Friends,
Happy New Year! I hope that all of you had a safe and wonderful holiday season. My family enjoyed all the time we shared together and I was especially grateful for the opportunity to spend some time in our mountain home in North Carolina that we don’t get to visit nearly enough. 2020 is already shaping up to be an exciting year in the world of government and politics and the Presidential Election is sure to capture the majority of the news over the next year. More on that later.
As we say hello to 2020 and goodbye to 2019, let us take a look at a couple of highlights from this last year and for all that we have to be thankful.
During 2019, crime rates in Florida continue to decrease. We just had a chance to look at FDLE’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR), which showed crime dropped 6.1 percent compared to the first half of 2018 with almost 17,100 fewer reported incidents. This can be attributed, firstly, to those men and women in law enforcement who are doing an excellent job holding the blue line. Secondly, we can thank some fantastic leadership, chosen by you, in our county sheriff’s departments across the state. In addition, our city police chiefs and state law enforcement directors are among the very best, anywhere in the world and we should be very proud of the work they do. Thirdly, because the people of this state have chosen solid, conservative leaders to send to Tallahassee that will protect the rights of individuals to take responsibility for themselves and others.
Thanks to great work done by Governor DeSantis and the Florida Senate, we are finally seeing some relief from the blue-green algae and red tide that affected the gulf coast for the past few years. The establishment of task force to look at new initiatives and technologies, along with a $682.6 million investment in water protection, has been very successful in combating these issues. Red Tide is a naturally occurring bloom in the Gulf of Mexico, so we will never be completely rid of it, but we can continue to work on mitigating the impacts on wildlife and water quality.
Finally, I was very pleased to see that Florida was finally removed from the American Tort Reform Foundation’s “Judicial Hellhole” list. Formally number #1 on this list, excessive tort cost in Florida caused an estimated 125,000 jobs lost and Florida residents lost nearly $12 billion in personal revenue. Tort reform was a top priority of the Governor and the Florida Legislature for 2019. That call was answered quickly with the appointment of three new Supreme Court justices, who will be more deferential to legislative efforts to stop lawsuit abuse and are committed to correct actions taken by the prior activist court. Following that lead, the Florida Legislature enacted other measures in 2019 that would remove incentives to file assignment of benefits litigation and discourage unnecessary bad faith actions.
Florida is on a great track for 2020, let us stay the course and avoid taking any hard left turns. As always, it is a honor to be your Senator, thank you for letting me serve you.
Onward & Upward,
Dennis Baxley
