Legislators return. Will anyone own Florida’s COVID response? Is there going to be a recovery plan?

It’s Monday, Nov. 16 and legislators return to Tallahassee tomorrow to swear in newly elected lawmakers and elect new presiding officers. After a conclusive election, there is no suspense.

That ended last week when, after three days of a painstaking recount, Republican Ileana Garcia defeated Democratic incumbent José Javier Rodríguez in the race for Senate District 37 by a mere 34 votes. Faced with what appeared to be questionable tactics involving a third-party candidate, Rodríguez called for an investigation into possible elections fraud.

New officers: But Republicans increased their margin to 4 votes in the 40-member Senate and Wilton Simpson, a Republican businessman from Trilby, will be sworn in as the next Senate president. Chris Sprowls, a Republican lawyer from Palm Harbor will be named the next House Speaker. Gary Farmer, a lawyer from Fort Lauderdale, will be the new Senate Democratic leader and Evan Jenne of Dania Beach and Bobby Dubose of Fort Lauderdale will be joint Democratic leaders in the House.

The entire affair will last just two hours, but there will be some firsts. Senators are required to wear masks, limit visitors in the gallery and practice social distancing in an attempt to stave off the coronavirus.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

No COVID urgency: Florida’s Legislature last met on March 19 and is only one of seven states in the nation that have not met since then to address COVID-related issues. In some years, legislators have expanded the organization session to conduct committee hearings or call a special session. But this year, after months of avoiding any public association with the coronavirus during a bitter election cycle, the Republican-led House and Senate have no plans to elevate the issue now.

This is despite a state budget deficit, an unemployment system under duress, and the fact that the state’s COVID response appears scattershot and under wraps. Vaccine distribution plans are incomplete but lawmakers have announced there will be no meetings, in person or virtually, until January. And there is no talk of addressing recovery.

Highest report since July: Remember those people who claimed all the talk of the coronavirus was just because of the election? Well, that didn’t exactly hold up. We’re still talking about the coronavirus because cases are still rising, and tourists are still not traveling enough. On Sunday, the state reported 10,105 new COVID cases, the most since July 25, for a total exceeding 885,000.

Test case for herd immunity? Is Florida the nation’s test case for COVID herd immunity? Whether Floridians know it or not, Gov. Ron DeSantis is pursuing a policy that will allow the virus to spread freely in the state until most of the population becomes infected — or is vaccinated — while attempting to protect those thought to be most vulnerable.

The problem, according to public health experts we talked to, is there is no way to be sure that the vulnerable are protected under the state’s current policies and “extraordinary numbers of people are going to die from this illness before immunity is achieved in the population.” What will it take to achieve herd immunity in Florida? Three times as many people would have to be infected, or vaccinated, as have been infected today. The expected death toll would likely to triple as well.

Deciding who in Florida gets vaccine: Last week provided a ray of hope when Pfizer announced it will pursue expedited approval for its coronavirus vaccine after preliminary results showed it was 90% effective. According to a draft report from the Florida Department of Health, about 3.5 million Floridians, mostly healthcare providers, medically vulnerable and first responders, could be given priority status when the first doses of the vaccine arrive in the state. But questions remain unanswered: Will the state even get that many doses? And who decides where the first ones go?

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Monkeys, really: Before we turn to politics, you’ve got to read this story. Did you know that Miami-Dade is a virtual hub for research on monkeys and a bunch of them are being used by Florida labs doing research on a COVID-19 vaccine? A lawsuit over a shipment from Africa brought the monkey business into the spotlight.

Does the gov retaliate? Democratic mayor of Miami Beach, Dan Gelber, said last week that a state lawsuit filed against his city for a series of sewer breaks is “obviously politically motivated” because he has openly criticized the governor for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rare lawsuit by the state against a city was filed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. It accuses the city of breaking state law in connection with the accidental rupturing of three sewer lines between July 2019 and last March that dumped about 1.7 million gallons of wastewater into Biscayne Bay.

Eviction fallout: Meanwhile, the economic and social fallout of the virus’ impact continues to take its toll. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez last week gave police the green light to resume evictions filed before the coronavirus emergency began on March 13.

Gimenez, whose term expires on Tuesday, had planned to resume processing pre-COVID evictions in September but backed off the change after the news became public. Gimenez, who was elected to Congress on Nov. 3, will be replaced by Daniella Levine Cava, who is sworn in on Tuesday.

Citizen shooters: Remember that plan by DeSantis to crack down on “violent and disorderly assemblies” in response to police-brutality protests? It turns out his office has drafted the “anti-mob” legislation and his idea is that lawmakers should expand Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. Critics say if it passes, the idea will allow armed citizens to shoot suspected looters or anyone engaged in “criminal mischief” that disrupts a business.

Still trying to make sense of this election? Much of the Florida focus in the wake of the election has been on Trump’s stunning improvement with Hispanic voters in Miami-Dade County. But according to a Miami Herald analysis of Hispanic-majority voting precincts in Orange and Osceola counties, two Central Florida counties with the largest Puerto Rican communities in the state, Trump also made unexpected gains in a community where he is broadly disliked.

Then there’s Miami’s Cuban-American comeback: Miami-Dade voters this year reversed years of Democratic gains and restored Cuban-American Republican hegemony in Florida’s most populous county. Cuban-American Republicans in Miami-Dade County won races for Congress, state House and state Senate in the Nov. 3 elections, reversing losses from 2018.

You ready for 2024? Within minutes of TV networks calling the 2020 presidential election for Democratic nominee Joe Biden, an online video ad dropped that took aim at U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. It was the first salvo in the battle for 2024 when Rubio and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will both likely be on the ballot, along with Republican incumbents for the statewide positions of attorney general and chief financial officer. The cast of potential challengers is already emerging, and it’s growing. Take a look.

Epstein details emerge: Buried in a 350-page report looking at a U.S. attorney’s mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein cases are some previously unknown details about Department of Justice handling of the case. Among them: the FBI wanted to arrest Epstein while he was judging a beauty pageant but the plan was overruled by former U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta.

A Justice Department review of the case, obtained by the Miami Herald, found that Acosta used “poor judgment” when he chose not to prosecute the Palm Beach billionaire on federal sex-trafficking charges and instead let him plead guilty to a state offense of soliciting young girls for sex. While the report also concluded that the department attorneys did not engage in professional misconduct, it did conclude “that the victims were not treated with the forthrightness and sensitivity expected by the Department.”

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