Taylor Swift may know how popular her song “Florida!!!” is. It’s about the state’s political scene.
As a state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network in Florida, I cover Tallahassee state government. At any given time, you can find him watching press conferences with Gov. Ron DeSantis, examining the medical examiner’s office data, and interviewing state legislators about the bills they’ve proposed.
But today I will write about Taylor’s lyrics and “Florida!!!” They really are.
Florida: Taylor’s version compared to DeSantis’ version.
If you didn’t stay up until 4 a.m. to hear Taylor Swift’s long-awaited new album, The Tortured Poets Department, you’re one of the few people who doesn’t have an opinion on the song “Florida!!!” Probably alone.
Featuring Florence Welch and Florence and the Machine, the song depicts the state as a chaotic, dark, old frontier town where murder, binge drinking, and drugs are rampant, and Gov. Ron DeSantis’s fight against crime is rampant. This is in direct contrast to the strict “law and order” attitude of the United States. .
“We are proud to be a law and order nation,” DeSantis said last week in St. Petersburg, where he signed five public safety bills.
The governor has repeated this mantra in nearly every press conference this spring. Whether it was signing a bill forcing homeowners to evict squatters from their properties or issuing a warning over spring break in Miami, Mr. DeSantis criticized blue states like California and compared them to Florida. I’ve done it.
“What we’re rallying here in New York and California is not going to pass when we’re rallying here,” he said as he signed the “property rights” bill (HB 621) in Orlando in March.
Florida (Taylor version) is different. Her lyrics reflect stereotypes in the Sunshine State that DeSantis is actively trying to change.
Anyway, here’s the line from “Florida!!!” With Taylor’s talent, writing about the latest in Florida politics is easy. Perhaps Generation Alpha will subscribe to newspapers after this.
“Bringing the heat to Florida!!!”
“If you can overcome the charge, you can overcome the heat.”
Is Taylor talking about the Heat Preemption Act that DeSantis signed last week?
The measure was in response to a proposal from Miami-Dade County, which proposed requiring people to rest in the shade on the hottest days, but Florida said no and passed HB 433. The measure prohibits local governments from developing policies regarding heat exposure requirements that are not mandated under the state. or federal law.
During this year’s legislative session, Sen. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, said he sponsored the bill to gain support for a statewide requirement to follow federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.
But the law has sparked frustration and anger from some experts and advocates for construction workers and farm workers, who say workers need more protections, not less. It is claimed that there is.
Florida and the smell of cannabis – legal or not?
“And all my friends smell like weed or little babies, and this city smells like it’s driving me crazy.”
The smell of weed is something DeSantis has repeatedly warned could happen to Floridians if the constitutional amendment is passed on the ballot this November.
The proposal, known as Amendment 3, would legalize “the personal use of marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical purposes” by adults 21 and older if approved by at least 60% of voters statewide. . It is expected to take effect six months after the election.
DeSantis said he believes medical marijuana is enough for Florida.
“In this state, you’ll start to smell like marijuana…your quality of life will decrease,” he says. “Do we want to get more marijuana into our communities? I don’t think it’s going to work. But this is a very broad amendment.”
Destin has been name removed. What about vacation rentals?
“So you work your whole life just to pay for a timeshare at your destination.”
In the current Diet session, local governments have lost the national authority regarding private lodging. The new law also establishes overnight occupancy limits and caps fines for rental violations at $500.
Just under 27,000 vacation rentals will be licensed by the state in 2022, and that number likely represents only a fraction of the rentals in operation.
Lawmakers have been pushing for the abolition of the private lodging system for more than a decade, pushing for policies that shift between stronger state control and more intervention. This year, the state will come out on top unless DeSantis vetoes the bill.
DeSantis has not commented on the latest bill, and his office declined to provide insight into his thinking.
Florida may be drugs, but the penalties are tough.
“Florida is a hell of a drug.”
If Taylor is talking about literal drugs, it’s an issue that the Florida Legislature continues to crack down on. This year, Florida added tianeptine, or “gas station heroin,” to Schedule I.
In early April, DeSantis signed “First Responder Exposure to Fentanyl” (SB 718), saying it would “ensure those in uniform are protected,” but medical professionals and others says the new law could potentially harm bystanders and deter family members from calling 911 during an overdose.
Mr. DeSantis also announced the expansion of the Collaborative Opioid Recovery (CORE) Network, an initiative between the state Department of Health, the Department of Children and Families, and the Agency for Health Care Administration. The aim is to curb the number of deaths caused by contaminated drug supplies and is scheduled to be expanded to 29 counties.
The program, which launched in 12 counties in 2022, connects people to medication treatment, recovery programs and peer support.
Hurricane Florence and the Machine?
“I was drunk when the hurricane named after me came and I dared to try to wash it away.”
This is Florence’s line. That’s obvious. In 2018 Hurricane Florence struck. Forecasters say this year is likely to be a “very active” hurricane season.
Last year was the fourth most active season on record. Hurricane Idalia was the only hurricane to make landfall in the United States in 2023. Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Keaton Beach, Florida, on August 30, causing storm surge flooding of 7 to 12 feet and widespread rainfall flooding across Florida and the Southeast. NOAA said.
Taylor will soon be able to get a bigger bottle of wine in “Florida!!!”
“I barricaded myself in the bathroom with a bottle of wine. Well, me and my ghosts had a great time.”
Floridians will soon be able to buy giant wine bottles of up to 15 liters. Nebuchadnezzar should be in stores on July 1st.
“There was really no public policy reason to have this (previous) regulation, and it’s been in place for decades,” DeSantis said at Fort Lauderdale’s Wine Watch bill signing ceremony. “It’s a regulation,” he said. shop.
The new law also allows smaller and larger bottles such as 4.5 liters, 6 liters, 9 liters and 12 liters.
Taylor meets Tiger King on ‘Florida!!!’
“And your cheating husband disappeared, well, no one here asks questions.”
One of Florida’s most famous missing husbands, the spouse of “Tiger King” star Carole Baskin, has asked the Florida Supreme Court to protect her from a defamation lawsuit filed by her missing ex-husband’s longtime assistant. I’m looking for it.
According to Baskin’s legal filings, ahead of the airing of the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King,” which became a cult phenomenon in 2020, Baskin “addresses a false storyline that suggests she murdered her ex-husband.” ” he said.
Baskin read out old diaries on her YouTube channel and posted on her website accusations that McQueen, who appeared on a show about the mysterious disappearance of Baskin’s ex-husband, committed embezzlement and other misdeeds.
McQueen sued Baskin for defamation in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, but a judge there said the assistant had no cause to sue. The state appellate court disagreed with the lower court’s opinion.
Now, Baskin has asked the state Supreme Court to weigh in, raising the stakes in a series of legal arguments involving the First Amendment and defamation laws.
“Florida!!” DeSantis sends National Guard to join Texas
“So you packed up your life to go back to Texas and just wait out the bad storm.”
DeSantis talks a lot about Texas in his press conferences.
Governors and administration officials have regularly criticized President Joe Biden and Republican lawmakers for their response to the increase in migrants arriving at the southern border.
Mr. DeSantis rebuilt the National Guard in 2022 and in February sent more than 1,000 Florida and National Guard troops to Texas to thwart what he called an “invasion on the southern border.” They joined members of the Highway Patrol, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Florida Department of Law Enforcement who were already on the scene, according to a press release.
Also in February, Taylor was embroiled in a conspiracy theory about the president. Nearly one in five Americans, mostly conservatives, believes the singer is part of a covert operation to help Biden win the 2024 election, according to a Monmouth University poll. .
But two-thirds of Americans support Mr. Taylor’s efforts to increase voter turnout.
Taylor Swift’s Florida state matches latest census data
“So take me to Florida.”‘
The song ends with a shout out to this refrain, which I attribute to the state’s population boom. According to the U.S. Census, Florida had a net migration of more than 200,000 adults in 2022.
Come to Florida, Taylor. This is a formal invitation. I’ll catch Nebuchadnezzar.
For USA Today, John Kennedy and Douglas Soule contributed background information to this article. Ana Goñi-Lessan is a USA TODAY-Florida state observer. Contact details are as follows: AGoniLessan@tallahassee.com. Follow her on Twitter/X: @goni_lessan.
