TALLAHASSEE — Planning for a post-coronavirus new normal is deepening Florida’s political divide, with Democrats portraying Gov. Ron DeSantis as Trumpian and overly partisan while the governor takes a victory lap for bringing the coronavirus outbreak under control despite early predictions to the contrary.
Tensions are flaring over the speed at which the economy will reopen, how to address the state’s boondoggle of an unemployment system, and the emergence of the Republican governor as a Trump mini-me determined to follow the White House script.
“The response by this White House and sadly by our governor has been strongly inadequate and sadly partisan,” said Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat, on a Monday conference call organized by the Florida Democratic Party. “We have a governor here in the state of Florida that has cared more about following in the footsteps of his ally and supporter, President Donald Trump, than really protecting the lives and the health of Floridians here in state of Florida.”
DeSantis has adopted more Trumpian rhetoric in recent weeks as he has taken a more aggressive stand with critics. At the center of Democrat’s criticism when they draw parallels between what they call the White House and Florida’s lockstep responses is the governor’s decision to avoid issuing a stay-at-home order until Trump gave a clear signal to do so. DeSantis issued Florida’s directive on April 1, after 30 states already had imposed shutdowns.
“Because of the governor’s delayed decision to issue a stay at home order, our state lacks a uniform directive of the practices Floridians could have implemented to help flatten the curve,” state Rep.
Fentrice Driskell, a Tampa Democrat said on the Monday call. “Instead we saw the livelihoods of Floridians continue to be at risk.”DeSantis of late has been emboldened by hospitalization and infection rates that are far lower than initially forecast by public health experts. And he takes credit for the positive numbers, which he says reflect his decision to avoid the “draconian” steps Democrats wanted, which included stay-at-home orders with fewer exemptions.
Speaking Monday at Tampa General Hospital, DeSantis used Hillsborough County as an example of the state’s coronavirus response outpacing what he called the “doom-and-gloom” perception. Hillsborough has just 35 hospitalizations due to coronavirus, one of the lowest per-capita rates in the country.
“This is one of the best performing counties, not just in the state of Florida, but probably in the country,” DeSantis told reporters Monday.
He also took a swipe at Brooklyn, which he has used more than once to underscore Florida’s response. DeSantis noted the 35 total hospitalizations in Hillsborough County, which has a population of 1 million people. Brooklyn, he said, hospitalizes that many people every 30 minutes.
More than 6,000 ventilators in the state are sitting unused as hospitalization rates remain low, DeSantis said.
While he moves to restart the state economy sooner than many Democrats and public health experts have advised, DeSantis this weekend acknowledged that the opening of bars, theaters and live sporting events with fans in attendance will be “far in the future.”
Even his Re-Open Florida Task Force has come under partisan fire after DeSantis failed to include Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, Florida’s only statewide elected Democrat, on the panel, which is packed with politically powerful business leaders but no frontline medical professionals.
“Why is the governor putting together a task force of special interest and business groups instead of consulting with health experts to understand what we need to do to put a plan together?” Driskell said on the conference call.
Even DeSantis agrees that the state’s unemployment system, built under former Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott, has been a train wreck, but Democrats are using the state’s jobless benefits — at $275 a week, among the lowest in the nation — as a political cudgel against the governor and Republican legislative candidates.
“Florida’s government must act to expand benefits and expand access to unemployment assistance,” said Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo last week. “DeSantis isn’t doing nearly enough to help Florida’s struggling workers.”
Despite the broad authority he has under a series of emergency executive orders, DeSantis has said he can’t increase jobless benefits. He has waived certain rules of the system, including requirements that an applicant prove they’re searching for work, and he also waived a requirement that an applicant recertify every two weeks.
The system, though, remains troubled, and each day brings new stories of people unable to get help.
DeSantis said he’s focused on getting money out and plans a review of the Scott-era system when things slow down.
“I’m not going to cry over spilled milk,” DeSantis said. “My No. 1 priority beyond health is getting checks out.”