TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody is warning Floridians about the recent explosion in deadly counterfeit pills confiscated nationwide. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration recently seized 1.8 million fentanyl-laced pills in a two-month nationwide sting that launched on Aug. 3. Since the start of 2021, officials have seized more than 9.5 million counterfeit pills—an increase of nearly 430% since 2019. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and is an accelerating force behind the increase in drug overdose deaths.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “We are seeing a nationwide increase in the amount of fentanyl coming across our border. We are also seeing a dramatic spike in the number of overdose deaths attributed to fentanyl. As Florida’s Attorney General and as a mother, I don’t want anyone to abuse drugs, but please be especially warned that if you take a pill from anyone other than your doctor, you may be risking your life. Just one dose of fentanyl can kill, and with an increasing number of these counterfeit pills circulating throughout the country, the message is more important today than ever before.” Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today issued a Consumer Alert highlighting a staggering increase in the number of robocalls flooding Floridians’ phones. According to the Robocall Index, so far in 2021, robocalls have increased by nearly 450 million calls, or 16% when compared to the same time period last year. The Federal Communications Commission cites robocalls as the agency’s top consumer complaint. Attorney General Moody is working with attorneys general from across the country in a coordinated effort to fight back against illegal robocalls to protect Floridians from scams connected to calls.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “The pandemic changed the way we work, learn and socialize—further popularizing the tools we use to communicate remotely, including cellphones. With this rise in cellphone use, it is no surprise that we are seeing an increase in the number of robocalls targeting Floridians. Please remain vigilant when receiving calls from unknown sources and never give personal or financial information in response to an unwanted solicitation.”

In 2019, Attorney General Moody, attorneys general from other states and 15 phone companies adopted the Anti-Robocall Principles to fight robocalls through prevention and enforcement solutions. Since then, companies that agreed to the principles have: Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today issued a Consumer Alert warning Floridians of a new COVID-19 vaccination text scam. There have been reports of fraudulent text messages being sent to Floridians asking for driver license details in order to remake licenses that show vaccination status. The text messages provide a link that sends targets to a spoofed Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website with input boxes requesting Social Security and driver license information—including a place to upload a photocopy of a driver license.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “COVID-19 cases have decreased drastically across the state, but that hasn’t stopped scammers from finding new angles to exploit the pandemic. Please be on the lookout for phony messages and remember that the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will never reach out via text and ask for personal information. Florida is not updating driver licenses to include proof of vaccination—any solicitation making this claim is a scam that should be reported immediately.” Continue reading →

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges in a new report that early vaccination of seniors saved lives

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report which validates Governor DeSantis’ Seniors First vaccination policy, declaring that “efforts to prioritize and vaccinate” those 65 and older “helped prevent hundreds of thousands of new COVID-19 infections and tens of thousands of deaths among seniors” and “directly correlate[s] to saving lives.”

“As the COVID vaccines first became available, I made it clear that in Florida we were going to put Seniors First to make sure the most vulnerable received the protection they needed,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Following Florida’s lead, earlier this year the federal government reversed course from prioritizing younger populations for vaccinations to recommending that states prioritize seniors age 65 and older. When I decided to put Seniors First, the data clearly showed that prioritizing vaccines for seniors would save the most lives. It was the right thing to do, and I am glad to see the federal government has continued to acknowledge this reality.” Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the resignation of First Lady Casey DeSantis as Chair of the Florida Children and Youth Cabinet and the designation of State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo as the new Chair.

“I’m proud of the First Lady’s leadership as Chair of the Florida Children and Youth Cabinet,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Her commitment to children is unmatched, and she has continued to foster collaboration across state and local partners to benefit families in our state. As a mother, she understands that Florida’s youth need our support, love and care and we are all better for her leadership over the past three years.”

Originally appointed in 2019, First Lady DeSantis led the Cabinet with distinction, recognizing the bandwidth and horsepower of the talented group of individuals serving on the Cabinet. The First Lady continuously challenged members to take a holistic approach to addressing the needs of children in our state. Under her leadership, the Cabinet tackled critical issues and aided in the state’s pandemic response, notably including: Continue reading →

Good afternoon,

My name is Kayla Hall with Genesis Reference Laboratories. October 11, 2021 we opened a new COVID-19 testing site located at the First Baptist Church of Ocala. We have partnered with Dr. David Kuhn, Marion County Health Department, COVID Test FL and the First Baptist Church to bring a more centralized and convenient testing location to the county. We are striving to educate the community on this new testing site as the two they are familiar with have limited hours and are due to dismantle here in the near future. We would like to broadcast this information and are willing to conduct interviews, etc to provide any and all necessary information.

Our demographic information is listed below:

Location: FBCO 2801 SE Maricamp Road, Ocala FL 34471

Hours: Monday-Friday 8am-6pm and Saturday 8am-2pm

This is a Free community testing site!

https://covidtestfl.org/

Dr. Robert Dreyfus

I know you want the best for your child.  Unfortunately many parents cannot give their child a superior private or Christian education due to financial considerations.   This is no longer a deterrent.  If you are unhappy with the education your child is receiving from the public school they attend, your child can receive the Hope Scholarship. The Hope Scholarship pays $7,000/yr which will enable you to send them to a private or Christian school that will provide your child with a superior education.  The Hope Scholarship is available to almost anyone.

Your child can receive the Hope scholarship if they have been:

• Bullied, threatened or harassed at school
• Intimidated by teaching that contradicts your moral values or
• Is in an unsafe learning environment
• Is made to wear a mask

To learn more about the Hope Scholarship call: 1-813-FL4-KIDS or 877-735-7837

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 →