DeSantis freezes lone Democratic state official out of COVID-19 task force. [View all]

[RandySF]

Snubbed by Gov. Ron DeSantis when he put together his Re-Open Florida Task Force, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has offered the panel her own recommendations for recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

The state’s only Democratic member of the Florida Cabinet has issued a 10-page report called “Recommendations to the Re-Open Florida Task Force from Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.” She mainly sticks to the agricultural realm, though she offers advice on improving Florida’s unemployment system.

The recommendations ask for protections for migrant farm workers and expansion of milk and produce purchases. She also gets into broader topics, such as chasing the Hurricane Michael federal relief money that was supposed to help Florida’s timber industry recover.

Her recommendations offer somewhat of a contrast to DeSantis’s Re-Open Florida Task Force’s Industry Working Group for Agriculture, Finance, Government, Healthcare, Management and Professional Services. which identified the industry as “low risk” for job loss, and has yet to offer many specific recommendations.

Fried offered 15, plus a little bit of annoyance that DeSantis hadn’t asked her for her ideas.




https://floridapolitics.com/archives/329662-uninvited-to-re-open-task-force-nikki-fried-offers-it-her-ideas