Good Tuesday morning —
Breaking overnight — “Gov. DeSantis signs online sales tax plan” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics — DeSantis has signed the online sales tax bill into law, answering the question of whether he would act on the bill or let it roll into law without his John Hancock. An estimated $1 billion in revenue would come from the new enforcement of sales taxes technically already owed on purchases Floridians make from out-of-state sellers, but which few Floridians pay. DeSantis had until midnight to sign or veto the bill into law or else it would have gone into effect without his signature. Lawmakers sent him the bill on April 12. He waited until one hour left in the day Monday to send the alert that he had signed the measure. DeSantis never signaled his support for the plan. If anything, he voiced his opposition.
First in Sunburn — Florida voters want the Governor and Legislature to expand Medicaid, according to a new poll.
The Public Policy Polling survey, conducted on behalf of Protect Our Care Florida, found that 54% of Florida voters favor Medicaid expansion while only 29% are against it, with the balance undecided.
The plus-25 approval rating comes as the recently passed American Rescue Plan offers major incentives for the few Medicaid expansion holdout states, including Florida.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, if Florida were to expand Medicaid, it would make affordable health care available to an estimated 1.1 million Floridians while saving the state an estimated $1.8 billion.
“There’s simply no reason to not expand Medicaid in Florida,” Protect Our Care Florida Director William Miller said. “On top of the benefits both to the health of millions of Floridians and the economic benefits to the state, it is also consistently a broadly popular policy that most Floridians support.”
Despite the benefits, the Legislature is considering making cuts to Medicaid this year. The poll found signs that could backfire next election.
Nearly half of voters (46%) said they would be less likely to vote for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, while 42% said they would be less likely to vote for Gov. Ron DeSantis due to their opposition to Medicaid expansion. Both men are Republicans who are up for reelection in 2022.
Voters also told PPP that they’d rather DeSantis and the Legislature focus on protecting health care and expanding Medicaid than protecting Dr. Seuss books by a 36-point margin (57%-21%).
The PPP poll was conducted April 5-6 and has a sample size of 634 Florida voters, half of whom responded by phone and half by text message. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Just off embargo — “Democrats release Miami ad hailing Joe Biden’s first three months” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics — Two hundred million vaccine doses, 150 million stimulus checks, one million jobs added, an infrastructure package projected for two million more jobs paid for by corporate taxes. That’s a pretty good start for President Biden, the Democratic National Committee is saying in a new digital commercial being released through social media and on TV in Miami starting Tuesday. The ad, “Back on Track,” is the latest round in the DNC’s campaign to promote Biden as he continues through his first term. It’s a widely mastered strategy by the Republican National Committee throughout the Trump administration but not much seen before that.
To watch the video, click on the image below:
Reprinted with permission[/vc_message]
