MEDICAID WAGE CASE DROPPED

Industry groups and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration have agreed to end a legal fight about part of last year’s state budget that could have opened Medicaid providers to litigation if they didn’t pay a $15 minimum wage to “direct care” workers. Attorneys for the Florida Ambulance Association, the Florida Assisted Living Association,

Gov. Ron DeSantis called it “absurd” for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to request a federal investigation into Florida directing flights of migrants last month from Texas to Sacramento. Appearing Monday on Fox Business, DeSantis defended Florida’s use of a taxpayer-funded program to transport migrants, while criticizing California as a “sanctuary” state. “They’re serving really as a magnet for people to cross our border illegally,” DeSantis said. As he runs for the Republican presidential nomination, DeSantis has made President Joe Biden’s handling of immigration and the Southwest U.S. border a key campaign issue.

Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, both Democrats, asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the June 2 and June 5 migrant flights to California. Those flights followed Florida flying migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts last September. Critics have said DeSantis has used migrants as “pawns.” Attorneys for some of the migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard and the advocacy group Alianza Americas filed a potential class-action lawsuit, alleging the asylum seekers were “tricked” into going from Texas to Massachusetts.

ABORTION INITIATIVE TOPS $1.94M

Trying to quickly gather enough petition signatures to get on the 2024 ballot, a political committee leading efforts to pass a constitutional amendment aimed at ensuring abortion rights collected nearly $1.942 million in June, according to a newly filed finance report. As of June 30, the Floridians Protecting Freedom committee had collected about $4.719 million since being formed in April. It had two other plaintiffs and the Agency for Health Care Administration last week filed a joint motion in Leon County circuit court to dismiss the case. The motion said a new state budget that took effect July 1 did not include the disputed issue. Last year’s budget included fine print that directed money to the agency to adjust reimbursement rates so Medicaid spent almost $4.59 million, including about $2.52 million in June. Most of the June spending went to petitiongathering efforts, according to the report posted on the state Division of Elections website. Large donors in June included Planned Parenthood organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

To get the proposed constitutional amendment on the November 2024 ballot, Floridians Protecting providers would pay at least $15 an hour to direct-care employees. Also, the budget said that as of Jan. 1, employees could file civil lawsuits against providers that did not pay $15 an hour, including possibly class-action lawsuits. The Leon County case focused on the constitutionality of the part of the budget that could have led to employee lawsuits. Last week’s motion to dismiss the case indicated the budget fine print had not led to lawsuits. “The parties agree that, with the adoption of the 2023 budget, employees will not have a cause of action for alleged underpayment of wages after June 30, 2023,” the motion said.

Freedom will need to submit at least 891,523 valid petition signatures to the state by Feb. 1. If the measure reaches the ballot, it would need support from at least 60 percent of voters. The initiative was launched after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature this spring approved a bill that seeks to prevent abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.