Digging for answers — with your help

Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.

Photo credit: Images of Money

This is Seeking Rents, a newsletter and podcast devoted to producing original journalism — and lifting up the work of others — about Florida politics, with an emphasis on the ways that big businesses and other special interests influence public policy in the state. Seeking Rents is produced by veteran investigative journalist Jason Garcia, and it is free to all. But please consider a voluntary paid subscription, if you can afford one, to help support our work. And check out our video channel, too.

Welcome to another installment of Florida in Five: Five* stories you need to read from the past week in Florida politics.

I’m going to use this week’s Florida in Five topper to make an ask.

But before I do, let me tell you a little bit about what we’ve been up to around here recently.

This past week, Seeking Rents submitted public-records requests to five different state agencies — all of them related to the unprecedented, and taxpayer-funded, advertising campaign Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just waged against ballot measures that would have overturned Florida’s near-total abortion ban and legalized marijuana.

The election is over, obviously. But we still don’t know how much public money DeSantis put into these political campaigns — or where he took all that money from. The governor and his staff have repeatedly refused to answer basic questions about this stuff.

Sure, we’ve got some ideas: Using public databases, Seeking Rents has so far unearthed roughly $19.3 million worth of contracts and purchase orders that appear connected to these ad campaigns. We also discovered that DeSantis partially funded one of those contracts with proceeds from a legal settlement with the opioid industry — money that is supposed to be spent combatting opioid addiction.

But we can’t yet say for certain that each one of those contracts and purchase orders was a part of the campaigns against the abortion and marijuana ballot measures. Nor can we say whether there are other agreements or payments that we haven’t yet found.

That’s where our latest public-records requests come in.

Like I said at the top, Seeking Rents submitted five requests last week. They were filed with each of the state agencies that we know helped fund ads meant to keep abortion banned and marijuana illegal: The Agency for Health Care Administration, and the Departments of Children & Families, Education, Health, and Transportation.

Specifically, we’ve requested copies of all records exchanged between those agencies and a handful of vendors that may have been a part of these ad campaigns — records like invoices, run reports, media plans, and creative materials, among other documents. In a couple of cases, we’ve also asked for emails and text messages that could contain more details, too.  

These are pretty narrow, which is generally how I prefer to approach public-records requests. But my hope is that other outlets will make their own requests, as well. And Seeking Rents may eventually ask for more records, too.

But here’s the thing: Requesting public records in Florida often isn’t free.

Particularly over the last few years, state and local agencies around the state have begun charging more, and more frequently, for access to records. The bill is often several hundred dollars — sometimes more than $1,000. And in some cases, requestors need to be willing and able to sue in order to get records at all.

And that brings me around to the ask: If you value the watchdog work we do here at Seeking Rents — and you have the means to do so — please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Those paid subscriptions are so important to helping us cover reporting expenses like public-records requests.

Since day one, I’ve been committed to keeping all of Seeking Rents’ reporting free to all — rather than locking it behind a paywall, available only to those who can afford it.

That’s because I truly believe that information is a force more powerful than money. Knowledge is, ultimately, a great equalizer.

That’s not going to change around here. But it makes voluntary paid subscriptions critical to our mission.

*To paraphrase Barbossa, five is more what you’d call a guideline than an actual rule.

Heritage Foundation on the faculty

Revealed: Florida liberal arts college in rightwing hiring spree after takeover (The Guardian)

See also: New College of Florida offers course in ‘Woke’ movement (Tampa Bay Times) ($)

See also: ‘Oath of Fealty’: How the U. of Florida forced faculty cooperation with a GOP-backed civics center. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Irony is dead

It's famous and among the most-removed books in Florida school districts. What is it? (Palm Beach Post) ($)

Storm clouds are gathering

Why Matt Gaetz Might Actually Become Attorney General (Politico Magazine)

See also: Miami Anti-Vax Power Couple Cheers RFK Jr.'s Nomination for HHS Secretary (Miami New Times)

Staying on top of a scandal

Details of Jonathan Dickinson State Park golf controversy still shady months later (Palm Beach Post) ($)

Note to Orlando

Why Are Cities Still Spending Big on Convention Centers? (New York Times) ($)

Perspectives

Matt Gaetz Is a Bad Choice for Attorney General (Wall Street Journal) ($)

Florida SAT scores rank 47th — and still dropping (Orlando Sentinel) ($)

Look to the State Trustbusters (The American Prospect)

The "broligarch" threat to criminal justice reform (The Watch)