JUICE — Florida Politics' Juicy Read — 6.25.2021 — [Warning: Graphic Images] Miami Building Collapse—All Hands On Deck—More...

"Cash-Strapped Hillsborough School Board Denies Charter School Contracts due to Money Woes," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—On June 15, the Hillsborough County School Board voted to deny contract renewals of four minority-driven public charter schools and deny proposals from two others, a move that has local parents up in arms over the board moving to limit school choice and redirect dollars from the school budget.

"Iran’s New Extremist President Raisi Expected to Test American Resolve," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres

"[Warning: Graphic Video/Images] Florida Condominium Collapses, 99 Missing, 1 Dead," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres

"Gaetz Says Defense Secretary is ‘Ignorant’ of the Military," by The Floridian's James McCool—After a testy exchange with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has fired back at the Secretary of Defense in a newly released video, saying that Lloyd is ignorant of the military.

"Rep. Stephanie Murphy Supports Biden’s Defense Spending," by The Floridian's James McCool—Among the controversial media headlines the US military has been making lately, President Biden (D) has advocated for a 1.6% increase to defense discretionary funding and has received support from Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), who calls the increase in defense spending “strong and sensible.”

Fmr. Democrat Lawmaker Takes Offense With GOP Condemning ‘Radical Communist Left’—The Floridian's Mona Salama

“VP Harris To Finally Visit Southern Border On Friday," by The Floridian's Mona Salama—Vice President Kamala Harris will finally make the trip down to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, more than three months later since being tapped by President Biden as border czar and just days before former President Trump is set to visit with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Biden To Unveil Plan To Curb Gun Violence Amid Crime Wave Surge,"—The Floridian's Mona Salama

ill Introduced in Congress to Investigate Human Trafficking in Strip Clubs” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – We all know what really happens in the VIP room at strip clubs, and because of the illicit activity that occurs at these clubs —it literally falls in the “lap” of law enforcement— there is a new bipartisan measure filed in the U.S. House of Representatives to help the federal governmeant understand the extent of the human trafficking and prostitution that exists at these strip clubs (gentlemen’s clubs) across the country. Florida Reps. Michael Waltz (R) and Ted Deutch (D), two individuals that have probably never stepped foot into one of these establishments, filed the Study to Observe and Prevent (STOP) Human Trafficking Act of 2021.

“Senate Democratic Bill To Federalize Elections Deemed ‘Unconstitutional’” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – Congressional and state Democrats have been accusing the Republican Party of “voter suppression” and racism after many states, particularly Georgia and Florida, passed voter integrity laws. But because these two states have passed and signed into law key election integrity measures aimed at protecting the electoral process, Democrats have introduced legislation to federalize elections, a move that Florida Rep. Greg Steube (R) calls unconstitutional. During a press call with Republican Party of Florida Chairman Joe Gruters, Rep. Steube was asked he could give some insight on the motivation that House Democrats, particularly Rep. Val Demings, may have had for introducing a voter bill (H.R. 1) that would federalize elections and do away with mandatory voter identification requirements that many states have in place.

“Matt Gaetz Calls for Evidence of Twitter Collusion to be Released” by The Floridian’s Jim McCool – After years of pursuing big tech and the recent Twitter ban of former President Trump (R), Florida Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is calling for evidence of Twitter collusion with California politicians to be released. Rep. Gaetz issued a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey calling on the platform to release all documents and communications showing censorship of political tweets at the behest of California Democrats. The letter comes as conservative influencer Rogan O’Handley’s lawsuit against former California Secretary of State and current U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) exposed collusion between Twitter and politicians in California.

“Crist Praises Eskamani’s Progressive Community Organizing Committee” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – 2022 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Charlie Crist, is praising the likable and bubbly State Rep. Anna Eskamani and her Progressive community organizing group that was set up to help Florida Democrats “flip Florida blue” in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections. During the 2020 presidential election cycle, Florida Republicans crushed Florida Democrats statewide, defeating the Democratic Socialist agenda Reps. Eskamani, Carlos Guillermo Smith, and Omari Hardy, who along with some federally elected officials and candidates, bet the house on the last election cycle.

“Cammack And Salazar Scores Prominent Maggie’s List Initial 2022 Endorsements” by The Floridian’s Mona Salama – Maggie’s List, a leading federal political action committee (PAC) focused on electing conservative women, has released its first round of endorsements for the 2022 midterms, including Florida’s two freshman congresswomen — Reps. Kat Cammack and Maria Salazar, but most notable, did not include former GOP conference chair Rep. Liz Cheney in the list. The first round of endorsements list includes 26 candidates — two candidates running in this year’s special elections in Texas and Ohio, 18 House GOP incumbents with two of those representing the Sunshine State for the 2022 midterm election, an Ohio Senate candidate, and the rare endorsement of a non-federal candidate running for lieutenant governor in Virginia.

“Gov. DeSantis: Florida students will be taught communism is evil” by Associated Press – Civics education will be expanded in Florida, including instruction about communist and totalitarian governments, and state universities will be prevented from quashing conservative ideology under bills Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Tuesday. DeSantis signed three bills at a Lee County middle school, two of which dealt with civics education, the other guaranteeing the freedom of expression at state universities. DeSantis said students need to be taught that communist and totalitarian governments are evil. “Why would somebody flee across shark infested waters, say leaving from Cuba, to come to southern Florida? Why would somebody leave a place like Vietnam? Why would people leave these countries and risk their life to be able to come here? DeSantis said. ”It’s important that students understand that.”

“News 6 investigation revealed ID.me impostors are targeting Florida’s unemployed” by Click Orlando’s Mike Holfeld – News 6 has uncovered a plot to steal personal information from residents who are trying to obtain state unemployment benefits. The thieves are posing as representatives of ID.me, the security partner hired by the Department of Employment Opportunity to verify identities of Florida unemployment applicants. Kim Seifter of Brandon, Florida said she received what appeared to be a legitimate message from ID.me via Facebook messenger. “When I saw the message come from ID.me I didn’t red flag it until I noticed they kept referring to me as sir,” she said. “They were very persistent and their vocabulary was below average.” The messages and replies obtained seemed evasive. When Seifter asked if she would be able to get her benefits the impostor replied, “Sir right now I think we have to have your log-in and password.”

“Mugshot websites under new scrutiny after Florida law signed” by News4Jax’s Mike Vasilinda – Legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis seeks to block websites from profiting from official mugshots. Blake Mathesie, who pushed for the legislation, was bartending at a Gainesville bar in the wee hours of September morning in 2018. When a fight broke out, he hopped the bar to break it up. But two weeks later he found himself in handcuffs. “Four or five police cars show up at my house, and they said you are being arrested for a felony battery,” said Mathesie. Months later a judge, in a nine-page ruling, found Blake had done nothing wrong. “But my mugshot was now online forever,” said Mathesie. Efforts to get it down went nowhere.

“Florida’s New Social Media Law Has Ramifications Beyond Political Realm” by National Law Review Greenberg Traurig – On May 24, 2021, Florida Gov. DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7072 (the Act), restricting the ability of social media companies to “deplatform” a candidate running for public office in Florida. See Fla. Stat. §§ 106.072, 501.2041. While the law is principally directed toward prohibiting willful censorship of political candidates, the law has potential ramifications for social media companies, businesses, and individuals beyond the political realm. The Act defines “deplatform” as “the action or practice by a social media platform1 to permanently delete or ban a user or to temporarily delete or ban a user from the social media platform for more than 14 days.”

“Superintendent Robert Runcie’s perjury case will not be dropped” by Sun Sentinel’s Scott Travis – The perjury case against Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie will continue after a judge denied a request to dismiss it. Runcie’s indictment, dated April 15, didn’t provide enough details to mount a proper defense, his lawyers argued during a June 2 hearing. But Judge Martin Fein disagreed in a decision released last week. “The indictment in the present case clearly identifies the subject under inquiry at the time is alleged to have committed perjury,” Fein wrote. Fein had suggested that he had concerns that the state may have been too vague about Runcie’s charges, since the indictment doesn’t say what he lied about.

“A coronavirus outbreak hit a Florida government building. Two people are dead but a vaccinated employee wasn't infected” by CNN’s Jamiel Lynch – Two people are dead and four of their coworkers were hospitalized after a Covid-19 outbreak swept through a government building in Manatee County, Florida. The outbreak began in the IT department, according to Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes, who is also an epidemiologist. Another person who worked on the same floor but in a different department also tested positive for coronavirus last week. Of the six people infected, five were hospitalized. One employee who was in the hospital died and another employee who was not hospitalized also died, Hopes told CNN's Erin Burnett. The only exposed employee in the IT office who was vaccinated did not get infected, Hopes said.

“Florida's 'Child Safety Alarm' bill signed into law” by Spectrum News’ Emily Braun – An act to help protect children and prevent deaths in hot vehicles that has been 5 years in the making was signed into law Tuesday. The “Child Safety Alarm” bill will require Florida daycare facilities providing transportation for children to equip their vehicles with a safety alarm system to help prevent hot-car deaths. Lawmakers said this bill couldn't come at a more important time, especially since Monday marked the beginning of summer. In fact, an incident during the summer of 2017 that left 4-year-old Myles Hill dead, was one of the driving forces behind this bill. In August of 2017, family members mourned Hill's death after he was found dead in the back of a van at Little Miracles Academy in Orange County. This case was one of the prominent examples of why State Sen. Linda Stewart said she fought for almost 5 years to make the bill into a law.

“Florida medical marijuana providers set to nearly double” by WEAR Staff – Following the Florida Supreme Court upholding the state’s seed-to-sale medical marijuana model, the Department of Health is preparing to issue 15 new treatment center licenses. Those involved in the industry believe the expansion will increase competition and benefit patients, but some lawmakers doubt whether the new players will actually make a dent on cost and availability. There are more than 575,000 medical marijuana patients in Florida and the ever growing number has opened the door for 15 new MMTC licenses. Once the patient count hits 600,000, a total of 19 licenses will be available. “This frankly doubles the size of the industry,” said Jeff Sharkey with the Medical Marijuana Business Association.

“GOP governors, including DeSantis, call for redistricting data” by News Service of Florida – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and 14 other Republican governors Tuesday urged the federal government to release coronavirus-delayed census data needed to formally begin the legislative and congressional redistricting process. A letter, distributed by the Republican Governors Association, said “we are now facing a nearly half-year delay beyond the statutory deadline for receiving redistricting data. This delay places an unreasonable burden on our states and undermines public trust in the foundations of our democratic republic.” The letter was sent to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo by DeSantis and the governors of Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

 

National:

“Pelosi signals new panel to investigate Jan. 6 Capitol riot” by Associated Press – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is signaling that she is poised to create a new committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, pushing closer to a partisan investigation of the attack after Senate Republicans blocked the creation of an independent probe. A person familiar with the matter said after a meeting with Democrats that Pelosi had told her colleagues that she would create a select panel. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private remarks. But Pelosi later denied that, telling reporters, "No, I did not make that announcement."

“AOC slams filibuster after Republicans block voting rights bill: 'Call me radical'” by Fox News’ Brie Stimson – U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., slammed Republicans’ successful filibuster of the Democrats’ sweeping voting rights bill on Tuesday, saying she doesn’t think a minority of lawmakers should have that much power. "Call me radical, but I do not believe a minority of Senators should be able to block voting rights for millions of people," she wrote on Twitter. "But I guess I’m just from that far-left school of thought that legislation should pass when a majority of legislators vote for it. The "For the People Act" needed 60 votes to clear a procedural vote in the Senate on Tuesday, but Republicans filibustered and killed the legislation from advancing to debate.

“We spent two nights on patrol with the NYPD. Here's what they told us about spiking crime in the city” by CNN’s Jim Sciutto and Selby Vest – The New York Police Department's 46th Precinct, covering the South Bronx, was once known as the most dangerous square mile in America. Though not near the rate of the early 1990s, crime in New York City is spiking once again. Shooting incidents this May were up 73% compared to the same period last year, according to the NYPD. We joined officers of the 4-6 on patrol on two busy nights and found them responding to a crime wave on a scale they have never experienced. "I grew up in the South Bronx. I've never seen this," Officer Yesenia Rosado told CNN. Here, these officers find many of the shooters and victims are still in their teens.

“NYC Democratic mayoral primary to proceed to ranked-choice counting after no candidate wins majority outright, CNN projects” by CNN’s Ethan Cohen and Gregory Krieg – The New York City Democratic mayoral primary winner will be determined using ranked-choice voting tabulation, CNN projects. Voters in the Big Apple had the option to rank up to five of the 13 candidates in the race. Since no candidate will win a majority of the vote outright, the New York City Board of Elections will tabulate voters' ranked choices to determine the winner. The nominee is expected to be determined by mid-July and is heavily favored to win the general election in November. As of Tuesday night, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia and civil rights attorney Maya Wiley were the top contenders in the initial vote preferences among voters. These results could change once absentee ballots are included and the ranked-choice tabulation is run.

“Senate Republicans Block Democrats’ Election-Law Push” by WSJ’s Siobhan Hughes – Senate Republicans blocked Democrats from moving ahead with elections legislation, forcing the party to devise a new way forward after weeks of intraparty wrangling and fruitless calls from progressives to advance the bill without GOP support. All 50 Democrats voted for the procedural measure, but it drew no GOP backing, leaving it short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. “In the fight for voting rights, this vote was the starting gun, not the finish line,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). “We have several serious options for how to reconsider this issue and advance legislation to combat voter suppression.”

“U.S. Existing-Home Prices Hit Record High in May” by WSJ’s Nicole Fiedman – U.S. home prices in May experienced their biggest annual increase in more than two decades, as a shortage of properties and low borrowing rates fueled demand. The median existing-home sales price in May topped $350,000 for the first time, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. The figure was nearly 24% higher than a year ago, the biggest year-over-year price increase NAR has recorded in data going back to 1999. Sales prices have been climbing sharply since last summer, when lockdowns related to the Covid-19 pandemic eased across the country and many people rushed to find more space and bigger homes. Others working remotely seized on the chance to move to a less expensive city.

“U.S. seizes Iranian news sites under unclear circumstances” by Associated Press – American authorities took down a range of Iran’s state-linked news websites under unclear circumstances on Tuesday, the U.S. and Iran said, a move that appeared to be a far-reaching crackdown on Iranian media amid heightened tensions between the two countries. The U.S. seized roughly three dozen websites, the majority of which are linked to Iranian disinformation efforts, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case had not yet been officially announced by the American government. Iranian state-run news agency IRNA announced the U.S. government seizures of the websites, without providing further information. The takedowns come as world powers scramble to resurrect Tehran’s tattered 2015 nuclear deal and just days after the election victory of Iran’s hard-line judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi. On Monday, Raisi, known for his hostility to the West, staked out a hard-line position in his first news conference. He ruled out the possibilities of meeting with President Joe Biden or negotiating over Tehran’s ballistic missile program and support for regional militias — concerns the Biden administration wants addressed in future talks.