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DeSantis announces additional $106 million for Florida civics education

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state of Florida will be dedicating another $106 million dollars for civics education in the state of Florida.

DeSantis said that civics education has been lacking in the state of Florida, saying that many young students cannot successfully name the three branches of government. He previously tried to address this through the Florida Civics and Debate initiative in January 2020.

The governor said $65 million will be given to develop the Florida Civic Seal of Excellence, a new professional credential for teachers. Teachers of any subject who earn the seal will earn a $3,000 bonus this coming school year, according to DeSantis.

“We think this will be a real, real important credential for teachers not just who focus on civics but also revolve in other areas,” he said.

AARP ranks Florida lawmakers’ voting record on priority bills

AARP Florida issued the 10th edition of its Legislative Voting Record Monday.

The digital book includes detailed, vote-by-vote information on key legislation from the 2021 Legislative Session. The voting record dives into votes taken during committee meetings and final actions by the full House and Senate.

“We’re excited to provide the Voting Record as a resource to our members and all Floridians. The Voting Record is available in a user-friendly digital flipbook format,” AARP Florida Advocacy Manager Jack McRay said in a written statement.

Not every bill from the Session is included in AARP Florida’s published record. Because AARP is a nonprofit dedicated to helping Americans 50 and older, the legislation the group chose to focus on most affects elder Floridians. The effect is a guidebook that can quickly tell voters where lawmakers stand on elder affairs.

Amid Florida COVID spike, Miami hospital’s virus patients are younger, unvaccinated

Florida’s COVID epidemic is on the rise again, driven by outbreaks in the Miami area, Jacksonville and the Panhandle.

Several months after highly effective and safe vaccines have been made available to the general public over the age of 12, physicians at Miami-Dade’s public Jackson Health System were treating about twice as many COVID patients over the weekend as they had been earlier this month. As of Monday, 101 patients with the SARS-CoV-2 virus were admitted throughout Jackson Health System.

Dr. Lilian Abbo, chief of infectious diseases at Jackson, said her team was watching the trend carefully. She attributed the uptick to behaviors in the community, though there are other factors at play, including hotter and wetter weather driving more people indoors, and the spread of highly infectious variants of the virus.

Florida to seek $945 million from Feds to boost Medicaid

Florida plans on tapping into $945 million in additional federal health-care dollars made available by President Joe Biden’s administration to enhance access to home- and community-based health-care services for poor, disabled and elderly people, a top Republican in charge of health-care spending in the state told The News Service of Florida Monday.

State Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, said Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is poised to send a proposal to the federal government that would allow the state to draw down a 10 percentage-point increase in federal Medicaid funds. The increased federal funds were included in the American Rescue Plan Act, a stimulus package signed by Biden in March. If the state’s plan is approved, Florida would draw down roughly $945 million more for Medicaid services over the next two years, Bean said.