Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, First Lady Casey DeSantis announced the 2019 Black History Month student contest winners and Excellence in Education Award recipients. This year’s theme was “Celebrating Public Service” and the winners were honored during the Black History Month awards ceremony at the Florida Governor’s Mansion. Black History Month is celebrated every year in Florida during the month of February.

Friends, This past week I had the pleasure of attending a private early showing, thanks to my good friend Senator Kelli Stargel, of the new major motion picture “Unplanned”. The movie tells the true story of Abby Johnson and her dramatic road to conversion from the youngest Planned Parenthood Clinic Director to a leading Pro-Life advocate. This powerful film exposes viewers to the truth of what happens in the abortion industry, and the emotional, physical and mental damage that can trap women (and men) in a prison of pain and guilt. The story also offer its viewers, whether they’ve been touched by abortion or not, a story of love, forgiveness and a hope for our future. Since the passing of Roe v. Wade in 1973, it has been estimated that there have been over 60 million legal abortions in the United States. Even just one is heart wrenching enough for me, but to think that we have extinguished the lives of millions of our own offspring is devastating. Continue reading →

After more than 2 YEARS, and $25 MILLION taxpayer dollars spent, the Mueller Report proves what I have been saying since Day One: NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION — COMPLETE EXONERATION.

Democrats worked with the Fake News Media for 2 years orchestrating this Nasty Witch Hunt to use our government as a weapon to take away the votes of 63 MILLION Americans.

After they lied to the American people, Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leadership, and all of the 2020 Democratic candidates raised MILLIONS of dollars off of their phony Witch Hunt!

Democrats and the Fake News media have proven that there is no line they won’t cross, so we need to fight back BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE.

It is said by seismic activity specialist the quakes could be related to natural or human activity but did not confirm or deny that they were connected to oil drilling in the area.

Local meteorologist provided earthquake coverage said they had been in contact with USGS geophysicists, and that it is next to impossible that oil drilling or fracking directly caused the earthquakes.

“Our area lies along a normally inactive fault line known as the Bahama Fracture Zone. Earthquakes generally don’t happen along this fault. Seeing minor activity like this is not uncommon. It happened about 30 years ago. We are told they are part of normal seismic activity.” Continue reading →

The Social Security Administration (SSA) and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) launched a joint Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign addressing a nationwide telephone impersonation scheme. Social Security and the OIG continue to receive reports from across the country about fraudulent phone calls from people falsely claiming to be Social Security employees. Calls can even “spoof” Social Security’s national customer service number as the incoming number on the caller ID. The new PSAs will air on TV and radio stations across the country to alert the public to remain vigilant against potential fraud.

Thank you,

Blanca Taylor

Public Affairs Specialist

This week, we celebrated Senior Day at the Florida Capitol. More than five million seniors call Florida home. Some are lifelong Floridians. Others moved here to retire and enjoy our warm weather, great economy and beautiful beaches.

Seniors also play an important role in our efforts to fight fraud aimed at older Floridians. In recognition of the day, I invited members of our Seniors v. Crime Program to our office to thank them for the work they do to protect Floridians.

These volunteers, called Senior Sleuths, helped recover more than a million dollars last year. They recovered an additional value of $986,327 through realized gains, such as a contractor returning to finish promised work or credits applied to a future purchase.

Protecting Florida’s seniors is a top priority of our office, and these Senior Sleuths volunteer their time to help fight fraud and protect older Floridians from scams. They are also now playing an important role on Florida’s new Senior Protection Team. Continue reading →

The week of March 10th, we celebrated Sheriffs Day at the Florida Capitol. Supporting Florida’s law enforcement community is a top priority of our office, and as the wife of a federal law enforcement agent I know intimately the risks and sacrifices involved with upholding an oath to defend others.

To say thank you, we invited sheriffs from across Florida to our office for coffee. I am grateful for the commitment these men and women make to fight crime and protect Floridians.

We had the opportunity to honor one of these heroes at the Florida Cabinet meeting. Hillsborough County Lieutenant Anthony Collins grew up in a dangerous neighborhood in Tampa and that inspired him to become a law enforcement officer.

Lt. Collins uses his personal experience to create positive relationships between local law enforcement and the community, especially youth struggling with anger management or drug abuse. Lt. Collins was joined by his family as we presented him with the Attorney General’s Back the Blue Award.

His son Anthony Jr. even spoke up at the Cabinet meeting to let everyone know how proud he is of his father. Continue reading →

Ending the opioid crisis in Florida is a top priority of our office, and this week, we received great news from the Florida Legislature. A bill to create the Statewide Task Force on Opioid Drug Abuse passed its first committee. The Senate Health Policy Committee voted 10-0 in favor of SB 1658.

The following day, the House companion bill, HB 875, passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee without a single no vote. There is not a corner of the state that has not felt the grave effects of the opioid crisis. Establishing a statewide task force solely focused on stopping opioid abuse is vital to our mission of combating the crisis and saving lives. Continue reading →

Ensuring the Safety of Our Children in Our Schools

Titusville, Fla. – Today, nearly one year after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where fourteen students and three staff members were murdered, Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 19-45, which is focused on improving the safety of Florida schools.

“Although protecting our students is a perpetual process, there are steps we can take immediately to improve safety in our schools” said Governor DeSantis. “While we cannot bring back the innocents lost, we can honor their memory by learning from the mistakes that were made and resolving to swiftly correct all of those within our control.”

Specifically, Executive Order 19-45 does the following: Continue reading →

Tax season is here, and this week, our office issued a Consumer Alert to warn Floridians of a new phishing tactic that could wreak havoc on people preparing their taxes.

The tactic, called conversation hijacking, involves scammers accessing an ongoing email conversation and sending a new message containing a malicious link or attachment—giving the appearance that the message is from a trusted source. Victims clicking on the link or opening the attachment are then prompted to provide personal information that could be used to submit fraudulent tax returns.

Floridians should remain cautious. Avoid clicking on links or opening attachments that seem suspicious. Never share passwords or login information with anybody. Change passwords frequently—using numbers and special characters.

For more tips to guard against conversation hijacking scams, click here. Continue reading →