(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This is a production of WEDU PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

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- [Rob] Coming up next, problems remain across the state, with vaccine distribution.

And there's a rift now, between the governor and Washington, over the vaccines.

The governor proposes, a larger than expected state budget for the coming year, while legislative committees are moving quickly ahead, with what could be major changes in state law, and the upcoming battle over impeachment, for insurrection at the Capitol.

- [Crowd] Treason, treason, treason, treason.

- Our guests are, Amy Hollyfield with the Tampa Bay Times, Matt Dixon with Politico, Jim Waurishuk, chair of the Hillsborough County Republican party, and Shelley Reback, with the Hillsborough Democrats.

Next, on Florida This Week.

(upbeat music) Welcome back.

This week, governor Ron DeSantis, proposed a more optimistic than expected state budget, for the next fiscal year, that avoids laying off scores of employees, or dipping into state reserves.

As the Tampa Bay Times reported, his proposed $96.6 billion budget, is 4.3 billion higher than last year.

A surprising increase, despite the historic job losses and business closures, from the corona virus pandemic.

The possible increase, in the size and scope of state government, was due to an infusion of billions of federal dollars, into the state's coffers, for education, health care, vaccinations, and testing.

The state is also having, better than expected sales tax revenue.

Under the governor's proposal, there would be no tuition increases, in colleges and universities.

$700 million would still remain in the budget though, for building three controversial toll roads, across the state.

And we're going to start with the state budget, and the legislature.

Amy Hollyfield is the senior deputy editor for news, at the Tampa Bay Times.

And Amy, thanks for joining us again, on Florida This Week.

- Absolutely Rob, happy to be here.

- Thanks for coming on.

So, the governor seems pretty optimistic, that the state will have the necessary revenue.

He won't have to dip into reserves, and he won't have to lay off anybody.

This is a pretty optimistic budget.

I think it's fair to say.

How's it being received in Tallahassee?

- I think, it's pretty much a surprise I would say.

You know, we've been talking for months about, what terrible shape the state, the country the world is in, because of the pandemic.

And, here we have the governor at the end of January, trotting out it with good news, that sales tax revenues are up, that we had a really good December, a really good January.

And hey, it's not gonna be so bad.

I find it to be a complete surprise.

I can't imagine that if you didn't, that he's, you know, putting the numbers together differently, he's got a lot of priorities, and seems to say it'll work.

You know, this is obviously just his idea.

The legislature still has to work through it, but it's very, I think find it very surprising that he's got such an optimistic view.

And I mean, for the benefit of Floridians, we can only hope that's true.

- And the toll roads are in there.

At the public hearings around the state, they were not very popular.

The governor is keeping money in there for toll roads.

- Yeah that's... We've been going on, a couple of years, with this issue of putting out money for toll road roads, that a bunch of people have said that we don't need, that environmentalists have spoken up and said, we'll get in the way.

And yet it's still a thing, there's been hearings about this.

You can tell the money in the budget, is still for studying the project.

It's not for actually necessarily getting it underway, but, that'll be another topic of discussion.

The other thing in the budget I found really interesting, was that the governor proposes to spend a billion dollars, on climate change in the next four years, in terms of grants to local government.

You know, just governor DeSantis came in really strong, as an environmental governor, when he took over, but it's been a little quiet on that front.

So for him to make that part of his proposal, that's a lot of money, to an issue that doesn't have, very much statewide leadership, none, none really.

'Cause he took away the resiliency officer, that he had installed.

So you saw a lot of response, from local governments excited at the idea, that they could get grants from the state, for some really much needed addressing of a giant topic.

- And quite a change from the previous governor too, over the question of is climate change real?

- Definitely.

So, that, it'll be interesting to see, what kind of play that gets in the legislature, as far as becoming reality.

- One of the other things, that the governor has been proposing, is he first proposed this back in September, is to put on added penalties, of people that protests, for things like blocking roads, and governor DeSantis made the suggestion, at the end of September last year.

And it's been changed, modified a little bit, but is it essentially, does that proposal still remain?

And what would be the implications, for people like the black lives matter protestors, or even the Capitol protestors?

- It's just what you said.

It's adding extra penalties, for people who are involved in a riot.

That's one of the problems in the legislation.

It doesn't necessarily define.

We're not...

It's, it doesn't define riot.

So it's a little...

The proposal is a little broad, and actually pretty wide sweeping with some changes, that you could argue are completely covered already, in the laws and statutes that we have, for penalties for this kind of behavior, and certainly some people have.

There are some additional things in there too, to make it, you know, anybody who destroys, and takes down a memorial to historical figure, such as a Confederate statue, that would be a felony punishable up to 15 years in prison.

That's a pretty dramatic thing.

You're seeing lots of talk, about the impact on first amendment rights, in the state of Florida, and the threat of this bill in that way.

- So, one of the questions I want to ask you, there's a proposal to eliminate, the constitution revision commission, up there in Tallahassee, that meets every 10 years or so.

Where's that headed?

- It looks, you know, it's amazingly, there's almost nothing people agree on, in Tallahassee or Washington for that matter.

But eliminating the constitutional revision commission, is bipartisanly popular.

It's been proposed before, it's gotten support before.

Maybe this'll be the year that they do it.

It's not very effective.

The things that come out of that, are generally really, you know, multi topic subjects, that aren't palatable to anyone.

So it seems like a pretty good idea, that might get off the, good to get off this year.

- Well, Amy Hollyfield, thanks for coming on Florida This Week.

- Thanks Rob.

(upbeat music) - This week, Governor DeSantis traded barbs with the White House, over why the state has had so many difficulties, with vaccine distribution.

- We're getting about 266,000 first doses a week.

We clearly have the capacity, to do much much more than that.

And so, what I've said, from the federal government's perspective, I think the only thing they need to be focusing on, is increasing the supply, of these doses for our seniors.

- I will know, 'cause we're data first here, facts first here.

They've only distributed about 50% of the vaccines, that they have been given in Florida.

So, clearly they have a good deal of the vaccine, that supply, will need to continue to increase as they, are able to effectively reach people across the state.

- So Matt Dixon is a senior reporter, at Politico Florida, and has been covering the state's vaccination rollout.

And Matt, welcome back to Florida This Week.

Good to see you.

- Thanks for having me.

- So there's a lot of finger pointing.

A lot of people are wondering why, when they try to sign up for an appointment for the vaccine, the websites crash, or they can't get an appointment soon, because that day's numbers have already filled up.

What's your take on whether or not, does Florida have enough vaccines, and is the federal government doing what it should, to supply us with enough vaccines?

- Well, you kind of hit the nail on the head there, as far as finger pointing being the theme of the week.

And this has sort of been a theme change, from the governors... From governor DeSantis.

He's a noted Trump supporter, and he got along very well with the federal government, the White House for a long time.

But, this vaccine roll out.

is really marked as first fight with president Biden.

And basically what he said there is, there's 26,600 first dose vaccines.

And, as I'm sure, most of your viewers know you need two of them.

And the federal government has increased a little bit.

By next week, the last number I had seen, the state is gonna be getting, just over 300,000 first vaccination.

So, whether that's enough or not, is kind of a subjective or moving target.

Governor DeSantis says the number could double.

The federal government, is sending more first doses starting next week.

But there has been, as you've talked about, there's been a lot more demand, than there has been supply, getting to these vaccination sites.

And it's hard to get an appointment, and folks are struggling in that across the state.

I don't think there's any regional pocket, that isn't seeing some impact there.

- There's been some pushback too, because in many counties Publix grocery stores, have been given the exclusive right, to distribute the vaccine, to be the place to get vaccinated.

And there's been some pushback on that.

Talk about the controversy.

- It was part of governor DeSantis's push, to move things, vaccine distribution, I guess in most counties, that at the County level.

It was hospitals to start with.

Hospitals were getting the initial flow of vaccinations.

And now it's going to CVS, and Walgreens, and most notably has gotten a lot of attention Publix, the grocery store giant.

So the pushback, has been to a degree, from Democrats who have said, or even lawmakers, who represent rural areas of the state, that don't have Publix.

So, just today, there've been some communicating saying hey, we have thousands of residents, constituents, voters, Florida residents, who are, you know, 30, 40 minutes away, from the nearest Publix.

Is this really the best way, to handle our vaccine infrastructure, and how to boost it?

So that's kind of... And then there was the woman, who leads the Florida hospital association.

The big statewide trade group, that represents state hospitals.

A week or so ago, we had talked about how Publix, in some of the private sector vaccine locations, like CVS and Walgreens, getting in the game, has hurt supply going to hospitals.

So there's also that issue, they're trying to balance with, you know, do we send this to a healthcare setting at a hospital, or do we use it in in Walgreens, CVS, Publix, which the governor has sort of said, there's more in communities, it might be easier to get to.

- So Matt, you also covered the proposal by the governor, for the new that begins July 1st, and the governor is as you put it, has a pretty rosy rosy view of the next year's budget.

How important is federal money, to the governor's rosy picture for next year's budget?

- Yeah, the federal ballgame is sort of...

The federal money is the ballgame right now, that the Florida's budget for, as the governor would like to see it be $96 billion.

Next year, that's about $4 billion in this year's budget.

And you would think in a pandemic, when the state is looking for revenue, that might not be the case, but the federal government, and coronavirus stimulus money, has really bolstered things.

There's a ton of federal money, going to the Medicaid system, which has gotten a lot new, many more enrollees, because as the unemployment, you know, rates spiked during 2020.

A lot of folks became eligible for that program.

There's also a lot of federal money, for the state education system, is they try to try to figure out, how to best fund that.

In a year where we're going into, where state officials don't even really know, where the enrollment numbers are gonna be, because so many folks have been doing virtual learning.

So, there's that whole element as well, of you know, we're gonna be entering a, you know, a year where enrollment numbers are themselves, just how many kids are going to school, it's gonna be tough to pin down.

- Matt Dixon.

Thanks for coming out of Florida This Week.

Good to see you again.

- Good to see you, thanks guys.

(upbeat music) - [Rob] The breach of the U S Capitol, by an angry mob of president Trump's supporters, on January 6th, led to the U S house vote, to impeach Donald Trump for a second time.

Raiders invaded, and desecrated the Capitol, killing a police officer in the process.

The charge against the president, was incitement insurrection.

When asked about it last week, Senator Marco Rubio said this.

- What do you think the rule should be, about the length of the trial, and whether or not, to allow witnesses to be called?

- Well, first of all, I think the trial is stupid.

And I think it's counterproductive.

We already have a flaming fire in this country, and it's like taking a bunch of gasoline, and pouring it on top of the fire.

- Joining us now, is Jim Waurishuk, chair of the Hillsborough County Republican party.

He's a retired us air force colonel, and has more than 30 years of experience in intelligence.

And Jim, welcome back to Florida This Week.

Great to see you.

- Great to see you too.

- So, my first question is, should president Trump, be held accountable, for the insurrection at the Capitol?

- By all means not at all.

I mean, the comments that he made, about marching to the Capitol peacefully, and patriotically, had nothing to do with inciting anything.

And if you look at the timeline of how events transpired, much of what transpired, was already in the process, before most of the Trump supporters, got down to the Capitol.

There's ample evidence, to indicate that there were people who came in, be it from Antifa and other anarchist groups, to insight that into, perhaps draw some supporters in, so that they could be blamed for it.

But by all means, no.

- Did the president use the words march peacefully?

Didn't he say that you've got to fight for your country?

I mean, he used fighting words, in his speech to that crowd.

- Well, there was no direct order, to go to the Capitol and conduct violence.

When you say fight, you know, we fight for our rights.

We fight for whatever, doesn't necessarily mean physical violence, and he in no way incited physical violence.

- And what do you make of those folks who, once they got to the Capitol, said to the people on camera, that we're here because president Trump told us to come?

- Well, because president Trump, said march to the Capitol, peacefully and patriotically, but they didn't go to necessarily incite violence.

That had already transpired, when you look at the timeline of events, from the time the president finished his speech, to the, and you know there were even indications, that these folks were, who were there to purposely (clears throat) do, excuse me.

Incite violence, were already in the works, and we're prepared to do that.

- You mentioned Antifa, I've looked at the arrests so far, on the justice department website.

I haven't seen any alleged members of Antifa on that list.

Where are you getting your information?

- From eyewitnesses, people who were there, who talked to members of Antifa.

Just because their names aren't on the list, doesn't mean they weren't there, perhaps they weren't arrested, or charged, or apprehended by authorities.

The indications that they were there, is there in video and other record.

- Generally speaking I mean, the reason why this protest happened in part, was that these folks thought the election was stolen.

Based on your membership in Hillsborough County, what percent of the Hillsborough Republican party, at least of the people that you've talked with, believe that the election was stolen?

- Pretty much all of them.

In my party we, we've had ample discussion on it.

We've had meetings on it.

We've asked for people's opinions, and everyone who is a member, of the Hillsborough County Republican party, all believe that it was, was stolen.

It was not handled correctly, and that perhaps more will come out on it.

- And that's gotta mean that in those counties, where there were Republican election supervisors, and Republican...

In those States, where there have been Republican secretaries of state, and those judges, who were appointed by Republicans, that you don't trust any of them, that they're part of... And I don't want to put words in your mouth, but do you think that they're part of a conspiracy, to steal the election?

- I wouldn't say a conspiracy, but, based on my discussions with the state party, and surrounding counties, everybody I spoke to, and have dealt with, seemed to believe that, there was unauthorized activity going on.

There was fraudulent activity, in a number of places now, County by County.

At our last Republican party state meeting, which was a couple of weeks ago, I recommended if there's nothing to hide, we should be doing a full recount, in every single County in the country, in every single state in the country.

And, we need to find out where the shortcomings are, and where the opportunities, to conduct fraudulent activity or cheat, or what have you, be reviewed and looked at.

I think when you have a situation, that has created such animosity and anger, by people that, this needs to be looked at.

- Jim, I wish we had more time.

I had a whole lot more questions for you, but thank you for coming on Florida This Week.

- Absolutely, thanks Rob.

(upbeat music) - Rochelle Reback, is a retired criminal defense and civil rights attorney, and a Democrat.

She previously served, on the board of directors of the ACLU of Florida.

Shelley, welcome back to Florida This Week.

- Thanks for having me Rob.

- Let's start with impeachment.

We just had Jim Waurishuk, the chair of the Hillsborough Republican party on, and he and Marco Rubio say, that having a trial for impeachment, for insurrection against president Trump, or former president Trump, is a waste of time.

It's stupid and it's pouring gasoline, on a divided country.

What do you think about the impeachment trial?

- Well, I think it has to go forward.

I mean, it is the constitutionally appropriate remedy, for when a president engages in conduct, that is a detriment to democracy, that is treasonous, that is seditious.

And if we don't go through with this kind of accountability, we're just inviting sedition, as a political tactic, to be renewed again and again, and again, every time we have an electoral cycle, and I don't see how the country can sustain that.

I mean, we have to take this action, so that we can avoid this in the future.

We are marching down the road to fascism, and unless we take that exit ramp now, we're going to be in very dangerous waters I think.

- How much evidence do you think is out there, that shows that president Trump's stirred up this crowd, and that they were acting at his bequest?

- Well there's two things.

One is the video that most people have seen themselves, and can judge for themselves about his incitement.

But the other thing is, the statements of the rioters, of the treasonous, seditionists themselves.

Who all say, I was there because he asked me to be there.

I was there because he told me to be there.

I think that that's evidence, that is of critical importance in the impeachment.

- And if at, if he.... Let's say that that the Senate doesn't vote to convict him, what message does that send to the country?

- Well, that's the most dangerous situation of all.

I mean, he is out there.

He has a very strong base still.

And, unless we take this action, to hold people accountable, for the damage that they are doing to our democracy, and to our democratic processes, then we will be forced to face this again.

And the next autocratic leader, the next fascist that tries to obtain power, is just gonna be smarter, is gonna be stronger, is gonna better, than the one that we've just had.

- When I talked with chairman Waurishuk in the last segment, he said that none of his members, in Hillsborough County, believed the election was fair.

They think it was stolen, and he wants a nationwide recount of the election.

How do you convince people, that don't believe the election was fair?

How do you convince them, that it was fair?

- Well, I mean, these are people who are living, in a world in which they have been gaslighted.

They have...

This started well before Trump, even won his election in 2016.

When he began to say, that the elections were rigged, and things, weren't going to be fair.

I think he truly believed he wasn't going to win.

And then he did.

And then he continues to say, that the election is going to be rigged, all through his first term.

And now here we are.

And it is the big lie, that they have adopted as a political flag to fly.

And we know it's not true.

Every investigation, state investigation, and federal investigation, has established that it's not true, that the election was fair, free, and legitimate.

But yet, people want to hang on to this.

Because it gives them, a sense of belonging.

It gives them a cause greater than themselves.

And part of the problem that is that, we're still in the midst of this pandemic, and people are living their lives, more and more online.

So these kinds of conspiracy theories, are reinforced daily, in an online atmosphere.

And, one of the things that we can do, is hopefully, the Biden administration will do big things, big things that improve people's lives.

So they will see, that that the democratic party, is the party of doing things that improve their lives, not just feed them lines, and feed them lies.

And so that's what we're hoping for.

And that's why I hope that this stimulus package, this COVID relief package is gonna pass, one way or another, as quickly as possible.

People are going to be receiving, the aid that they need, to get through this pandemic.

And they'll begin to see, that we are the party of productivity.

We are the party that cares about their daily lives.

- Well, Shelley Reback, thanks for coming on Florida This Week.

Good to see you as usual.

Thank you.

- Thanks for having me Rob.

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