| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | |  Marijuana plants grow at a lab in Cottage Grove, Minn., June 17, 2015. | Jim Mone/AP | Good morning and welcome to Tuesday. The Republican Party of Florida doesn’t want voters to support legal marijuana in the state come November. And it just made its position official. The state GOP’s 40-member executive committee passed a resolution Saturday to formally come out against a referendum that would legalize cannabis in Florida for adults 21 and up. The group’s resolution in part warns that it would otherwise “benefit powerful marijuana special interests” and “put children at risk.” The position is the opposite of many Florida Democrats, whose members spoke glowingly about the constitutional amendment during the party’s “Leadership Blue” event in Orlando last weekend, especially during a Black voter town hall on Saturday. It also clashes with polling from Gallup that shows most Americans favor legalization, and as the Biden administration plans to reclassify marijuana to help study the drug's potential medical benefits. Rather than run from the issue, Republicans are embracing the opposition as well as aligning themselves with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has publicly and repeatedly made his objections clear. “We are all on the same page on this … This for Democrats is a cynical opportunity to leverage a certain cohort of the voting populace to drive a turnout that might tend to vote more in their direction,” said Vic Baker, a member of the state GOP’s executive committee from Volusia County. “It reeks — just like marijuana reeks — it reeks of desperation if you ask me,” he added. One prominent factor the party considered was how more widespread cannabis use might affect Florida tourism, said Erin Huntley, chair of the Orange County Republicans who isn’t on the executive board but was present for Saturday’s vote. The GOP, she said, was concerned about how the drug might affect businesses, including across Orange County where Universal Studios and part of Walt Disney World is located. “The leader of our party is Gov. Ron DeSantis, and he said last week people don't want to smell it when they're out and about with their families,” she said. “We are a very family-friendly state.” Support for the resolution was “overwhelming” within the executive committee, said Rep. Dean Black, who chairs the Duval County GOP and leads the state party's committee focused on messaging to blue counties. The worry many had, he said, was about possible effects to public health. “This is where the party is,” he said. “We have great concerns about this.” Asked to respond, Smart & Safe Florida, which is organizing to have voters support the referendum, said the decision to authorize cannabis would be “made by the citizens of Florida at the ballot box — not at a gathering of political insiders.” It warned that without legalization, people would turn to the black market, putting “Floridians’ health and safety at risk.” The group added that it would welcome regulations from the Legislature, including on where cannabis could be consumed. Evan Power, Republican Party of Florida chair, did not respond to questions about what the exact anti-pot messaging campaign would look like, including how much it was willing to spend. In a statement, he accused proponents of the amendment of being “outside dark money groups [who] are looking to promote their far-left ideology by attempting to confuse Florida voters.” WHERE'S RON? Gov. DeSantis is doing a press conference in Cape Canaveral at 10 a.m. with Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com. | | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
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TODAY — A major case that could allow Gov. Ron DeSantis and future governors shield information from the public will finally go before a Florida appeals court on Tuesday.
Sixteen months ago, Circuit Court Judge Angela Dempsey ruled in a public records case that DeSantis has a constitutional right to keep secret certain discussions and information that occur inside his administration. It was something that lawyers representing the governor had tried unsuccessfully to argue in several lawsuits. The reason the ruling was significant is that Florida — unlike the federal government — had not previously recognized executive privilege for the governor, an office that's grown more powerful during Republican control over the past quarter century. Additionally, Florida voters adopted a constitutional provision that guarantees public access to records. Dempsey’s ruling came in a case where an anonymous person sought to obtain records related to “legal conservative heavyweights” that DeSantis told radio host Hugh Hewitt had assisted him in making appointments to the state Supreme Court. The governor’s office declined to hand over any records that would identify the people helping the governor, which sparked the lawsuit. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal will hold a hearing in the case this morning in the First DCA courthouse located near the Southwood state office complex. Multiple news organizations have weighed in on the case, including The Associated Press, Gannett, CNN, the Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Times and the Orlando Sentinel. Lawyers for the media coalition argued that leaving Dempsey’s ruling intact would undermine government transparency but would also be setting a “dangerous precedent by subverting the lawful process for creating new public-records exemptions.” Attorneys for DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody have asked the appeals court to uphold Dempsey’s ruling for several reasons, arguing that executive privilege exists and that it was not “overridden” by a constitutional amendment that guaranteed public access to records. Worth noting: Dempsey ruled that there were other reasons to reject the lawsuit beyond the executive privilege including that the fact it was brought by an anonymous plaintiff. There’s a scenario where the appeals court could side with the DeSantis administration but without addressing the executive privilege question. — Gary Fineout RAISING ALARM — “Some doctors say Florida's abortion ban exceptions aren't enough,” reports WUSF’s Stephanie Colombini. “Opponents of Florida’s six-week abortion ban say the emergency rules issued by state health officials this week to clarify some medical exceptions don’t go far enough. The rules outline some life-threatening conditions a woman could experience that would allow doctors to perform an abortion after six weeks, including ectopic pregnancy or her water breaking early. But some doctors who provide abortion care say there are other circumstances where pregnancy could endanger people's health … The rules don't mention preeclampsia or some other complications.”
|  In an aerial view, boats are piled on top of each other after Hurricane Ian passed through the area on September 29, 2022 in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | EXPLAINER — “My Safe Florida Home funded with $200 million. When you can apply for hurricane protection grants,” reports C.A. Bridges of USA Today Network — Florida. “The My Safe Florida Home program, which matches up to $10,000 of the costs Florida homeowners pay for home improvements designed to harden their homes against tropical storms and hurricanes, has run through funding nearly as quickly as legislators could provide it. This year the Florida Legislature unanimously passed SB 7028 and bumped the original provisional funding from $100 to $200 million.” — “Central Florida lawmakers say Special Session must address homeowners insurance,” reports Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles. — “Spirit Airlines’ stock dips 10 percent after company posts $142.6 million first quarter loss, blaming bad weather, controller slowdowns and Haiti turmoil,” by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s David Lyons. | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | |
RELIGIOUS CLUB — “Church, state and elementary school: Christian club at Florida school spurs backlash,” reports Douglas Soule of USA Today Network — Florida. “Hamilton County's only elementary school has removed its Christian club after backlash from an organization that promotes the separation of church and state. But that move has stirred additional controversy, with a conservative religious liberty group now weighing in, spotlighting the challenging balancing scale the government has to maintain when religion and the First Amendment are involved.”
OPEN ENDED — “South Florida prosecutors aren’t saying if they’ll enforce state’s strict new abortion ban,” reports the Florida Bulldog’s Noreen Marcus. “Going by the book, anyone who violates Florida’s new six-week abortion ban commits a felony and faces up to five years in prison or a $5,000 fine. A repeat, three-time offender is looking at 10 years in prison … Asked by Florida Bulldog whether they’re taking steps to enforce the new ban, Democrats Katherine Fernandez Rundle of Miami-Dade, Harold Pryor of Broward and Dave Aronberg of Palm Beach County had little to say.” — “Judges want to weigh 2 Supreme Court decisions in Warren lawsuit,” reports Dara Kam of News Service of Florida. STEWARD HEALTH CARE — “Hospital operator files for bankruptcy protection,” by News Service of Florida’s Jim Saunders. “A company that operates eight Florida hospitals filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, calling it a ‘necessary measure to allow the company to continue to provide necessary care to its patients in their communities without disruption.’ Dallas-based Steward Health Care filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, the company said in a news release. It said it does not expect day-to-day operations to be interrupted, with hospitals, doctor’s offices and other facilities open.” | | CAMPAIGN MODE | |
CASH COMING — “New FEC ruling allows Florida’s federal lawmakers to raise unlimited amounts on ballot measures,” reports Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles. “Florida’s Senators and members of the House may now raise unlimited sums to support or defeat an abortion measure on the November ballot. The Federal Election Commission issued an advisory opinion effectively eliminating any limits on federal candidates raising money regarding ballot initiatives.”
HELPING OUT — “‘Inextricably linked to our economy’: Wilton Simpson puts $100K of his own money toward hunting, fishing amendment,” reports Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski. “Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to the 'Yes on 2' push to enshrine fishing and hunting rights in the constitution. Simpson, an egg farmer from Trilby, is putting six figures into the campaign as it ramps up.” | | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | |
GUESS WHO’S BACK — “Brad Parscale helped Trump win in 2016 using Facebook ads. Now he’s back, and an AI evangelist,” by the Associated Press’ Garance Burke and Alan Suderman. “Parscale says his company Campaign Nucleus can use AI to help generate customized emails, parse oceans of data to gauge voter sentiment and find persuadable voters, then amplify the social media posts of “anti-woke” influencers, according to an Associated Press review of Parscale’s public statements, his company websites, slide decks, marketing materials and other documents not previously made public. Since last year, Campaign Nucleus and other Parscale-linked companies have been paid more than $2.2 million by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and their related political action and fundraising committees, campaign finance records show.”
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SETTLED — “Florida hospital system, feds reach $1.5 million settlement over Medicare discounts,” by News Service of Florida. “Baptist Health System reached the settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a Justice Department news release Monday. The news release said Baptist was accused of violating a federal law known as the False Claims Act by ‘knowingly causing its subsidiaries to offer discounts to patients to induce them’ to purchase services from subsidiaries or for referral of services. The discounts were on patient cost-sharing requirements.”
— “Moskowitz takes down post that invoked ethnic stereotype about Asians,” reports POLITICO’s Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz. — “South Florida businesses play waiting game with new FTC ban on ‘noncompete’ agreements,” reports David Lyons of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | |
IN MEMORIAM — Playbook extends its deepest condolences to beloved POLITICO environment and energy reporter, Bruce Ritchie, who lost his mother, Violet. She was 94. Our hearts go out to him during this difficult time.
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