Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 9.22.21

  By Peter Schorsch    

Good Wednesday morning.

The Rays are up with 10 games left to go.

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Breaking overnight — “Miami federal judge blocks Florida from enforcing ban on ‘sanctuary cities’” via Ana Ceballos of the Miami Herald — A federal judge blocked Florida from enforcing a ban on so-called sanctuary cities, declaring portions of a law unconstitutional and tinged with “discriminatory motives.” The ruling struck down a key portion of the 2019 law that prohibits local and state officials from adopting “sanctuary” policies for undocumented migrants, a main focus for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who vowed to ban “sanctuary cities” in Florida when running for Governor in 2018 even though there were none in the state. The judge also blocked the state from enforcing a provision in the law requiring law enforcement officers and agencies to “use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law” when acting within their official duties.

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The Florida Health Care Association has hired Susan E. Anderson as its director of government affairs, the association announced Tuesday.

Anderson comes to the FHCA from LeadingAge Florida, another nursing home association, and will work with FHCA senior director of government affairs Toby Philpot. In addition to her legislative lobbying duties, Anderson will assist FHCA member facilities with state and federal regulatory compliance.

“Susan brings a wealth of legislative, regulatory and policy experience, and we’re confident that her knowledge and expertise will contribute greatly to our members’ goals to continuously enhance the quality care they deliver,” Emmett Reed, FHCA chief executive officer, said in a prepared release announcing the hiring.

Before joining the FHCA, Anderson was the director of assisted living public policy for LeadingAge Florida and vice president of public policy for the Florida Senior Living Association. She also worked in the Florida Department of Elder Affairs general counsel’s office.

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Here are some other things on my mind.

 — Essential pandemic reading from the best reporters covering it: The Atlantic compiled six key takeaways from the ongoing and unwavering COVID-19 pandemic, which the publication describes as “rules” to define the “second pandemic winter.” They cover such topics as the new role vaccines play in managing the crisis, how vaccination demographics affect overall outcomes, the ongoing changes to those most at risk, why breakthrough cases aren’t as bad as you think, the problem with dismissing COVID-19 rarities, and final caution, that there is no single “worst” version of the virus.

 — Hyper-minority districts may be a thing of the past, even for those they benefit: This must-read think-piece in The Atlantic takes a look at oddly construed congressional districts that lump Black voters into single districts, guaranteeing in most cases a safe Democratic seat, to preserve surrounding districts for White Republicans. For years, Dems in those seats have defended their safe districts — such as Corrine Brown did as recently as 2010 in her meandering district between Orlando and Jacksonville — but that thinking is shifting, and it could shake up the nation’s congressional makeup.

 — Mind-blowing Twitter thread shows how a Donald Trump lawyer really wanted the election overturned: Former George W. Bush staffer Christian Vanderbrouk tweeted a six-point plan Trump lawyer John Eastman hatched to overturn the 2020 election, including a scheme that would have given Trump both an electoral victory and one through individual states’ votes. As The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman points out, it contradicts Trump’s long-standing narrative that his pressure on Vice President Mike Pence was to hand the issue “back to the states” and not directly overturn the election. The perhaps not-so-shocking plan includes throwing out electoral votes from seven states with objections, reducing the needed number to win from 270 to 228, which under that scenario, Trump would have. It further goes on to suggest conceding to Democrats’ “howls,” by allowing votes to be taken by states in the House to elect the President, where Trump would have claimed a majority at 26, again handing him the election. Mind blown yet?

 — Like it or not, tax credit scholarships are helping Florida kids: More than 150,000 students are now attending K-12 private schools using Florida Tax Credit and Family Empowerment scholarships, nearly twice the number of students enrolled in the program as just six years ago. As lawmakers continue to emphasize school choice, particularly as a way to escape (or find) COVID-19 restrictions, expect that number to continue to grow. While the issue will always face scrutiny from pro-public education stalwarts in the Democratic Party, the kids who receive these scholarships are using them to obtain a high-quality education that may have been evading them in the public school system.

 — Much anticipated Sopranos prequel gets a review no one wants to hear: Looking for a Corleonesque rise to power from Tony Soprano in The Many Saints of Newark? You might not get it. That’s the take away from a scathing review from AV Club about the much-hyped film, in which critic A.A. Dowd laments the main Sopranos character small role in the new movie, including “a solid hour” of a young Tony Soprano being “basically a Jake Lloyd-sized” boy “watching from the sidelines of a criminal empire in late 1960s Jersey.” The review bashes the film’s choice of emphasized characters, though not necessarily its casting choices (looking at you, Ray Liotta). But in true Sopranos fashion, die-hard fans will probably still give it a watch even with a lousy review, whether they like the outcome or not. You can catch it in theaters or on HBO Max on Oct. 1.

 — iPhones to detect depression, cognitive decline: What if your smartphone could predict when a user is depressed, or experiencing some cognitive decline? That’s what Apple is attempting in its latest attempt to expand its burgeoning health portfolio, The Wall Street Journal reports. The plan would use data on mobility, physical activity, sleep patterns and typing behavior, among others, to create a predictive algorithm to flag potential problems. Sounds cool, but there’s work to be done. The plan is in its infancy, and the data needed to predict such ailments could raise privacy concerns and rely on users to trust Apple with sensitive data. Still, though, the research progress shows an intriguing possibility.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

Tweet, tweet:

—@MichaelGWaltz: If the U.N. secretary is gravely concerned about a cold war with the (Chinese) he must send that message to Chairman Xi, who is actively trying to replace the American Dream with the China Dream and is silencing anyone who opposes the #CCP authoritarian rule.

Tweet, tweet:

Tweet, tweet:

—@GovRonDeSantis: At the request of @NorthPortPolice, @MyFWC law enforcement has been assisting in the search for Brian Laundrie. I have directed all state agencies under my purview to continue to assist federal & local law enforcement as they continue to search — we need justice for Gabby Petito.

—@ChristinaPushaw: Just incredible to see journalism school graduates confidently assert that a Harvard Medical School graduate is “unqualified” to be Surgeon General. 

—@MDixon55: The non-lobbying political consultants are in the building, which can only mean one thing: presiding officer designation day!

—@SenPizzo: It’s the worst-kept secret that I’ve been blessed with the hardest working, most loyal and dedicated person since Day 1. Bittersweet, but the best and brightest must have the space to shine bigger and brighter — @FLSenateDems are stronger with @ChiefMaggie as Staff Director.

—@PaulFox13: Right now, we are closer to the Winter Solstice (Dec. 21, 2021) than the Summer Solstice (June 20, 2021).