Florida was front and center at the RNC - a weekly recap and analysis of the week in state government and politics

TALLAHASSEE — Florida, at least the red side of it, was on full display this week in Milwaukee.

With Palm Beach resident Donald Trump formally getting the nomination to try to win back his old job, the nightly roster of speakers at the Republican National Convention was filled with Florida officials and residents. And stationed front and center of the stage was the Florida delegation.

“I think our state is featured prominently, not just at the convention but in the life of our party, in the country, because so much has gone right in our state,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday during a Republican Party of Florida breakfast.

Rubio, who was on a short list to become Trump’s running mate, joked that it was a good thing Trump moved to Florida because otherwise the New York delegation would have been seated at the lip of the stage.

More unscripted drama and less Florida is expected next month in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention.

Meanwhile, outside the Badger State:

MAKING A STATEMENT

A marathon meeting of economists ended Monday with a revised “financial impact statement” that will appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights.

Revising the statement spurred a contentious debate, with a state panel known as the Financial Impact Estimating Conference ultimately approving proposals pushed by representatives of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida House. Those proposals included asserting that the amendment could lead to Medicaid-funded abortions and spur a wide range of costly lawsuits.

Panel member Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research, agreed that passage of the amendment would lead to lawsuits. But Baker, the panel’s lone dissenter, objected to including issues such as the possibility of litigation leading to Medicaid-funded abortions.

“I would, personally, feel more comfortable if we just did it clean and crisp,” Baker said. “We’re not making a political statement here. We are not trying to frighten people. There will be litigation costs.”

But Chris Spencer, DeSantis’ former longtime budget director, argued that “protracted” lawsuits would be inevitable if the amendment passes and that the proposals weren’t “a political statement.”

“I don’t think it’s anything other than we know litigation is going to occur,” said Spencer, who was recently appointed as executive director of the State Board of Administration.

The Floridians Protecting Freedom political committee, which is leading efforts to pass the amendment, blasted the revised statement, with one leader accusing the panel of a “dirty trick to mislead voters.”

DeSantis and other Republican leaders oppose the initiative, which will appear as Amendment 4 on the ballot. The proposed amendment says, in part, that no “law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”

BACK TO COURT

Less than three months before the 2022 general election, DeSantis and other state officials sparked controversy by announcing voter fraud charges against 20 convicted felons. This week, South Florida appeals courts revived charges against two of the felons.

Divided panels of the 3rd District Court of Appeal and the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the statewide prosecutor’s authority to pursue the cases against Ronald Miller and Terry Hubbard.

Circuit judges in Miami-Dade and Broward counties had dismissed the cases because they said the alleged voter fraud crimes each occurred in one judicial circuit and that the statewide prosecutor only has jurisdiction in cases involving multiple circuits.

The 3rd District panel rejected that argument, as it said voter registration information had to go to the state Division of Elections in Leon County, which is in a different circuit.

“Miller would not have been able to register to vote, and ultimately vote, without his filling out the form in Miami-Dade County, the processing and approval of his voter registration in Leon County, and the conveyance of such approval back to Miami-Dade County,” 3rd District Judge Alexander Bokor wrote in a decision joined by Judge Monica Gordo.

The 4th District panel cited a 2023 change in state law that allowed the statewide prosecutor to handle such cases and said that change should apply retroactively to Hubbard’s prosecution.

The arrests in 2022 of Miller, Hubbard and the other felons drew heavy attention. DeSantis, who was re-elected in November 2022, and other Republicans have made a high-profile issue of trying to stop what they say is voter fraud.

Florida voters in 2018 approved a constitutional amendment aimed at restoring the rights of convicted felons who have completed terms of their sentences.

The 2018 amendment did not apply to people with convictions for murder or sex offenses. The state said the felons arrested in the voter fraud case had such convictions, but they had been issued voter information cards by election officials.

SASSE STEPS DOWN

In a surprise move, University of Florida President Ben Sasse on Thursday announced he will step down July 31 because of his wife’s health.

“My wife Melissa’s recent epilepsy diagnosis and a new batch of memory issues have been hard, but we’re facing it together,” Sasse said in a prepared statement. “Our two wonderful daughters are in college, but our youngest is just turning 13. Gator Nation needs a president who can keep charging hard, Melissa deserves a husband who can pull his weight, and my kids need a dad who can be home many more nights.”

Sasse, who two years ago left a Nebraska U.S. Senate seat to become the university’s president, will move into a teaching role. The university’s Board of Trustees will name an interim president and prepare to search for a new leader.

STORY OF THE WEEK

Florida politicians took center stage at the Republican National Convention.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We will probably try to borrow some of your great volunteers and manpower and ship them up to Georgia, North Carolina and these other places that are critical to the map.” — James Blair, political director for the Trump campaign, to Florida Republican National Convention delegates.