President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron Desantis. Governor’s office photo One month after Florida got its first COVID-19 cases , two weeks after the governors of California and New York issued shelter-in-place orders, the governor of Florida finally shut the state down and told people to park their backsides at home and stay there. But don’t blame DeSantis: he had to wait till Demented Daddy in DC gave him permission. In related news, Donald Trump, has also given the governor permission to breathe, thus providing DeSantis’s poor brain with long-missed, much-needed oxygen. State offices were allegedly closed three weeks ago, allegedly allowing state workers to telecommute. On March 12, DeSantis claimed he was “ authorizing state agencies to maximize remote working ,” while one of his aides said an executive order to that effect had been issued. Funny thing, though: nobody could actually find that executive order. Even funnier thing, many state workers have been forced to come into the office despite the official pontificating about “social distancing” to stay safe from the virus. The Department of Management Services issued a directive suggesting staff self-isolate “after potential exposure, to stay home with children due to child care or school closures, and take time needed to take care of dependents like an elder parent.” State staff just needs to use “ accrued leave days .” Or vacation time. No avoiding a deadly contagion on the state’s dime, no sir! Senate President Bill Galvano (the genius behind those environmentally disastrous toll roads) has granted his employees 80 hours of “emergency leave,” which sounds like a lot until you realize that’s only 10 business days in a global health crisis that will probably last for months. And I’m sure it’s a great comfort to state workers to know that, though they are […]
