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Hello and welcome to Monday.
No bets allowed
Setting the scene But lawmakers arrive back in Tallahassee on Monday for a five-day special session that involves a lot of money, a lot of behind-the-scenes lobbying, and the possibility of yet another legislative victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis. Oh, and let’s not forget the possibility of every gambler in the state being able to soon bet on a football game from their couch.
Wading into Florida s 2022 election contests Tuesday, former President Donald Trump announced who he d like to see as the state s next agriculture commissioner.
Trump s pick, Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, hasn t even announced that he s running for agriculture commissioner, but now has a big advantage over other Republicans contemplating running.
The endorsement gives a political boost to a lawmaker who helped steer Trump-inspired bills through the Legislature this year, and who is playing a key role in a gambling expansion effort that could benefit Trump s business empire. Wilton Simpson has done an outstanding job as President of the Florida State Senate, and I hope he runs for Florida Agriculture Commissioner in 2022, Trump wrote in an email, adding: He will have my Complete and Total Endorsement!
The 2021 Florida Legislature convenes March 2 under COVID-19 restrictions. Here, the working Capitol appears behind the Historic Capitol Museum. Credit: Colin Hackley
The Florida Legislature convenes today for a two-month-long session expected to be loaded with campaign-style theatrics ahead of 2022 elections and partisan debate over how to handle Florida’s coronavirus-related economic and public-health crises.
The Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m. to get settled, and the House at 10 a.m., ahead of a joint session at 11, during which Gov. Ron DeSantis will deliver the annual State of the State speech, outlining his agenda for the regular session.
Getting Florida back to work and getting school-age children back into classrooms are tagged as top priorities, but the approaches that Republicans and Democrats will take are likely to clash.
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Hello and welcome to Thursday.
The daily rundown Between Tuesday and Wednesday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 7,128 (nearly 0.4 percent), to 1,885,661; active hospitalizations went down by 121 (nearly 2.9 percent), to 4,077; deaths of Florida residents rose by 127 (0.4 percent), to 30,340; 2,792,118 Floridians have at least one dose of the vaccine.