Takeaways From Tallahassee — FSU Political Powerhouse

Political powerhouse

The Institute of Politics at Florida State University named Al Cardenas this week as chair of its inaugural advisory board.

A former two-term Republican Party of Florida chair, Cardenas boasts an extensive and diverse background in American politics.

He’s served as an adviser to several U.S. Presidents, including Ronald Reagan, and is a frequent guest on national TV outlets. The Hill, a beltway news publication, named Cardenas among DC’s top lobbyists.

He serves now as a senior partner with The Advocacy Group at Cardenas Partners.

In a statement, Cardenas described the new institute as “uniquely poised” to rank among the premier public service institutes in the nation.

“I am proud to lead the advisory board for The Institute of Politics at Florida State University,” Cardenas said. “It is important in this current political environment to support a framework from which future leaders may learn to work together for the betterment of their local communities and beyond.”

Unveiled in October, the non-partisan center focuses on relevant research and engagement at the state, regional and national levels.

It also hosts forums and workshops that merge political experts with students, staff, elected leaders, and members of the private sector. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney spoke with students late last year.

Notably, Cardenas is no stranger to FSU. He also teaches an undergraduate course on government intuitions and the importance of political participation.

The institute plans to announce the new advisory board members over the course of several weeks.

“It’s an honor to have Al Cardenas serve as chairman of the inaugural advisory board for the IOP@FSU,” said College of Social Sciences and Public Policy’s Dean Tim Chapin. “Chairman Cardenas was the initial visionary for the institute, and our students benefit from his experience, leadership and commitment to promoting political engagement and civil discourse.”

For more information about the Institute of Politics at Florida State University, visit its website.

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Coming up, the usual assortment of news, intel, and observations from the week that was in Florida’s capital city by Peter Schorsch, Drew Wilson, Renzo Downey, Jason Delgado, Christine Jordan Sexton, Tristan Wood, and the staff of Florida Politics.

Take 5

The “Takeaway 5” — the Top 5 stories from the week that was:

‘Rookie’ mistake or continued mistakes? – Senate President Wilton Simpson promised this week that the Florida Senate would vote on whether to confirm Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. He attributed Ladapo’s rocky relationship with the Florida Senate to bad manners and ‘rookie’ mistakes. Senate Democrats stormed out of his first confirmation hearing after he stonewalled members of the Health Policy Committee by refusing to clearly answer questions about vaccines and masks. Ladapo also didn’t appear to lament his masking incident with Sen. Tina Polsky. “And I think that’s a mutual issue,” after being asked whether he regretted his treatment of the Boca Raton Democrat. After Democrats left the hearing, Republicans on the panel voted to recommend confirmation.

DeSantis bashes federal monoclonal reversal – Gov. Ron DeSantis condemned President Joe Biden and his administration this week for “playing games” with the state’s monoclonal antibody therapy supply after medical experts deemed the treatments ineffective against the omicron variant and barred its use. The move wasn’t backed by clinical data, according to DeSantis, who disputed whether the scientific findings were definitive. Plus, the treatments are still effective against delta. While omicron might be the prevailing variant, some people might still be seeking treatment for delta, he continued. “We know definitively this stuff is great against the delta variant,” he said. “So, why would you take that out of play for somebody?”

DeSantis priorities move in committee – Several bills and subjects marked as priorities for DeSantis rolled forward during committee meetings this week. Legislation to dissuade transportation companies from helping the federal government relocate immigrants who are in the country illegally received its first hearing. A bill to replace standardized tests with digitized progress monitoring also passed through to its final Senate committee. Additionally, the House took its turn for one of its panels to consider legislation to quell classroom or corporate training discussions Republican leadership considers “woke” indoctrinations of cultural guilt. “Now, some movements threaten to take us backward, asking us to consider people not as individuals but as groups, assigning certain groups and experiences to people based on the group they fit into and not their individual experience,” he added.

Abortion bill advances despite derailed meeting – Another priority DeSantis has acknowledged is protecting life through righter abortion measures. In Thursday’s House committee hearing for a Mississippi-style bill banning abortions after 15 weeks, pro-abortion-rights activists began chanting “let us speak” in protest after the committee stopped taking public comment. Lawmakers had listened to more than an hour of public testimony, before ending the comment period. House Sergeants were forced to clear the public from the room to continue the committee meeting. Beyond abortion, the bill includes tobacco education program provisions for pregnant women, an infant mortality review process, bolstered infant mortality-reduction initiatives, and increased Florida’s abortion reporting requirements to include instances of human trafficking.

Simpson to push $15 minimum state worker wage – Simpson wants to put state workers four years ahead on the push to a $15 an hour minimum wage. That comes after he led last year’s push for a $13 minimum hourly wage for state workers. The move would cost $1 billion in state funds and affect thousands of state workers and even more contractors, like in the education and health care sectors. It would include all K-12 school personnel and nursing home workers. “We have the cash this year to do it, so there’s no excuses,” Simpson said. “If we don’t do it this year it’s because we didn’t have the courage to do it.”

Don’t fall for it

The only thing worse than jury duty is a jury duty scam.

That’s not a reference to the awful 1995 Pauly Shore vehicle “Jury Duty,” though if you forked over $3.99 to rent that abomination then it’s certainly understandable why you would feel that way.

The only thing jury duty scams have in common with the movie, if you can call it that, is they both feature weasels. The modern variety isn’t trying to be your bud-dy, though.

According to a warning issued by Attorney General Ashley Moody, the grift comes by way of a phone call alerting Floridians that they failed to show up for jury duty. The impostor then claims if the fine isn’t paid immediately, the citizen may be arrested or forced to pay late fees.

“There are few civic duties as important to our judicial system as serving on a jury. As a former judge, I am livid that anyone would exploit this process to scare citizens into paying a ransom or attempt to steal personal and financial information. Please know that failure to appear for jury duty is not grounds for immediate arrest,” she said.

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady backed her up.

“I am especially troubled when people with bad intentions base their scams on what appears to be court business. Our courts depend on jury service, and we rely on Floridians who are essential to this process. Protect yourselves from scammers and protect our system of justice by taking part in jury service,” he said.

The latest jury duty scam sightings were in Citrus, Collier, Lake, Polk and St. Johns counties.

Moody said suspected jury duty scams should be reported to County Clerk’s offices and local law enforcement. Anyone who encounters a jury duty scam, or any other type of fraud, can also file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General’s Office online at MyFloridaLegal.com or by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM.