WEEKLY WRAP: Congress plans vote on Daylight Saving Time, and Todd Blanche takes the stand
Your selective summary of the stories we'll be watching in the coming week, top news from the previous week, and more.
The Week Ahead
By J.C. Bruce
Forget about springing ahead and falling behind.
If a bill before the House this week is approved—and if the Senate concurs—Daylight Saving Time will become how we set our clocks year-round.
Sponsored by a pair of Floridians—Vern Buchanan in the House and Rick Scott in the Senate—the “Sunshine Protection Act” enjoys broad bipartisan support. It is scheduled for a vote in the House this week, although a specific date and time have not yet been set.
President Donald Trump has also endorsed passage of the legislation. But its approval is not certain. As The Hill reports:
Should it pass the House, it could face opposition in the Senate from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who warned it would “push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour” and that “kids would either walk to school in the pitch black or schools would have to push back start times.”
Daylight Saving Time has been observed throughout most of the U.S. since the 1960s, shifting clocks forward one hour from March to November. Only two states don’t engage in the annual clock switching—Arizona and Hawaii.
Will this confusing annual chore finally come to an end? Stay tuned.
And for those worried Republicans like Tom Cotton: No, this does not affect the Sun. It will rise as it always has. It will still be in the sky. It’s about clocks. Just clocks.
But how do you feel? Share your thoughts:
Also this week, stay tuned for the two-day hearing scheduled in the Senate as Trump’s nomination of his former personal attorney, Todd Blanche, testifies in his confirmation hearing to become the next U.S. attorney general.
Blanche took over from Florida’s Pam Bondi after Trump sacked her in April.
In the interim, Blanche has been busy doing Trump’s personal bidding, including arranging a secretive—and likely illegal—lawsuit settlement that promises to give Trump $1.776 billion and immunity on his tax returns.
I’m going to gaze into my crystal ball and predict there could be a few questions about that.
That Was The Week That Was
Ex-Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum arrested on drug possession charges
Former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been arrested on drug possession charges in Alabama after police say they pulled him over for erratic driving and found marijuana and meth in his vehicle.
It’s the latest legal trouble for the ex-Tallahassee mayor, who narrowly lost to Republican Ron DeSantis for governor in 2018 and was once considered a rising star of the Democratic Party.
Gillum, 46, was arrested in the town of Daphne, about 11 miles east of Mobile on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Jail records show he was released on July 3.
Florida lawmakers once again give gas stations and grocery stores a bigger cut of lottery tickets
Here’s something you might not know about Florida’s new state budget: It takes money from Florida high school students — and gives money to Publix Super Markets.
That’s thanks to a provision slipped into the new spending plan by Republican legislative leaders that will give a bigger cut of lottery ticket sales to grocery stores, gas stations and convenience chains, independent journalist Jason Garcia reports.
Property tax cuts could hurt local government credit ratings
A massive overhaul of the state’s property tax structure being pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis would have a sweeping impact on the financial stability of local governments across Florida and place devastating constraints on their ability to borrow money, according to three of the nation’s biggest credit rating agencies, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
If approved by 60% of voters in November, the property tax amendment would take effect Jan. 1. …It would slash a quarter of what local governments currently collect to pay for necessary services and pay off bond debt, an amount Florida’s Revenue Estimating Conference estimates could eventually total nearly $12 billion annually.
House District 47 flips blue after judge denies Paula Stark’s lawsuit to get on the ballot
Republican Rep. Paula Stark will not return to the ballot this year after a court decision ended her bid for reinstatement. As a result, House District 47, which she currently represents, will shift to the Democrats without a General Election contest, Florida Politics reports.
Leon Circuit Court Judge Joshua Hawkes denied Stark’s request to be reinstated on the ballot. Stark, a St. Cloud Republican, had failed to qualify last month and subsequently filed suit to challenge her disqualification.
That means the lone candidates qualifying for the ballot in HD 47 are a pair of Democrats, Jorge Figueroa and Anthony Nieves.
Meme of the Week
Quote of the Week
“Florida’s salary-for-speech rule is a breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse in the very places the State’s own statutes recognize as centers of inquiry—classrooms where students are trusted to puzzle through ideas that are good and bad, easy and hard, ideally getting ever closer to the truth.”
—Judge Britt Grant of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
in striking down Florida’s Stop WOKE Act.
Letter of the Week
“It is pathetic that the courts' time and effort is needed to rule on a case this blatantly offensive to the First Amendment. It seems to be the Republican strategy, though, to pack the courts with judges who are either paid or threatened to rule accordingly. Keep throwing garbage against the wall and occasionally, some of it sticks.”
— Joel F. Mooney on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
throwing out portions of Florida’s Stop WOKE Act
Looking Ahead
When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter can see the full archive here.) Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead.
July 13. It’s Oxymoron Day. Some of the best: Jumbo shrimp, open secret, deafening silence, and Justice Department.
July 14. Baseball’s 96th annual All-Star Game is tonight. It is also the start of the World Cup semi-final games.
July 15. Todd Blanche’s two-day hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee begins today as the panel considers his nomination to succeed Pam Bondi as the next attorney general. He has “acting” before his title right now.
July 16 is World Snake Day, which, ironically, arrives in the midst of Florida’s annual Python Challenge that began July 10. The point of this holiday is to recognize the importance of snakes in our natural environment. Python hunters beware: While pythons are invasive, Florida is home to more than 44 native snake species, six of which are venomous, including several kinds of rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, copperheads and coral snakes. You’ll want to avoid those.
July 17 is Yellow Pig Day, a holiday only nerds could love. It’s a whimsical celebration of the number 17, which is the sum of the first four prime numbers (2+3+5+7=17), for which some college math students created a mythical beast, a yellow pig, with 17 toes, 17 teeth, 17 eyelashes and 17 body parts.
July 18. World Listening Day is just what it sounds like (yes, that was intentional)—a day to pay attention to the sounds around us.
July 19. World Cup Championship game starts at 3 p.m.
Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines
In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.
It’s time to ‘Drain the Swamp’ to end Washington corruption, and this bill would do just that
In Florida’s most liberal area, a Republican candidate claims you can’t be born gay
A victory for the First Amendment: DeSantis’ pet project--the Stop WOKE Act--is shredded
Florida’s experience with toxic algae blooms can help clear up Reflecting Pool mess
ASK THE BIRD: Can I use my Wi-Fi name to insult the ‘moron’ running for governor?
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.
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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grrrrrrrrr.......
If they are going to make ANYTHING PERMANENT, it should be Mother Nature's time!
Since when do they get to decide how we live our lives?????
With no input.. no vote.. for We, the People.
I am pissed.
We tried this once before and kids were going to school in the dark which was unsafe. Several accidents were reported at the time involving kids being hit by cars while they walked to school or their bus stops.