Governor spares pay hikes for teachers, state workers as he downsizes state spending plan

By John KennedyGannett Florida

TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $1 bil-lion in spending Monday from the $93.2 billion state budget crafted by his fellow Republican leaders in the Florida Legislature before the coronavirus pandemic began

shattering the economy.

DeSantis said he had “threaded the needle,” in preserving some top big-

ticket proposals, including pay raises for teachers and state workers and more than $625 million in water projects.

The now $92.2 billion budget is set to take effect Wednesday.

“We had big achievements and big gains,” DeSantis said.

“At the same time the budget was coming due, we started to see the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has changed the trajec-tory of the nation’s economy and, obviously, the economy here in Florida.”

Among the cuts is $225 million in state funding for affordable housing, which DeSantis said will be offset by $250 million in federal money for rental and mort-gage assistance directed to

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State’s total rises 46% in a week; Palm Beach County sees 25% hike in same period

By Jane MusgravePalm Beach Post Staff Writer

The number of COVID-19 cases in Florida climbed by

another 5,226 on Monday, the lowest jump in the past four days but still far more than had been tallied before the last string of record-setting gains, according to the Florida Department of Health.

With 146,341 cases, Florida barreled past Illinois and now has the fifth-highest number

of COVID-19 cases in the nation, the Worldometer reported. It is closing in on Texas, where nearly 157,000 people have been diagnosed and which is also one of the country’s hot spots.

Florida has 120,560 active cases, behind only New York and California, which lead the

nation in the total number of cases, according to the global coronavirus tracker. New Jersey and Texas rank third and fourth. The active number is an estimate based on the number of people who haven’t died or been declared

Fla. now No. 5 in US virus casesCoronavirus update

County: 13,711 cases, 516 deathsState: 146,341 cases, 3,546 deaths U.S.: 2,564,163 cases, 125,928 deathsGlobal: 10,199,798 cases, 502,947 deaths

Roberts joins four liberals in casting down law that would have left state with just one clinic

By Adam Liptak The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Louisiana law that could have left the state with a single abortion clinic, dashing the hopes of conservatives who were counting on President Donald Trump’s appoint-ments to lead the court to sustain restrictions on abortion rights and, even-tually, to overrule Roe v. Wade.

Instead, conservatives suffered a setback, and from an unlikely source. Chief Justice John Roberts added his crucial fifth vote to those of the court’s f o u r - m e m b e r l i b e r a l wing, saying that respect for precedent compelled him to do so, even though he had voted to uphold an essentially identical Texas law in a 2016 dissent.

In the past two weeks, Roberts has voted with the court’s liberal wing in three major cases — on job discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers; on a program protecting young immigrants known as Dreamers; and now on abortion.

While the chief jus-t i c e h a s o n o c c a s i o n disappointed his usual conservative allies, nota-bly on the Affordable Care Act and adding a citizenship question to the census, nothing in his 15-year tenure on the court

compares to the recent run of liberal votes in major cases.

Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the four other justices in the majority, said the Louisiana law was

“almost word-for-word identical” to the one from Texas t h a t t h e Supreme Court

struck down in the 2016 decision, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.

In both cases, Breyer wrote, the laws put an undue burden on the con-stitutional right to the procedure.

The court’s decision to revisit the issue of admis-sions privileges worried proponents of abortion rights given Roberts’ sup-port for the Texas law. Since that ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted to overturn the law, was replaced by the more conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

In the end, Roberts’ commitment to precedent sank the Louisiana law.

“I joined the dissent in Whole Woman’s Health,” he wrote Monday, “and continue to believe that the case was wrongly decided. The question today, how-ever, is not whether Whole Woman’s Health was right or wrong, but whether to adhere to it in deciding the present case.

“The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed

Supreme Court justices reject La. curbs on abortion

Beachgoers enjoy the sun and sand Monday on Lake Worth Beach. Palm Beach County will close beaches Friday to help fight the spread of the coronavirus. [JOSEPH FORZANO/PALMBEACHPOST.COM]

Joins neighboring counties in trying to prevent big gatherings that would spread coronavirus

By Hannah MorsePalm Beach Post Staff Writer

Following in the footsteps of its South Florida neighbors, Palm Beach County beaches will be closed Friday through Sunday for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

All beaches, no matter if they are municipal or private, will be closed. Restaurants and shops inside beach parks will be allowed to operate but must continue to abide by the

Sand-less: County shuts beaches for the Fourth

Kids enjoy the ocean during the Blue Water School of Surfing Summer Camp on Monday in Jupiter. Following the footsteps of its South Florida neighbors, Palm Beach County beaches will be closed ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. [GREG LOVETT/

PALMBEACHPOST.COM]

DeSantis

DeSantis vetoes $1B from budget, cites effects of the virus pandemic

See COURT, A6

See VIRUS, A7

Roberts

See BEACHES, A2

See BUDGET, A2