Dear Friends,

This comes to you from our desk in Tallahassee as committee meetings are in full swing. An informed person is an empowered person and so we hope to continue bringing some reports to our folks back home.

Most of the work being done, so far, is hearing reports from various state agencies regarding their operations and some forecasting about what next year will bring. On the financial side, Florida continues to rebound from a tough year 2020 where real GDP fell by 2.8% for the year. Thanks to strong conservative leadership from our Governor and Legislature, we have recovered those losses with an average growth of 7.2% over the first two quarters of 2021. Personal income growth rates for Floridians are anticipated to be above 4.0% for the 2021 year, which is excellent news considering that the national average for 2020 was in the negative by about 25%.

Every ten years, coinciding with the U.S. Census, each state will draw a new district map for their elected representatives and Senators. This process, called Redistricting, must be completed by the Florida Legislature in the upcoming Session. This process will take up much of the focus and energy this year. We have many talented and knowledgeable staff working hard to help us accomplish this mission and we are very confident that the final product will be fair and legal. The Senate website has some excellent information on this topic and we encourage everyone to utilize these resources and to be informed. Continue reading →

Do Your Job, Enforce the Law,

Stop Incentivizing Illegal Immigration

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Instead of changing course to stop the crisis of mass illegal immigration occurring at the southwest border, the Biden Administration has taken yet another action to further weaken immigration enforcement, which will exacerbate the Biden Border Crisis. In a policy memo issued this week by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Biden Administration directed immigration authorities to stop deploying worksite operations that enforce illegal immigrant employment laws, effectively greenlighting American employers to hire illegal aliens.

“This latest action by DHS should come as no surprise given that mass illegal immigration is this administration’s policy, but yet again, Florida will fill the chasm left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to enforce the law,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “State and federal law explicitly prohibit the employment of illegal aliens. In Florida, we will enforce the law, and we will protect the jobs and wages of Florida’s workers.” Continue reading →

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis visited Lee County to highlight the successes seen in Florida since the deployment of state-run monoclonal antibody treatment sites. Since opening these sites, the 7-day average of new adult hospital admissions has fallen 80%.

“Florida has administered over 130,000 monoclonal antibody treatments, saving thousands of people from being admitted to the hospital. There is no doubt that many lives have been saved as a result of making these treatments widely available,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Recently, the Biden administration decided to severely cut the amount of Regeneron monoclonal antibodies being sent to Florida and other disfavored states. That was concerning because there was a significant demand for the treatments and we wanted to make sure that if folks needed it, they were able to get it. I looked to see what other options were available for Florida. There was another very effective monoclonal antibody treatment called Sotrovimab made by GlaxoSmithKline that had recently received emergency use authorization. We went directly to GlaxoSmithKline, got Sotrovimab for Florida, and deployed it. It served as a bridge to get over the reductions, and fortunately, as a result of the success of early treatment, our infections are now so low that we have gone from thousands to hundreds of treatments per day. Florida is one of the only states in the country that currently has hospital admissions for COVID below pre-Delta levels and is also one of the five lowest states for daily infections.” Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today issued a Consumer Alert warning Floridians about QR code scams. QR, or Quick Response, codes are codes arranged in black and white pixelated squares that can be scanned by your phone, tablet or other electronic device. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled many businesses to offer QR codes for customers to access information such as menus, tracking packages and viewing apps. According to the Better Business Bureau, scammers are reportedly replacing QR codes with fake codes leading consumers to phishing websites, automatically launching payment apps or downloading malicious malware.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Many businesses are innovating how they share information to reduce person-to-person contact during the pandemic, turning to QR codes to eliminate the sharing of printed material. Sadly, scammers are taking advantage of this by changing QR codes to re-route consumers to malicious websites. Be wary when using QR codes and make sure that what you scan is approved by the business.” Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—September is National Preparedness Month and Attorney General Ashley Moody urges Floridians to remain vigilant and reevaluate preparedness plans should disaster strike. The peak of hurricane season occurs between mid-August and late October. As Floridians enter the second half of hurricane season, Attorney General Moody is highlighting the 2021 Hurricane Preparedness Guide for Floridians to prepare their homes and families against potential disaster.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “2020 was a record-breaking hurricane season with 30 named storms and 11 land strikes. As we continue to recognize National Preparedness Month and peak hurricane season, I urge all Floridians to make preparations now, to keep their loved ones and property safe—should a storm strike where you live.”

The theme of this year’s National Preparedness Month is: Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love. To help Floridians protect their families and homes, Attorney General Moody is issuing the following hurricane preparedness tips:

Have at least a three-day supply of food, water and other emergency supplies stored in your house; Continue reading →

On September 23, 2021, in News Releases, by Staff

Governor announces that Florida secured 3,000 mAb doses directly from GlaxoSmithKline

TAMPA, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis called on the Biden Administration to restore Florida’s monoclonal antibody supply. At the event, Governor DeSantis also announced that due to the lack of support from the federal government, Florida secured 3,000 doses of the monoclonal antibody treatment on its own from GlaxoSmithKline.

“We should be doing everything we can to get patients monoclonal antibody treatments, not cutting allocations of treatment like the Biden Administration has done,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Despite the cuts by the federal government, we want any Floridians that could benefit from this treatment to have access to it. Florida is going to leave no stone unturned when finding treatment for our state, and we are encouraged to have secured a shipment of monoclonal antibody treatments from GlaxoSmithKline.” Continue reading →

For 15 years, Angie Kornas worked on technical racing suits for the Olympics to shaping and supportive swimwear for women. There was one thing that remained consistent in all swimsuit brands, no matter the quality, price point- all the removable bra inserts that came with swimsuits were terrible. They constantly moved around, bunched up and fell out. Not only was she personally frustrated, but women everywhere would light up talking about how awful the flimsy pieces of foam were.

Kornas searched the market for a better option worldwide and found nothing that would fix this real problem. She was blown away by the lack of design improvements over the last few decades. Bra inserts hadn’t been reengineered or reimagined in over 20 years! These pads are important for women because they provide nipple coverage, filler for volume loss, shaping and added support. They can even help women balance 2 different sized breasts, a very common issue, wearing an insert on the smaller side. Inserts are typically worn in regular bras, swimsuits, sports bras to dresses and tops. Continue reading →

Dear Friends,

My update this month will be brief. Committee meetings for the 2022 Legislative Session have begun and we are excited to return to Tallahassee and fight to protect faith, family, freedom, opportunity and life itself.

On the frontlines in the fight for life, we are gaining allies and the state of Texas has brought the heartbeat bill back to the forefront. Senate President Simpson and House Speaker Sprowls have indicated that they will be willing to consider such a measure in this coming year. Your Senator sponsored this bill in 2018 (under different Senate leadership) and even though we had nearly half of the Senate signed on as co-sponsors, we were unable to get it across the finish line. We are very encouraged to see this gaining traction again this year and we remain hopeful that such a measure can be implemented in Florida. Continue reading →

Today, Governor Ron DeSantis highlight’s progress made in Florida through efforts to expand access to live-saving monoclonal antibody treatments. Florida has 25 state-run monoclonal antibody treatment sites.

Since opening the first state monoclonal antibody site in Florida on August 12th, our state has experienced a more than 50% decrease in hospital admissions. Additionally, there has been a decline in hospital census for 24 consecutive days and COVID-like emergency room visits are down to the lowest point in nearly two months.

Micha Siegel, a Boca Raton resident who has received monoclonal antibodies, said, “Three weeks ago, I was fully vaccinated, had a family birthday party at my house, and we all ended up getting sick. I was sick for about two or three days before I got the treatment. The symptoms were… severe headaches, head congestion, colds, low-grade fever, and about 24 hours after [the treatment], it was basically gone. I think [monoclonals] are a great opportunity for everybody to know about whether you were vaccinated or not.” Continue reading →

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis was joined by Floridians who have received monoclonal antibody treatments, and announced that Florida will open a new monoclonal antibody treatment site in Escambia County at Bayview Community Center.

Bayview Community Center

2001 East Lloyd Street

Pensacola, Florida 32503

Hours: 7 days a week, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Hear directly from monoclonal antibody recipients about their experience with the therapy…

Melody Hinson, a resident of Pace, said, “After I tested positive, I immediately got in touch with my doctor. Within two hours, I had an appointment to receive the monoclonal antibodies for the next day. I hadn’t heard a whole lot about it, but I went and got the infusion. When I got home that afternoon, my taste came back. The achiness, and all of that went away. We’ve been blessed by all this effort. There’s people here that don’t have insurance, and with the state sites and standing referral, they are going to be able to get this help.” Continue reading →