Thoughts on Florida
Florida is a very fast growing state, attracting migrants from other states and immigrants from other nations. It has a very high percentage of retirees and older individuals. Florida is a low tax rate with no state income tax for individuals but significant state and local sales and property taxes. https://taxfoundation.org/state/florida/
Since 2000 its Governors have all been Republicans, sometimes elected by very narrow margins and most recently by a very large margin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Florida Republicans also controlled the state legislature since 2000 and with now large and veto proof majorities. Nationally, Florida voted for President Obama twice and for Trump twice. Before that it voted for George Bush twice, once by the narrowest of margins, with substantial assistance from the US Supreme Court to nudge him over the finish line and stop a recount. It voted for Bill Clinton in 1996.
Florida had had a long, deep, and sordid history of racial gerrymandering to dilute the power of minority communities that dated back to just after Reconstruction. https://mcimaps.com/florida-redistricting-preview-2-1970s-through-1980s/ In Florida, extreme partisan and racial gerrymandering of the state legislature and Congressional delegation deprives all but the most reliable GOP/DeSantis voters of their rights and ability to meaningfully participate in the state’s democracy.
In 2010, Florida voters passed the Fair Districts Amendment to the state’s Constitution. It passed with 63% of the vote. It prohibited partisan gerrymandering to favor the voters of either party, and it built in important protections governing redistricting of minority communities --= prohibiting racial gerrymandering. https://ballotpedia.org/Fair_Districts_Now
In 2015, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the partisan and racial gerrymandering by the Florida GOP after the 2010 census, and it created a map compliant with the Fair Districts Amendment that allowed three minority Democrats to win Congressional seats. https://www.commoncause.org/florida/our-work/ensure-fair-districts-reflective-democracy/fair-districts/#:~:text=The%20Fair%20Districts%20amendments%20were,Senate%20and%20House%20of%20Representatives.) and https://www.commoncause.org/florida/a-recent-history-of-redistricting-in-florida/
In 2021, the Florida legislature passed the new redistricting plans that largely adhered to the status quo, maintaining the districts that had elected racial minorities and the non-partisan, competitive districts developed by the Florida Supreme Court. https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-desantis-florida-redistricting-map-scheme Florida’s Governor vetoed the bill and submitted his own proposal that reinstituted partisan gerrymandering and eliminated minority districts for Congressional seats. The DeSantis bill was developed by his deputy chief of staff in conjunction with three national GOP redistricting experts well known for their extreme partisan gerrymandering. The large GOP majorities in the Florida legislature then passed the DeSantis plan. https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-desantis-florida-redistricting-map-scheme In the 2022 election cycle, the gerrymandering achieved its desired objectives of defeating Democrats and minority incumbents. https://mcimaps.com/a-detailed-look-at-floridas-new-congressional-districts/ The current composition of the Congressional delegation is Republicans 20, Democrats 8. https://mcimaps.substack.com/p/issue-100-how-desantis-gerrymandered
Florida has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation. https://www.floridapolicy.org/posts/the-rate-of-incarceration-in-florida#:~:text=Florida%27s%20incarceration%20rate%20is%20primarily,rate%20of%20its%20prison%20population. Black men are in prison, often for drugs, at rates wildly disproportionate to their proportion of the state’s population (48% vs. 7%). https://www.law.ufl.edu/law/wp-content/uploads/2023-A-Look-at-Florida-Corrections-Feb-2023-FINAL.pdf
The state’s voters passed an initiative allowing felons who have served their time and completed their probation to vote and meaningfully participate in the state’s civil and democratic life. The legislature and Governor have impaired its implementation, depriving individuals who have served their time of the right to vote and participate in the decisions affecting their lives and those of their community. Amendment 4 which passed in 2018 with 64% of the vote allowed Floridians convicted of a felony who have completed their sentence and probation or parole to vote. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/06/republicans-florida-amendment-4-voting-rights
The Florida legislature then passed, and Governor DeSantis signed a bill, saying the convicted individuals who have served their prison time and probation must also pay all court costs, fines, and restitution. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/06/republicans-florida-amendment-4-voting-rights The District Court held this was a poll tax and thus constitutionally prohibited. https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/05/24/federal-judge-strikes-down-restrictions-on-florida-felon-voting-1286097 This was over-ruled on a 6-4 decision of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2020/09/11/florida-felons-lose-voting-rights-case-in-federal-appeals-court/
Denial of health care coverage to the state’s poor. https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/editorials/2020/09/14/editorial-florida-ranks-pitiful-no-41-health-care-while-many-floridians-suffer/5790602002/# The ACA/ObamaCare offers Medicaid coverage low income working families and individuals. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/how-many-uninsured-are-in-the-coverage-gap-and-how-many-could-be-eligible-if-all-states-adopted-the-medicaid-expansion/ The Supreme Court ruled that this is optional with states. https://www.scotusblog.com/2012/06/court-holds-that-states-have-choice-whether-to-join-medicaid-expansion/ The federal match for this working poor population is a very generous 90/10. The ten states still opposing Medicaid expansion are concentrated in the deep South where slavery and racial discrimination have left terrible legacies of opposition to essential social progress. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/
Florida’s uninsured rate for the non-elderly is over 15%, joining Texas at 19% of its population uninsured. https://www.kff.org/uninsured/state-indicator/nonelderly-uninsured-rate-by-raceethnicity/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D In Florida. 12.5% of non-elderly whites are uninsured; 15.5% of blacks are uninsured and 19.4% of Hispanics. By contrast in Louisiana a southern state which chose the Medicaid expansion, 7.1% of whites, 8.3% of blacks and 27% of Hispanics are uninsured. https://www.kff.org/uninsured/state-indicator/nonelderly-uninsured-rate-by-raceethnicity/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
In Florida, the Medicaid income eligibility level for parents is set at 26% of the federal poverty level. https://www.healthinsurance.org/medicaid/florida/ In Louisiana and the 40 other Medicaid expansion states, the Medicaid income eligibility level for parents is 138% of FPL. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/ In Florida, adults without minor children living at home are not eligible for Medicaid no matter how low their incomes. https://www.healthinsurance.org/medicaid/florida/ In Arkansas, Kentucky and the other “Medicaid expansion” states, they are eligible for coverage. . https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/
Florida’s Governor and state legislature have refused to implement Medicaid expansion for parents and other low income adults. This denies 726 thousand low income Floridians health coverage, and it costs Florida billions in foregone federal revenues. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/how-many-uninsured-are-in-the-coverage-gap-and-how-many-could-be-eligible-if-all-states-adopted-the-medicaid-expansion/ Medicaid expansion has been passed in other states by citizen initiatives. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/how-many-uninsured-are-in-the-coverage-gap-and-how-many-could-be-eligible-if-all-states-adopted-the-medicaid-expansion/ Florida which already requires a 60% super majority for citizen initiatives is one of three states looking to make it ever harder to pass voter sponsored initiatives by imposing a two thirds majority rule on voter initiaitives. https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/lawmakers-look-to-restrict-ballot-initiative-process-in-florida-missouri-and-ohio/
During the recent Covid epidemic, Florida stood out for its high infection rate, high death rates and low vaccination rate. https://account.miamiherald.com/paywall/subscriber-only?resume=274876701&intcid=ab_archive Governor DeSantis made his name among conservatives by his unyielding opposition to public health measures to protect vulnerable Floridians from the spread of the disease. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/11/ron-desantis-covid-pandemic-00096318
Florida which initially performed well in Covid vaccinations before politicization set in, is now ranked 45th in vaccination and booster rates. https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2022-11-21/florida-has-one-of-the-worst-updated-covid-19-booster-rates-in-the-country He led Florida to the top death rate in the nation among the vulnerable elderly. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/2022/11/09/free-state-florida-no-1-covid-deaths-among-elderly/10658295002/
The connective tissue among all these issues is their cumulative impacts in disenfranchising and abusing the most disadvantaged and vulnerable populations in Florida.