Gov. Ron DeSantis painted a rosy picture of a Florida recovering from a year of illness, death, and shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic during his State of the State speech Tuesday.
The perspective on other side of the aisle was quite different.
Gary Farmer leads the Senate Democratic Caucus. The Ft. Lauderdale senator said DeSantis is spending too much time on bills popular with his conservative base — bills Farmer said target peaceful protestors.
"Despite the wide path of destruction COVID has cut in Florida, and the heavy toll it took in and on Floridians' lives,” Farmer said, ”the governor and Republican lawmakers have crafted legislation to muzzle our people and restrict our speech — instead of giving our health and our economy the attention that they so desperately need."
Farmer called the governor "insensitive and tone-deaf" to the needs of regular people during the pandemic, focusing instead on reopening businesses.
He outlined a few of the bills being introduced by Republican lawmakers.
"Anti-minimum wage. Anti-health insurance coverage. Anti-state pensions, hitting police, teachers, nurses and other public workers,” Farmer said. “Anti-vote by mail. And bills aimed at privatizing public schools and draining more public tax dollars for private schools that answer to no one.”
Agriculture Secretary Nikki Fried — Florida's only statewide elected Democrat — also said DeSantis' priorities are misplaced.
“The priorities of the citizens of our state are making sure that we are still wearing masks,” she said during a press conference at the Capitol. “That we are still social distancing. That we are protecting our environment. That we are making sure that food is accessible to everybody.”
Fried said the popular conservative is busy preparing a run for president.
“The governor's already looking to 2024. His eyes are already on what is next for his political future,” she said. “And he's not kept his eyes on Florida, where we need to go. And we're seeing that from the policies that he's pushing and the legislation that he's pushing. But he's focusing on his popularity, getting ready for a presidential run.”
Fried says DeSantis should pay more attention to giving schools and teachers the proper resources to fight the pandemic.
