes landfall and hopefully snag a generator,” Fugate said. Gov. Ron DeSantis shared a post on X in May urging Floridians to get their hurricane kits ready and to have an evacuation plan. “If you have prepared and we don't get anything, you're not any worse off for it, if you don't prepare and then we get hit, then you could be in a situation where it's difficult,” DeSantis said last month. 3. Officials are getting on the road, and politics loom. Kevin Guthrie, executive director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, met with local officials over the last month to “discuss concerns and best practices,” he told Playbook in a statement. Florida stockpiled 800 generators, 2.5 million meals and 1.5 million gallons of water (and another 1 million coming), said Marnie Villanueva, division spokesperson. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody warned against scams. Members of Congress, including Scott, made stops to advise Floridians how to prepare and to discover if they’re in a flood zone. Another key message: Most Floridians don’t have to drive hundreds of miles to get to safety. For many, shelters are available far closer to their homes to escape life-threatening flooding. Koon’s go-to advice: “Run from the water and hide from the wind.” Fugate agreed. “People focus too much on the winds,” he said, “but according to the National Hurricane Center, 88 percent of the deaths are due to water.” And of course, storm handling tends to get political in an election year. Elected officials face the challenge — or opportunity — during storm preparation and response to give clear instructions and address needs quickly. “Political careers can be made or broken through a natural disaster,” Koon said. “Most politicians know that and will be leaning forward and paying attention.” Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
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Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | VOTING LAWS — “Florida Republicans moved to make vote by mail harder. It worked,” by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. “Florida could see a dramatic drop-off in the number of mail-in ballots used in this year’s presidential election, a decline that could hurt an already weakened Democratic Party. The number of voters in line to receive a mail-in ballot has plunged by more than 50 percent since the 2022 midterms, as of the state’s March presidential primary. More than 2 million voters have asked for mail-in ballots for this year’s elections, compared to 4.3 million two years ago. If it holds, the drop-off could have a dramatic impact for both parties in November, since both have relied on vote-by-mail ballots in the past. But it could prove devastating for Democrats, who have embraced mail-in voting since 2020 as the Republican Party nationally has raced away from it.” DENIED — “Judge tosses Florida's CHIP eligibility lawsuit,” by POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian. “The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration [had] sued the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after CMS barred the state from expanding eligibility of its KidCare program and disenrolling recipients for failing to pay a monthly premium. In a ruling handed down on Friday, Tampa federal District Court Judge William F. Jung denied the state's request for a preliminary injunction, writing the state tried to skip a federal administrative review process meant to handle its complaint.” FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES — “Quest for DeSantis’ travel records leads to 2-year delay, then denial,” by the Orlando Sentinel’s Jeffrey Schweers. “The Florida Department of Law Enforcement waited nearly two years to tell the Orlando Sentinel that the financial details of a flight Gov. Ron DeSantis took to Fort Pierce and Live Oak were exempt from public records requests. The newspaper wanted to determine if DeSantis, who was running for reelection, had piggybacked campaign events on top of official ones without the campaign reimbursing the state for the Aug. 30, 2022, flight. It also wanted to know whether other candidates reimbursed FDLE for using the jet bought with taxpayer dollars after DeSantis became governor in 2019. The aircraft is available to the governor and other top state leaders for official duties.” STARTING JULY 1 — “Florida wants all school doors, gates locked. It could get costly,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Jeffrey S. Solochek. “The concerns center on issues such as how to deal with students who need to leave class and go to a counselor’s office in a different building. Or how to handle students who are on campus for after-school extracurricular activities that don’t involve a teacher or coach. Or what to do when parents and the public are attending a performance in one part of the school while students are preparing in a different area … Many are looking long-term toward ideas such as giving everyone on campus individualized key cards, or using programmable hall passes. But that’s a costly move that could not be implemented over the summer.” SUMMER IS COMING — “AP analysis finds 2023 set record for US heat deaths, killing in areas that used to handle the heat,” by The Associated Press’ Seth Borenstein, Mary Katherine Wildeman and Anita Snow. “The death certificates of more than 2,300 people who died in the United States last summer mention the effects of excessive heat, the highest number in 45 years of records, according to an Associated Press analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data … Nearly three-quarters of the heat deaths last summer were in five southern states that were supposed to be used to the heat and planned for it. Except this time they couldn’t handle it, and it killed 874 people in Arizona, 450 in Texas, 226 in Nevada, 84 in Florida and 83 in Louisiana.” — “Recreational vs medical marijuana: If weed is legal, will we need medical marijuana cards?” by C.A. Bridges of USA Today Network — Florida.
| | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | | |  Chantemekki Fortson, mother of Roger Fortson, a U.S. Air Force senior airman, holds a photo of her son during a news conference with attorney Ben Crump, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. | Gerald Herbert, file/AP Photo | INVESTIGATION ONGOING — “Florida sheriff’s office fires deputy who fatally shot airman at home,” by The Associated Press’ Terry Spencer. “A Florida Panhandle sheriff on Friday fired a deputy who fatally shot an airman at his home while holding a handgun pointed to the ground, saying the deputy’s life was never in danger and he should not have fired his weapon.” — “UN development specialist Garry Conille arrives to Haiti to take up the post of prime minister,” by The Associated Press. PERFECT STORM — “Hurricane Ian walloped Cape Coral, Fla. Two years later housing costs have spiked,” by NPR’s Greg Allen. “On Florida’s southwest coast, more than a year and a half after Hurricane Ian’s high winds and flooding caused more than $117 billion in damage, the fallout continues. Housing costs and insurance have spiked, prompting many to put their homes up for sale.” WORK HARD PLAY HARD — “In Miami, jobs are plentiful — and you might need two to afford it,” by the Wall Street Journal’s Harriet Torry and Deborah Acosta. “The 2.7 percent unemployment rate in the Miami metro area is among the lowest in the country. But inflation was higher than in any other major metro area in April, and housing costs have doubled in just six years. Wages have been rising — but not enough to keep up with prices.” ‘YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET’ — “DeSantis speaks at New College, applauds Corcoran for the school's transformation,” by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s Melissa Pérez-Carrillo. “Gov. Ron DeSantis lauded the work he’s done as governor on Saturday and congratulated New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran on his work in transforming the Sarasota college over the past year and a half. He argued that universities have become ideological indoctrination centers that lack critical thinking and rigorous education. DeSantis also shared how ‘leftist and woke ideology’ has infected corporate America, the medical field in its response to COVID and gender-affirming care, the ‘open border ideology’ and most recently, encampments that have been hosted at various colleges in protest of the Israel-Hamas conflict.” — “Tri-Rail to offer express trains to Miami to help commuters get to work for $17.50 a day,” by the Palm Beach Post’s Mike Diamond. — “Florida won't light bridges in rainbow colors. So Jacksonville's LGBTQ community did,” by David Bauerlein of the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union.
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | — “Claudia Sheinbaum elected Mexico’s first female president,” by the Washington Post’s Mary Beth Sheridan and Paulina Villegas. POLITICS SHIFT — “Puerto Rico governor loses primary to former ally,” by The New York Times’ Patricia Mazzei. “Gov. Pedro R. Pierluisi of Puerto Rico lost his bid for a second term on Sunday, suffering a rare defeat by a sitting governor on the island after a rancorous primary. Mr. Pierluisi was defeated by Representative Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting member of Congress, in the primary for the governing New Progressive Party, which supports Puerto Rican statehood. Four years ago, Mr. Pierluisi and Ms. González-Colón ran as allies on the same ticket, promising unity after a tumultuous period that included the resignation of a former New Progressive governor. But in challenging Mr. Pierluisi, her former ally, Ms. González-Colón cast his administration as out of touch and ineffective.” ‘TAKEN ABACK’ —“A Republican pollster asked Florida voters about energy. The results surprised him,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Emily L. Mahoney. “Floridians of both political parties are overwhelmingly concerned about the cost of energy in the state and Florida’s heavy reliance on natural gas as a source of electricity, according to a poll by a Republican strategy firm. It also found that environmental issues will factor into voters’ decisions in the 2024 election.” VOTER INTENT — “How to decide when voter’s ballot isn’t properly filled out: Florida proposes new rules,” by News Service of Florida. “The proposed rule includes numerous examples of what types of markings should be deemed acceptable and those that the state says would not meet muster. The proposal is more restrictive than a current rule and wouldn’t give canvassing boards enough flexibility to determine how voters meant to vote, according to some supervisors.”
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | |  President Donald Trump speaks with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during an event at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center on October 03, 2019 in The Villages, Florida. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | FELLOW FLORIDIAN — “DeSantis says Trump can still vote in Florida despite felony conviction,” by POLITICO’s Kierra Frazier. “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he’ll make sure Donald Trump can vote in his home state this November despite his felony convictions. DeSantis said Friday that he disputes the assessment of some experts who say that Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts would make him ineligible to cast a ballot in the state. But, in any case, the Florida governor said he would ensure the state clemency board cleared the way for his former rival for the Republican presidential nomination to vote back home.” MAR-A-LAGO DOCS CASE — “Prosecutors renew bid to gag Trump in classified documents case,” by POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney. “Prosecutors have renewed their request to a federal judge to order Donald Trump to stop making false claims that the FBI was authorized to kill him when it executed a search warrant at his Florida home in August 2022. The motion Friday from special counsel Jack Smith’s team comes four days after U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon spurned a similar request from prosecutors, using unusually blunt language to fault them for failing to make an adequate effort to resolve the issue with Trump’s lawyers before coming to the judge.” — “Marco Rubio, Rick Scott won’t support Joe Biden appointments, budget requests after Donald Trump verdict,” by Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles.
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