MIAMI, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday proposed $1,000 bonuses for Florida classroom teachers and principals. “I’m proposing and announcing my request to the legislature to dedicate another $216 million,” DeSantis said.
Money for the bonuses comes from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which is part of the federal government’s coronavirus relief program.
And the $1,000 bonus for teachers comes on the heels of a $1,000 bonus for first responders, also suggested by the governor who is running for re-election in less than two years.
On Thursday, Local 10 News asked the Florida Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nunez about it.
The lieutenant governor said that the bonuses were something the governor “felt very strongly” about. We countered by telling her that his Democrat opponents say it’s a political ploy and part of his re-election campaign.
“They say that about everything, Michael, so I don’t know. We can’t do anything without it being chalked up to politics. We’re focused on good policy.”
Good policies make for good politics. Ironically, the money the governor is handing out to teachers and first responders comes from COVID-relief bills approved by Democrats in Congress, but not by Republicans.
Meanwhile, politicians are showing up left and right at vaccination sites. On Thursday in Miami, State Department of Health personnel were giving the shots, but some politicians were there to take credit.
Inside Saints Peter and Paul School cafeteria, the one and done Johnson and Johnson vaccine was going into the arms of people 50 years of age and older.
“We’re proud to announce that we’ve have vaccinated 71 percent of seniors and we’re close to 6 million individuals that have been vaccinated in the state,” Nunez announced at the site.
U.S. Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL District 27) was there, too.
“We’re giving their freedom back to them because when you get vaccinated you can go back to visit with your friends, you can shop, you can go to work and you can take care of your kids. What you’re doing is liberating, you’re liberating the community to go back to their normal lives.”