Florida State Wide
Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis issued the below statement following the Senate Special Master’s report and recommendation:
“The victims with families impacted by the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School deserve justice and accountability. I disagree with the analysis contained in the non-binding recommendation; the senators will render their own independent judgement on Scott Israel. Floridians were appalled by Scott Israel’s repeated failures and expect their senators will provide the accountability that the Parkland families have sought for the past year and a half.”
Pictured is Kailah Netherclift who was with TomL Publishing until she started traveling and teaching. Kailah wrote a column each month about her travels. She is a very accomplished writer. We knew she would emerge some day in a great job. I see on LinkedIn that Kailah’s has been promoted to Vice President of Clark Brothers Investments. She is also the daughter of Wendy Netherclift who is our GM and a long timed friend. Congratulations!
On September 20, 2019, in News Releases, by Staff
Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the Tampa area added 21,300 new private-sector jobs in the last year, creating the third-highest number of jobs among all Florida metro areas. The Tampa area’s unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in August.
The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Tampa area were professional and business services with 6,000 new jobs and construction with 5,200 new jobs.
The Tampa area remained first among the state metro areas in job demand in August with 58,697 openings. The Tampa area also continues to rank first in the state in demand for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations with 18,471 openings in August 2019. Continue reading
On September 20, 2019, in News Releases, by Staff
Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointments of Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary Ken Lawson, Department of Management Services Secretary Jonathan Satter and Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Terry Rhodes to the Blockchain Task Force.
On May 23, 2019, Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1024 into law, establishing Florida’s Blockchain Task Force within the Florida Department of Financial Services. The Blockchain Task Force will study if and how Florida’s state, county and municipal governments can benefit from a transition to blockchain-based systems for recordkeeping, data security, financial transactions and service delivery and identify ways blockchain technology can be used to improve government interaction with businesses and the public.
Ken Lawson
Lawson, of Tallahassee, serves as the Secretary for the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO). Previously, he served as President and CEO of VISIT Florida and Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Lawson earned his juris doctorate from Florida State University College of Law. Continue reading
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida leaders applauded President Donald Trump for nominating Florida Supreme Court Justices Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has jurisdiction over federal cases originating in the states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia. President Trump is nominating Justices Lagoa and Luck for the vacancies created by Judge Gerald Tjoflat, appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975, and Judge Stanley Marcus, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997, who have announced their intentions to take senior status on the court.
“President Trump has demonstrated great judgment in nominating Justices Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit,” said Governor DeSantis. “I appointed these two Justices to the Florida Supreme Court for their demonstrated understanding of the Constitution and the appropriate role of the judiciary. We are proud of these two Floridians who have earned the respect of many for being great jurists and public servants. They will serve our nation well.”
By Blanca Taylor
Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
Marriage is a tradition that exists on every continent and in nearly every country. Having a partner not only means creating a family unit, it means sharing things like a home and other property. Understanding how your future retirement might affect your spouse is important. When you’re planning for your retirement, here are a few things to remember:
Your spouse’s benefit amount could be up to 50 percent of your spouse’s full retirement age amount, if you are full retirement age when you take it. If you qualify for a benefit from your own work history and a spouse’s record, we always pay your own benefit first. You cannot receive spouse’s benefits unless your spouse is receiving his or her retirement benefits (except for divorced spouses). If you took your reduced retirement first while waiting for your spouse to reach retirement age, when you add spouse’s benefits later, your own retirement portion remains reduced, which causes the total retirement and spouses benefit together to total less than 50 percent of the worker’s amount. You can find out more about this at www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/quickcalc/spouse.html. Continue reading
SIGNET Research Inc.
Do Readers Still Want Print?
Back in 2010, Signet Research, Inc. released data on readers’ platform preferences when consuming content in media brand issues. The objective was to learn whether the sentiment that print was a fading format, was premature and exaggerated. The results showed a strong preference for the print format over the digital version.
Signet continued to gather data for the last 10 years and recently provided our clients with the updated results. The results show that the significant preference for print still exists for readers of B2B media brand issues.
In order to highlight this point more comprehensively, we are planning additional in depth data gathering in the coming year. We are going to be offering all of our 2020 clients access to the results of a case study regarding ad performance by medium. Continue reading
Friends,
This column is coming to you from a desk in Tallahassee as we begin preparing for the 2020 Legislative Session. Our summer went by very quickly but our time was well spent traveling the district and speaking with constituents from around our district and state. From Lake Panasoffkee to Sorrento, and Astor to Groveland, District 12 is a large territory but we enjoyed every minute that we spent driving through these back roads to get to each and every one of you. The message that we shared was simple, no hard left turns for our State and let’s stay on this path of prosperity and increasing opportunity for all Floridians to live the American dream. Another part of that message was of the shared success that you and your Senator had in Tallahassee during the 2019 Session. A brief look at some of these recognitions we received for our work was sent to you earlier this summer, but we have had some more since then and we would be remiss to leave them out. So, let’s take a look at our report cards. Continue reading
(NAPSI)—Millions of Americans get Social Security disability benefits yet want to work. They may be glad to know about a federal program that can help them enter the workforce while maintaining access to benefits. Thanks to Social Security’s Ticket to Work program, free employment support services help people prepare for work, find jobs or progress in their careers.
Many of these people are concerned about what employment would mean for their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. There’s no need to worry. Social Security Work Incentives make it easier for adults with disabilities to explore work while continuing to receive benefits. Some of these incentives make it possible for people to test their ability to work without immediately losing Medicare or Medicaid coverage. Others let people whose disability interferes with employment start receiving benefits again without needing to submit a new application under certain conditions. Because everyone’s situation is different, job seekers are encouraged to talk with a professional Benefits Counselor. These are trained experts who help people make informed decisions about employment. To find one, call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1 (866) 968-7842 or 1 (866) 833-2967 (TTY). Continue reading
The Statewide Council on Human Trafficking was created to support human trafficking victims by enhancing available care options. The 15-member Council, chaired by Attorney General Moody, builds on existing state and local partnerships working to combat human trafficking.
Introduction
The 15-member Council chaired by Attorney General Moody, will build on existing state and local partnerships working to combat human trafficking.
Members include law enforcement officers, prosecutors, legislators, as well as experts in the fields of health, education and social services. The Council was created through legislation passed and signed into law in 2014.
About Human Trafficking
The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 20.9 million victims of trafficking around the world. Domestically, Florida continues to rank third in the nation in the number of calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Continue reading
