Good morning and welcome to Thursday.
A bill that would ban minors younger than 16 from getting on social media is one step closer to becoming law.
The legislation, a priority of GOP Speaker Paul Renner, took a W in the Florida House last night with a 106-13 vote that included several Democrats, reported POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury. It’ll next head to the state Senate.
Florida legislators aren’t criticizing specific tech companies in their push but are instead broadly pointing to “compulsive” use. Sites like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, Snapchat and YouTube are expected to become targets, out of concern that they could affect young people’s mental health.
Social media companies are expected to sue on free speech grounds if the bill becomes law. Starting in July, the measure would require tech firms to block minors from creating new accounts, and forces them to use third-party age verification services. Social media companies would also have to comb through their users and remove anyone younger than 16. The Legislation would give parents power to sue companies that don’t take their kids’ accounts down, for up to $10,000 in damages.
Meta, Facebook parent’s company, warned in hearings that this would lead to too much sensitive identification information being collected to verify people’s age.
Elected officials in D.C. and abroad have voiced serious concerns about the effects of social media on developing brains, including in how it feeds addiction to tech and might contribute to cyberbullying or depression. They worry about exposure to sexual predators and about kids posting material that could haunt them later in life, including when they apply for jobs.
But critics have invoked the GOP rallying cry of “parental rights” to try to stop the effort, saying a better approach might be to have a tool that allows parents to opt in for their children. They raise some positive elements of social media: connectedness with friends, finding out about events, and providing a creative outlet or even an influencer job.
Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t commented publicly about the bill and Renner said in a press conference yesterday that he hadn’t discussed it with the governor.
While the governor tussled with 2024 rival Nikki Haley when she called for all social media users to be verified, he’s gotten salty with Big Tech before. The Supreme Court will be taking up a 2021 law DeSantis supported that fines companies if they banned Florida candidates (passed when the POV was pre-bitter primary against Donald Trump). And a few months ago, DeSantis ally Attorney General Ashley Moody sued Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, alleging the site harmed children.
— WHERE’S RON? Gov. DeSantis will speak in South Bay, Florida, at 10:30 a.m. with Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton and South Florida Water Management District Chairman Chauncy Goss.
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EXTENDED TIMELINE — Florida Supreme Court will consider challenge to DeSantis’ redistricting map, reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. Florida’s contested congressional map that helped Republicans capture the U.S. House may get left in place for the 2024 elections after the state’s highest court signaled it could be months before it rules on a lawsuit challenging the current districts.
MOVE BACK — House bill seeks to keep vape shops, pot dispensaries and bars farther from schools and religious centers, reports POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian. The bill, HB 1053, is sponsored by GOP state Rep. Carolina Amesty of Windermere, who told the House Regulatory Reform and Economic Development Subcommittee that without any regulation, vape shops have been opening within close proximity to schools and religious facilities across the state.
CLASS SWAP — “Florida makes it official: Universities to drop sociology as a core course,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Divya Kumar. “Sociology will be replaced by an introductory course on American history prior to 1877.”
ACA RECORD — “Florida 2024 Obamacare enrollment tops 4.21 million, sets record,” reports Florida Politics’ Christine Jordan Sexton. “The total number of enrollees in the Sunshine State far exceeds that of the closest states. Texas had 3.48 million people sign up, followed by California with 1.73 million.”
VACCINES — “Florida has low rate of nursing home residents getting new COVID shot,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Sam Ogozalek. “Less than a third … have gotten new vaccines tailored to better combat virus variants — even as deaths and infections continue to rise. The state has the fifth-lowest percentage of nursing home residents up to date with COVID-19 shots in the U.S., according to federal data from the week ending Jan. 14.”
PAY RAISE — “House looks to boost teacher salaries in budget proposal,” reports Florida Politics’ Gray Rohrer. It would include a $202 million pay increase for teachers and a 7 percent increase in the education budget overall.
Read more: POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury lays out the differences between the House and Senate’s education budgets, which are $90 million apart
ADVANCED — ‘Loser pays’ language gone in House substitute bill, reports POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie. The rewritten measure removed a section from the original bill that would have entitled the prevailing parties, including agencies and developers, to have their legal fees paid for by losers in wetlands and water use permitting challenges.
UNANIMOUS — “’Cassie Carli Law’ named after slain Navarre woman passes Florida House, waiting in Senate,” reports Benjamin Johnson of the Pensacola News Journal. The bill requires a court “to designate authorized locations for child custody exchanges ‘unless otherwise agreed to by both parents in writing.’”
INVESTIGATIVE OVERHAUL — “Police oversight boards now a target of law enforcement, Florida GOP lawmakers,” reports USA Today Network – Florida’s John Kennedy. “Citizen oversight boards that review controversial actions by local police and corrections officers would be banned in the 21 Florida cities that now have them, under legislation advancing in the state House and Senate.
Battle lines over the measures are clear: Law enforcement organizations are in favor of doing away with the boards, while civil liberties and minority groups, along with advocates for ex-offenders, insist they should continue.”
— “Hemp entrepreneurs say changes will devastate their businesses; Florida lawmakers appear unmoved,” reports the Florida Phoenix’s Mitch Perry
— “Canada raises concerns about safeguarding drug supplies as US pursues import plan,” reports Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida
CFTOD — “Bridget Ziegler attends first in-person Disney meeting after GOP sex scandal,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Skyler Swisher. “Ziegler attended her first meeting Wednesday of DeSantis’ Disney World oversight board in person since a sex scandal involving her and her husband made national headlines, costing him his job as Florida’s GOP chairman. Asked after the meeting about speculation she would resign from the Disney board, Ziegler said, ‘I’m here.’”
— “State board says it has ‘no confidence’ in FAU leader linked to presidential search,” reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Scott Travis. “A state board issued a vote of no confidence against the chairman of the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees, saying he’s shown a failure of leadership related to a presidential search and the contract of the interim president. The vote on Brad Levine by the State University System’s Board of Governors on Wednesday is on the surface symbolic. The board has no authority to take formal action against Levine. But it could serve as an impetus for action by the FAU Board of Trustees, which can replace him as chair, or Gov. Ron DeSantis, who can remove Levine as a trustee.”
BALLOT BACKING — “More than 200 Republicans have donated to get abortion on Florida ballots,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Ivy Nyayieka. The campaign raised more than $17 million in 2023 from more than 4,200 registered voters. Most are women. “Nearly $6 million of the Florida contributions have come from individuals, 73 percent of whom gave $100 or less. Organizations such as Planned Parenthood and Equality Florida have contributed the rest. Individuals and organizations outside Florida have given another $4.2 million.”
— “Young Democrats form new PAC [Florida Future Leaders] to mobilize young voters in Florida,” reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man
TALLAHASSEE COMMISSION — “The Leon County Democratic Party announced it opposes any proposed charter amendment that would create single-member districts or increase the number of seats on the Tallahassee City Commission,” reports Jeff Burlew of the Tallahassee Democrat. “The Democratic Executive Committee’s general body voted 36-6 to take a stance against the proposals during its monthly meeting on Monday, the party said in a news release Wednesday. The vote comes a day before the city’s Charter Review Committee is set to discuss expanding the commission’s five-person membership.”
TRUMP TRAIN — The Republican Party of Florida plans to hold a formal vote to endorse Donald Trump for president at its annual meeting February 10, per a letter from chairman Evan Power. State Rep. Dean Black will make the motion.
SHIFTED ENDORSEMENTS — “55 Florida Sheriffs line up behind Trump’s presidential bid,” reports Florida Politics A.G. Gancarski. DeSantis had the endorsement of 60 sheriffs when he was a candidate last year.
— Trump could claim up to $323 million in federal income-tax deductions for promising not to build on one of his golf courses in Florida, per the Wall Street Journal’s Richard Rubin
TRUTH SOCIAL — “Russian investor made millions off insider trading tied to Trump Media, court docs say,” reports the Miami Herald’s Ben Wieder and Jay Weaver. “A Russian-American businessman based in Miami is suspected of making nearly $23 million from alleged insider trading involving Trump’s media company, according to federal court records. The businessman, Anton Postolnikov, is the owner of a Caribbean bank that caters to the porn industry and also reportedly loaned $8 million to Trump’s media company. Postolnikov, who owns a few residences on exclusive Fisher Island in Miami, is the nephew of a former high-ranking Russian government official who at one time was a staffer for Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to media reports.”
CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE — “Trump fumes over release of Florida documents,” reports Newsweek’s Sean O’Driscoll. “In his latest filing on Wednesday, Trump’s lawyer, Christopher Kise, complained to Judge Aileen Cannon that the Press Coalition, made up of major media groups, has not properly communicated with him before seeking the release of documents in the [classified documents] case … Trump’s team did not oppose the release of the documents but said they have to be consulted first and also said it is Prosecutor Jack Smith, and not Cannon, who is responsible for the document release.”
THIS WEEK — First Lady Jill Biden will attend a fundraiser in Palm Harbor, Florida.
JUST ANNOUNCED — U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost announced the music festival MadSoul for March 2 in Orlando, which will blend music and political advocacy and register voters. Progressive politicians including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and state Rep. Anna Eskamani will speak between music sets.
MEDIAWATCH — Jamie Weinstein and Michelle Fields‘ production company JMW Productions has released the first episode of its new iHeart podcast “Finding Matt Drudge” hosted by Chris Moody. The show is a limited series podcast trying to answer some of the mysteries surrounding Drudge while trying to get him to sit down for an interview for the first time in over half a decade.
BIRTHDAYS: U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick … U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean … Gus Corbella, senior director of government law and policy practice with Greenberg Traurig
