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By Mitch Perry, Christine Sexton, Jay Waagmeester

Florida Phoenix

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced his plan for a homestead property tax exemption that could crimp local governments’ ability to fund schools, health care, and public safety.

Simultaneously, he called for lawmakers to return to Tallahassee and address his plan in a three-day special session starting Monday.

DeSantis has been discussing elimination of all property taxes for more than a year, although he eventually narrowed his plan to elimination of homestead property taxes only.

Despite the lengthy build-up, he provided few details other than a one-page summary, noting he still wants to “ensure funding for core services.”

The governor rejected tax proposals offered by the Florida House earlier this year. He said his plan — which would require three-fifths approval from both the House and Senate and then 60% approval by Floridians as a proposed constitutional amendment in November — would immediately eliminate property taxes for 60% of Florida homeowners.

The governor said he wants to increase the state’s existing homestead exemption to $250,000. He added that he wants that to increase to $500,000, which would eliminate property taxes for up to 92% of homesteaded property owners, although he said he would leave the timing to the Legislature.

This would be the third special session since the regular legislative session ended in March. The Legislature is required to annually meet for 60 days.

“We need to start standing up for taxpayers,” DeSantis said.

“For all this time, as we’ve seen inflation throughout the country, all these different things, it’s always the individual, the consumer, the taxpayer that’s expected to change things in order to make ends meet. They never expect government to be able to change things that so that it can benefit the taxpayers,” he continued.

“We’ve always focused on the homestead part of it, which, again, is less money than local governments get from residential properties that are not homestead, so that is something that’s doable and it’s something that’s really, really meaningful.”

There’s no definition of core services in the one-page summary, but they “include” public safety, education, infrastructure, and natural resources, he said.

Local governments pay nearly half of school funding. Property taxes contribute much of the local government contribution to schools. A local government’s share of the contribution to education funding depends on property values and taxes levied on those properties.

House Democratic leader Fentrice Driskell voiced concern about what the proposal could mean for schools.

“My mom is a retired educator; I hang out with a lot of teachers. I think there’s a reason why the governor didn’t want to show his work today,” Driskell said during a news conference at the Capitol Wednesday.

DeSantis, Driskell said, contradicted himself. “He says he wants to ensure funding for core services, and he says that that includes education. So, he wants to ensure that there’s funding, but there’s nothing in his plan that says that that funding won’t be cut.”

She added: “I’m very concerned that it could mean reduced funding for our schools overall, even though there could be some core service funding for core services that might maintain, but he hasn’t explained exactly what that would look like or how much there would be.”

The Florida Chamber of Commerce said in a written statement that it would “evaluate the proposed constitutional amendment with our members once specific bill text and potential fiscal impacts are released.” The pro-business lobby did note that “property taxes accounted for nearly $60 billion in local government and school funding in 2025, up from $55.18 billion the year prior and $35.7 billion in 2019.”

Healthcare

Florida requires counties to contribute to the state’s costs of the basic Medicaid program. What a county contributes varies depending on its share of Medicaid enrollment. That amount is calculated annually and adjusted through changes in Medicaid expenditures. Documents show that counties in 2025 contributed $411.6 million toward the Medicaid program in FY 26-27. Economists predict that number will increase to $438.4 in FY 27-28.

Moreover, some counties contain hospital taxing districts, which also are supported by local property taxes. Large hospital systems, such as Broward Health, Memorial Health Care, and Hallifax Health, are run by taxing districts that rely on property taxes.

According to the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research, 28% of homestead parcels in Florida have a median just value of $250,000 and below. That same report shows that about 76% of homestead parcels have a median value of $500,000 or below. According to Redfin, the median sale price for a home in Florida in March was $416,800.

DeSantis’ proposal would require any individual who establishes Florida residency after Jan. 1, 2027, to maintain it for five years before receiving the increased homestead exemption. It would change the limit on future property tax assessments on small businesses from 10% to 5%.

His proposal would provide a trust fund to assist local governments with continuation of core local services. DeSantis had set aside $300 million in his proposed state budget in December to help backfill potential lost property tax revenues for the state’s 29 fiscally constrained counties, but he said Wednesday that the fund would not be limited to those regions.

“We are creating a trust fund in state government that will be able to provide grants to local governments for support for these core services,” he said, referring to law enforcement and education. Some counties wouldn’t need such support, he added, referring specifically to Palm Beach County.

Such a trust fund would be established following the November election by the Legislature and his office if the measure passes, he said.

Public opinion

Public opinion surveys have been mixed about whether Floridians would approve a constitutional amendment on property tax relief. A University of North Florida poll released in March showed 56% of respondents expressing support with 35% opposed. The proposed measure could only become law if 60% of voters agree.

Senate President Ben Albritton released a statement showing he is all in on the governor’s proposal.

“Since the Governor first introduced this issue, my goal has been for the Senate to pass an amendment that gives voters the opportunity to reduce their property taxes in a straightforward and substantial way,” Albritton said.

“In my view, the proposal the governor explained today does that. I can’t think of a more meaningful way to celebrate America’s 250 then the passage of $250,000 in tax relief for every Florida homeowner. I believe this amendment will provide meaningful relief for Florida families, while protecting businesses from extreme tax increases and safeguarding local funding for public safety, education and our clean water infrastructure.”

Following DeSantis’ lead, Albritton’s chamber opted not to offer any proposal to provide property tax relief during the regular legislative session that concluded in March.

The House did pass a proposal from Rep. Monique Miller, R-Palm Bay, that would completely have ended non-school property taxes by Jan. 1, 2027. Her original proposal passed through three House committees and would have gradually increased the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes by $100,000 each year for 10 years.

“We are pleased the Governor has finally gotten around to share an actual proposal,” House Speaker Daniel Perez said in a statement, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “We look forward to reviewing it once we have received the language.”

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The Reporters on this story:

Mitch Perry has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.

Christine Sexton has spent more than 30 years reporting on Florida health care, insurance policy, and state politics and has covered the state’s last six governors. She lives in Tallahassee.

Jay Waagmeester covers education for the Florida Phoenix. He previously worked for the Iowa Capital Dispatch and the Iowa State Daily. He grew up in Iowa and is a graduate of Iowa State University.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Help make the midterms competitive

Not happy with the news coming out of Tallahassee? Do something about it.

The upcoming midterm elections provide a generational opportunity to change the complexion of Florida’s political makeup. But for that to happen, Republican candidates for the state Legislature must face opponents on the ballot.

Currently, there are still seats where Republicans are running unopposed. You can change that. You can decide to run. In which case, Project 140 can help you. Or you can pitch in and help fund those candidates who have already volunteered.

Run or Donate or Both

Thanks for your support

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog, both original reporting and contributions such as today’s article from the Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Share Tropic Press!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.

That’s a problem you can help solve.

With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn our state and this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends.

If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

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By Mitch Perry

Florida Phoenix

Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly says that if he’s elected in November, he would establish an Office of Civil Rights within the governor’s office.

Speaking in Fort Myers recently during a gathering hosted by the Florida Democratic Hispanic Caucus, the former U.S. representative from Pinellas County reflected on the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakening Section 2 of the 1965 U.S. Voting Rights Act, which has permitted southern states to redraw congressional maps to eliminate Democratic districts and dilute the influence of Black voters.

“I don’t think that the disparate impact of prejudicial and racist policies of the last 100 years has now expired and now we’re a moment of great equality and equity, I don’t,” he said. “I think the disparate impact is still real today.”

To contend with that, he says Florida “deserves an Office of Civil Rights.”

He said it would look at voting rights, access to healthcare, and ensure everyone is getting a “high quality education” as outlined in the Florida Constitution, among other aims.

His comments came as the Ron DeSantis administration has applied a sledgehammer to vestiges of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the state. Those efforts began in 2023, when the state passed legislation banning the state’s public colleges and universities from spending any money on DEI programs.

That was followed last month with the governor signing legislation (SB 1134) that bans local governments from funding or promoting DEI initiatives, with local officials who are found to have violated the law subject to removal from office. It takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

There’s also the case of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who issued an advisory legal opinion on the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday in January declaring that any state actions recognizing racial disparities are “presumptively unconstitutional” under both federal and state law.

His opinion included an appendix listing more than 80 state laws referencing minority preferences, race-based state action, and affirmative action in state hiring and contracting that he said his office would no longer defend or enforce.

On the same day, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an advisory opinion asserting that “decades’ worth of DEI frameworks” embedded in Texas law are unconstitutional.

Florida Republican lawmakers filed legislation that would have codified Uthmeier’s opinion into state law, but those proposals didn’t move in the regular 2026 Florida legislative session.

“I think David is absolutely right in creating this office, especially in a state that is actively rolling back many of those very civil rights,” said Miami Gardens Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who endorsed Jolly for governor in March. “So, yes, not only is it needed, it’s necessary.”

Human rights

Nearly every state in the nation manages its own state-level civil rights or human-rights commission to protect residents from discrimination in sectors such as unemployment, housing, and public accommodations. In the case of Florida, the Legislature created the Florida Commission on Human Relations in 1969 to enforce the Florida Civil Rights Act to address discrimination.

“If Florida’s Commission on Human Relations is fully meeting this moment, most Floridians certainly cannot tell,” said Jones.

Several other specialized civil rights offices operate within state government, with an Office of Civil Rights in the Attorney General’s office, the Department of Children’s and Families, and Department of Economic Opportunity.

Jolly said Sunday that he’s ready to respond to those who “recoil” at his idea.

“I will tell you this. If we don’t have any problems, then you’ve got nothing to worry about. But I think we need an Office of Civil Rights in the office of the governor to investigate where the problems are and figure out how we move ahead.”

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Mitch Perry has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

DONATE

Related:

David Jolly’s campaign website

Jerry Demings’ campaign website

Help make the midterms competitive

Not happy with the news coming out of Tallahassee? Do something about it.

The upcoming midterm elections provide a generational opportunity to change the complexion of Florida’s political makeup. But for that to happen, Republican candidates for the state Legislature must face opponents on the ballot.

Currently, there are still seats where Republicans are running unopposed. You can change that. You can decide to run. In which case, Project 140 can help you. Or you can pitch in and help fund those candidates who have already volunteered.

Run or Donate or Both

Thanks for your support

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog, both original reporting and contributions such as today’s article from the Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Share Tropic Press!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.

That’s a problem you can help solve.

With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn our state and this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends.

If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

Share

Subscribe now

By Mitch Perry

Florida Phoenix

David Jolly and Jerry Demings are vying to become the first Democratic governor to lead Florida in nearly three decades. If elected, they’ll face an additional challenge — working with an opposition Republican Party that enjoys a supermajority in the Legislature.

Speaking during a campaign event in Clearwater recently, Jolly mentioned a couple of specific ways he believes he could overcome that problem to deliver his policy goals, beginning with the power to name agency heads.

“Think about a state that come January [or] February we have a new surgeon general in charge of the state,” he said, referring to how he would jettison controversial Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo from his position on his first day in office.

“Think about an education commissioner who actually is going to have the backs of teachers and kids and books and academia and science and, yes diversity,” he continued. “Think about an environmental policy that is set by people that believe in environmental science. Think about an ethics and transparency office that actually begins to reveal the corrupt campaign finance system we have in the state of Florida, and yes, there’s a lot we can do.”

One lever of power that Democrats certainly should have learned from Gov. Ron DeSantis is executive authority, something that the Republican Legislature has rarely objected to during the past seven years. Among the decisions that DeSantis has made over the heads of the House and Senate was using taxpayer funds to send undocumented immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts in 2022, and working with the federal government over the past year to create the detention facility for migrants dubbed Alligator Alcatraz (now on the verge of being closed down).

If elected, Jolly said, he intended to use the governor’s office to initiate litigation to boost the interests of the state.

“The attorney general exercises that authority. I don’t think the governor is precluded from exercising that authority, so I intend to … litigate a few things,” he said, specifically saying such litigation could include pushing for more access to reproductive care for women in Florida.

State law prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. More than 57% of Floridians voted to overturn that law in a constitutional amendment in 2024 — a clear majority but short of the 60% required for passage.

The Florida Democratic Party’s other major gubernatorial candidate, Jerry Demings, has also been thinking about how he could govern successfully with Republican-controlled Legislature.

“As mayor of Orange County, I’ve worked with Democrats and Republicans alike to get things done,” he said in a written statement to the Phoenix.

“As governor, I will be the bulwark against radical right-wing policies and force the Legislature to work on issues that matter to Floridians, such as affordability. And I will continue to work with local governments, the Florida Association of Counties, and the Florida League of Cities on issues of mutual interest.

“I will also not be afraid to wield the veto pen to stop the out-of-control tax-funded giveaways to special interests,” he added. “I will do everything I can to help end the supermajority and bring sane governance back to Tallahassee.”

Jolly also believes that if Floridians vote a Democrat into office as governor in November, they likely will also elect enough Democrats in legislative races to overcome the Republicans’ supermajority.

Trifectas

Florida is one of 23 Republican trifectas in the United States, where the state governor and legislature are of the same party. There are 16 Democratic trifectas and 11 divided governments in which neither party holds complete control.

Of those states, a handful feature a Democratic governor and a Republican legislature: Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. Vermont has a Republican governor and Democratic-led Legislature.

In Kansas, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is finishing her eighth and final year in office working with a Republican-led Legislature.

Sherman Smith, editor of the Phoenix-affiliated Kansas Reflector, said Kelly was “totally underestimated” by Republicans during her first couple of years in office “and she got a lot of wins because of that.”

However, after the Kansas GOP expanded its supermajority in 2020, it’s been a much harder path for her to govern, Smith added.

And, since the 2024 election, that Republicans have “just entirely written her out of the process because they have strong enough members now, they just say, ‘We don’t even have to talk to the Democrats or tell them what we’re doing, or care what the governor thinks about it.’ They took the budget process away from her and a whole bunch of other stuff — what that means now it that they own it all.”

Kelly isn’t completely helpless: Following Kansas’ most recent legislative session earlier this year, she vetoed 24 bills and 31 budget line items.

In North Carolina, Democrat Josh Stein took office in January and is now working with a GOP-controlled General Assembly in Raleigh. Five months into his tenure, the results have been “mixed so far,” according to the Associated Press.

“The General Assembly passed storm-relief packages but gave Stein roughly a little over half the money he requested,” the AP reports. “It overrode several of his vetoes on bills that build up immigration enforcement, weaken transgender rights and assert other GOP priorities — results that Stein laments.”

It should be noted at this point that even with Republicans dominating state government, there have been plenty of clashes between the governor and the Florida House, in particular, since Gov. DeSantis won reelection but lost his presidential campaign in 2024.

For example, Gov. DeSantis a year ago vetoed more than half-a-billion dollars in projects from Republicans and Democrats alike in the 2025-26 fiscal year budget. That followed the Legislature overriding DeSantis’ veto of nearly $57 million for the Legislature’s operations in January 2025.

Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power says the whole discussion is academic.

“We now live in a ruby red state with 1.5 million more voters than Democrats,” he said in a text message. “Neither stands a chance to lead the free state of Florida.”

Another wrinkle is that Florida governor’s share executive power with the independently elected Florida Cabinet — the attorney general, chief financial officer, and agriculture commissioner, each office held by a Republican.

‘Let’s not waste time’

Jolly says that, if elected, he’ll immediately reach out to Florida’s Republican legislative leaders (who will be Jacksonville’s Sam Garrison in the House and Manatee County’s Jim Boyd in the Senate) and say, “Let’s not waste the next four years on behalf of the state. Let’s figure out how to work together.”

As a former Republican turned political independent who tried to build up a third political party before becoming a Democrat last year, Jolly says he’s in “a very post-partisan, post-ideological” phase in his life.

But that approach might be simpler said than done.

“We’re seeing a couple of Democrats running for governor this election year and talking about how he or they can reach across the aisle and work with the Republicans if they’re elected,” Smith said of what’s happening in Kansas this year. “But the reality is, the Republicans don’t want to work with them. And they don’t have to.”

Would the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature take a similar attitude following the shock of losing the governor’s mansion for the first time since 1994? We won’t know until November.

Leave a comment

Mitch Perry, the reporter on this story, has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

DONATE

Related:

David Jolly’s campaign website

Jerry Demings campaign website

Trump Approval falls to record low

Help make the midterms competitive

Not happy with the news coming out of Tallahassee? Do something about it.

The upcoming midterm elections provide a generational opportunity to change the complexion of Florida’s political makeup. But for that to happen, Republican candidates for the state Legislature must face opponents on the ballot.

Currently, there are far too many seats where Republicans are running unopposed. You can change that. You can decide to run. In which case, Project 140 can help you. Or you can pitch in and help fund those candidates who have already volunteered.

Run or Donate or Both

Thanks for your support

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog, both original reporting and contributions such as today’s article from the Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Share Tropic Press!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.

That’s a problem you can help solve.

With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn our state and this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends.

If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

Share

Gov. Ron DeSantis says Alligator Alcatraz “saved taxpayers' money” — a classic example of political doublespeak. In truth, it has been a financial and environmental boondoggle, a publicity stunt that has blown up in his face. Now that it is being shut down, what must the behind-the-scenes discussions looked like? Tropic Press is pleased to share Craig Pittman’s imagined conversation.

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By Craig Pittman

Florida Phoenix

News item: Gov. Ron DeSantis confirms that he’s talking to the Trump administration about shutting down his Alligator Alcatraz prison camp because it turns out it’s incredibly expensive to detain immigrants in cages in the Big Cypress National Preserve miles from civilization.

Which led me to dream up this little scenario:

The setting: A beige-walled conference room in the Florida Capitol. Six people in suits sit around a conference table with one empty chair. The white-haired man at the head of the table checks his watch for the fourth time, then picks up a gavel and bangs it on the table.

Chairman: “OK, it’s 10 minutes past, I’m not gonna wait anymore. I’m calling this meeting to order. Because the governor is now ready to shut down Alligator Alcatraz in the Big Cypress National Preserve, this is the first meeting of the Committee on Removing Alligator Alcatraz from the Preserve. Who’s keeping minutes? Judy, can you do that? OK, make a note that we need to find a better acronym.”

Judy, rolling her eyes but picking up a pen: “OK, who’s here and who’s missing?”

Chairman: “We’ve got you from the Department of Environmental Protection — good to see you again, Judy! — as well as Joe, Jack, and Jim from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the South Florida Water Management District. I’m chairman because I represent the Division of Emergency Management, which got stuck paying for this. The person we’re still waiting for is the representative from Attorney General James Uthmeier.”

Water district representative, grumbling: “Which is ironic since this is all his fault.”

Chairman, nodding: “Yep, as per usual. I swear, every time this administration screws up, it’s Uthmeier’s doing. First, he runs the governor’s presidential campaign about as skillfully as the captain of the Titanic maneuvering around an iceberg. Then he comes up with that Hope Florida scheme that derailed the First Lady’s political career. Now we’ve got this ongoing embarrassment. How can the governor claim to be a fiscal conservative when he built a tent city that’s costing the taxpayers $1 million a day?”

Judy from DEP: “Hang on, Mr. Chair. How candid can we be? I’d hate to have some nosy reporter use the Sunshine Law to get hold of these comments.”

Chairman: “Don’t sweat it. You know how little the governor thinks of the Sunshine Law. If anybody requests our records, we’ll make ’em wait until the middle of the next administration. Now, let’s turn to the problem at hand. The camp shutdown starts in June so we need to have a plan ready by then.”

Water district official: “Want me to start? I’ve been out there. It’s a mess.”

Chairman: “How do you mean?”

Water district official: “At least 20 acres of new asphalt was laid in the middle of the swamp. You can see why our scientists have been howling since it opened. Putting a prison camp for more than 1,000 people out there was the worst insult to the Glades since some nitwit turned loose the first Burmese python.”

Careless people

Suddenly the door bursts open and a 20-something bearded man in a rumpled suit rushes in and plops down in the empty chair. He’s Attorney General James Uthmeier’s representative.

“Sorry I’m late! We were getting the boss on Fox News again. So, what have I missed?” he said.

Water district representative: “I was talking about what has to be removed. I mentioned the 20 acres of new asphalt. We’ll need to decide if it’s more destructive to rip all that out or just leave it. We’ll definitely need to remove the miles of new fencing you put out there. And then there’s the lighting.”

Attorney general representative: “What about the lighting? Can’t we just turn it off and walk away?”

Water district employee: “No. You guys installed high-wattage industrial lighting that’s so bright, it’s visible from 20 miles away. Big Cypress was known as a ‘dark sky’ domain until that happened.”

Chairman: “Yeah, you need bright lights powered by 200 diesel-powered generators to run a prison camp. One more reason why it was a bad idea to put this in a dark spot in a nature preserve.”

Water district representative: “Did you guys never think about the consequences of doing what you were doing?”

Attorney general representative inhales loudly: “It’s a swamp. What harm could there be? I mean, the governor himself said there would be ‘zero impact’ on the Everglades.”

The entire room bursts into laughter. When it subsides, the wildlife commission representative says, “That’s about as truthful as our commission chairman claiming our latest bear hunt was dictated by science.”

The chairman sighs. “I dunno. This whole administration reminds me of that line from ‘The Great Gatsby,’ the one about how they were careless people who smashed up things and then left it to others to clean up the mess.”

The smell test

Judy from DEP adjusts her glasses and asks: “Mr. Chair, didn’t your agency complete an environmental assessment?”

Chairman: “Yes, but four months after the site was already up and running.”

Judy: “No way! Why so late?”

Chairman, looking directly at the attorney general representative: “The people who dreamed this thing up were so eager to get it built, they didn’t want to wait for any environmental studies or public hearings. Then when we sought reimbursement of $608 million from the federal Department of Homeland Security, the feds told us the law required us to provide them with an assessment. Too bad Mr. Uthmeier didn’t take care of that little detail in advance.”

Attorney general representative: “Hey, we had an emergency to deal with!”

Chairman, looking skeptical: “Yeah, an emergency to scoop up people like that Palm Beach restaurant owner who’d lived here quietly for 30 years. What was the number I saw? Something like three-fourths of the Alligator Alcatraz detainees had no criminal convictions? It was all a political stunt, and we wasted hundreds of millions of dollars from an emergency fund that was supposed to be used for the next hurricane.”

Wildlife commission representative: “Getting back to the environmental assessment — can we use that to figure out what we need to remove?”

Chairman: “Have you read it? It says there won’t be any impacts to wetlands and the impact to protected wildlife will be negligible.”

Wildlife commission employee: “So, you’re saying it doesn’t pass the smell test.”

Chairman, nodding: “Just like the $92 million worth of Doodie Calls portable toilets we put out there.”

A cleansing ritual

Judy from DEP raises her phone: “Mr. Chairman, I have a suggestion. In the 10 minutes before you started the meeting, I flipped through some of the court filings and interviews with the groups that sued.”

Chairman, looking confused: “Why would you do that?”

Judy: “These people have spent every Sunday for 40 weeks protesting outside Gator Guantánamo — er, I mean Alligator Alcatraz. They’ve seen a lot of what’s gone in and out. They’re a great source of intel about what we’re facing.”

Chairman: “For instance?”

Judy: “Here’s an interview with Eve Samples from Friends of the Everglades. She says that the Texas environmental consultants your agency hired reported we put 38 acres of asphalt out there, not 20. She also talks about chemical spills out there — jet fuel used by the planes, septic waste that sloshed out of the trucks, and so forth. Oh, and here’s a video.”

Video of Samples plays from Judy’s phone: “This political stunt was a failure by every measure — our government failed the Everglades and failed taxpayers, and history will remember.”

Chairman: “Yikes! Who’s that next one? The dark-haired woman?”

Judy: “That’s Jessica Namath. She runs a group called Floridians for Public Lands. Here, let me play you her interview: ‘Aside from dismantling what we see above ground, one of my biggest concerns is the septic system they’ll need to remove. A lot of what we saw trucked in early on has been buried underground. According to family members, once detainees were allowed to shower, the water smelled like well water, so they presumably also drilled a well or wells.’”

Chairman, sighing: “Water wells and a septic system? Wow, this place is MUCH more intrusive than just some tents. What’s that photo she’s pointing to?”

Water district representative: “I recognize it. That truck is carrying four water storage tanks.”

Judy: “Right. Namath says they saw the truck hauling them through the front gate, but they’re no longer visible above ground. Presumably they’re now buried underground.”

Chairman: “Good Lord! How about that woman in the straw hat? Who’s she?”

Judy: “That’s Betty Osceola, an elder in the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians. They have a village next door to the prison, so she’s been out protesting more than anyone. She says she saw a lot of gravel fill being trucked in, probably to be poured into the wetlands to stabilize the ground. And there are towers so the guards would have cell service.”

Chairman: “Dang! Next, you’ll tell me we leased some of it out as affordable housing.” He pauses for a laugh, doesn’t get one.

Judy: “Betty Osceola says there are sacred cultural sites accessible only by crossing the prison site, which they can no longer cross. Once the prison’s cleared away, she said the tribe needs to perform a cleansing ritual.”

Chairman: “I feel like I need a cleansing ritual myself after hearing all this.” He looks closely at the attorney general representative, who appears to be squirming in his seat. “Something the matter?”

Attorney general representative: “Well, to be honest, this is all kind of MY fault.”

I started a joke

Chairman: “Well, we know Mr. Uthmeier was the one who sold the governor on this and became the public face of it. He even went on a podcast and claimed it would be a low-cost alternative to an actual prison, which shows how clueless he is.”

Wildlife commission employee: “Oh yeah, the same podcaster was later pushing the official Alligator Alcatraz merchandise sold by the Republican Party of Florida. There’s been some speculation that that was the whole point, to sacrifice the Glades as a fundraiser for the GOP.”

Attorney general representative slumps in his chair. “Yeah, I’ve been trying to avoid it, but I guess I need to confess. This was my idea. But I didn’t mean it.”

Water district representative, eyes widening; “What the hell did you do?”

Attorney general representative: “You know that song, ‘I Started a Joke’?”

Judy: “The one by the Bee Gees? I loooove that song.”

Attorney general representative: “Well, that’s what happened. We were in a meeting and somebody brought up the fact that 75% of Florida prisons have no air conditioning and the guards are upset about working in all that heat. And I said, just as a joke, that we should build our next prison in the Everglades and hire the gators as the guards, because they wouldn’t complain.”

Agriculture employee: “Holy cow!”

Chairman shakes his head: “The ironic thing is that Alligator Alcatraz DOES have air-conditioning. It’s not very good, but it’s better than nothing.”

Judy, looking appalled: “Didn’t you tell them you weren’t serious?”

Attorney general representative, looking ashamed: “Before I could say anything else, the boss’s eyes began to twitch and he got a big smile on his face and shouted, ‘That’s IT! The governor will LOVE it!’ and he ran out of the room. There was nothing I could do to stop him.”

Just then, the chairman’s phone chimes. He pulls it out, reads the message, then announces to the room: “Bad news. That was from the governor. Just as the contracts for building Alligator Alcatraz went to people who donated to his campaign, so he wants us to make sure that the contracts for pulling it out go to his contributors too.”

Judy puts down her pen: “So, I guess we’re looking at a 20-year project, just like the full Everglades restoration.”

Leave a comment

Craig Pittman is a native Floridian. In 30 years at the Tampa Bay Times, he won numerous state and national awards for his environmental reporting. He is the author of six books. In 2020 the Florida Heritage Book Festival named him a Florida Literary Legend. Craig is co-host of the "Welcome to Florida" podcast. He lives in St. Petersburg with his wife and children.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared contributions, such as today’s story from Craig Pittman of the Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.

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By Diane Roberts

Florida Phoenix

Florida Democrats have gotten a bit giddy lately. Optimistic, even.

These are unfamiliar emotions for them.

Some election year polls are perking them up something fierce.

Democrats — “Dixiecrats” as many were called back in the day — owned this state for more than 150 years (with a little pause during Reconstruction), holding all state offices, controlling the Legislature, looking unbeatable.

But by the 1970s, the Democrats had become the Party of Civil Rights and Republicans, who had once favored racial justice and other progressive notions, had become the Party of Scared White People.

With population growth from the Midwest and the North, Republicans made slow inroads and, in 1998, Florida elected Jeb Bush. The Rs already had control of the Legislature and have run this state ever since.

Twenty-eight years on, Republicans hold supermajorities in the Florida House and Senate and occupy all state-wide elected offices. State Supreme Court justices, all but one chosen by Gov. Ron DeSantis, range from the extremely conservative to the we-don’t-need-no-stinking-Constitution conservative.

The one moderate, Justice Jorge Labarga, will retire in January 2027, opening a seat for another right-winger — unless, by some voodoo, divine miracle, or electoral freak, a Democrat becomes governor.

That’s crazy talk, you say. And you’re probably right.

Nevertheless, a Stetson University poll shows Rep. Byron Donalds, long considered a sure thing, in a competitive match-up with two Democrats, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and former U.S. Rep. David Jolly.

Demings is within four points of Donalds; Jolly is within seven points.

Seven percent of voters remain undecided.

Pining for Jim Crow

In the race for attorney general, the incumbent finds himself in a dogfight with former Democratic state Sen. José Javier Rodriguez.

One poll shows Rodriguez leading DeSantis appointee James Uthmeier 42.8% to 39.6%.

Former attorney general and sitting U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody is barely ahead of Democratic challenger Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, within the margin of error, with a substantial 14% undecided.

Important Caveat 1: This poll was conducted by two communications firms led by Democratic political consultants. Other polls are much closer, often with the Republican in the lead.

Important Caveat 2: Almost all the Republicans have raised more money than the Democrats, although that may not mean as much as it used to.

In March, Navy veteran and union organizer Brian Nathan flipped a state Senate seat in a Hillsborough County, beating a much better funded Republican.

Over in Palm Beach County, Democrat Emily Gregory won a House seat previously considered as red as a MAGA necktie: District 87 is home to the gold-leafed festival of vulgarity we know as Mar-a-Lago.

Donald Trump won it by 10 points in 2024.

Republicans observe that these aren’t real elections, merely special elections. Nobody’s paying attention. Turnout is low. They don’t really count.

Yet you can see why Florida Democrats allow themselves to hope.

The Republican candidates for high office are, by any rational measure, terrible. Wannabe dictators. Often dumb as a bag of hair. Also, weird.

Take Donalds, the Trump-endorsed U.S. representative from southwest Florida and acknowledged front-runner in the gubernatorial race. He has claimed segregation had some really good points: “During Jim Crow the Black family was together.”

Moreover, Black folks were rock-ribbed conservatives, lamenting that in the Good Old Days before all that civil rights business, “more Black people voted conservatively.”

Contempt

I daresay you see the problem with this statement. Except for the all-too-brief experiment in democracy from 1865-1877, Black people could be as “conservative” as they liked, but it was almost impossible for them to vote, not until the 1965 Voting Rights Act, at least.

You could get lynched for even trying.

Donalds should read up on his American history, just not in one of those dubious texts approved by the State of Florida.

There are a couple of other reasonably serious hopefuls, including Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former House Speaker Paul Renner.

Alas for them, they aren’t making much of an impact statewide, and nobody gives them a snowball’s chance on a June afternoon in Miami.

They’re tragically dull, too.

However, if you’ve never heard of James Fishback, who also wants to be governor, do yourself a favor: Look him up.

He’s not dull; he’s terrifying.

Fishback’s a Gen Z ultra-conservative praised by white supremacist Nick Fuentes, fawned over by Tucker Carlson, and endorsed by accused rapist Andrew Tate. He’s called Byron Donalds a “slave” and suggested he’d turn Florida into a “ghetto.”

His fans say he’s the future of the Republican Party. Young white men love him.

Other races? There’s James Uthmeier, appointed attorney general by DeSantis after Ashley Moody went to D.C. to fill out now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s term in the U.S. Senate.

Moody’s running for a full term; Uthmeier’s running for A.G., and boy, is he a piece of work.

A federal judge has found him in contempt for violating a court order, and fellow Republican Sen. Alex Andrade has accused him of criminal fraud and money laundering in the Hope Florida scandal.

Flouting the Constitution

He proudly takes credit for naming Florida’s Everglades internment camp, “Alligator Alcatraz,” and sells t-shirts with grinning gators saying, “Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide,” on his campaign merch site.

Way worse, he regards Florida law as nothing more than a suggestion: He feels free to violate it at any time when, in his superior judgment, it does not mean what you — and most legal scholars — think it means.

Article 1, Section 3, of the Florida Constitution says you can’t use public money “directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution,” which seems pretty clear: The government cannot favor, support or promote religion with taxpayer dollars.

Uthmeier insists that’s wrong, a violation of the First Amendment, and besides, the Founders meant the United States to be a Christian country: Church should not be separate from state.

So what if the state’s governing document spells it out in black and white? He, James Uthmeier, knows better, and if you voted for that amendment, you were wrong.

Mind you, flouting the Florida Constitution is pretty much de rigueur for Florida Republicans.

The Legislature has now passed a congressional redistricting map doing its damnedest to eliminate Democratic representation in Florida.

If past electoral patterns hold in this year’s midterms, Republicans could pick up four more House seats.

They know better

Again, the Florida Constitution forbids this. In 2010, Florida voters approved the Fair Districts Amendments by more than 60%. It says: “No district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party on an incumbent.”

Fair Districts also forbids maps drawn with the “result or intent of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice.”

Again, Uthmeier and Ron DeSantis know better than the voters. The new map disenfranchises minorities.

Now that the Trumpist U.S. Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act, Republican-run states feel empowered to gerrymander in favor of white folks.

DeSantis claims that’s not his motive. Nor did he do this for political reasons, oh goodness, no. Just because Donald Trump demanded states draw a map to help Republicans keep their tenuous grip on the House of Representatives, and just because DeSantis unveiled his map on Fox “News” subtly color-coded red and blue, doesn’t imply partisan intent.

If you believe that, Elvis is alive, Hillary Clinton drinks babies’ blood, and Donald Trump’s tan is real.

Now: Looking at these Republican end-runs around voter-approved constitutional amendments, bending (or ignoring) statutes, prevaricating, election-rigging, and general hostility to the law, Democrats have a big basket of attractive candidates and strong issues.

In 2019, Alex Vindman, a Ukrainian-born Iraq vet and former National Security Council official, blew open Donald Trump’s attempt to strong-arm President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into finding dirt on Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine.

Vindman testified before Congress; Trump fired him and denied him his army promotion.

The guy has a Purple Heart.

Stupid lawsuits

Ashley Moody, his opponent in the Senate race has, well, a J.D. and a history of stupid lawsuits such as trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Back then, Moody’s own staff lawyers called her move “bats— insane.”

Surely there’s an opening for candidates actually interested in addressing Florida’s out-of-control insurance costs, reining in runaway sprawl, addressing the climate crisis, and improving our education system.

You’d think, right?

But there’s logic and good sense, and then there’s the Florida Democratic Party.

The history of the last few decades shows that, if there’s a way they can screw up, they probably will.

Yet there remains that chance — that little chance — one or two will break through.

Watch this space.

Leave a comment

Diane Roberts is an 8th-generation Floridian, born and bred in Tallahassee, which probably explains her unhealthy fascination with Florida politics. Educated at Florida State University and Oxford University in England, she has been writing for newspapers since 1983. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Oxford American, and Flamingo.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared contributions, such as today’s story from Diane Roberts of the Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.

That’s a problem you can help solve.

With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn our state and this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends.

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Bob Brecha

Tropic Press Correspondent

Florida’s own Marco Rubio wants to reassure U.S. citizens who might have noticed that it costs more to fill up at the gas station nowadays: “There are people that were predicting [it] would be much higher at this point.”

So, Rubio thinks we should feel fortunate when choosing between filling the tank or, say, paying our electric bill?

Other countries were suffering “big time,” Rubio claimed. The U.S. was “very fortunate” to be a net exporter of oil since it’s less reliant on oil from the Middle East, he said.

So lucky.

But there are several things wrong with Rubio’s statements.

First, it’s his boss, Donald Trump, who has unnecessarily created the chaos that has led to the high prices at the pump. There’s no justification to feel fortunate about rising gas prices because two months ago, before the Iran “adventure,” prices were much lower.

In January, for instance, average Florida gas prices were $2.70 per gallon, and now they are $4.30 per gallon, an increase of 60 percent. Remember Trump’s campaign promises about reducing inflation:

“We’re going to get your energy prices down. We’re going to get your energy prices down by 50 percent. Energy is going to bring us back. That means we’re going down and getting gasoline below $2 a gallon, bring down the price of everything from electricity rates to groceries, airfares, and housing costs.”

It seems that his 50 percent was broadly correct, but he just got the direction of change wrong. It’s up, not down.

As for other countries suffering, gasoline prices in Europe (it varies by country, but let’s look at Italy and Germany) have hovered around $2 per liter or a bit more over the past year. That’s expensive compared to the U.S., but it’s what people are used to paying. Data for April of this year show that in Germany, the price rose to about $2.50 per liter, and in Italy, there was very little change because the government decided to subsidize the increased cost by removing some taxes. In other words, Italian drivers don’t notice much of anything different at the pump, and Germans have seen an increase of about 25 percent. Thus, we have a 60 percent increase in the U.S., 25 percent in Germany, and no change in Italy.

Who’s suffering most?

Of course, this doesn’t take into account countries that are much less fortunate than wealthy Europeans. Many countries in Asia and Africa are suffering from a lack of deliveries of fuel due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. These hardships will only increase over time as Trump tries to figure out how to extricate himself from this self-inflicted mess.

After all, no matter how he tries to spin the news and float dubious claims about how close we are to a solution, the Strait of Hormuz was completely open a couple of months ago, and now it has become a potent lever that can be used to blackmail the world economy.

As I’ve pointed out in previous commentaries, just because the U.S. is nearly self-sufficient in producing fossil fuels does not mean that we are insulated from price swings due to geopolitical chaos. Oil and natural gas are traded on global markets, so if demand continues and supply is throttled, prices will go up everywhere. U.S. producers will love the opportunity to sell around the world at elevated prices, which will mean U.S. consumers will also be hit.

The final problem with Rubio’s statement is the apparent smugness with which he characterizes the “big time” suffering of other countries.

There is, on the one hand, the childish, non-professional language he uses, which is just embarrassing. But more seriously concerning is the attitude toward, and careless disregard for, the well-being of others that is a constant feature of this administration.

Framing the potential for global suffering as a competition between countries as to who is caused to suffer most, as long as it is not the U.S., is truly beyond cynical. One can only hope that some of Pope Leo’s sense of caring for people of all backgrounds and countries might rub off on Rubio during his visit to the Vatican this week.

Bob Brecha is a retired professor of sustainability, renewable energy and physics (University of Dayton), and longtime newspaper junkie (print and electronic). He consults on energy systems and climate change policies, based in Berlin, Germany. When not fretting about the state of the world and the global climate emergency, he enjoys hiking, biking and reading as much as possible.

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes contributions from correspondents here in Florida and around the globe, such as today’s article by Bob Brecha.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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Share Tropic Press!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.

That’s a problem you can help solve.

With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn our state and this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends.

If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

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By Bob Brecha

Tropic Press Correspondent

Marco Rubio is visiting Pope Leo XIV today to have “frank conversations” in the shadow of Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the pontiff.

Pope Leo has made quite clear, unsurprisingly, that he and the church of which he is the leader do not support illegal aggression and unnecessary wars, and neither do they support country’s having nuclear weapons.

Rubio’s visit also comes after Vice President J.D. Vance chimed in a few weeks ago that the Pope should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology” and that he should be sure that his statements are “anchored in the truth.”

From my view here in Europe, and reading accounts and commentary in German and, especially, Italian newspapers, the sense of astonishment was palpable that a recent-convert U.S. politician would preach to the Pope about theological matters and the use of facts. Especially when this comes from a U.S. administration that has shown itself to have only a tenuous connection to facts in its own pronouncements.

About 20 percent of U.S. citizens are Catholic, and the same percentage of Floridians. After having taught at a Catholic university for three decades, and absorbing a certain amount of Catholic social teaching, I thought it might be interesting to gather here a series of quotes from Popes that might be somewhat surprising to most Catholics. I promise, none of these is from Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Zohran Mamdani.

“The fact that some States, power groups and companies hoard non-renewable energy resources represents a grave obstacle to development in poor countries. … No one may appropriate surplus goods solely for his own private use when others lack the bare necessities of life. … the right of private property may never be exercised to the detriment of the common good.” (Benedict XVI 2009)

“The way humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself, and vice versa.” (Benedict XVI 2009)

“Everyone knows that the Fathers of the Church laid down the duty of the rich toward the poor in no uncertain terms. As St. Ambrose put it: ‘You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.’ These words indicate that the right to private property is not absolute and unconditional. No one may appropriate surplus goods solely for his own private use when others lack the bare necessities of life. In short, ‘as the Fathers of the Church and other eminent theologians tell us, the right of private property may never be exercised to the detriment of the common good.’ When ‘private gain and basic community needs conflict with one another,’ it is for the public authorities ‘to seek a solution to these questions, with the active involvement of individual citizens and social groups.’” (Pope Paul VI 1967)

“Once the demands of necessity and propriety have been met, the rest that one owns belongs to the poor” (Pope Leo XIII 1891)

“The stockpiling of natural resources, which in many cases are found in the poor countries themselves, gives rise to exploitation and frequent conflicts between and within nations. These conflicts are often fought on the soil of those same countries, with a heavy toll of death, destruction and further decay. The international community has an urgent duty to find institutional means of regulating the exploitation of non-renewable resources, involving poor countries in the process, in order to plan together for the future.” (Benedict XVI 2009)

“Sometimes globalization is viewed in fatalistic terms, as if the dynamics involved were the product of anonymous impersonal forces or structures independent of the human will. … Underneath the more visible process, humanity itself is becoming increasingly interconnected; it is made up of individuals and peoples to whom this process should offer benefits and development, as they assume their respective responsibilities, singly and collectively. … Hence a sustained commitment is needed so as to promote a person-based and community-oriented cultural process of world-wide integration that is open to transcendence.” (Benedict XVI 2009)

“It is likewise incumbent upon the competent authorities to make every effort to ensure that the economic and social costs of using up shared environmental resources are recognized with transparency and fully borne by those who incur them, not by other peoples or future generations: the protection of the environment, of resources and of the climate obliges all international leaders to act jointly and to show a readiness to work in good faith, respecting the law and promoting solidarity with the weakest regions of the planet.” (Benedict XVI 2009)

There might be a number of quotes by the same Popes with which I would not agree. And of course, there is nobody who can react with anything other than repulsion to the abuse scandals in the church.

However, when it comes to matters of the economy, the environment, and social justice, for more than a century at least, the Catholic Church has been quite consistent in its teaching about the need for international and social solidarity. In particular, solidarity should take the form of strong support to poorer countries by wealthier countries, who have both historically benefited from past exploitation of finite fossil fuel resources, as well as having contributed most to the climate crisis, for example.

Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance have their work cut out for themselves in trying to reconcile their militaristic and selfish version of Catholicism with the messages quoted above by “conservative” Popes, but succinctly expressed by Pope Francis (note that I have not quoted him thus far!) of the primary responsibility to “hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

Bob Brecha is a retired professor of sustainability, renewable energy and physics (University of Dayton), and longtime newspaper junkie (print and electronic). He consults on energy systems and climate change policies, based in Berlin, Germany. When not fretting about the state of the world and the global climate emergency, he enjoys hiking, biking and reading as much as possible.

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes contributions from correspondents here in Florida and around the globe, such as today’s article by Bob Brecha.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Share Tropic Press!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.

That’s a problem you can help solve.

With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn our state and this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends.

If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

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The legal challenge to Florida’s redrawn congressional maps—designed to cut in half Democrats’ representation in Congress—asks a crucial question: Why is it that DeSantis and Florida Republicans think they can blatantly ignore the Florida Constitution and the instructions of their own voters?

By Mitch Perry

Florida Phoenix

As predicted, a lawsuit has been filed against the Florida congressional redistricting map signed into law Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Equal Ground Education Fund, a Black-led organization that works to increase Black political power in Florida, filed a 71-page lawsuit in the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County on behalf of 18 individual plaintiffs who live throughout the state. The suit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to stop the new map from going into effect.

The map, created by DeSantis’ office and approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature last week, is expected to give Republicans as many as four new seats to add to the 20 out of 28 seats they already represent in Florida.

“The 2026 Plan is, by traditional measures of partisan gerrymandering, one of the most extreme gerrymanders in American history,” the complaint declares.

The lawsuit says that the GOP-controlled Legislature approved and DeSantis signed into law a map that violates the 2010 Fair Districts Amendments, which prohibits drawing congressional (and state legislative) districts that favor incumbents or a political party.

The lawsuit notes that Jason Poreda, the governor’s map drawer, admitted when speaking before the Legislature last week that he used partisan data. Additionally, Mo Jazil, the governor’s attorney, and David Axelman, the governor’s general counsel, confirmed before the Legislature that the map’s legal justification depends on the Florida Supreme Court striking down Fair Districts in their entirety.

Both attorneys said last week that they believe the Fair Districts ban on drawing districts to diminish racial or language minorities’ ability to elect representatives of their choice violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and thus is unenforceable. They also argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Louisiana v. Callais case last week confirms their premise.

“[M]ost remarkably, having argued that the Fair Districts Amendment’s race-related protections are unconstitutional, Axelman argued that the entire Fair Districts Amendment must fall with them, including the Amendment’s prohibition on partisan gerrymandering and Tier II requirements to draw compact districts and to use political and geographic boundaries where feasible,” the lawsuit says.

“That conclusion is not only legally baseless, it is transparently convenient, as it would free the Legislature to engage in precisely the kind of partisan gamesmanship that Florida voters amended their Constitution to prohibit.”

The lead law firm working for the plaintiffs is the Elias Law Group, a Washington firm that has previously handled much of the Democratic Party’s redistricting litigation.

‘Carving up the state’

The lawsuit notes that Jazil acknowledged that DeSantis’ nonseverability argument — that the entirety of Fair Districts would be unenforceable, including its ban on partisan gerrymandering, if its race-related provisions are unconstitutional — “is the Governor’s own legal theory, not a conclusion any court has reached. Nor is it a conclusion that the Florida Supreme Court is likely to reach.”

Regarding that nonseverability argument, the lawsuit notes that veteran Republican Sen. Don Gaetz does not agree. Speaking on the floor of the Senate last week as he presented the bill, Gaetz said, “I believe that the rest of the Fair Districts Amendment could and should and ought to stand. I don’t think we should do gerrymandering on the basis of political partisanship. … I believe that we should be required to follow all of the other demands of the Fair Districts Amendment.”

The suit says the new map “radically reshapes” Florida’s congressional lines, “carving up the State to the benefit of the Republican Party.”

It notes the plan splits the heavily Democratic city of Tampa into three separate districts, none of which contains a majority of Tampa’s population, pairing them with “faraway, rural voters.” And it says that the plan splits the Democratic-leaning population of Orlando five ways, “even though it only has the population for two congressional districts.”

In South Florida, the lawsuit says, the way the map carves up voters to make it harder for Democrats to win “is nothing less than shocking.”

And it says that in North Florida, no changes have been made whatsoever — specifically congressional districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 — all of which have reliably elected Republicans.

That’s despite the fact that “they have some of the fastest growing populations including in St. John’s County (CDs 5 and 6) and Flagler County (CD 6) both of which the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research reports have grown by more than 20% since 2020, which is, of course, one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ main purported justification for the need to redraw districts.”

“The question is not whether this map is a partisan gerrymander, because it is,” said Elias Law Group Partner Abha Khanna in a statement. “The question is why Governor DeSantis and Florida Republicans think they can blatantly ignore the Florida Constitution and the instructions of their own voters.”

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and the Florida Senate and Florida House are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Leave a comment

Mitch Perry, the reporter on this story, has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared contributions such as today’s story from the Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.

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By Bob Brecha

Tropic Press Contributor

Donald Trump recently attacked Spain for its “disastrous economic figures” and asked, “Has anyone noticed how badly Spain is doing? Its economic figures, despite contributing practically nothing to NATO or its military defense, are absolutely disastrous. It’s very sad to see.”

Unfortunately, and as is often the case, many press outlets reported Trump’s statements without checking to see if they were at all true.

Let’s start with the numbers, taken on their face. GDP growth in the Eurozone as a whole was about 0.9% in 2024 and 1.5% in 2025, significantly lower than that of the U.S. (2.8% in 2024 under Biden and 2.2% in 2025 under Trump). What about the “disastrous” Spanish economy? Quick searches show 3.2% growth in 2024 and 2.8% growth in 2025.

Oops – the “sad” economy has faster growth than the U.S. under Trump. So, which country is the real disaster? And those countries that did pledge to spend a lot more on military defense, such as Germany and Italy, have shown economic growth even lower than the EU average.

There are lots of reasons to question how important GDP is as a measure of well-being in a country, and critics will point out that the overall economic growth in Spain is not necessarily well distributed among all levels of society. But Trump is not likely to look into those kinds of details.

It is interesting to look at some potential reasons for Spain’s relative economic success over the recent past. Two issues stand out (aside from the refusal of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to bow down to Trump’s threats over spending on military hardware): immigration and energy.

Spain garnered headlines recently because of a new program meant to regularize the immigration status of at least 500,000 people who are in the country and working, but who have not had the option of legalizing their status. Like in most European countries and the U.S., people come to have a better life, and for the vast majority, to build a life, become part of the workforce where they are badly needed, and in the end, contribute to their new society.

Not only does the Spanish program remove some legal hurdles, but there are also efforts to actively promote and assist in integration of immigrants. These programs are in stark contrast to countries like Germany and Italy, both desperately in need of immigrants at all levels of education and skills. In the latter two countries, government policies are best described as highly hypocritical, with programs to import labor to support industry and (especially) agriculture, with workers then often subject to abusive conditions and little to no support. The pretense is that these people will “just go away” when their work is done, and the government can continue to rail against foreigners.

Another pillar of Spain’s modernization efforts is the energy system transformation the country is undergoing. Electricity generation has gone from 60% fossil fuel to 25% over the past couple of decades, and CO2 emissions from electricity generation have decreased by 70%.

Solar and wind energy are now the two largest sources of electricity and are growing rapidly. And Spain consistently has amongst the cheapest electricity in Europe, belying the further claims of the Trump administration that only fossil fuels can provide affordable power.

International crises like unprovoked attacks by Russia on Ukraine or by Israel and the U.S. against Iran impact oil prices most dramatically and, to a lesser degree, electricity prices. Countries like Spain and many others in Europe are realizing more clearly why it is to their advantage to transition away from oil and natural gas as an economic hedging strategy with clear benefits for their citizens.

Although Spain lags behind other European countries in sales of EVs, I would be willing to bet that this will change in the near future, especially since they have a strong domestic automobile industry that has moved increasingly into electric vehicles.

Spain has higher economic growth than other peer countries, is attempting to build up a more welcoming culture for immigrants, and is also pushing forward with great success on the ecological transition away from fossil fuels and toward domestic renewable energy sources.

None of these efforts is perfect, and we can find critics from all sides of the political spectrum. However, rather than being a “disaster,” for many, Spain could actually serve more as a beacon of hope for how societies can adapt to the challenges of the 21st century.

Bob Brecha is a retired professor of sustainability, renewable energy and physics (University of Dayton), and longtime newspaper junkie (print and electronic). He consults on energy systems and climate change policies, based in Berlin, Germany. When not fretting about the state of the world and the global climate emergency, he enjoys hiking, biking and reading as much as possible.

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By Liv Caputo

Florida Phoenix

Florida officials are fighting a court order to expand detainee phone access at the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” center, arguing it would be too costly for taxpayers — but they’ve already spent roughly $34 million in public dollars on technology, IT support, and more, state records show.

The agency in charge of the remote center, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM), did not explain why the millions it has already spent in that silo doesn’t cover cell or landline service, why additional funding would be needed, or what those millions specifically funded, if not internet or carrier services.

The dispute arose after U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell in March ordered DEM to provide at least one phone for every 25 detainees so they can make confidential legal calls, after civil rights advocates alleged officials were limiting access to attorneys.

As of April 2, the facility had 1,383 detainees booked.

DEM denied all wrongdoing, and said detainees can speak to their attorneys through confidential Zoom calls or in person at the center.

They also claimed that complying would be prohibitively expensive.

Adding landlines or building cell towers would be “entirely unfeasible,” DEM argued Wednesday in court filings, pleading with the judge to pause her order. The only way they could add phones would be to spend $180K up front and another $6,000 weekly to mobilize and maintain cell connectivity at the center, which they say lacks traditional telephone infrastructure.

That would be for 77 cellphones, 77 security configurations, manual labor, and installation.

The agency did not respond to the Phoenix’s questions about how its existing $34.2 million in technology spending fits into those claims. Records from Florida’s government accountability website show the payments from the state’s emergency fund — dating to September — went to companies providing services for internet, communications, surveillance, IT support, and radio.

They did not explain specifically where that money went or provide line-items for the millions spent.

The lion’s share — $33 million — was paid to Gothams LLC. Public records previously reviewed by the Phoenix revealed that Gothams was hired to handle the following at “Alligator Alcatraz”:

• Internet supply and firewall.

• Access control system.

• Surveillance systems.

• Communications.

• Office technology.

• On-site IT support.

• Comprehensive support services for all technology installed within the facility.

The remaining $1.2 million went to seven other vendors, including nearly $500,000 for Baker’s Electronics and Communications, almost $400K for SkyBase Communications, and thousands more for SpaceX, Starlink, AT&T, Comcast, and Accu-Tech.

The state’s case to pause the court order comes as Florida still awaits a $608 million reimbursement from the federal government for Alligator Alcatraz. DEM has said that these new phone costs likely won’t be covered by the feds — and therefore would be provided at the Florida taxpayer’s expense.

“The state of Florida has not received any federal funding for the Alligator Alcatraz facility, and the federal government has not obligated itself to reimburse the State Defendants for the costs of complying with the preliminary injunction,” DEM bureau chief Ian-Paul Gadea-Guidicelli wrote.

The case follows a legislative reckoning with DEM’s spending from Florida’s emergency fund. During the 2026 legislative session, the chambers battled over whether to add guardrails on what DEM could use the trust for.

DEM reported that it spent more than $573 million on immigration in three years — more than 70% of it in the six months after “Alligator Alcatraz” was constructed, including millions in legal fees and hundreds of thousands on private jet flights to and from the center and food products.

The Legislature created the emergency fund in 2022 to allow the governor to quickly spend money on disasters without legislative approval. When Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on immigration the following year, it opened the dollars to a host of anti-illegal immigration initiatives.

He’s renewed the immigration state of emergency every 60 days since he first declared it in Jan. 2023.

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Liv Caputo covers immigration for the Florida Phoenix. She’s had her work cited in the New York Times, the Miami Herald, and the New York Post. She worked previously at The Floridian Press and The Florida Standard. A Florida native, she graduated from Florida State University.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Onward thru the fog

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared stories such as this one today by Liv Caputo of Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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Share Tropic Press!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends. If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

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By Diane Roberts

Florida Phoenix

Rejoice, Florida: Domestic terrorism is about to be terrorized, thanks to a terrific team headed by our triumphant governor, the talented Cabinet, and our tough law enforcement hombres.

The state — indeed, the nation — is riddled with no-goodniks determined to damage the domestic tranquility of normal citizens and upset regular folks. Maybe even make them somewhat uncomfortable.

This is the United States: We want things to be nice and not weird or scary.

We want you to rest easy in your recliner, watching “Survivor” secure in the knowledge that people you don’t agree with will be Dealt With.

To that end, in December 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis took decisive action, sticking the terrorist tag on an outfit calling itself the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Everyone knows Islam is a threat to puppy dogs, Christmas, and the beer industry.

As the governor said: “We’ll do millions for public safety. Millions for education. But never one red cent for jihad.”

Some federal judge in Tallahassee blocked the governor’s order, noting CAIR is a civil rights organization and citing nonsense about the unconstitutional suppression of speech.

Well, we’ll see about that.

The governor has now signed a law allowing him to say who is and who ain’t a terrorist — him and the head of FDLE, the chief financial officer, the commissioner of agriculture, and the attorney general.

These wise men can also sanction anyone who provides resources or material support to anyone they label terrorists.

Anywhere, anytime, for any obscure, even irrational, reason.

So, all you Sharia freaks looking for taxpayer-funded holy war, forget it: The gravy train ends with Ron DeSantis.

Perfidious Episcopalians

But let’s not stop with CAIR.

Something must be done about Antifa. The governor had their number five years ago, warning against the type of “scraggly looking” individual who thinks he has a “right” to protest in our clean American streets.

(What’s so wrong with fascism, anyway?)

CAIR and Antifa are merely the tip of the extremist iceberg. Florida harbors many unsavory groups that need to be slapped with a big fat “TERRORIST” label and run out of the Sunshine State.

Take Scouting America.

This bunch used to be called the Boy Scouts, but then they started doing woke stuff.

Like admitting girls.

Like trying out a new merit badge in Sewing and Needlework, rewarding boys for doing girl-work.

This is how our enemies weaken us from within.

As Secretary of Maximum Lethality Hegseth says, Scouting America is now in thrall to “a radical ideology that is anti-America and anti-American.”

Speaking of anti-American and woke ideology, how about Episcopalians?

They drink wine on Sunday morning. They talk about loving your neighbor as yourself. They use incense (at least, that’s what they say it is).

They let women preach.

Remember that bishop, Mariann Edgar Budde? During a post-inauguration prayer service at the National Cathedral, she refused to condemn illegals, insisting they’re not criminals — even though they invaded our country with the sole goal to become rapists and murderers and drug dealers.

Then she said, “Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.”

Her church is pro-gay, pro-trans, pro-DEI, and obviously a sinister influence on the entire nation, Florida included.

Et tu, FSU?

You need proof? The Episcopal church of Sts. Mary Magdalen and Martin in Coral Springs doesn’t try to hide it. Their website declares, “Yes, We are a Woke Church!” and “God loves you. No exceptions.”

No exceptions? Terrorist talk.

The governor must stop this before the woke mind virus infects the whole of Broward County.

Wokeness of the eco-greenie kind has already caused much trouble in South Florida.

You’ve got a cluster of enviros suing the government, claiming Alligator Alcatraz — our big, beautiful concentration camp — is “polluting” the Everglades.

You’ve got another enviro cell suing because some patriotic developers want to build a fine 4,000-acre town with a golf course and 2 million square feet of commercial space bang in the middle of what the eco-greenie freaks call “critical habitat.”

Come on, people: That part of Collier County is empty except for some bears, bald eagles, ibis, Big Cypress fox squirrels, rare orchids, aquifer-filtering wetlands, Sandhill cranes, crested caracas, herons, wood storks, shaggy cypress, and endangered Florida panthers.

Governor, you must preserve our precious development industry and declare Friends of the Everglades, the Sierra Club, the South Florida Wildlands Association, and the Center for Biodiversity domestic terrorists and send ’em to Guantánamo.

“Biodiversity:” Told you they were woke. Dangerous, too.

Another group wreaking havoc on our sense of order and well-being (this one may surprise some people) is the Florida State University football program.

The University of Florida football program, too.

Once clean-limbed, square-jawed, championship-winning heroes, these teams now stink. Like 5-7 and 4-8, and that’s just last year.

Their excruciatingly terrible, mind-bogglingly inept games are psycho-terror attacks, causing despair to thousands of Floridians and eating away at our pride and self-esteem.

Such assaults cannot be accidental.

Librarians with attitude

We can only conclude these teams have been taken over by our enemies to sap our resolve. If the state does not declare them domestic terrorists, we could be looking at an invasion from Canada and enforced ice hockey-watching.

Speaking of pain, let’s sanction the American Medical Association and its renegade doctors.

These medicos decree our children must be stuck with needles full of chemicals designed to keep them from getting polio, measles, Hepatitis B, diphtheria, mumps, and the like.

This is, as our state surgeon general and expert on demon sperm says, pretty much the same as slavery.

He valiantly demanded the Legislature “end all vaccine mandates in Florida law. All of them!”

But the Legislature (keep your eye on them, governor; some of them are likely terrorists, too) failed to do it, obviously wanting Our Children to be tainted by Big Pharma.

An even more serious menace to Our Children? Librarians.

And their co-conspirators, teachers.

These militants need to be called out, corralled, and controlled, lest they pollute the minds of the young with unapproved knowledge.

What’s wrong with books, you say?

Have you looked in books lately? They will teach your kids that slavery was not the fun job-training program we all know it was; that some boys like other boys; that girls experience sexual feelings; that the Indians weren’t happy for the pioneers to take their land; that when it comes to racism, Black people may have a point; that humans share 99% of their DNA with chimpanzees; that the earth is way more than 6,000 years old; and that Christopher Columbus did not “discover” America.

He landed in Haiti, but we’d rather not discuss it.

Getting ideas

Haiti’s a problem. Just because Haitians suffer from natural disasters, a collapsed state, hunger, disease, and vicious gang violence doesn’t mean we should let them just sashay across the water and break into Florida.

It’s not like they’re Norwegians.

(Plus, the vice president reminds us they eat our cats and our dogs.)

As the governor said, “When a state faces the possibility of invasion, it has the right and duty to defend its territory and people.”

But back to the librarians and the teachers.

Their underground leaders are code-named “Judy Blume,” “Kurt Vonnegut,” and “Toni Morrison.”

We have intelligence two of those are actually dead. Still, hundreds of cells inspired by their so-called “art” have infiltrated school systems and universities where they hide in plain sight.

Round ’em up; put ’em on trial for sedition; ban their operations; quash their ideas.

If our young people start getting ideas, Florida as we know it will not survive.

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Diane Roberts is an 8th-generation Floridian, born and bred in Tallahassee, which probably explains her unhealthy fascination with Florida politics. Educated at Florida State University and Oxford University in England, she has been writing for newspapers since 1983. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Oxford American, and Flamingo.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Related story:

DeSantis signs his pet anti-terrorism bill; should Donald Trump be worried?

Onward thru the fog

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared stories such as this one today by Diane Roberts of Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Share Tropic Press!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends. If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

Coming Saturday: Miss Mingo Writes Again!

Is it true that Donald Trump has ordered McDonald’s to name a hamburger after him? Miss Mingo has the answer. Coming to your inbox on Saturday.

Why don’t you run for office?

The upcoming midterm elections provide a generational opportunity to change the complexion of Florida’s political makeup. But for that to happen, Republican candidates for the state Legislature must face Democratic opponents on the ballot. Currently, there are far too many seats where Republicans are running unopposed. You can change that. Find out how you can run and how to get help doing so:

More Information

Got questions on how to go about throwing your hat in the ring? Project 140 has the answers. Here’s their email address:

Email Your Interest

When Florida voters go to the polls this fall, we will have the chance to oust Republican Ashley Moody from her appointed U.S. Senate seat. Alex Vindman is considered the frontrunner among Democrats seeking the nomination in the August primary election. Whoever the final nominee is, he or she will need a huge turnout by Democrats and like-minded independents to win. Which is why it is vital that in the upcoming election there are Democrats on the ballot for every contested seat. More on that below.

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By Christine Sexton

Florida Phoenix

Calling incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody an “automatic yes vote” for “corruption” and “chaos,” former U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman made his bid for the U.S. Senate official Wednesday.

Vindman, a Democrat who out-raised Moody in the first quarter of 2026, turned in his qualifying paperwork in person in Tallahassee, making official the Senate run he first announced in January.

He then addressed the press, announcing he would be a candidate for the people, one who will work to lower the costs of living, and accused Moody of making special interests her priority.

“So, I think this is, this is a motivating factor, especially on the more conservative side of the spectrum. That they have somebody that’ll do the right thing, as I’ve done throughout my career, and that will deliver for Floridians’ interests, not corporate special interests,” he said.

“I think that’s a fundamental message to get across — that there is a fighter in your corner, not a fighter for corporate interests, not a fighter for billionaire class, but a fighter in your corner.”

Vindman’s paperwork comes on the heels of polling that found him competitive with Moody.

The 50-year-old Vindman will have to edge other Democrats in the race to face Moody, including former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, Jacksonville state Rep. Angie Nixon, and Air Force veteran Tamika Lyles.

While other Democrats could still join the race, Vindman’s entry could potentially earn the Florida Senate contest national exposure.

Emma Hall, Southeast regional communications director for the Republican National Committee, earlier this year attacked Vindman as a “carpetbagger” and “grifter” because he moved to Florida only recently.

Republicans also have gone after Vindman for his role in the first impeachment of President Donald Trump. In late February, the Republican Party of Florida launched a digital ad attacking him for playing a “traitorous” role in that episode.

But Vindman, who emigrated with his father, brothers and grandmother to New York City in 1979 from Ukraine after his mother died, painted stark contrasts between himself and Moody, who served as Florida attorney general between 2019 and 2025. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her in 2025 to fill the Senate seat vacated when Marco Rubio became U.S. Secretary of State.

Noting Florida’s high homeowners’ insurance rates, Vindman complained Moody has “given a pass to the big insurance companies.” He criticized Moody stock purchases last year including $250,000 in stock from Eli Lilly, raising questions of insider trading. She sits on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

“How do you think that plays out? She’s happy to engage in stock trades, some $2 million, on insider information that only Congress gets. I think that’s wrong. I think that should be illegal,” he said.

By contrast, Vindman noted that he is an Army combat veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in 2004 in the Iraq War.

He was director of European Affairs for the U.S. National Security Council when, in October 2019, he came to national attention for his congressional testimony revealing that Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden while his father was campaigning for president as a condition for military aid against Russia.

Vindman resigned from the military in July 2020. Following that separation, he said, for the first time in his adult life he had a choice of where to live and not just simply move where the military had assigned him.

“My wife and I chose Florida because I was raised in New York. Where else can I go?” he said jokingly. “So, pretty, pretty awesome to be able to raise a family here for the same reason that a lot of us come here — it’s a beautiful place, sunny, warm, lovely.”

Vindman’s twin brother, Eugene “Yevgeny” Vindman, also a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army and also a whistleblower in Trump’s first term, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024 for Virginia’s 7th District. He is running for re-election in 2026 but this time to represent Virginia’s 1st Congressional District.

The reporter on this story, Christine Sexton , has spent more than 30 years reporting on Florida health care, insurance policy, and state politics and has covered the state’s last six governors. She lives in Tallahassee.

Leave a comment

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

DONATE

Why don’t you run for office?

The upcoming midterm elections provide a generational opportunity to change the complexion of Florida’s political makeup. But for that to happen, Republican candidates for the state Legislature must face Democratic opponents on the ballot. Currently, there are far too many seats where Republicans are running unopposed. You can change that. Find out how you can run and how to get help doing so:

More Information

Got questions on how to go about throwing your hat in the ring? Project 140 has the answers. Here’s their email address:

Email Your Interest

Share Tropic Press!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends. If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

Coming Saturday: Miss Mingo Writes Again!

Is it true that Donald Trump has ordered McDonald’s to name a hamburger after him? Miss Mingo has the answer. Coming to your inbox on Saturday.

By Mitch Perry

Florida Phoenix

Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously indicated that he’s holding back on offering his own proposal to reduce taxes on homestead properties until the moment is “ripe” — and it doesn’t appear that’ll be anytime soon.

A special legislative session is now scheduled to take place in the last week of April to deal with congressional redistricting, artificial intelligence, and vaccine mandates.

Yet to be addressed is another special session to approve a balanced budget, which the Legislature is required to send to the governor by June 30.

“We don’t even know where it stands, and that’s a sad commentary for the legislators not to know what’s about to happen,” Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart-Lowman of Tampa lamented Wednesday night when asked about the property tax question during a town hall meeting.

“We really don’t know where we are on property taxes, but I’m looking forward to talking about it because I really need our communities to understand what it’s all about.”

Some Republicans have already indicated that whatever property tax proposal comes before them may not be as substantial as they would like. Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-Belleview, has said that his pessimism prompted him to attempt a citizen initiative removing all property taxes on the 2028 ballot.

Other Republicans, like Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, insist property tax relief must be passed this year.

“We did our job in the House in the regular session by passing a measure that would make that a reality,” he told the Phoenix. “It’s now time for everyone to come to the table so we can finalize a relief measure that we can send to the voters this year.”

The strategy

Speaking at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s LeMieux Center for Public Policy on March 25, DeSantis said, “Why would I produce something that is not ripe in terms of when we’re actually going to put in front of the Legislature?”

He added: “There’s obviously a strategy involved.”

DeSantis has previously mused that he’d like to wait as long as possible before having lawmakers discuss a proposed constitutional amendment. Last fall, he suggested legislators could “potentially have a special session on property taxes right in the middle of the Republican primary season in July or August,” although he was quick to add, “I’m not saying we’re going to wait that long.”

Former Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes argues the governor is intentionally keeping mum. “I think the strategy is not to give people a chance to evaluate this,” he said.

In his remarks in Palm Beach County, DeSantis said his proposal would be phased in to allow municipalities and counties to absorb their reductions in revenue. “We would likely start at the bottom and then phase it in where you’re raising the exclusion until you get to elimination,” he said.

The governor has also said that he’s willing to fund grants to local governments to ease the transition. Critics note that while he put additional funding in his proposed 2026-2027 fiscal year budget in December for that purpose, there’s no guarantee a future governor would continue to do that. DeSantis leaves office in January.

On Wednesday night, Tampa Bay area Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner said that property owners in Florida would likely get a tax cut or benefit if a measure is approved by the voters in the fall but that the question of how to replace those revenues for infrastructure, parks, and libraries has yet to be addressed.

“That cost has to go to someone else,” she said. “It has to go to renters. It’s going to go to businesses. It’s going to go to everyday Floridians. And everyone already knows that Florida is already unaffordable to live here, so I would just like to know where they think they’re going to come up with the money. And when I asked that question on the House floor, [Republicans] told me that they’d figure it out.”

Brandes hopes whatever proposal that the governor and the GOP-controlled Legislature decide upon, it has a sunset date attached. “It can be two years, three years, four years, so that we can evaluate how it’s actually working and maybe change course.”

Earlier this week, GOP gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner released a plan that included a new $1 million homestead exemption that he said would eliminate property taxes for nearly 95% of Florida homeowners. He also would provide a $750,000 exemption for non-housing properties (which he says would relieve 70% of small businesses from paying property taxes) and a $250,000 per-unit exemption for rental housing to give renters a break.

For the Legislature to be put its own constitutional amendment on the November ballot, a joint resolution would need three-fifths support in both the House and Senate. It would then need to win approval by 60% of the voters to become law.

Recent polls have shown such a proposal winning more than 50% support —short of the 60% required for passage. However, that’s without the public knowing any specific details of such a plan.

The Phoenix reached out to the Florida Division of Elections office to learn what the deadline would be for the Legislature to approve a joint resolution to qualify for the November ballot, but it did not provide an immediate response.

Mitch Perry has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Note to readers

Just a note to mention that I am on the road this week. I’m helping my son with a cross-country move. Because of this, you will likely see fewer of my original posts for the next few days and more sharing of articles by other contributors, such as today’s story by Mitch Perry. Thanks for reading.

J.C. Bruce

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“Exempting the entire oil and gas industry … is not a national security measure, it’s a giveaway. Florida’s coastal communities, our fisheries, and our wildlife deserve better.”

By Jay Waagmeester

Florida Phoenix

Environmental groups are joining an effort to block rules from President Donald Trump’s administration exempting energy companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from legal protections for endangered species.

Last month, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth asked for an exemption to the Endangered Species Act, on the basis of national security, to drill for oil and gas in the Gulf. That means species such as Rice’s whale, Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, and other endangered species lose protection.

The Endangered Species Committee, an administrative panel sometimes called the “God Squad” because of its sweeping power to overrule environmental protections, comprising top administrators in the Trump administration, approved the exemption.

Now, the Southern Environmental Law Center is representing environmental groups in petitioning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review the administration’s decision.

The groups include the National Wildlife Federation, National Parks Conservation Association, Florida Wildlife Federation, Louisiana Wildlife Federation, and Texas Conservation Alliance.

“Our organization witnessed firsthand the devastation of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, as we watched oil wash ashore on Florida beaches, saw fishing families lose their livelihoods overnight, and documented the toll on sea turtles, shorebirds, and marine life that took years to recover,” Sarah Gledhill, president and CEO of the Florida Wildlife Federation, said in a news release.

“The [Endangered Species Act] review process is one of the hard-won lessons of disasters like that, and it forces industry to plan for harm, minimize it, and answer for it,” she said.

The groups warn that noise, vessel strikes, and spills could further threaten endangered species if oil and gas drilling picks up.

“Exempting the entire oil and gas industry from ESA compliance, forever, is not a national security measure, it’s a giveaway. Florida’s coastal communities, our fisheries, and our wildlife deserve better. We will stand firmly in the way of anyone who tries to shortchange the Gulf,” Gledhill said.

The named respondents include Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin, Secretary of Defense Hegseth, and the remaining members of the Endangered Species Committee.

The appellate court may enjoin, suspend, or modify the agency’s decision.

Another suit

Two weeks ago, other environmental groups sued for an injunction. Represented by Earthjustice, an environmental law organization, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, Turtle Island Restoration Network, and Healthy Gulf filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

They argue the Trump administration is abusing the national security exemption under the Endangered Species Act, and that more than two dozen species now protected as either threatened or endangered are directly at risk. And they contend that Hegseth’s finding of a national security consideration is entirely arbitrary.

Jay Waagmeester covers education for the Florida Phoenix. He previously worked for the Iowa Capital Dispatch and the Iowa State Daily. He grew up in Iowa and is a graduate of Iowa State University.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Note to readers

Just a note to mention that I am on the road this week. I’m helping my son with a cross-country move. We loaded the U-Haul yesterday, and we’re heading out today. Because of this, you will likely see fewer of my original posts for the next few days and more sharing of articles by other contributors, such as today’s story. Thanks for reading.

J.C. Bruce

Share Tropic Press. Please!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends. If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

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“While Florida families are struggling to keep up with rising costs, James Uthmeier is bankrolling his campaign with checks from Big Tobacco and a gun manufacturer looking to avoid accountability. That tells you everything you need to know about who he’s working for, and why Floridians aren’t seeing relief.”

— José Javier Rodríguez

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By Mitch Perry

Florida Phoenix

First-quarter fundraising totals for state candidates have now been reported, and Florida Democratic attorney general candidate José Javier Rodríguez is taking issue with a couple of financial contributions received by the man he hopes to replace in November, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.

Among the donations Uthmeier’s political action committee drew was $50,000 from gun manufacturer Sig Sauer. That company showered hundreds of thousands of dollars on Florida Republicans this year as it attempted to get the Legislature to pass a measure (HB 1551) shielding it from liability lawsuits. The bill passed in the Florida House but died in committee in the Florida Senate.

Friends of James Uthmeier also reported a $100,000 contribution from RAI Services Co., a tobacco manufacturer and subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc.

“While Florida families are struggling to keep up with rising costs, James Uthmeier is bankrolling his campaign with checks from Big Tobacco and a gun manufacturer looking to avoid accountability. That tells you everything you need to know about who he’s working for, and why Floridians aren’t seeing relief,” said Rodríguez in a written statement.

“Floridians deserve an Attorney General who stands up to corporate abuse, not one funded by it. As Attorney General, I’ll be the people’s lawyer — focused on lowering costs, protecting consumers, and holding powerful interests accountable.”

Combined with his regular campaign account, Uthmeier has raised more than $8 million in his bid to win office for the first time after being appointed to the position by Gov. Ron DeSantis a year ago.

Rodríguez has raised a combined total of more than $1 million between his regular campaign account and PAC.

Through the bully pulpit of his office, Uthmeier is able to generate media coverage on a nearly daily basis by hosting news conferences around the state.

Despite his lack of visibility, Rodríguez appears to be running a competitive race against his much better-funded opponent. A Democratic-based survey of more than 1,000 statewide voters published on Monday showed him narrowly leading Uthmeier in the race for attorney general.

Mitch Perry has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Note to readers

Just a note to mention that I am on the road this week. I’m helping my son with a cross-country move. We got the U-Haul yesterday, and we’re loading it up today. Because of this, you will likely see fewer of my original posts for the next few days and more sharing of articles by other contributors, such as today’s story by Mitch Perry. Thanks for reading.

J.C. Bruce

Share Tropic Press. Please!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends. If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

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By Diane Roberts

Florida Phoenix

Run, Ron, run!

Seriously Dude, run for president in ’28.

A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

You broke hearts back in ’24 when you dropped out after the Iowa Caucuses: You tried so hard and came so close!

OK, so you actually came a distant second to the Current Occupant, but those good farm folk did not then realize he’d let Pete Hegseth go play with the Pentagon’s cool death toys in the Middle East to raise the price of oil and make ExxonMobil — and the price of fuel — great again.

Filling up the old combine harvester these days is a B-I-sort-of-rhymes-with-“sandwich,” so the farmers will now have seen the error of their ways.

I mean, probably.

The Boo Birds and Naysayers will nit-pick your earlier campaign: your weird laugh; your hectoring tone; that time you totally ignored the governor of Iowa even though she’d endorsed you and tried to help humanize you at a campaign rally.

Also, that time you sugar-shamed a kid drinking an Icee at the Iowa State Fair.

And that time you shook your wife’s hand.

People forget you were the only candidate who received a trophy.

It was, admittedly, a participation trophy from a guy who said, “We’re proud of you for trying,” then turned to the town hall audience, adding, “He’s special, he’s unique, and he’s our little snowflake.”

Everybody thought that was super-sweet.

Seriously, Ron, you shouldn’t have bailed! You were going to get stomped in New Hampshire, sure, but nobody cares about New Hampshire. It’s cold and their Republicans aren’t real Republicans.

Many of them listen to classical music and drink wine.

Blank slate

Unlike New Hampshire, which barely seems part of America, in South Carolina you had a real chance to shine.

You were, we know, more at home in South Carolina. It’s humid, marshy, subject to hurricanes, and proudly stuck in the past — just like Florida.

You could have probably given the Current Occupant a run for his money, maybe coming in second again, but a closer second.

If you’d hung in there, maybe the Current Occupant would have respected you more and given you a Cabinet gig or at least stopped dissing you every chance he gets.

Oh, well: dirty water under the crumbling bridge. It’s a new day! 2028 is a blank slate, a freshly painted wall that has yet to be graffitied.

Now, in 2026, your hundreds of fans dare to hope again.

On the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, you said, “I mean, I think that in ’24, like in Iowa, the people that voted for Trump — if he wasn’t running, I would have gotten, like, 90% of those people.”

Totally!

You had brilliantly overcome the Nazi campaign video thing and the eating pudding with your fingers thing, which was fake news even though it was true.

In 2022, you led Trump in the polls — by 15-20 points. After the Jan. 6 thing, he looked like toast.

Burnt toast, at that.

But then Trump got convicted on 34 felony counts and, by February, was back on top.

People felt sorry for the old man, getting busted for porn star hush money, falsifying business records, and also sexually assaulting that writer-lady.

The old man can’t run again.

At least, he’s not supposed to.

‘DeFUTURE’

Rupert Murdoch loved you once; he can love you again — assuming he lives long enough.

You were “DeFUTURE.”

Murdoch done you wrong, running back to Trump like a scalded dog, betraying the love you gave him.

Be cool, Ron: Fox will sober up, come to its senses, and realize only you can save this nation from the Red Chinese, the whiny Ukrainians, vaccines, the powerful Palestinian lobby, crazed sociology majors, climate change radicals, feminists, soft-on-illegal-immigrants sheriffs, and anything else threatening Americans’ precious bodily fluids.

Pro tip: Send flowers.

Now, it’s true some ex-GOP, ex-congressman called you “uniquely unlikeable.”

Poppycock.

Has this guy never met Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas?

One of Cruz’s Senate colleagues described him as a person who would microwave fish in the office kitchen.

You would never microwave fish.

You would never run off to a Foreign Country in the middle of a terrible storm crisis disaster just because your kids wanted a Mexican vacay.

No, if it was your kids, like the great dad you are, you’d tell them to tough it out while you made sure you got on television every news cycle, preferably wearing white fisherman boots.

Because you’re authentic.

Ted Cruz is thinking of running in 2028.

So are a lot of other losers. Look at the so-called “competition” for the Republican nomination.

Sens. Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton might throw their truck hats into the ring.

One’s from Arkansas and one’s from Missouri, states that, unlike Florida, cannot be called “cool.”

Plus, they both have skinny necks, which makes it hard to tell them apart.

In contrast, your neck is manly.

You can’t tell what kind of neck the alleged “front-runner,” Vice President J.D. Vance, has.

The beard gets in the way. Our Minister for War with Overwhelming Violence would call him a “beardo.”

Rust Belter Dunedinite

Memo to J.D.: We’ve moved on from Abraham Lincoln, who was kind of woke, anyway.

(As you have pointed out, enslaved people learned useful skills, which helped them in their post-slavery careers.)

Actually, the beard is the least of J.D.’s problems.

Sure, he came top of the CPAC straw poll, but I wouldn’t take that too seriously. You didn’t demean yourself by schmoozing in Dallas, yet still pulled an impressive 2 percent, right up there with Don Jr.

J.D. claims he’s, like, a “hillbilly.”

Give me a break.

He’s Ivy League all the way, unlike a fine Rust Belter Dunedinite like yourself.

Yeah, you also went to Yale, but not like him. You paid for college with jobs like moving furniture and retrieving soccer balls kicked around by elites in blazers.

You are totally American, a baseball player, a custard dessert-lover, not like him with his fancy foreign wife and his fancy gay hedge fund pals and his unbiblical notions.

J.D. used to be VERY CLOSE FRIENDS with one of those “transgenders” who calls him or herself “they.”

He signed his emails to this person “love you” and, at one point in 2016, said, “The more white people feel like voting for Trump, the more Black people will suffer. I really believe that.”

You would never say anything so WOKE.

Speaking of woke, I’d say your biggest 2028 problem is your supposed fellow Floridian Marco Rubio.

He got 35 percent at CPAC.

Like J.D. he’s got liberal thought-skeletons in his closet.

Not so long ago, he was all for so-called humanitarian assistance to countries with diseases, funding anti-violence programs across the world, giving Ukraine money, and feeding hungry children.

He used to say stuff like, “Foreign aid is a very cost-effective way, not only to export our values and our example, but to advance our security and our economic interests.”

Busted, Marco.

Warrior of God

These ungrateful foreigners should never get a red, white, and blue cent of our money.

America First!

Besides, is Marco actually American?

He is given to frequent speaking of a Foreign Language.

You speak no Foreign Language, which is exactly how we Floridians like it.

Another question: What if the Supreme Court dumps birthright citizenship?

You, Governor, understand the Constitution got it wrong with the 14th Amendment and have often demanded the court fix it.

Pandering Marco insists he’s also in favor of denying citizenship to babies who may be birthed here, but whose parents are non-Americans.

There’s just one little problem.

Marco was born in Miami in 1971. His Cuban parents didn’t become citizens till 1975.

Do the math.

You can use this: Make a campaign ad.

Maybe get Casey to star.

Another 2028 ad could address Marco’s false assertions regarding his height.

He alleges he’s 5’9″.

Please.

We all know he’s too petite for the presidency. No president has ever been so shrimpy, except for Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and a couple of guys nobody’s ever heard of.

You, on the other hand, are at least 5’11”, especially if you wear your special shoes.

But none of this is important. What’s important is you, Ron.

Also, America is important.

What kind of nation do we want to be? One led by a beardo from the Midwest who probably eats casseroles?

A Miami guy of uncertain status?

Or you, a true American, a Florida man, a patriot who served honorably as an assistant urinalysis coordinator at Guantánamo, knows vaccines are bad, sustainable energy is bad, education is bad, welfare is bad.

And Spanish? Also bad.

Ron: You have to run.

You are the One, the Guy, the Chosen, the Good Hombre, the Warrior of God.

The choice is this:

Tres leches or pizza?

Plantains or cannoli?

Ropa vieja or meatballs?

Come on, Ron.

Be America’s meatball.

Diane Roberts is an 8th-generation Floridian, born and bred in Tallahassee, which probably explains her unhealthy fascination with Florida politics. Educated at Florida State University and Oxford University in England, she has been writing for newspapers since 1983. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Oxford American, and Flamingo.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Onward thru the fog

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared stories such as this one today by Diane Roberts of Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Share Tropic Press. Please!

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends. If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

EDITOR’S NOTE: Florida has approximately 1,300 miles of coastline—many times more, actually, if you count all the bays, barrier islands and inlets. It’s the most in the contiguous 48 states. Only Alaska has more, but let’s face it, it’s not a great place for sunbathing. Historically, preservation of this marvelous asset has taken a back seat to development and tourism. But as Craig Pittman of Florida Phoenix reports, sometimes our state Legislature does things right. Tropic Press is pleased to share Craig’s story.

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By Craig Pittman

Florida Phoenix

I have something startling to tell you. You’d better take a seat. Are you ready? The Florida Legislature did something good.

Do you need to lie down? Can I get you something to drink? A touch of the hard stuff, perhaps?

Their recent legislative session was an almost total disaster. Our fine lawmakers failed to repeal one bad law they had already passed — SB 180, that awful pro-sprawl, anti-local government bill that’s led to multiple lawsuits.

They did absolutely nothing to fix affordability, Florida’s biggest crisis. Instead, they approved even more bad bills, like putting a rotten cherry on a sewage sundae.

They passed a bill to ban local governments from doing anything to eliminate their carbon emissions. They gave their blessing to one to make it even harder for local governments to say no to damaging development. And a popular effort to remove the decrepit dam creating the Rodman reservoir and restore the Ocklawaha River slammed into a last-minute roadblock in the Senate.

But on this one bill, they did the right thing. Shocking, isn’t it?

It was Senate Bill 302, which concerns something called “coastal resiliency.”

You may have seen a little news coverage about it because of a late amendment designed to knock down a deeply unpopular plan to build a cruise ship port in an aquatic preserve.

But you probably heard very little about the rest of the bill — even though, in the long run, it promises to be much more significant to the state’s future.

“It really was a bright spot,” said Katie Bauman of the Surfrider Foundation, one of the environmental groups that pushed this measure.

Seeing that this bill passed amid so many other, far worse legislative results reminded me of something Willie Wonka told young Charlie: “So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

It also made me wonder: Where did it come from? How did this glimmering pearl make it through all the wretched refuse of the legislative session? How did it reach final approval when so many others fell short?

Rather than continue worrying about whether we’d have a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East this week that would make gas prices even worse, I figured I should pursue something positive. I did some research, made some calls, asked some questions.

The story behind SB 302’s passage is more interesting than I expected, with several twists and turns. And it involves a now-forbidden term in Florida politics: climate change. Shh, don’t tell anyone!

Instead, lean closer and I’ll whisper the tale to you.

Tallahassee’s Circle of Life

I have to admit that I’ve spent years mocking the term “coastal resilience.”

The plain-English definition is that it’s a way for a battered coastline to bounce back after damaging phenomena such as massive storm surges. But to me it was usually just a dodge that politicians would trot out to sound like they cared about the environment.

They’d brag about being in favor of coastal resilience when what they meant was: “This is an opportunity for me to hand out government contracts for major construction work that will only briefly cope with rising sea levels.”

Of course, as the sea level continued to rise, those construction projects would prove to be inadequate to stopping the water. We’d have to build something even bigger, requiring even more expensive government contracts, and so on.

Meanwhile, the recipients of those big government contracts would funnel campaign contributions to the aforesaid politicians. See how that works? It’s the Tallahassee version of the “Circle of Life.”

Perhaps the ultimate example of the build-it-big solution to Florida’s increasing flooding problem was the ginormous walls 20 feet high that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed in 2019 for Biscayne Bay. That project was a steal at a mere $4.6 billion!

People freaked out, as you might expect. This was NOT the “Wonderwall” that Oasis sang about.

The fact remains that we’re a particularly flat state with a coastline that stretches 1,300 miles. That means we’re particularly vulnerable to … umm … er … uh … that thing that Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t want us to discuss.

“South Florida is on the front lines of sea-level rise, stronger storms and increasing flood risk,” Sen. Ileana Garcia, the Republican from Miami who wound up sponsoring SB 302, wrote in an op-ed column. “The question is not whether we act, but how.”

As in: What if our storm-damaged coast were rebuilt using something other than those ugly concrete structures?

What if we used the natural materials that Florida coastlines are supposed to be made from — particularly mangroves? What if we made “living shorelines” the desired outcome instead of pumps and pipes and seawalls?

“People want to see infrastructure that looks like Florida,” said Dawn Shireeffs of the Environmental Defense Fund, which has been doggedly prodding the state to make the living shoreline the default setting. “There’s a real hunger for that.”

The problem is, Florida coastal rebuilding regulations have never covered that.

And local governments that tried to go that route “got caught up in the lack of guidance,” Baumann said.

Enter SB 302. It requires the state Department of Environmental Protection to create those guidelines. The DEP also must establish criteria for monitoring, inspection, and reporting requirements for permits. The goal: More dune and wetland restoration, reef restoration, and seagrass replanting.

This way the state can encourage more innovative nature-based projects, like one in Titusville designed to help repair the Indian River Lagoon. The plans call for planting new seagrass beds and then, using drones, the builder will drop in approximately 1 million clams to filter impurities from the water.

“Mangroves, seagrasses, living shorelines and hybrid systems work with nature to stabilize coastlines, reduce erosion and absorb wave energy,” Garcia wrote in her op-ed. “They protect communities while preserving the natural beauty that defines Florida.”

You say you want an evolution

The first time Garcia sponsored a version of SB 302 was in 2022. That was just a few months before Hurricane Ian clobbered Florida, inundating communities like Fort Myers with more than 7 feet of storm surge.

The Category 4 hurricane dropped more than a foot of rain, swelling rivers and causing floods. It was the deadliest storm in nearly a century, and most of the 150-or-so deaths were caused by water, not the wind.

The Ian disaster exposed our state’s poor planning and shoddy building practices. Many of the state’s waterfront lots were created and built before we knew that the sea was creeping up higher and higher, getting ready to inundate our communities.

But when local governments tried to adjust their development practices to what they saw the hurricanes do, the Legislature stepped in and ordered them to allow developers to rebuild in the exact same places that had been washed away.

Given our lawmakers’ hostility to common sense, it should come as no surprise that Garcia’s bill promoting all-natural restoration work failed to find sufficient support.

“There has been an evolution on this,” Shirreffs told me. “We spent three years having discussions on this.”

The first year they were just pushing for more mangrove planting, she said. Gradually, in subsequent iterations of the bill, they added other elements.

One thing that helped sell the bill: The natural approach to shoreline repair turns out to be much cheaper than constructing a lot of concrete infrastructure, she said. Several studies found that planting mangroves isn’t as expensive as piling up tons of concrete.

That way, even if the legislators weren’t interested in green solutions, they could be drawn to support saving the other kind of greenery.

Cruising to the finish line

Last year, the bill aaaaaallllllllllmost made it across the finish line, Shirreffs said. To supporters’ chagrin, it failed to make it to a final floor vote.

What made the difference this year, so that it finally passed every stop?

The amendment to block a new cruise ship terminal, Shirreffs said.

There are already three cruise ship terminals in Tampa. There used to be one at Port Manatee, too.

It sat on the landward side of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. From 1993 to 2003, the Regal Empress embarked from there for Mexico and the Caribbean. But then the Empress began having some royal problems.

The ship ran aground on one cruise. On another, it was chartered by folks in the adult film industry. There was a lot of concern over whether they, contrary to what the Hues Corporation warned everyone, might be rocking the boat.

Eventually the cruise ship line went out of business, still owing Manatee County about $300,000.

Manatee now handles only cargo, which is smart. In the years since the current version of the Skyway was opened in 1987, cruise ships have become a lot taller.

The bridge’s center span rises 190 feet above the water. Cruise ships, which are basically floating amusement parks now, tend to be more than 200 feet high. A modern-day cruise ship would crash into the bridge like a dump truck getting snagged under an overpass with a low clearance.

In January, SSA Marine and Slip Knott LLC proposed building a new cruise ship terminal in Manatee County that wouldn’t be limited by the height of the Skyway. It would sit beyond the bridge, so no ships would have to squeeze under it.

Unfortunately, the companies picked one of the worst possible places to build something industrial: the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve.

“The Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve is home to healthy and thriving seagrass, wetlands and a vital wildlife habitat,” Justin Tramble, executive director of Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, wrote in a column about the proposal. “We’re talking about a pristine part of our estuary, one that has such significant ecological value.”

Because the aquatic preserve is a beloved fishing spot, enough protesters showed up to fill a cruise ship. More than 19,000 people signed a petition to stop the project.

As a result, Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton added an amendment to Garcia’s bill. The amendment would restrict large-scale dredging projects in the preserve — an attempt to shut down the cruise terminal project before it could even get started.

Because Boyd has been designated as the next Senate president, people in the Legislature were leaping to grant his every wish.

“The amendment helped it to become a must-pass bill,” Shirreffs told me. “The public outrage over the port really helped us.”

The wild card

Although the bill passed both houses easily this year, there was still one wild card: Gov. DeSantis.

Despite occasionally cosplaying as a conservationist, our goofball governor has repeatedly lined up for scrimmage against the environment on every major issue.

The Everglades? He built a polluting detention camp in it. State parks? He tried to build golf courses in one. Water pollution? He cut a deal with an Israeli company to do repeated cleanups of our algae blooms, instead of trying to stop polluters.

Now Florida is the No. 1 state for polluted lakes. A toxic algae bloom killed off so much seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon that more than 1,000 manatees starved to death. Florida’s longest river, the St. Johns, is coping with steadily increasing pollution from septic waste.

Heck, he even became the first governor in history to openly oppose restoration of the Ocklawaha River.

What, I wondered, would DeSantis the Destroyer do to screw this bill up?

Turns out, the answer was: Nothing. He didn’t like that cruise terminal proposal either.

“There’s not really a need to add another port in the middle of a conserved area, and an aquatic preserve,” DeSantis said during the bill signing ceremony. “So, construction of a new port next door I think struck a lot of people as being unnecessary.”

I don’t know if DeSantis realized he was signing a bill related to battling climate change. If he had, he might have vetoed it on general principle. Here’s hoping nobody tells him he did something right for a change.

Three lessons

There are sound lessons here for other environmental problems that need support from our ignorant, angry, and frequently distracted lawmakers.

1. Be prepared for a long fight. Getting this bill passed took years.

2. Be ready to show how the move saves taxpayer money as well as benefits the environment.

3. If possible, hitch your wagon to a popular cause favored by a powerful legislator. A massive public protest helps too.

Bauman and Shirreffs acknowledged that this isn’t the end of the effort. Now they have to prod the DEP to get these guidelines done and done right.

Bear in mind that in 2016 the Legislature told the DEP to draw up new rules to better protect the state’s springs by 2017. Instead, the agency has put off following the law for so long it should qualify for an Olympic gold medal in foot-dragging.

Still, it does my heart good to see the Legislature do something right every now and then. I just wish it was habit-forming.

The reporter on this story, Craig Pittman, is a native Floridian. In 30 years at the Tampa Bay Times, he won numerous state and national awards for his environmental reporting. He is the author of six books. In 2020 the Florida Heritage Book Festival named him a Florida Literary Legend. Craig is co-host of the "Welcome to Florida" podcast. He lives in St. Petersburg with his wife and children.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Onward thru the fog

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared stories such as this one today by Craig Perry of Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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Congressional redistricting was not on the mind of Gov. Ron DeSantis or any other Florida Republican last year, until Donald Trump made it an issue. The president, concerned Republicans would lose their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections, called on Texas initially and then other red states to redistrict their congressional delegations.

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By Mitch Perry

Florida Phoenix

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously said that one of the reasons why Florida must conduct an unusual mid-decade congressional redistricting this year is because the state would likely be “forced” into compliance with an expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

That legal opinion has yet to be issued by the court, however, and likely won’t be by the time the Legislature reconvenes in Tallahassee on April 20 to begin the weeklong special session devoted to redistricting.

DeSantis said Monday that the Legislature should go ahead and begin the process, nonetheless, predicting that judicial opinion may come later but that there are other legitimate reasons to go forward, beginning with the fact that the state’s congressional lines should be updated to more accurately reflect the growth in population over the past five years.

“What I’ve said was, Florida has experienced 10 years’ worth of population growth in, like, three [years],” he said in response to a question by a Phoenix reporter at a news conference in Tampa.

“And so, if you look, our districts are not fairly apportioned because of that. It wasn’t the fault of the people who did the maps, and you still got to use the baseline 2020 data, but I think when you’re looking at that, how do you make that work? I think that’s something that’s totally appropriate,” he said.

DeSantis has previously mentioned that he believes the state’s existing maps for legislative and congressional districts are outdated because of the influx of new residents that began at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020. According to a report by the U.S. Census published in June 2025, Florida’s population increased by 8.24% from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2024, more than any other state in the country.

However, as DeSantis noted, when state lawmakers begin drawing up new congressional maps later this month, they will not have in their possession any of that updated U.S. Census Bureau information. Instead, they will rely on the 2020 U.S. Census numbers. The governor has not said how those congressional lines would change from 2022 if the state is using dated demographic data.

Congressional redistricting was not on the mind of DeSantis or any other Florida Republican last year, until Donald Trump made it an issue. The president, concerned Republicans would lose their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections, called on Texas initially and then other red states to redistrict their congressional delegations last summer.

While Texas followed suit to (likely) give Republicans more congressional seats later this year, blue states responded to create new congressional districts that will likely favor Democrats. The next blue state that may do so is Virginia, which is scheduled to vote on a redistricting referendum led by its new Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger, on April 21.

Florida law bans gerrymandering of legislative and congressional redistricting, and DeSantis has been careful to say that the state would not redraw congressional lines for any partisan gain. That’s why he previously emphasized that he would be “forced to” if the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately strikes down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The section prohibits voting laws or procedures that deny or abridge voting rights due to a person’s “race or color” or membership in a language minority, and is at the heart of Louisiana v. Callais, which the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about in October and is expected to rule on before it ends its current session at the end of June.

DeSantis said in December that his motivation for redrawing congressional districts is that the state will “be forced to do it because the Supreme Court’s VRA [Voting Rights Act] decision is going to impact the current map. No matter what else, that is going to have to be addressed.”

On Monday, DeSantis said it was more than likely that the high court would strike down Section 2 of the VRA, and he said that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if that doesn’t happen before Florida’s special session on redistricting begins later this month.

“I also think that we know how that Supreme Court case is going to come out at this point,” he said. “I don’t think that there’s much of a dispute about that, and I think Justice Alito is writing the opinion. So, us looking at our map, understanding the issues in that case, and fixing it, I think that’s appropriate whether the decision comes before we do it or after. And it will obviously come sometime between now and the end of June.”

DeSantis comment that Justice Samuel Alito was “writing the opinion” drew concerns from John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC).

“I’m sorry, is this a sitting US Republican Governor saying that he has INSIDE information from a Supreme Court Justice about a case before the court to ensure political capitalization off the case?” Bisognano said on X. “It sure sounds like it…”

Polls show that Floridians oppose the effort. More than 56% of 1,125 likely Florida voters think it’s a “bad idea,” according to an Emerson College poll released last week. That includes 64% of independents and 65% of Democrats, while 57% of Republicans support the idea.

“No one in Florida wants this,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried told the Phoenix. “Not his own congressional members. Not legislative leaders. Not voters. Fifty-six percent of Floridians just said so in a brand new poll. Ron DeSantis is fighting a battle nobody asked him to fight, spending money nobody wants him to spend on a map nobody has even seen yet. This has never been about Florida, it has always been about him. That is his legacy: self over service, every single time.”

Mitch Perry has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Onward thru the fog

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared stories such as this one today by Mitch Perry of Florida Phoenix.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends. If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

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By Diane Roberts

Florida Phoenix

Back in the last century, before condos choked the beaches and theme parks displaced orange groves, I was a page in the Florida House of Representatives.

All you had to do was fetch coffee and copies of bills for men in fat ties who called you “Young Lady.”

For this, you got a week off school and $50.

It was a lesson on how the Legislature worked.

Or didn’t.

Sure, they made speeches about serving “the great people of the great state of Florida” and passed plenty of bills, but they also behaved like giddy kids, spinning in their chairs, telling jokes, playing pranks (it was mostly men in those days), yelling at each other, sometimes nearly coming to blows.

We rolled our eyes — such juvenile behavior.

We were in 5th grade.

I regret to inform you the Florida Legislature has not exactly matured.

Indeed, it has devolved to the point that it can’t even perform its one job — ONE JOB, y’all — which is to pass a state budget.

So, what have your 160 elected representatives been doing since the session began on Jan. 13 and ended on March 13?

Not much.

No state budget; no attention to making insurance or housing more affordable; no addressing the climate crisis or the monumental strain on our aquifer; no meaningful oversight of the cash-hemorrhaging school voucher program; no acknowledgment the war in Iran is driving up gas prices; no relief for food-insecure kids in Florida; no ensuring the public has a right to know if some vampiric tech bro billionaire is building an AI data center next door to you.

‘Embarassing’

Lawmakers couldn’t even get the new state bird bill over the finish line.

Better luck next year, Flamingo.

The 2026 session limped to Sine Die, the official ending at which they symbolically drop a handkerchief on the Capitol floor and head home.

Sen. Don Gaetz called it “embarrassing.”

How did they fill those long hours in Tallahassee — other than lying to reporters, bloviating in committee meetings, and downing cocktails at the Governor’s Club?

They passed a lot of resolutions, including ones to commemorate, celebrate, and raise awareness of things like Uterine Fibroids and Women in Diplomacy.

I’m afraid you’ve missed Florida Gulf Coast University Day (Jan. 27), Space Day (Feb. 3), and Florida Kidney Day (Feb. 10), but there’s still a chance to arrange festivities for Vein Week (April 6-12) and Endangered Species Day (May 15).

Sadly, some these special days and weeks will have a pretty short shelf life.

Endangered Species Day, for example: Legislators are happy to watch Florida’s panther population numbers diminish as ranchers demand their “rights.”

Mustn’t upset Big Ag.

They refused to name the threatened scrub jay, the only bird endemic to Florida, our state bird, too. That might lead to official protection of its habitat.

Mustn’t hurt developers’ feelings.

As for Rare Disease Day, it will soon be irrelevant.

Given the state surgeon general’s hostility to vaccines and other evidence-based medicine, rare diseases won’t be rare for long.

Y’all give a big Sunshine State welcome to Hepatitis B!

When legislators weren’t declaring Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Day (Feb. 10) or Obsessive-Compulsive Awareness Week (Oct. 12-18), they were congratulating everybody they could think of.

At length.

Mean people

The Senate spent seven hours lauding departing colleagues term-limited out or (wisely) putting plenty of distance between themselves and the unseemly food fight we know as state government.

Former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples), Sen. Daryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg), Sen. Lori Berman (D-Boynton Beach), and the ICE-loving Trump cheerleader Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) got a heaps of fulsome praise, even from people who hate them like poison.

The House did the same thing, verbally licking each others’ ears and sharing their Milkbones.

As if this wasn’t enough time-wasting, they embarked on a lengthy round of Bobby Bowden love.

The FSU coach has been dead for five years and has yet to have anything named for him but two football fields and a fund-raising club. The Senate means to right this injustice by designating the capital’s “International” (stop laughing) airport the Bobby Bowden Tallahassee International Airport.

Sort of: It’s an “honorary” naming.

The Legislature made a name change for Palm Beach International (seriously! You can fly to the Bahamas from there and sometimes to Montreal!) official: the Donald J. Trump Airport and Modeling Agency.

(Might have made that last bit up).

OK, I’m being unfair. While your Florida legislators generally ignore bills sponsored by Democrats, or (in the House) bills the Senate cares about, or (in the Senate) bills the House cares about, they did pass a solid 12% of bills filed.

The problem is, none of these bills will actually make schools or rent cheaper or citizens healthier or do something about saltwater invading our aquifer or guns on our streets.

What they did pass — other than the new law mandating kids learn cursive — is almost entirely guaranteed to cause harm.

These are some mean people.

Non-existent problems

Speaker of the House Daniel Perez and Gov. Ron DeSantis despise each other (Perez labeled DeSantis’ refusal to shake his hand on Opening Day “petulant”), while the Senate sees no reason to cooperate with the tiresome folks in the other chamber.

Yet they somehow suspended their antipathy long enough to join forces on voter suppression.

The governor and the Republican legislative supermajority all say 1. Florida’s elections are great, safe, damn near perfect; and 2. At the same time, sinister foreigners and other undesirables compromise Florida’s elections with their fraudulent voting.

Therefore, they’ve passed HB 991, a solution chasing a non-existent problem.

In 2025, Florida had 13 million voters on its rolls.

The state has found 198 who could have registered or voted illicitly.

Possibly, maybe.

Making it harder to vote is something of a passion project for the current regime.

If you’re a married woman who took your husband’s last name, you’d better be ready explain yourself with paperwork.

Anyone wanting simply to register will have to prove who his, her, or their (although that’s not allowed anymore) identity with a passport, a REAL ID driver’s license, a court order, naturalization papers, or a birth certificate.

Hundreds of thousands don’t have REAL ID; getting a copy of your birth certificate costs money, and older, poorer people might not even have one.

This is a poll tax.

Not only do they not want you to vote, they don’t want you and your elected city or county government to celebrate Black History Month or Pride or Women’s Equality Day or, hell, maybe St. Patrick’s Day.

Why should the Irish get DEI?

Who’s heritage?

SB 1134 threatens local officials with removal from office if they spend a penny of public money recognizing or celebrating anything deemed insufficiently “Heritage American.”

Bill sponsor Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, says DEI initiatives foster “resentment instead of good will” and “mediocrity instead of merit.”

Here are some of those “mediocre” people and resentment-provoking assertions of human rights Rep. Black’s bill wants us all to ignore: Bayard Rustin, Sandra Day O’Connor, Sojourner Truth, Harvey Milk, Malala Yousafzai, Marie Curie, Alan Turing, Simon Bolivar, James Baldwin, Helen Keller, Toni Morrison, Tecumseh, Stonewall, Selma, Wounded Knee—

If you aren’t familiar with these names, look them up.

And imagine you are female or a person of color or LGBTQ+ or disabled: Your state government now says you should sit down and shut up.

Don’t expect the rest of us to care about your struggles and your experiences.

Some Americans are more equal than others.

If you dissent, if you say Black lives really do matter, if you oppose genocide in Gaza or protest the regime’s increasing authoritarianism, if you follow a disfavored faith, you may be a criminal — at least according to the state of Florida.

It has dawned on the governor and Legislature Florida’s voucher program also supports students in accredited Muslim private schools.

Republicans from the governor’s office on down began to holler about “sharia law,” although they presented no evidence these schools promote it or even teach it, and implied (again, without much evidence) the schools have connections to foreign terrorist groups.

Sharia is based on the Quran. You could say (as plenty of politicians do) that western legal systems derive from the Old Testament.

Both holy texts endorse gender discrimination and violent punishments. Neither has the force of law in the United States or any other western nation.

Spot the terrorist

But the soon-to-be-signed HB 1471 will allow the governor and Cabinet to declare groups “domestic terrorists,” deny vouchers to certain schools, and expel students who, say, wave a Palestinian flag at a campus demonstration.

DeSantis wants to ban the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights organization. A federal judge is blocking him.

Oddly enough, nobody’s talking about banning the College Republicans.

Members of the University of Florida chapter have been entertaining themselves with Nazi salutes and antisemitic declarations, while another gaggle of white boys, mostly students (one in law school at FIU) have been indulging in a WhatsApp chat insulting Jews, calling women “whores,” making free with the N-word, and suggesting Black people should be beheaded.

To be fair, UF kicked their College Republicans off campus.

The College Republicans are suing on free speech grounds.

I wish I could say the Legislature’s done all the damage it can this year, but that’s not at all the case.

They’ll be back in Tallahassee after Easter, allegedly to pass a budget. It could end up with all kinds of insane and hateful provisions slipped in at the last minute.

They’ll be back again later to fight over property taxes and redistricting.

That’s assuming they can overcome their feuding, back-biting, tantrum-throwing, and snit fit-pitching long enough to do their job.

Then again, the collective emotional age at the Capitol is about 10, so let’s not get our hopes up.

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Diane Roberts is an 8th-generation Floridian, born and bred in Tallahassee, which probably explains her unhealthy fascination with Florida politics. Educated at Florida State University and Oxford University in England, she has been writing for newspapers since 1983. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Oxford American, and Flamingo.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:

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Onward thru the fog

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes both original reporting and shared stories such as this one today.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Sharing is caring

As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends. If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

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Time to take back our state

The upcoming midterm elections provide a generational opportunity to change the complexion of Florida’s political makeup. But for that to happen, Republican incumbents in the Legislature must face Democrats on the ballot. Currently, there are far too many seats where Republicans stand to run unopposed. Here’s how we can fix that:

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By Patricia Callahan

Pro Publica

Dr. Adam Ratner hovered over a gravely ill infant in a New York City intensive care unit on a grim day in 2022. The 3-month-old girl spiked a fever two days earlier and had become lethargic. Soon she was having seizures and struggling to breathe.

She didn’t register Ratner’s towering frame or the bright hospital lights. Her eyes stared up and to the right, eerily frozen.

He ran his hand over the soft spot on her head, which should have been flat. Instead, it bulged, a sign that too much fluid was building up inside her skull.

The baby’s life was in danger, and Ratner needed to figure out why. He worried the culprit was bacterial meningitis, an infection of the membranes that protect the brain.

What came back on her lab tests was something out of the history books.

The infant’s meningitis was caused by invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, a type of bacteria that used to kill nearly 1,000 children a year in the U.S. A shot introduced in the late 1980s was so effective that Ratner, a veteran pediatric infectious disease doctor, was among the generations of physicians who had never seen a case. But the baby’s parents, Ratner learned, had chosen not to vaccinate her.

Disheartened, he told his colleagues, “This should be a never event.”

It wasn’t. The following year, Ratner treated another infant with Hib, then another, each of them unvaccinated. Two went home, but one had to be discharged to a rehabilitation facility. That 5-month-old boy had huge black pupils that didn’t respond to light, and he needed a ventilator to breathe. Ratner and his colleagues noted an “absence of brain stem reflexes,” indicating severe damage.

The U.S. government took a half century to build a vaccination system that shielded children from such a fate. Its success depended on two fundamental pillars: parents trusting in vaccines and children having access to them. Both are now in peril, thanks in no small part to the man steering America’s health policy.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who founded an antivaccine group and once likened the immunization of children to a holocaust, is transforming a government that long championed the lifesaving benefits of shots into one that spreads doubts about their safety here and abroad.

Kennedy is also considering changes that could prompt the few companies that make vaccines for American kids to abandon the U.S. market, leaving parents who want the shots unable to get them.

The threat to vaccine access reaches across the globe after Kennedy yanked the government’s $1.6 billion pledge to the aid group that provides shots for the world’s poorest children. For decades, the U.S. had funded such work not just as a humanitarian mission but as a way to keep Americans safe from unchecked contagions.

Kennedy’s efforts to reshape vaccine policies have been well chronicled, but ProPublica wanted to take a broader look at how the changes might affect Americans’ health in the years to come.

We found that long-forgotten plagues have roared back, killing and maiming children in parts of the world where access to vaccines or trust in them faltered. What seemed like subtle changes to a country’s vaccine policies had disastrous consequences years later.

Even in places that offer highly advanced health care, doctors have felt impotent trying to undo the damage when these horrors return. Modern medicine can’t reverse paralysis from polio. Surgeons can intervene when a baby is born blind, deaf and with heart defects after being exposed to rubella in the womb, but the child is still likely to face a life shaped by disability.

ProPublica reviewed hundreds of studies on vaccines and outbreaks of the diseases they prevent and interviewed more than three dozen people who have worked on U.S. immunization programs here and abroad, dating back to the days of smallpox. Some had never spoken publicly about their experiences.

They shared a pit-of-the-stomach dread that American children will end up fighting for their lives against infections that have long been preventable.

“I think there always was a worst-case scenario,” said Dr. Melinda Wharton, who retired last September after more than three decades leading immunization programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I don’t think I imagined it could or would be this bad.”

This week, Kennedy’s agency indicated it planned to appeal a federal court ruling that halted, at least temporarily, some of his changes. Among those was the decision to drop six diseases from the routine childhood immunization schedule.

HHS declined to make Kennedy available for an interview. In an emailed response to detailed questions, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said that the agency has not limited access to or insurance coverage for vaccines. During the prior administration, federal health agencies “told the public that questioning vaccine policy was off limits,” Nixon said. “That posture contributed to a collapse in trust in U.S. health care.”

“Secretary Kennedy believes that trust is rebuilt through an open review of safety data, the willingness to ask the hard questions, and ensuring the American people have all emerging information as soon as we know it,” he said.

Vaccination rates have fallen in large swaths of the country. Resentful of how government institutions responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans lost trust in public health leaders. Antivaccine activists spread misinformation and recast the once-fringe practice of refusing shots as an exercise in “medical freedom.”

Now the U.S. is experiencing a surge in measles not seen in three decades. There have been more than 3,600 cases across 46 states and three deaths since January last year. The virus spread so fast in South Carolina this year that some medical teams had to examine infected patients in their cars to protect vulnerable people in their waiting rooms, like they did during the worst days of COVID-19.

Measles, among the most contagious diseases, is typically the first to infect undervaccinated communities and serves as a warning that other scourges will follow.

That’s what happened in New York City where antivaccine forces distributed illustrated handouts that seeded fear in Orthodox Jewish communities. Ratner saw a direct line between a loss of trust and the sick children in his ICU — first with measles in 2018 and 2019, then with Hib a few years later.

Now the villainization of vaccines isn’t coming from pamphlets passed out on a Brooklyn street corner. It’s coming from the highest health offices in the U.S. government.

“I’m worried,” Ratner said, “that we’re going back to a time where people die in childhood.”

The U.S. has been a leader on vaccination since the nation’s founding.

During the Revolutionary War, George Washington ordered troops to be inoculated against smallpox, which had ravaged the Continental Army and was scaring away recruits. Washington knew the perils of the disease: His face was pocked with scars from his own teenage infection.

The inoculation, the country’s first immunization mandate, took a primitive form. A sore from a smallpox patient was lanced, then the pus was inserted under a healthy person’s skin. Though some people died, the resulting infection was, for the vast majority, milder than the type caught in a bunkhouse or on a battlefield.

Washington gave the order in February 1777, “keeping the matter as secret as possible” so that the British wouldn’t attack his bedridden troops during their monthlong recovery. Had he not carried out the inoculation, many historians have concluded, the British may have won.

Nearly two centuries later, in the throes of the Cold War, CDC scientists teamed up with their counterparts from America’s archenemy, the Soviet Union, to wipe smallpox from the planet. They worked through the World Health Organization to track the virus in cities, rainforests and war zones, vaccinating those at risk. Four U.S. presidents, Democrats and Republicans, backed the work until the disease that had haunted humans since the days of the pharaohs was gone.

Vaccines, for decades, weren’t politically divisive. They were so uncontroversial that McDonald’s restaurants in the 1990s put the childhood immunization schedule on their tray liners.

When the nation’s immunization program was in trouble in the 1980s, Republicans and Democrats stepped in to save it.

Vaccine makers were abandoning the U.S. market after a flood of lawsuits alleged that the shot used at the time to protect children from diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough caused profoundly disabling seizures. Scientists later discovered genetic causes of some of the most devastating forms of epilepsy, but parents who sued back then won big verdicts and settlements.

At one point pediatricians could only buy that shot from a single company, and there were shortages. The U.S. also was down to just one manufacturer for the measles-mumps-rubella shot and one for the polio vaccine.

“If there is a fire tomorrow in the plant where the polio vaccine is manufactured, what would happen?” Rep. Henry Waxman asked the CDC director during a 1984 House subcommittee hearing.

“We would have a shortage,” the director answered.

An exasperated Waxman shot back: “Are we going to then start putting money into iron lungs for polio victims?”

A liberal Democrat from California, Waxman for years worked with Sen. Paula Hawkins, a conservative Florida Republican, on legislation that stopped the exodus of vaccine makers by limiting their liability. Launched in 1988, the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program pays people who suffer rare but serious side effects, using money from a special tax on certain shots. The program maintains a table of injuries that are eligible for quicker payouts, and a dedicated vaccine court rules on cases involving health problems not listed on the table.

Those who don’t like what they are offered can still sue vaccine makers in traditional civil courts, but a Supreme Court ruling significantly limited the types of cases that can win there.

Just as the compensation program was getting off the ground, measles laid bare a different weakness in the immunization system. The disease tore through American cities, hitting Black and Hispanic preschoolers especially hard. Between 1989 and 1991, there were more than 55,000 cases and 123 deaths.

In June 1991, President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, stepped into the White House Rose Garden with a message for “every parent everywhere in America”: “Please, make sure your child is immunized.”

He announced that a special team of health officials was investigating why so many kids were missing their shots.

“While some say each generation repeats the mistakes of the last, no generation in America should suffer the plagues of the past,” Bush said.

The problem was access. Parents couldn’t afford the vaccines given at pediatricians’ offices. Bush’s successor, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, ushered in a program that to this day offers free shots through local doctors to more than half of American kids.

Vaccination rates climbed, and measles cases dropped precipitously. By 2000, the U.S. had stopped local spread of the virus so well that global health authorities declared it eliminated here.

Having made progress at home, the U.S. government championed the use of vaccines abroad. Dr. Susan Reef, who had trained in the CDC disease-detective program made famous by Kate Winslet’s character in the movie “Contagion,” crisscrossed the globe showing health officials how they could save babies from birth defects and early death by introducing the rubella vaccine.

Also known as German measles, rubella is usually mild in kids and adults. When people get infected very early in pregnancy, though, they face up to a 90% chance of giving birth to a baby with congenital rubella syndrome. About a third of those infants die before their first birthday. Most survivors have deafness, blindness, heart defects or intellectual disabilities. Before the vaccine, a U.S. epidemic in the mid-1960s led to 20,000 babies born with the syndrome.

Reef and her CDC colleagues helped foreign health authorities set up surveillance systems that identified newborns with congenital rubella syndrome.

During a 2011 rubella epidemic in Vietnam, Reef spotted a cluster of tiny bassinets in a Ho Chi Minh City intensive care unit. The babies’ eyes had cataracts, a sign of vision loss. She knew that most would have trouble hearing, if they could hear at all. A collaborator from the WHO told Reef that at least one of the infants had been abandoned by his family.

Doctors had isolated the contagious newborns to prevent the spread of rubella, a sign the country’s surveillance system was working. But the scene of this preventable suffering, Reef said, “broke my heart.”

Vietnam launched a national rubella immunization program a few years later.

When Reef’s work began, less than half the world’s countries had introduced a rubella shot. When she retired in 2022 after a 30-year career at the CDC, all but 19 had.

For half a century, one idea lay at the core of all U.S. immunization programs: Let down your guard and the diseases will return.

Dr. Chuck Vitek saw this happen as he walked the worn linoleum floors of Russian infectious disease hospitals in the mid-1990s.

Throughout that decade, a massive epidemic of diphtheria raged across the countries of the former Soviet Union. The CDC repeatedly deployed Vitek to help health authorities contain this ancient contagion, once widely known as the “strangling angel of children.”

Diphtheria’s name is drawn from the Greek word for leather because tissue destroyed by the diphtheria toxin builds up in the back of the throat like a piece of hide, sealing off a swollen airway. Many parents had to watch their children suffocate. For those who escape asphyxiation, the toxin can damage the heart and nerves. Patients who seem better can drop dead weeks later.

At one hospital, Vitek peered into the mouth of a sick Russian teenager and saw the thick greyish-white membrane covering a third of his throat. Doctors had administered antitoxin promptly, so his windpipe wasn’t blocked. But, pale and weak, the boy faced a terrible wait. Had diphtheria ruined his heart?

Vitek had to leave before it was clear whether the child would survive. But one detail from his medical history stood out above all others: The teen had not been vaccinated.

“It was sad because it was something that would have easily been prevented with vaccination,” Vitek recalled.

Vitek was another graduate of the CDC’s disease-detective program. A big part of his assignment was to investigate why diphtheria had come back. One obvious problem was access; the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 disrupted vaccine supplies. But that wasn’t the whole answer.

The unvaccinated Russian boy offered a clue to the rest.

The Soviets had been big believers in immunization. Diphtheria shots for kids had been free — and mandatory — since the 1950s.

When diphtheria seemed like a problem of the past, though, the Soviet Union eased up. Concerns about fevers and other possible side effects from the shot used back then overshadowed fears of the disease. In the 1980s, Soviet health authorities created alternative immunization schedules with lower-dose diphtheria shots and fewer total injections, and they directed pediatricians to put off vaccination if a child had one of a long list of health issues. “If a kid had a runny nose, a stomachache, almost anything,” Vitek said, doctors would skip the shot that day. “They wouldn’t make an effort to catch them up.”

Antivaccine activists tapped into the deep mistrust of government institutions in the years leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union. One 1988 column in a Moscow newspaper suggested that Soviet officials knew the shot could be harmful — even deadly — but kept this secret. (In focus groups held years later, parents vividly recalled how news stories made them afraid of immunizations, Vitek and a colleague found.)

By 1990, only 60% of infants in Soviet Russia had received all three full-strength diphtheria shots before their first birthday.

The disease found a foothold. Before the epidemic was over, more than 157,000 people were infected and 5,000 died, mostly in Russia.

Health officials in Russia ended the policies that left their people vulnerable and held mandatory mass vaccination campaigns.

“It was an extra dose across the entire population,” Vitek recalled.

It took years to end the epidemic.

Japan had a similar struggle with rubella.

When health authorities introduced a rubella shot in the 1970s, they took an approach that weighed who was most at risk, targeting future mothers by giving the shot only to junior high girls. The boys of this era were passed over and remained susceptible as they grew up. Rubella researchers refer to them as “the lost generation.”

In 1989, Japan changed course and began vaccinating young boys and girls with a shot that combined protection for rubella, measles and mumps. But doctors quickly discovered that the mumps component — different from the U.S. version — sometimes caused a type of meningitis. Mistrust spread as health officials downplayed the risk at first, then yanked the combined vaccines in favor of standalone shots.

Japan in 1994 dropped its strict immunization mandates. Health authorities continued to recommend shots, but vaccination became a matter of personal choice, and a lack of trust shadowed the immunization program for years. One study showed Japan’s confidence in vaccines was among the lowest in the world.

Time and again, rubella circulated in the men who were never offered the shots as boys, then spread to pregnant women who hadn’t been fully vaccinated. Babies were born with the type of devastating birth defects that Reef saw in the ICU in Vietnam. Japan’s epidemic from 2012 to 2014 was so bad that researchers discovered a temporary drop in the country’s fertility rates that coincided with a spike in Google searches for the Japanese word for rubella.

Serious misgivings about vaccination in one part of the world can have far-reaching consequences. Twenty countries that thought their days of paralytic polio were behind them saw the dreaded disease return in the 2000s. The virus was traced to Nigeria, where religious and political leaders in some areas had boycotted polio immunization campaigns amid false rumors that the shots had been tainted to make Muslim girls infertile.

Organizers of the boycott feared the vaccine more than the disease.

The governor of one northern Nigerian state told the Associated Press in 2004: “It is a lesser of two evils to sacrifice two, three, four, five, even 10 children [to polio] than allow hundreds or thousands or possibly millions of girl-children likely to be rendered infertile.”

Polio roared back in Nigeria, leaving more than 2,500 children disabled. It spread around the world for years, paralyzing kids as far away as Indonesia.

When Kennedy became America’s top health official last year, no other leader at the CDC had more experience preventing death and disability with vaccines than Dr. Melinda Wharton.

It was Wharton who had sent Vitek to Russia to figure out why diphtheria returned. And it was Wharton who started Reef on her quest to vanquish congenital rubella syndrome. Like them, she had trained as a disease detective.

In her 39 years at the CDC, Wharton had seen activists try to persuade Americans that the shots they were giving their babies were scarier than the diseases those shots prevented. In 2021, Kennedy had written in a book that measles — a virus the CDC says kills nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who contract it — wasn’t the menace that the government proclaimed.

“Measles outbreaks have been fabricated to create fear that in turn forces government officials to ‘do something,’” he wrote. “They then inflict unnecessary and risky vaccines on millions of children for the sole purpose of fattening industry profits.”

During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy told senators he isn’t antivaccine. “I am pro-safety,” he said. “I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish, and nobody called me anti-fish.”

In his early days as the nation’s top health leader, HHS dismissed thousands of Wharton’s colleagues, ended vaccine promotions during an especially deadly flu season and buried a CDC measles forecast that stressed the need for immunization.

Wharton set five empty cardboard boxes on her filing cabinet in case she needed to pack up quickly.

In recent years she managed the committee of outside experts that recommends which shots Americans should get and when. Few people had ever heard of her obscure corner of the federal health bureaucracy.

But Kennedy knew it well. He understood that Congress had given these advisers the power to determine which shots were free for more than half of American kids and which ones insurers must pay for. Many states used the committee’s recommendations to set vaccine mandates for kids attending school.

Kennedy for years complained the panel had been captured by Big Pharma. On June 9, his chief of staff at the CDC removed Wharton from her role managing the committee. Just as that news was sinking in, Wharton’s phone lit up with messages from the committee’s members. Kennedy had announced in a Wall Street Journal column that he was replacing all of them. “A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science,” he wrote.

Kennedy stacked the new committee with many vaccine skeptics who quickly delved into his longstanding grievances about America’s immunization system. Webcasts of the meetings became a megaphone for mistrust. Some devolved into shouting matches as doctors from medical societies pushed back against misinformation.

One of Kennedy’s new appointees, Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, suggested that vaccinating a baby was like flying on an airplane that hadn’t been rigorously tested. “I suggest to parents to be very, very suspicious when people tell them that something is safe, especially a vaccine,” he said.

In an emailed response to questions from ProPublica, Levi said that vaccines have benefits and risks “often personalized to the individual’s health status, risk factors, and preferences.” Being transparent about those benefits and risks, including being honest about what is known and not known, increases public confidence in vaccination programs, he said.

The chair of the committee, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, told the “Why Should I Trust You?” podcast he wasn’t afraid to reconsider whether the polio shot is needed any longer. In an email to ProPublica, Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist, said that the committee is required to review vaccines every seven years “to optimize effectiveness and to reevaluate possible long term risks.”

Like Kennedy, Milhoan doesn’t think vaccines have been appropriately tested for safety. In the podcast, he said American parents deserve to know the risks so they can decide whether they’re more concerned about the disease or the potential for side effects from the shot.

“What we are doing is returning individual autonomy to the first order, not public health,” he added.

Since she retired last year, Wharton has tuned in to the meetings she used to run, but at times they were too painful to watch. The new committee at one point sought advice from a former president of the antivaccination group Kennedy founded, while a CDC compilation of evidence that ran counter to her presentation was quietly removed from the panel’s website. For insight on the childhood schedule, the panel listened to a 90-minute talk by a Kennedy ally, a vaccine-injury attorney who once petitioned the government to withdraw approval of the polio shot for infants and toddlers.

In January, the acting CDC director trimmed the childhood immunization schedule so that it recommended routine protection for 11 diseases rather than 17. Six shots that had been universal would now fall into a category that essentially means “talk to your doctor and decide for yourself,” with guidance for certain shots based on risk.

“The idea that it’s increasingly acceptable to put children at risk for these kinds of things is really just terrible,” Wharton said. “To have it be the official position of the federal government, it’s very frightening.”

Nixon, the HHS spokesperson, defended the slimmed-down schedule, saying it would “maintain robust protection against diseases that cause serious morbidity or mortality to children while aligning the U.S. with peer nations.”

As for the committee, Nixon said Kennedy’s appointees are “committed to rigorous review and independent thinking.”

“Restoring confidence requires advisory bodies that are willing to ask hard questions, not simply reaffirm prior consensus and rubber stamp recommendations,” he said. “Disagreement at public meetings is a healthy scientific debate and the way to overcome groupthink.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics, which for decades had collaborated with the committee on the childhood vaccine schedule, boycotted the panel’s meetings and sued to block many of Kennedy’s moves.

On Monday, a federal judge sided with the academy, finding that for an advisory committee dedicated to using vaccines to control preventable diseases, more than half of the new members “appear distinctly unqualified.” While he considers the case, the judge, for now, put on hold Kennedy’s appointments to the panel as well as the CDC’s changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.

The ruling is a setback for Kennedy, but the Trump administration has foreshadowed other changes that could affect Americans’ access to shots.

In September, President Donald Trump stepped up to the microphone in the White House’s Roosevelt Room with a major announcement about his administration’s efforts to counter the rise of autism. Flanked by Kennedy and other top health officials, the president urged pregnant women not to take acetaminophen, the pain reliever often sold as Tylenol. This news ricocheted around the globe.

But less attention was given to other bombshells dropped about vaccines that day. The president complained that pediatricians were giving so many shots, they were treating America’s children like horses.

“They pump so much stuff into those beautiful little babies, it’s a disgrace,” he said.

Without explaining how, Trump said his administration was going to get aluminum removed from vaccines. “Who the hell wants that pumped into a body?” he said.

Aluminum has been used in shots since the 1930s to boost immune response. It is an essential ingredient in vaccines for nine diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, human papillomavirus (a cause of cervical cancer), one version of the Hib vaccine, and many of the combination shots babies receive. Kennedy has long questioned its safety.

A CDC-sponsored study found an association between aluminum in shots and asthma in young kids. But the researchers, citing limitations in their analysis, wrote that “these findings do not constitute strong evidence for questioning the safety of aluminum in vaccines.” A larger study by Danish government researchers subsequently found aluminum in shots did not increase the risk of autism, asthma, autoimmune diseases or dozens of other conditions. Kennedy criticized the methodology and tried unsuccessfully to get the Danish study retracted.

If the federal government were to ban aluminum in vaccines, companies would have to reformulate them and, possibly, launch costly clinical trials. Nearly all the shots American kids get are made by a handful of pharmaceutical giants. The market is fragile enough that if any were to balk and stop making these vaccines, families could face shortages or lose access altogether.

The fate of the measles-mumps-rubella shot, which does not contain aluminum, is also up in the air. At the White House autism press conference, Trump, without offering evidence, said he had heard bad things about that shot, which has been used here since 1971. Researchers around the world repeatedly have found it does not cause autism.

Nevertheless, the president implored parents to insist on separate shots for measles, mumps and rubella — “separate, separate, separate,” he repeated.

But there are no FDA-approved standalone shots for measles, mumps or rubella. Facing a year with the most American measles cases in a generation, the president had suggested that there’s a problem with the only surefire prevention available and told parents to demand shots that don’t exist here.

In an X post, the acting CDC director at that time called on manufacturers to develop them.

A White House spokesperson did not answer questions about the president’s plans.

“The Trump administration is committed to a nuanced, nimble, and multi-faceted approach to restore Gold Standard Science as the guiding principle of our health policymaking without compromising access to or coverage of any lifesaving treatment, including vaccines,” Kush Desai wrote in an email. “Until unveiled by the Administration, discussion about potential new policies or their second order effects is pointless speculation.”

The federal court ruling that paused January’s revisions to the childhood vaccination schedule doesn’t stop Kennedy from making similar changes in the future, as long as he follows the proper procedures. While moving shots to the talk-to-your-doctor category may seem harmless, it could affect access down the line.

The injury compensation program that Congress created to prevent manufacturers from fleeing the U.S. market in the 1980s only covers immunizations the CDC recommends for “routine administration” to children or pregnant women. That leaves shots in other categories open to legal challenges by vaccine injury lawyers, renewing the specter of big legal verdicts that previously prompted vaccine makers to bolt.

Kennedy has long railed against the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, arguing it’s a gift to the pharmaceutical industry that removes any incentive to make safe products. Before he became HHS secretary, Kennedy referred plaintiffs to a law firm suing a vaccine maker in exchange for a cut of its fees if they won, federal financial disclosures show.

Last year, he hired a vaccine injury lawyer to help him overhaul the compensation program and expand who can receive payments. In September, that attorney said he and Kennedy were considering ways to add symptoms of autism to the program’s injury table for quick payouts.

So many studies — performed in different parts of the world and involving more than a million people — have found no link between vaccines and autism that this has become scientific consensus. (Scientists have found serious methodological flaws in papers that have claimed such a link.) The compensation program’s vaccine court spent years in the 2000s trying cases that alleged shots caused autism and found they didn’t. ProPublica asked HHS whether Kennedy planned to add symptoms of autism to the program’s injury table, but the agency did not answer.

Given how prevalent autism is, a change like this could exhaust the compensation fund. If the program collapses and the legal protections go away, manufacturers may stop selling shots here like they did in the 1980s.

Then, even Americans who still trust vaccines couldn’t get them.

Diseases that have been wiped out in the U.S. are still found in other parts of the world.

Polio is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and this month the CDC warned American travelers that the virus has been circulating in 28 additional countries, including Israel and the United Kingdom. In 2022, a young unvaccinated man in New York was paralyzed by the virus.

That same year, an outbreak of diphtheria began in Western Europe, its largest rise in cases in 70 years. Health authorities investigating the infection of an unvaccinated German boy in 2024 discovered that the toxic strain of the diphtheria bacteria had spread over two years from newly arrived migrants to homeless Germans, then to the child and his mother, who had no known contact with either group.

The 10-year-old was admitted to a hospital in the historic city of Potsdam. Like Ratner encountering his first patient with Hib, the German doctors had never seen diphtheria before.

“It was taught as history,” said Dr. Bernhard Kosak, head of pediatric emergency medicine and critical care there.

Treated with antitoxin and antibiotics, the child was transferred to the big teaching hospital in Berlin where a ventilator helped him breathe. But the marvels of modern intensive-care medicine couldn’t undo the damage from this ancient toxin. The boy died in January last year.

Diseases can follow the contours of global travel. In just the first few months of last year, the CDC found, people infected with measles arrived in the U.S. from Canada, Vietnam, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Australia, Guinea, the Netherlands, Somalia, Spain and Uganda.

The Trump administration has walked away from long-standing international alliances that helped the U.S. beat back scourges in other countries. The president withdrew the U.S. from the WHO. And Kennedy backed out of the government’s promise to give $1.6 billion to Gavi, the global vaccine aid group the U.S. has funded for decades. He accused the organization of neglecting vaccine safety.

“Secretary Kennedy has made clear that American public health dollars going abroad must be spent wisely,” Nixon, the HHS spokesperson, said. “That means reviewing funding commitments and ensuring programs meet safety and effectiveness standards. Protecting Americans at home remains our first obligation.”

Reef, the former CDC doctor who had witnessed newborns suffering from congenital rubella syndrome in Vietnam, is devastated by the pullback.

“It makes me very very sad,” she said, then paused for a long time. “Very very sad. I can’t explain to you what it feels like to see all your hard work going by the wayside.”

In retirement, she remains part of the group of experts that helps governments decide when to introduce the rubella vaccine and also serves on four WHO committees that determine whether nations have eliminated rubella or measles.

When countries launch rubella vaccination campaigns for the first time, they can’t just target babies or the virus shifts to older groups and can infect those who are pregnant. To avoid this, Gavi for many years supported immunizing all children from 9 months old up to age 15 when countries first introduce the shot, which offers protection not just for rubella but also for measles.

But facing a massive hole in its budget, Gavi’s board in December decided in the future to save money by only guaranteeing that vaccine up to age 10 when a country first debuts it. Modeling predicts the change could result in 72,000 additional deaths from measles and congenital rubella syndrome, according to the Gavi board’s records.

A Gavi spokesperson acknowledged that the shift creates a greater risk of congenital rubella but said that the organization had to figure out how to protect as many people as it could with far less money. Countries that want to offer the vaccine to older kids, she noted, can draw from a different pot of Gavi money, but that will leave those places with less funding for other shots.

Fallout from the budget cuts goes well beyond rubella. “The bottom line is that, over the next five years, we expect to be able to prevent 600,000 future deaths less than if we were fully funded,” the spokesperson said.

Addressing Kennedy’s criticism, the spokesperson added, “Gavi’s utmost concern is the health and safety of children. Our approach to vaccine safety is guided entirely by global scientific consensus.”

The spread of measles in the U.S. warns of future rubella outbreaks. Since the rubella shot here is given in combination with the vaccine for measles and mumps, parents who turn down measles vaccines leave their kids vulnerable to rubella, too. It could take 20 years before birth defects from rubella become common again. Unvaccinated children have to grow old enough to become pregnant. The long lag time can give a false sense of security.

But, Reef warned, “when it comes back, it will come back with a vengeance. We will see babies being born who are blind, deaf and have heart disease.”

The world is ill prepared for a major resurgence in diphtheria. Antitoxin, made from the blood of horses, has to be given immediately. Yet supplies are scarce, and not many companies sell it. Dozens of kids in Pakistan died in 2024 because doctors there couldn’t get it in time.

Vitek, the CDC doctor who fought diphtheria in Russia, helped obtain permission for the CDC to keep an emergency stash of antitoxin for Americans after the only manufacturer with FDA approval stopped making it. The U.S. medical system still relies on an emergency supply controlled by the CDC.

ProPublica asked the CDC and HHS how many diphtheria patients the government’s current supply could treat, but neither agency would say. (“The CDC vigilantly monitors disease trends, maintains emergency stockpiles, and supports outbreak response at home and abroad,” Nixon said.)

Vitek retired in July after 33 years with the CDC, but he still worries how diseases that seem vanquished can reappear if people can’t or won’t get shots.

The unvaccinated parts of America could find themselves, like Germany, one unwitting traveler away from an outbreak of a horror from the history books.

“Once it gets reintroduced, your kid could get sick or die, even with modern medicine,” Vitek warned. And diphtheria, he noted, “it’s a terrible way to die.”

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The reporter on this story, Patricia Callahan, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter exploring how federal policies affect the health of vulnerable people. This story was reprinted with ProPublica’s permission.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to nonpartisan, evidence-based journalism that holds power accountable. Founded in 2008 to address the decline in investigative reporting, ProPublica has spent over 15 years uncovering injustice, corruption, and abuse of power — work that is slow, expensive and more critical than ever to our democracy. Sign up to receive stories as soon as they’re published. And you can help ProPublica’s mission by donating here:

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