Your Latest Legislative & COVID19 Update from Team Anna

by | February 15, 2021

Dear Friend,

Happy Presidents’ Day. I am back in Tallahassee for what will be our last week of Committee Meetings before we start the 2021 Legislative Session on March 2nd. 

We have a lot to cover in this email update, including an update of COVID19 news and a review of what’s been happening in Tallahassee during Committee weeks. 

If you’re not so doing already, please consider keeping up to date with us through our social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also watch Committee Meetings and Floor Session live on the Florida Channel.

Onward, 

Representative Anna V. Eskamani 

REMINDER: UPCOMING EVENT 

In honor of Random Act of Kindness Day, we’re teaming up with Representative Travaris McCurdy for a community clean-up! We’ll supply all the tools you need, and we ask that you dress comfortably with closed-toe shoes and a mask. Learn more and RSVP at this link. 

COVID19 UPDATES

We have updated our COVID19 Guide (español) along with Unemployment Issues blog post and our guidance for renters. If you are facing issues with your unemployment claim, please fill out our DEO escalation form here. 

Last week, Commissioners approved a revision to Orange County’s rental assistance program that will increase the amount of money available to help tenants facing eviction from $4,000 to $10,000 per household. This program will begin on March 1st, and you can read more here. 

As of Dec. 28, Florida is vaccinating four priority groups: Health care workers, long-term care facility staff, residents and people 65 or older, and people who are at-risk but under the age of 65. The health care group includes EMTs and paramedics as well as Department of Health staff. As the state receives more doses, more individuals will qualify among the first vaccine priority groups. Next up should be frontline workers, such as grocery store employees and teachers. The vaccine is not expected to be available to the general population, including younger residents or non-frontline workers, until late spring.

To register for the COVID19 vaccine in Orlando, visit OCFL.net/vaccines and click on the link to the registration site.  Vaccine appointments are also available at local retail pharmacies. Designated websites for each location include:

Hospitals should be the entities providing vaccine access to those under the age of 65 but at-risk. Please contact your local hospital(s) for more information. 

Not in Orange County? Check out your local County’s government website to see what details they’ve made available. Also click here for a Florida wide database for COVD19 locations. 

Meanwhile, Congress has advanced the portion of their coronavirus relief bill that includes $1,400 direct payments, an extension of unemployment programs and payments to families with children. You can read more here. 

Finally, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released guidelines for reopening schools that focus on five key Covid-19 mitigation strategies: the universal and correct wearing of masks; physical distancing; washing hands; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and contact tracing, isolation and quarantine. The CDC is not mandating that schools reopen and you can read more about their recommendations here. 

ICYMI: PAST VIRTUAL EVENTS

Here’s a quick recap of recent virtual events we’ve hosted in case you want to catch up and watch the recordings ➡️➡️➡️ 

Navigating the Healthcare Marketplace: Open Enrollment

We partnered with Primary Care Access Network (PCAN) to prepare for the reopening of Open Enrollment (OE) of the healthcare marketplace today. Rewatch our 30 minute session together here. 

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

February 11th was the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and to mark the occasion, we partnered with Dr. Laine Powell of Tech Sassy Girlz to talk about their amazing work in getting more girls into STEM! Rewatch our 30 minute session together here.

National Women & Girls in Sports Day with Kay Rawlins, President of the Orlando City Foundation

From science to sports– February 3rd marked National Women and Girls in Sports Day so we partnered with Kay Rawlins, President of the Orlando City Foundation, to talk about the successes of women in the athletics community and how we can better support girls in sports! Rewatch our 30 minute session together here.

COMMITTEE MEETINGS

As I mentioned earlier, this week is our last week of Committee Meetings before the 2021 Legislative Session begins on March 2nd. Below is a review of what’s taken place during the last three weeks. 

ANTI-PROTESTING BILL & CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM REFORM

House Bill 1/ Senate Bill 484, also known as the anti-protesting bill, punishes protestors, censors and suppresses our free speech and will disproportionately harm Black, brown and low-income Floridians. Free speech has been instrumental to our country’s greatest moments of change, from the American Revolution to the Civil Rights Movement of yesterday and today. This bill has been given one committee hearing in the Florida House and you can read an overview of that committee meeting here. The bill has found opposition from racial justice advocates, public defenders, law enforcement, faith leaders, and even Ariana Grande. 

While we oppose this legislation, we were honored to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the Florida Black Legislative Caucus to roll out a series of bills to reform the criminal legal system. You can watch that roll out here.

We are proud to fill legislation to repeal mandatory minimums in Florida and to support a wide range of efforts that would end mass incarceration in Florida while still keep our communities safe. 

FIXING UNEMPLOYMENT

In early February we sent a request to Representative Brad Drake, Chair of the Tourism, Infrastructure & Energy Subcommittee to agenda our comprehensive legislation to fix Florida’s broken unemployment system. I also met with Chair Drake last week, and am hopeful to find bipartisan solutions to fix unemployment in Florida long term. 

Meanwhile, the United States Department of Labor released an audit of Florida’s workforce board and rehiring efforts and found deficiencies — the Florida House will be investigating these findings, but I continue to push my colleagues to talk about the broken unemployment system too. Having a functioning unemployment system helps people get back to work; it’s hard to look for a new job when you’re also trying to pay your bills on time and avoid homelessness.

CLEAN ENERGY LEGISLATION & BAD ENERGY BILLS

We are proud to have filed critical legislation to transition Florida to 100% renewable energy by 2040 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

House Bill 283 / Senate Bill 720 would also ban fracking in Florida and establish a workforce board to ensure that Florida’s drive towards a clean energy economy produces new high paying jobs; a much needed initiative following the damaging impact of COVID19 on the state’s unemployment rate.

You can watch a virtual press conference we hosted with Senator Lori Berman and coalition partners to announce this legislation at this link. 

I also penned an editorial in the Miami Herald last week to not only support our legislative efforts but to stress how it is possible for Florida to be 100% renewable energy based. 

Unfortunately, as we work to bring Florida into the future with a clean energy economy, there are those in the fossil fuel industry who are aggressively pushing back. Several bills have been filed to stop local governments from pursuing clean energy. Click here to learn more and to take action. 

LGBTQ+ EQUALITY 

February started with incredible news for LGBTQ+ equality —  the agency that enforces state civil rights law has affirmed that discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal. The Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR) has issued a notice formally announcing its intent to fully implement the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County and investigate claims of anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

The move by FCHR comes on the heels of President Biden’s sweeping Executive Order implementing these nondiscrimination protections across federal agencies and is further evidence of the dramatic swing in public support for LGBTQ equality. In a first for over 800,000 LGBTQ Floridians, the decision provides those who experience discrimination an official state channel through which to file a claim and affords them the full protection of Florida’s civil rights laws. You can report discrimination here. 

We also refiled our legislation to ban LGBTQ+ discrimination within any private school that accepts public money. See the bill here. 

EDUCATION POLICIES

Though I don’t serve on any education committees, we are watching all bills closely and are sharing a quick recap of major education policy issues below for you. 

One major focus for Florida Senate Republican leaders is a 158-page proposal that would merge the state’s five main school choice programs and make them all state-funded. It would also convert the voucher programs into an education savings accounts. Read more here. 

According to the Tampa Bay Times: “The proposal is expected to become a high-profile issue during this year’s legislative session beginning March 2, and is likely to open the floodgates for a decades-old debate on whether taxpayers should fund private and religious education over traditional public schools.”

In the Florida House, Speaker Sprowls told superintendents in a letter that school districts need to find their “missing” students because next school year the state will only pay them for children enrolled in their public schools. As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, “This year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, Florida funded public schools based on projected enrollment, not an actual headcount. But Sprowls said the House won’t approve a budget for the 2021-22 school year that continues to pay schools for children who aren’t in attendance.” In response, Florida’s statewide teachers union said schools will need more money in the coming year and should be shielded from cuts.

When it comes to the Governor’s proposed education budget: Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking lawmakers for a $285 million increase in public-school funding in the coming year and to keep tuition rates flat for college and university students — a potentially stark contrast to what House and Senate budget leaders have signaled could be coming. Read more here. 

UNION BUSTING & MINIMUM WAGE

Union busting legislation has been moving fast through the legislation process. SB 78 places a burden on workers who want to remain a member of their union, by forcing workers to reauthorize every time a new contract is signed. The house bill was just filed by Rep. Scott Plakon, and the Senate bill is now headed to its final committee Senate Rules, scheduled to meet on February 18th. Click here to let your lawmakers know you oppose these proposals. 

Another bad bill for workers up for a hearing this week– HB 53 – Public Workers Projects, which would repeal local contracts between workers and local governments. Like so many preemption bills, this is an effort pushed by big businesses, who oppose local efforts that put people before their profits. 

In addition to opposing these bills, we are also opposed to an effort that would stop the full implementation of Amendment 2, Florida’s $15 minimum wage ballot amendment that passed overwhelmingly in 2020. Filed by a Republican Senator, this bill would carve out “hard to hire” workers, subjecting them to a lower wage. Read more here. 

COVID LIABILITY LEGISLATION 

Instead of prioritizing unemployment reform or medicaid expansion, the Florida legislature’s top priority in response to the pandemic is to prevent lawsuits related to COVID-19 negligence. My colleagues have fast-tracked two sets of bills: Senate Bill 72 / House Bill 7 are designed to provide immunity to public and private employers; Senate Bill 74 / HHS 21-01 would do the same specifically for healthcare employers. SB 74 was heard for the first time last week, and its House companion will be heard this week. Consumer and work advocates alike, including the AARP and SEIU, oppose these proposals. Essential workers are the backbone of our economy, we should be protecting them, not making it harder for those workers and consumers to hold bad bosses accountable. 

STATE BUDGET & TAX POLICY

About a month ago, Governor DeSantis released his proposed 2021 budget. Despite a slow recovery and rising unemployment cases and predicted $2B revenue deficit, the Governor’s proposed budget is a $4B increase from the previous year’s budget (although he leaves much to desire regarding conservation and climate change).

State lawmakers are ultimately tasked with writing and passing a budget by the end of legislative session on April 30th. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle doubt that the Governor’s budget is based in reality; rather it would seem a political move for him to overestimate the state’s economic success, prompting lawmakers to face the budget realities and even take the blame for not meeting the Governor’s budget goals. 

Meanwhile, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which represents some of the largest business interests in the state has proposed a permanent cut to the corporate income tax rate, which is currently temporarily reduced from 5.5% to 4.5%; resulting in a $543M refund to a secret list of the biggest businesses in Florida at the start of that pandemic.

These are dollars that should go towards everyday Floridians, not lining the pockets of wealthy businesses who lobby against prosperity for all. We don’t have to have cuts. We can close corporate tax loopholes, repeal wasteful special interest projects, and identify new streams of revenue such as medicaid expansion and recreational cannabis. That’s why we joined others in launching The People’s Budget, an effort to close corporate tax loopholes and end budget cuts that have robbed the state of much needed revenue to provide the essential services that Floridians need. 

Republicans in Tallahassee and big businesses are suddenly eager to close tax loopholes for consumers with their support of  SB 50: Sales and Use Tax, which would require the collection of sales tax on out-of-state online sellers. Yet they still refuse to close tax loopholes for corporations. I penned an op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times to call this hypocrisy out. 

SUPPORTING HOME RULE 

We continue to remain committed to local control and home rule. We have filed several repealer bills to restore home rule, including HB6023 to restore local control on trees. 

During our Regulatory Reform Subcommittee, we also voted against legislation that would have eliminated all local government ordinances around vacation rentals that were passed after 2011, essentially eliminating local control on apps like Airbnb. EPI offers compelling research on both the economic benefits and impacts of Airbnb that you can read here.

SEXUAL ASSAULT & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

This month we have re-filed legislation that would keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, saving countless women and family members from becoming potential victims. As noted by The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, domestic violence, including intimate partner violence, is a public health crisis in the U.S. Nearly one in four women and one in seven men will experience severe physical violence at the hands of their intimate partner in their lifetime. Fortunately, most victims of domestic violence survive. But far too many do not. Firearms contribute significantly to domestic violence in the U.S. — to threaten, to coerce, to control, and to kill.

In addition to filing this bill, we’ve also worked with legislative colleagues to craft a bill that would launch a pilot program in Florida that would create an online rape kit tracking system, giving survivors the power to know where their rape kit is, what it’s status is too. 

MATERNAL MORTALITY RATES & MEDICAID EXPANSION

We continue to advocate for the expansion of Medicaid in Florida and are honored to support our Democratic colleagues as they introduce legislation to do just that. Meanwhile, in the Professions & Public Health Subcommittee we had a workshop focused on maternal mortality rates — I came prepared with questions, and solutions. 

HOUSING SECURITY & ACCESS TO LEGAL AID

Protecting the Affordable Housing Sadowski Trust Fund from being raided remains one of our biggest priorities, while also looking towards new solutions to solve the affordable housing crisis. 

I am also proud to announce the filing of House Bill 409/Senate Bill 1720, legislation that would authorize courts dealing with civil matters to apply the doctrine cy pres, allowing unclaimed class action funds to be donated to civil legal services that benefit the poor. During the COVID19 pandemic our legislative office has been fielding thousands of calls and emails from across the state, supporting Floridians who are facing issues like eviction, foreclosure, bankruptcy, and domestic violence.

The options for legal representation in civil matters are limited, and as public servants, we often look towards legal aid organizations as a safety net for Floridians navigating these crises. But these organizations are overwhelmed and underfunding — passing this bill would help fix that without putting any additional weight on the state budget. Learn more here. 

STOP THE BURN & PROTECT SANTA FE RIVER

Senate Bill 88 is being fast-tracked in the Florida Legislature and will make it difficult or impossible for residents currently subjected to 8 months of smoke and ash from sugar burning each year to successfully sue for damages. If adopted, this bill may interfere with an ongoing suit. You can take action right now on this bill, by contacting the lawmakers below, and asking them to vote no on Senate Bill 88. 

A recent ruling would allow nearly a million gallons of groundwater to be pumped each day for Nestle’s water-bottling operation near High Springs. Click here to learn more, and to take action.

EVENTS IN HOUSE DISTRICT 47

It was an honor to kick off Black History Month with the Contigo Fund’s announcement of their All Black Lives Fund and to be in Winter Park on Sunday for 1619 Fest Orlando. Every day this month on social media we are highlighting historic Black leaders who have shaped our state through their contributions to arts, sciences, politics and more. Check out our online series here. 

Last week we also hosted our first ever Team Anna Literature Drop in House District 47 to share COVID19 resources with our constituents. Be sure to join us this Saturday for our community clean up! 

For those in Central Florida, I encourage you to visit the Orlando Museum of Art’s new exhibit titled A Boundless Drop to a Boundless Ocean. A collaboration between the Orlando Museum of Art and The American University in Cairo, it’s a simultaneous exhibition of 21 US-based artists of Arab and Iranian heritage on view from January 29th through May 2nd. Support local artists and art organizations whenever you can!

Finally, we are sad to share that Central Florida leader and philanthropist John Lowndes died early Friday morning after a short illness. He had turned 90 on New Year’s Day. We are sending love to Rita and the whole Lowndes family.