Endorsement drama in SD-40 -- Gillum’s fundraising dries up -- Betty Metcalf dead at 95

By Sergio Bustos ( [email protected]; @sbustosFL) and the staff of POLITICO Florida

Happy Friday. With Florida Playbook author Marc Caputo away on vacation until mid-July, I’ll be taking the helm of the newsletter, along with POLITICO Florida Tallahassee Bureau Chief Matt Dixon.

So on to what’s happening — or, more accurately, what’s not happening …

It appears the Senate has left Washington dazed and confused over what to do about its Obamacare repeal bill. “In some ways, we’re going around in circles, but I think we’re getting closer on some elements,” one senator told POLITICO. “This is complex.”

Our POLITICO colleagues in D.C. are reporting that Senate Republicans remain very much divided and that a week-long Fourth of July recess won’t offer much respite. It appears that senators are negotiating a range of issues, from the so-called net investment income tax that levels a surcharge on some high-income earners to allowing pre-tax health savings accounts to boosting funding for the opioid crisis.

Read on for more health care debate details … and for news closer to home, including the apparent bogus endorsement letter that appeared in connection with the SD-40 race. It’s an only-in-Miami story.

PROGRAMMING NOTE — Due to the July Fourth holiday, Florida Playbook will not publish on Monday, July 3, and Tuesday, July 4. Our next Florida Playbook will publish on Wednesday, July 5. Please continue to follow Florida Playbook here .

OBAMACARE LATEST — “Dazed GOP bolts Washington in health care disarray,” by POLITICO’s Burgess Everett, Seung Min Kin and Sarah Karlin-Smith: Senate Republicans skipped town on Thursday afternoon facing stiff internal opposition to their health care proposal and a Fourth of July recess in which critics will pummel their effort to repeal Obamacare. Though the Senate whirred to life with deal-making between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his members, senators were dazed by the up-and-down week and nowhere near a plan that could get 50 votes. The GOP is planning to write new language to be analyzed by Friday, but were far from reaching a broad agreement as senators had hoped. Read story here

MEDICAID CUTS — “CBO: Medicaid spending falls 35 percent in 20 years under Senate health bill,” by POLITICO’s Rachana Pradhan: The federal government would spend 35 percent less on Medicaid in two decades if the Senate Obamacare repeal bill becomes law, according to a CBO analysis requested by Democrats critical of the legislation. The drop-off stems from stricter limits Republicans want to enact beginning in 2025 to control the entitlement’s growth. Under the Senate bill, federal Medicaid outlays would be 26 percent less in 2026 compared to current law. The gap widens to 35 percent in 2036. Read story here

— FMA joins coalition that opposes Senate health care bill. Read story here

— Feds extend Florida’s Medicaid 1115 waiver. Read story here

— Former WellCare general counsel pleads guilty in Florida Medicaid fraud case. Read story here

WAKE UP DREAMERS — “Texas AG leads push to end DACA,” by POLITICO’s Ted Hesson: Attorneys general from Texas and nine other Republican-led states [Not Florida] threatened Thursday to sue the Trump administration over a program that grants deportation relief and access to work permits to nearly 788,000 “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants brought to the country at a young age. In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the states urged the administration to rescind the June 2012 memorandum that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program during President Barack Obama’s first term. Read story here

… ELECTION SEASON

FAKE ENDORSEMENT NEWS — “Bay of Pigs veterans group says letter endorsing Díaz de la Portilla is bogus,” by POLITICO Florida’s Sergio Bustos and Daniel Ducassi: The president of Brigade 2506, the well-respected Bay of Pigs veterans group, says a fraudulent letter — in Spanish and in their Cuban organization’s name — has been mailed to voters endorsing Alex Díaz de la Portilla for the GOP primary nomination in Miami’s state Senate District 40 race. “It has nothing to do with the brigade,” Felix Rodriguez Mendigutia, president of the Miami-based group, told POLITICO Florida late Thursday night. “Somebody is trying to fake this thing about people who are supporting [Díaz de la Portilla],” he said. “I don’t know who the hell wrote it.” Rodriguez said several people who received the mysterious letter this week had shared it with him. Read story here

A QUESTION OF LOYALTY — “Republican candidate for Florida House accuses primary rival of ‘betraying’ Rubio,” by Miami Herald’s Patricia Mazzei: “Daniel Perez, a Miami Republican running for the state House, used his first TV ad to attack rival Jose Mallea as insufficiently loyal to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. Mallea ran Rubio’s long-shot 2010 Senate campaign. But the ad appears to refer to 2016, when Mallea worked backed Jeb Bush instead of Rubio for president. Mallea was an aide to then-Gov. Bush years before he managed Rubio’s Senate campaign. Bush’s super PAC, Right to Rise, which hired Mallea in 2015, poured money into attacking Rubio.” Read story here

DONOR DROUGHT — “As Gillum campaign’s perception problems mount, fundraising dries up,” by POLITICO Florida’s Matt Dixon: As Democrat Andrew Gillum’s gubernatorial bid continues to linger under clouds of controversy, he has hit a fundraising lull rare for high-profile statewide candidates. The shrinking numbers come from Gillum’s political committee, which is outside of the official campaign and can collect unlimited contributions. Early in a campaign, the political committee should be the place for candidates to stock away four- and five-figure checks from expected, or “low-hanging-fruit,” donors. That’s how it was initially for Gillum, but since April, the donations have dried up. His political committee, Forward Florida, did not raise any money in May, and so far during June has brought in just $10,000. Over that time, political committees for primary rival Gwen Graham raised $1.1 million, and Chris King’s committee raised $176,000. On the Republican side, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s political committee brought in $1.7 million. Read story here

… CAPITOL REPORT

CALL SECURITY — “State audit: Governor’s office data faces higher hacking risk because of lax IT security,” by POLITICO Florida’s Daniel Ducassi: Gov. Rick Scott’s office has some security problems when it comes to employee cellphone use and other IT resources, according to an audit of the governor’s office published this week. What exactly those problems are, however, is a secret. The detailed findings are classified as confidential to avoid tipping off potential hackers about security weaknesses, but the audit states that “security controls over mobile device utilization need improvement to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of [Executive Office of the Governor] and [Office of Policy and Budget] data and related IT resources.” Read story here

— Ballard Partners house on the market for $1.7M. Read story here

— Bush foundation legislative report cards: Corcoran, Negron get ‘A+’. Read story here

NON-PROFIT DOLLARS — “Lauren’s Kids funnels $3.1 million to politically connected public relations firm,” by Florida Bulldog’s Francisco Alvarado: “A nonprofit run by Broward State Sen. Lauren Book and lavished with millions of dollars in state handouts by lawmakers paid a Tallahassee public relations firm with considerable political clout $3.1 million between 2012 and 2015.The payments by Lauren’s Kids to Sachs Media Group accounted for 28 percent of the charity’s $10.8 million in expenses, according to Lauren’s Kids most recent available tax returns. In the same period, the Florida Legislature awarded Lauren’s Kids – which employs Sen. Book as its $135,000-a-year chief executive and counts powerful lobbyist Ron Book, her father, as its chairman – $9.6 million in grants. The nonprofit’s payouts to Sachs Media for 2016 are not publicly available. A spokeswoman for Lauren’s Kids did not respond to requests to view that information. Read story here

NEW GIG — “Gov. Scott appoints new Florida Lottery secretary,” by Miami Herald’s Kristen Clark: “Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday named a former executive with Florida Power & Light Co. and its parent company, NextEra Energy, to run the Florida Lottery. Scott announced his appointment of Jim Poppell with a news release, praising Poppell’s most recent work as chief of staff for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.” Read story here

… AROUND THE PENINSULA

NOT HERE — “Florida members of Congress tell Trump to back off Atlantic drilling,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Alex Leary: “A large, bipartisan contingent of the Florida House delegation has a firm message for President Donald Trump: Lay off plans for oil drilling in the Atlantic. “Opening the Atlantic to seismic testing and drilling jeopardizes our coastal businesses, fishing communities, tourism, and our national security,” reads a letter signed by the Florida lawmakers and dozens of others. The letter was sent to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Read story here

WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN? — “NASA faces education program cuts,” by Medill News Services’ Ritu Prasad: “President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut NASA’s 2018 budget means its education office, which creates programs for students from grade school through college would be eliminated. But Robert Lightfoot Jr., NASA’s acting administrator, assured senators the agency’s focus on education won’t change. Lightfoot spent much of his time before the Senate space committee defending the agency’s proposed $19.1 billion budget, a drop of $561 million from current spending. Read story here

RIP — “A Florida lawmaker who defied ‘grandmotherly’ image dies at 95,” by Miami Herald’s Elizabeth Koh: As a clinical psychologist and Florida state representative, Betty Metcalf was used to challenging other people’s expectations. When she ran for reelection in 1986, her challengers were quick to target the 65-year-old as too matronly and passive for another term. Opponent Bruce Hoffmann tagged her as a “nice lady” and offered to “just give her more time at home with her grandkids,” according to a Miami Herald article at the time. But Metcalf, who had no grandchildren then, was undeterred. She broke a bone in her foot walking around her district campaigning, and her ads touted her as “one tough lady.” Read story here

MORE ETHICS — “Miami Beach bans lobbying by political consultants for 12 months after elections,” by Miami Herald’s Joey Flechas: “Miami Beach commissioners have passed a new ethics law banning political consultants from lobbying for 12 months after an election. The law prohibits campaign consultants from lobbying elected officials they served for a year after the official is sworn in. It passed on a vote 6-0 Wednesday night, with Commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán absent. Alemán had opposed it on first reading. Read story here

TROUBLED INVESTMENT — “Bank buys troubled barbecue sauce plant co-owned by councilwoman,” by Florida Times-Union’s Nate Monroe: A Louisiana bank bought the Commonwealth Avenue building Thursday that housed the now-defunct Jerome Brown BBQ Sauce plant, closing a chapter for the troubled business co-owned by City Councilwoman Katrina Brown. The bank, BizCapital Bidco I, paid $500,100 for the 34,000-square-foot building at a foreclosure auction, according to Clerk of Court records. The Duval County Property Appraiser listed the building and land at 5368 Commonwealth Ave. at a market value of about $1 million. Cowealth, which is owned by Brown and her mother, JoAnn Brown, bought the building to manufacture sauce in a venture that got a $2.65 million loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration plus $590,000 from the city’s Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Trust Fund. Read story here

… SOUTH OF THE PENINSULA

PERVERSE GAME? — “From Copter Cops To Caricom Cop-Outs, Venezuela’s Opposition Has To Play Smart,” by WLRN’s Tim Padgett:“Venezuelans wonder if Maduro staged this week’s helicopter attack to give him a pretext for more severe crackdowns. If that’s his perverse game -- one he’s entirely capable of -- it gives the opposition even less room for error.” Read story here

… FLORIDA MAN … ER, TENNIS STAR

TROUBLE LOOMS — “ Venus Williams blamed in fatal Palm Beach Gardens crash,” by Sun-Sentinel’s Tonya Alanez: Tennis star Venus Williams was at fault in a car crash that killed a 78-year-old man near her home in Palm Beach Gardens, according to a police report. Jerome Barson, a passenger in the other vehicle, died from his injuries two weeks after the June 9 crash. Barson’s family and widow, Linda Barson, issued this statement and declined to speak to the media: “[Barson’s widow] is extremely distraught and heartbroken; she was married to him for over 35 years. Attempts to reach Williams, 37, for a comment on Thursday were unsuccessful. She is currently preparing for the Wimbledon tournament, which begins in London on Monday. Read story here.

HE POSTED WHAT? — “Pinellas deputy in trouble for social media boast: ‘Nothing like almost shooting someone’,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Kathryn Varn: “Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri fired a patrol deputy on Thursday after a photo surfaced that shows him boasting about almost shooting someone. The photo, posted June 25 on the visual messaging app Snapchat, shows deputy Austen Callus, 23, with the caption: “Nothing like almost shooting someone to set your head right lol. God I gate people with knives.” The word “gate” appears to be a misspelling of “hate.” Gualtieri said Thursday the photo raises doubts about Callus’ mindset on the job.” Read story here

GREAT READ — “Meet OG Magnum, Florida’s Viral Lip-Syncing Hip-Hop Grandpa,” by Miami New Times’ Isabella Gomes: “An old white man with forearm tattoos and gold hoop earrings stands at the front entrance of a condo building in St. Petersburg. He holds a cigarette in one hand and a Solo cup in the other. With the growl of Kodak Black behind him, he rocks to the light percussion and mouths, “Have you ever made love to a real hitta?” A couple of seconds later, he hangs out beside a muscle car as two young women grind against him. He looks into the camera and raises his cup. The man’s name is never mentioned, but he’s the star of Florida rapper Plies’ latest video, “Real Hitta.” With almost 9 million views since its release three weeks ago, the viral clip also features a busty bikini model, a military man, and a sorority redhead. Even so, only one cameo has social media going crazy. The question on everyone’s mind is who’s the old white guy? His real name is Bruce Martin Ryan, and he’s a 58-year-old IT manager from Tallahassee. On weekdays, he works in an office for the Florida Bankers Association, but after hours, he goes by OG Magnum, though YouTube commenters call him “Savage Grandpa.” Read story here

— “Sheriff’s Office facing traffic challenges as FHP also struggles with personnel shortage,” by St. Augustine Record’s Jared Keever. Read story here

— “Florida’s death row population lower today than it was in 2005,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Steve Bousquet. Read story here

— Former after-care worker at Plantation Middle admits he tried to recruit students for sex. Read story here

— Sheriff’s deputy tells judge he committed identity theft to help send kids to college. Read story here

FOR MORE political and policy news, check out Politico Florida’s home page: http://politi.co/1jkJUyL. And please follow our staff @mdixon55, @sbustosFL, @christinesexton, @dducassi, @jessicabakeman and @bruceritchie on Twitter.

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