First Read for Monday, Jan. 9, 2023

Good morning. It’s National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. Florida ranks fourth among states in total law enforcement officers, with 93,000 officers or 415 per 100,000 residents.

FIRST UP

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political team, more than two months after he secured his second term, is still in fighting form. They delivered a “Freedom Blueprint” newsletter in email inboxes over the weekend, leading with highlights from last week’s inauguration and the “Toast to One Million Mamas,” which, it said, helped the governor “win women voters by (nine) points.”

The missive buried the lead of the last week (or at least one of them), waiting till the end to point out he “doesn’t just talk the talk; he walks the walk” when it comes to public education. “… Universities will no longer be able to hide behind the smokescreen of Critical Race Theory to indoctrinate and discriminate against students of differing viewpoints,” it said. 

That refers to the administration’s request to public colleges and universities that they give state leaders information about resources being expended on diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory – a mainstay in the conservative culture war.

Finally, the newsletter noted the governor’s six appointments last week to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees, “including Chris Rufo, a nationally known leader in the fight against Critical Race Theory and radical gender theory. Upon confirmation, these individuals will help ensure that institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence rather than indoctrinating students with their radical political agenda.” 

– Jim Rosica

FROM CITY & STATE 

* What’s next for the state lawmakers who recently exited office? Here’s what they are doing or saying about their plans for the future. 

* Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed six new members to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees in a move said to be aimed at “recapturing higher education.”

THIS MONTH’S MAGAZINE

The Florida Women Power 100

* Who are the most influential women in Florida politics and government? City & State Florida's Women Power 100 identifies the most important government officials, high-powered lobbyists, leaders of the worlds of business, nonprofits, strategic messaging and social justice in the arena of Sunshine State politics and policy.

 ▶ Read This Month's Issue

NEW THIS MORNING

* State troopers greeting a boat with 28 Cubans aboard in Key Largo hinted at a stepped-up Florida response to an influx of migrants into the southern island chain that DeSantis recently declared a state emergency, the Miami Herald reports. 

* Florida has agreed to pay up to $1 million to two law firms to defend it following DeSantis’ decision last summer to relocate nearly 50 Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, the USA TODAY Network-Florida reports. 

* Lawmakers are moving forward with plans that would give the state more control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which the governor targeted last year after the Walt Disney Co. criticized a controversial education law, the News Service of Florida reports. 

* Several top state agency executives have left the DeSantis administration ahead of a new law that took effect Jan. 1 prohibiting them from lobbying their former offices and the Legislature for six years after giving up their posts, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

* Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California survived a GOP revolt led in part by several Florida members of Congress to become Speaker of the U.S. House, the Washington Post reports.

More news below …

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YOUR MESSAGE HERE: City & State First Read is the must-read morning roundup of Florida politics and government. Reaching thousands of subscribers each morning, it's the most effective and targeted digital ad venue to get your message in front of city and state elected officials, agency and industry leaders, and the staff, advocates, media and operatives who drive the issues of the day – all by 7 a.m. each weekday. For advertising information, please email: advertising@cityandstatefl.com

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* Former President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has been living in Orlando, staying in a rented house owned by a professional mixed-martial-arts fighter a few miles from Disney World, the New York Times reports. 

* Over the last several years, Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey has inserted himself into local politics, from selecting candidates for office to involvement in children’s services, mask mandates and more, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

* Republican former state Rep. Ray Pilon, who served in the House 2010-16, now is running to return to the Sarasota County Commission, where he also served in the late 1990s, Florida Politics reports. 

* Proponents for a special election in the city’s District 2 won out after the Miami City Commission voted unanimously to let residents fill their commissioner vacancy, WLRN reports.

* The Hillsborough County Democratic Party is taking steps to try to find out why its voters didn’t show up Nov. 8, which resulted in a Republican takeover of their county’s board of commissioners and legislative seats, the Tampa Bay Times reports. 

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DESANTIS WATCH 

On Friday, the governor had individual meetings with Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, General Counsel Ryan Newman, Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Strickland with Cabinet Director Cody Farrill, Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton, Communications Director Taryn Fenske, and External Affairs Director Savannah Kelly Jefferson, according to his official schedule. 

There were no events scheduled over the weekend. 

2024 ROUNDUP

* U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida has begun his 2024 re-election campaign, but is not too worried about a Republican primary challenge, Florida Politics reports.

* Trump’s shift to begin making policy changes around “woke” issues has resulted in the largest shift in the Republican Party this century, Matthew Yglesias writes in Slow Boring.

* What was underscored by the speaker battle in the U.S. House of Representatives is that Trump is being put out to pasture by the Republican Party, Charles Blow writes in the New York Times.

ANALYSIS & OPINION 

* With legislators working on bills to restrict foreign control of Florida agricultural and strategic military lands, it's still not clear how much Floridians should be concerned about China buying land here, Backstory Blog’s Christine Stapleton writes. 

* Democrats have turned extremist – not the American Right – and their policies now constitute an existential threat to the U.S. national construct, Anders Edwardsson writes in the Florida Standard.

* Legislative leaders have promised to legalize open carry in Florida, but the practice has been used for political intimidation in states where it is currently allowed, Fred Grimm writes in the South Florida Sun Sentinel. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Greg Giordano, assistant tax collector for communications & special projects at Pasco County Tax Collector … to Lisa Miller, lobbyist and former deputy insurance commissioner. 

Belated wishes to state Sen. Ileana Garcia of Miami-Dade County, who celebrated Sunday. 

ON THE MOVE: Florida law firm Lewis, Longman & Walker announced the election of four new shareholders of the firm: Seth C. Behn, Julia L. Jennison, Kathryn B. Rossmell and Robert Angus Williams. Collectively, this group of lawyers brings a total of 60 years of legal experience, most of them while they practiced at LLW, the firm said in a press release. 

State Forester and Director of the Florida Forest Service Erin Albury has retired, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson announced. Albury began with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Florida Forest Service in 1997 and has served as Director and State Forester since 2020. Assistant Director Johnny Sabo will serve as interim director, according to a press release. 

Have a birthday, career change, birth, death or life event to announce? Email us: editor@cityandstatefl.com.  

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YOUR MESSAGE HERE: City & State First Read is the must-read morning roundup of Florida politics and government. Reaching thousands of subscribers each morning, it's the most effective and targeted digital ad venue to get your message in front of city and state elected officials, agency and industry leaders, and the staff, advocates, media and operatives who drive the issues of the day – all by 7 a.m. each weekday. For advertising information, please email: advertising@cityandstatefl.com

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KICKER

“Let’s vote again, I’ll vote for you now.”

– U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz to Kevin McCarthy on the U.S. House floor, via the Washington Post, signaling that he would end his holdout on the 15th round of voting for the speakership.