First Read for Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023

Good morning. It’s National Florida Day. The state got its name from Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who named it “La Florida,” meaning “land of flowers.” Check out this CBS News article for other Florida facts.

FIRST UP

Two Republican lawmakers filed proposals this week that would allow physicians to use telehealth to recertify medical-marijuana patients. 

Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, and Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, filed the proposals (SB 344 and HB 387) for consideration during the legislative session that will start March 7. 

Patients are required to receive in-person physical exams from physicians to get certified to use medical marijuana. Under current law, they also are required to be evaluated in person at least once every 30 weeks for recertification. 

The bills, however, would allow recertification to be done through telehealth, which generally involves using online technology to provide care remotely.

– News Service of Florida

FROM CITY & STATE

* SUAREZ, UN(BLOCK)CHAINED: Is Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s cryptocurrency fixation raising his national profile at the expense of focusing on local issues – or is it positioning his city as a bustling metropolis of the future?

* ABORTION RULING: The Florida Supreme Court likely will not rule until after this year’s regular legislative session in a high-stakes case about the constitutionality of a 2022 law that prevents abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

NEW THIS MORNING

* Florida will be looking to “curb” diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the state’s colleges and universities, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez said to higher education leaders, the Miami Herald reports. 

* University officials in Florida are considering a possible ban on TikTok that could block students from using the popular application on 12 campuses across the state, Politico Florida reports.

* Gov. Ron DeSantis is using a legal concept historically wielded by the U.S. president as a justification to keep some information secret, sparking concerns from open-government advocates that state public records laws could be undermined, the Orlando Sentinel reports. 

* DeSantis was honored by the Union League of Philadelphia, as his visit to the city sparked protests from city leaders, activists and community members who oppose his policies, NBC’s SkyForce10 reports. 

* The Broward School Board agreed to sever ties with Superintendent Vickie Cartwright, ending a tumultuous 17-month tenure marked by scathing audit and grand jury reports and the governor’s removal of board members, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. 

* More news below …

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* Florida House members Tuesday raised the possibility of giving state regulators more oversight of municipal utilities, like in Gainesville and Tallahassee, the News Service of Florida reports.

* The proposed expansion of Florida’s voucher programs would inflict significant “fiscal damage” on the state’s public schools, likely costing them nearly $4 billion within five years, according to a progressive state think tank, the Orlando Sentinel reports. 

* Recently appointed to the New College of Florida board by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Christian school founder Eddie Speir is echoing the governor's war on "woke" in describing his plans for the Sarasota liberal arts college, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. 

* Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who has a cakewalk to a second term, said she would have communicated differently during her first term – but that she has no regrets and doesn’t care about her legacy, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

* Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, who was killed by law enforcement after allegedly shooting and injuring a Georgia state trooper, lived in Tallahassee for over two years while at Florida State University and was known in local activist and progressive circles, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

DESANTIS WATCH 

The governor met with his Chief of Staff James Uthmeier in the morning before traveling to Philadelphia to receive a gold medal from the Union League of Philadelphia, a private club that dates back to the 1800’s. His arrival in the city was met with protests, according to NBC Philadelphia.

2024 ROUNDUP

* Documents with classified markings were discovered in former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana residence last week, the latest in a string of recoveries of sensitive papers from the homes of current and former top U.S. officials, the Associated Press reports.

* Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis suggested the special grand jury investigating Donald Trump and his allies’ efforts to upend the 2020 election in Georgia has recommended indictments and said her decision on bringing charges is “imminent,” CNN reports. 

* DeSantis has appeared in ads on the radio and on Fox News urging the people of Idaho to call for a never-before-seen convention of the states to amend the U.S. Constitution to add congressional term limits, the Tampa Bay Times reports. 

* Trump is nearly 20 points behind DeSantis in a new poll of South Carolina Republicans regarding next year’s presidential primary, with Trump mustering just 33% support against DeSantis in a head-to-head, and DeSantis garnering 52%, Florida Politics reports. 

* DeSantis runs the risk of alienating Black voters ahead of a potential 2024 presidential bid after a series of controversial moves by his administration, such as his rejection of an Advanced Placement African American studies course, The Hill writes. 

ANALYSIS & OPINION 

* Republicans’ sustained and successful courting of Latino voters in South Florida could be a road map for the G.O.P. in 2024 – as the Democratic Party’s failure to compete there was a political gift to DeSantis, Stephania Taladrid writes in The New Yorker. 

* Florida lawmakers should find compassion and pass legislation legalizing fentanyl test strips to reduce overdoses, after lawmakers last session cracked down on those who deal drugs, the Miami Herald editorial board writes.

* With the curtain now up on the Andrew Warren saga and the real facts examined, one has to question who really neglected their duty here and where claims of incompetence should lie, law professor Ellen Podgor writes in the Tampa Bay Times. 

* U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds schooled MSNBC’s Joy Reid about the reality that Social Security will be insolvent in 2035 and that its annual rate of return has underperformed the market, The Wall Street Journal’s Jason L. Riley writes. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean … to Gus Corbella, senior director of the Government Law & Policy Practice of Greenberg Traurig’s Tallahassee office

HAPPENING TODAY: At 12:30 p.m. at the fourth floor rotunda of the Florida Capitol today, state Sen. Shevrin Jones and others – including attorney Ben Crump, House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell and David Johns of the National Black Justice Coalition – rally against the governor’s decision to reject a new AP African American history course. 

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

KICKER

“I believe one of the biggest threats that’s infiltrating our universities is a permeating culture — one might call it woke culture, one might call it woke ideology, one might call it identity politics … The policies they advocate are based on hate and based on indoctrination.”

– Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, via the Miami Herald, saying the state will look to curb diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at its colleges and universities this year.