Amid confusion, DeSantis says local governments can ‘go beyond’ his COVID-19 order

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that local governments can enact stricter measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus than what is outlined in his statewide stay-at-home order, seeking to clear up confusion over language that says his order “supersedes” all local actions.

After he signed an executive order around 1 p.m. Wednesday telling everyone in the state to stay at home through the end of April, except for certain essential activities, DeSantis issued an amendment to the order hours later. The amendment said the governor’s order “shall supersede any conflicting action or order issued by local officials in response to COVID-19.”

But at a press conference Thursday afternoon, DeSantis said he “thought it was understood” that the state’s order would serve only as a “baseline” for county and municipal governments. Those entities can go further, he said, as long as their measures don’t conflict with the state’s.

“If some folks want to do things more, then they can do more in certain situations,” he said, noting, as he has repeatedly while arguing against a statewide shutdown, that each region of the state is distinct. “We want to work with the local folks.”

DeSantis added: “Generally speaking, yeah, they can go beyond what I’ve done. We’re setting a floor and they can’t go below the floor.”

But not everyone was convinced DeSantis made the public any less confused in his clarifying remarks. State Rep. Michael Greico, whose district includes Miami Beach, said local officials there were “more confused now than we were a few hours ago.”

“My reading of the order is that local governments cannot be more restrictive than his order,” he said. “Then he goes into the press conference and essentially says the exact opposite.”

The governor didn’t say whether he would require municipalities to clear any measures directly with his office if they’re more restrictive than what is in his order.

But he suggested some emergency measures already enacted by local governments — namely, the closure of churches and religious buildings, a step taken by Miami Beach — may not be allowed.

“I don’t think the government has the authority to close a church,” DeSantis said. “I’m certainly not going to do that.”

Before DeSantis’ press conference Thursday, Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales said at a virtual press conference that the governor “may be trying to tie our hands.” But City Attorney Raul Aguila said the city’s local orders, which also include a curfew, would stay in place for now.

“We don’t think we’re the only local government in Florida having trouble interpreting the scope of the last orders,” Aguila said in a statement. “We hope and are confident that the Governor’s Office will clarify that ambiguity by continuing to allow cities and counties with authority to impose stricter measures, so long as they do not conflict with the Governor’s Order.”

Aguila couldn’t immediately be reached for comment after DeSantis had addressed the matter.

In Miami, City Manager Art Noriega said before DeSantis’ press conference that the statewide order won’t impact the city’s 10 p.m. curfew, which has been in place since March 27. Miami is one of several Miami-Dade cities that have restricted people’s movement at night, including Miami Gardens, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Sweetwater, Homestead and North Miami Beach.

Noriega said the city’s definitions of “essential businesses” are in line with the state definitions, though now the state will have exclusive power to change those terms.

“What we had defined up to now falls in line with their definition of essential business,” Noriega told the Miami Herald. “We just don’t have the ability to further restrict it.”

If Miami administrators feel like they need to deviate from the state’s orders going forward, they will have to relay the message up Florida’s governmental hierarchy, Noriega said.

“We’re just going to communicate to Tallahassee,” he said. “We’re going to have to work through the county and state to get them to act on it.”

Local officials in South Florida were scrambling Thursday to try to make sense of not only the amendment to the executive order, but also the substance of the order itself. Rebecca O’Hara, an attorney for the Florida League of Cities, said local governments have many questions about how to interpret its language.

For example, she said, the order charges local governments with ensuring that groups of more than 10 people don’t congregate in public. But what about a gathering at, say, the pool area of a private condominium — one of several private spaces that Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered to close on Monday. Swimming is one of the recreational activities allowed under DeSantis’ order.

“I think to the extent that necessary clarifications can be provided, that would be great,” O’Hara said.

How the governor’s order should be enforced is also unclear, O’Hara said.

“Is it intended to be enforced through education?” she said. “Or is there an aspect of enforcement to this, and if so, what is it?”

Ken Russell, a city commissioner in Miami, added that the governor’s order says senior citizens and people with significant underlying medical conditions “shall stay at home,” and doesn’t offer any exceptions for essential activities. Russell said city officials were seeking clarification from the state.

DeSantis didn’t address that question Thursday, but he did speak generally on how Florida residents should try to behave in their daily lives. If people choose to go outside, he said, “it’s less important what you do than how you do it.”

“If you have a basketball hoop in your driveway, go shoot hoops all day,” he said, but don’t play a five-on-five pickup game.

“What we’re trying to do is reduce the transmission of the virus,” DeSantis said. “This is a virus that typically transmits when people are in close contact with somebody else.”

This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 6:44 PM.