Attorney General Moody Leads Multistate Effort Urging DEA to Extend Telehealth Capabilities for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody is leading a bipartisan coalition of 45 attorneys general urging the extension of emergency rules to aid those suffering with opioid use disorder. The attorneys general are calling on the Drug Enforcement Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to permanently extend telehealth flexibilities for prescribing buprenorphine, an opioid use disorder treatment. Buprenorphine is one of three medications that is FDA-approved to treat patients suffering from addiction. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration allowed telehealth services to prescribe the medication, but this rule is set to expire when the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.

The nation is in the grips of an opioid crisis, with more than 100,000 Americans dying due to overdose last year alone. State attorneys general are on the front lines fighting the crisis to protect Americans from deadly synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Attorney General Moody recognizes that interdiction efforts alone will not end the crisis. Continue reading →

Dear Friends,

The election season will officially conclude November 8 and we are very excited to bring this cycle to a close. We are grateful to live in America, where, even if we make a mistake about who we choose to lead us, we have the ability to choose differently in the next election. No one person can dominate the government for a lifetime. In Florida, we are grateful to have anti-incumbency laws in our constitution so that we are always ready to receive wisdom and fresh ideas from another who is willing to serve. We should not be afraid of those who do have experience serving in elected roles, they bring highly valuable insight and knowledge. We do recognize, however, that we cannot allow our state to operate as Washington D.C. does. There, men and women hold office for decades and become so entrenched that they lose all sense of what it means to be an average citizen. It is not true of all that serve in federal government, but it is a concern for many.

We are confident that we will have a smooth and fair election where voters can be assured that their ballot was counted accurately and that our elections are legitimate. The Florida Legislature has worked hard these last few years to ensure that it is incredibly difficult to cheat our elections. As the Chair of the Ethics and Elections Committee, your Senator had the opportunity to directly sponsor and/or oversee some of the largest elections changes this state has seen in decades. SB 90 (2021) and SB (524) fixed issues and loopholes surrounding drop boxes, ballot harvesting, and vote-by-mail ballots. In addition, we established an investigative unit on elections security within the Department of State that will weed out potential abusers of our elections. No system is perfect and our work is never finished. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance”. In Florida, we will continue to make it easy to vote, but very, very hard to cheat.

Our prayers continue for our neighbors in the southern part of the state who, little by little, are piecing back together their lives after the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian. How Floridians have responded to such tragedy is truly amazing and it is a blessing to be serving some of the most hardworking and dedicated people in this entire country. Governor DeSantis did an amazing job coordinating the state’s response to this disaster and we are fortunate to have a leader like him for times such as this.

Thank you for your trust and confidence; it is an honor to serve you in the Florida Senate.

Onward & Upward,

Senator Dennis Baxley

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that emergency repairs to the Sanibel Causeway have been completed in 15 days, more than a week ahead of schedule. As of this morning, access to Sanibel Island has been restored for residents, reconnecting Sanibel Island to the mainland. T

 “The work that has been done to restore vehicle access to Sanibel Island has been historic,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Cutting through bureaucratic red tape and delivering on our promise to get Sanibel Island up and running has been a top priority. By restoring access over the causeway, repair crews, first responders, emergency vehicles, business owners and residents will be better able to expedite recovery from this storm.” 

“I am grateful for our dedicated team members who quite literally built a road in the Gulf in 15 days,” said FDOT Secretary Jared W. Perdue, P.E. “While the bridges were largely undamaged by the storm, portions of the causeway which connect bridge structures together were washed away by Hurricane Ian, leaving the bridges unconnected to the mainland or the island. A project like this, under normal circumstances, could take months. However, FDOT, along with our law enforcement partners at the Florida Highway Patrol, Lee County and Florida Department of Emergency Management made use of strategic and innovative techniques to rebuild the causeways quickly. Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, and thanks to the hard work of hundreds of FDOT employees and contractors, we were able to relink Sanibel Island to the mainland.”  Continue reading →

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Reps. Kat Cammack (R-FL-03), Ed Case (D-HI-01), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20), and Steven Palazzo (R-MS-04) announced the establishment of the Aquaculture Caucus, for which the four representatives will serve as inaugural co-chairs.

The caucus will serve as a resource and forum to educate and share the potential for growing sustainable, innovative domestic aquaculture. It will also provide policy updates and share initiatives in Congress that support U.S. aquaculture and work to make it more competitive at the global level.

“Aquaculture should be one of the United States’ priorities as we grow our focus on food security. In Florida, we’ve seen the benefits of aquaculture firsthand, breeding, raising, and harvesting shellfish, fish, and aquatic plants in our waters. We’ve demonstrated that it’s possible to provide healthy, fresh food that’s produced sustainably at home to support our growing population,” said Congresswoman Cammack. “The Aquaculture Caucus shares our enthusiasm for pushing these industries and their innovations forward while growing our infrastructure and market domestically.” Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody, in a coalition with 19 other state attorneys general, filed comments before the U.S. Department of Transportation to push back against a Biden administration rule requiring all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia to reduce on-road CO2 emissions to net-zero by 2050. The comments argue that Congress has not given DOT authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Congress never gave the Department of Transportation the authority to implement these overbearing and widespread regulations—requiring all states to reduce on-road CO2 emissions to net-zero. This is just another example of Biden attempting to wield federal authority he does not have. Thankfully, state attorneys general are pushing back against this unlawful federal overreach.” Continue reading →

TALLAHASEE, Fla.—As Florida continues rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Ian, Attorney General Moody is recognizing International Charity Fraud Awareness Week with wise-giving tips for people donating to recovery efforts. Many Floridians may wish to contribute to the continuing recovery effort from Hurricane Ian. More than $45 million donors have given to the Florida Disaster Fund alone. Generous Floridians must stay alert, as scammers often try to exploit disasters to rip off donors.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “This year’s International Charity Fraud Awareness Week comes as we continue to rebuild what Hurricane Ian destroyed. Generous Floridians and people across the country are contributing to the recovery efforts and we are so grateful for their support, but I want to remind those who want to give to watch out for charity scams and do some research before donating.” Continue reading →

By TomL

    Governor Ron DeSantis Issues Updates on Hurricane Ian Recovery 

If anyone ever doubted Governor Ron DeSantis capabilities, they can lay them to rest. I don’t know of one Governor in office today that do a better / faster / more efficient job than Ron DeSantis. He had his list of priorities and made them work. I’m sure he help save lives of some people that tried to ride out Ian but it was a mistake. All of the first responders save lives, there probably were a few that lost their life while saving others.

The Hurricane center seemed to be ahead of the storm but a friend of mind was watching the satellite imagery and she said it did a Zig Zag before hitting land. Warning was an hour to late to let the public know. It did not come ashore where the weather bureau predicted. I guess they have to fly an airplane through the Hurricane to confirm what it was doing while we were watching it from satellite imagery. We need to rely on the new technology more. Some of those people could have left had they been notified of the change. Not DeSantis’ fault! Continue reading →

Florida Turnpike Extension

The Florida State Turnpike Authority was authorized by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Dan McCarty as the Turnpike Authority Act on June 11, 1953. The Authority was reorganized and incorporated into the newly formed Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) in July 1969.

In 1953, Costar led a lobbying group that resulted in the state legislature creating the “Florida Turnpike Act”, which Governor Dan McCarty signed into law on July 11, 1953.

A History of Providing Safe and Convenient Transportation. Construction on Florida’s Turnpike began in the mid-1950s, and the first 110-mile stretch was completed in 1957.

As I understand the turnpike extends 264.666 miles. When the Turnpike lobbying was going Florida Residents were promised all kinds of things it would only be a toll road to pay for the construction of and so ands so forth. Some of the problems did not come up till a little later. Continue reading →

On September 14, 2022, in News Releases, by Staff

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that U.S. News and World Report released their 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings, with Florida Public Universities earning top spots across multiple categories. The Best Colleges rankings placed the University of Florida (UF) and Florida State University (FSU) among the top 20 public universities in the country. UF earned the number 5 ranking on the list and FSU earned the number 19 spot. The University of South Florida was ranked among the top 50 public universities in the country at number 42, rising four spots from last year and breaking into the list of the top 100 public and private universities for the first time ever at number 97. The University of Central Florida (UCF) and Florida International University were also in the top 100 public universities nationally, coming in at 64 and 72 respectively. As of 2021, Florida has been ranked the number one state for higher education for five consecutive years by U.S. News and World Report. Continue reading →

On September 13, 2022, in News Releases, by Staff

Continue the Mission recruits veterans, military spouses and former law enforcement officers to serve as CPIs, APIs, DCF case managers and mentors

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, First Lady Casey DeSantis highlighted the success of her Continue the Mission initiative, which launched in June 2022 to recruit veterans, military spouses and former law enforcement officers to be child and adult protective investigators and case managers, as well as mentors to children in need, new case managers and child and adult protective investigators. Since the start of the initiative, nearly 250 individuals have applied to work to protect Florida’s most vulnerable children. This follows several recruiting events hosted by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and successful marketing with local partners. To learn more about this program, Visit:

https://www.myflfamilies.com/continuethemission/.  Continue reading →