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 →

BORDER SECURITY: Securing the Southern and Northern border of the United States takes a combination of physical infrastructure, technology, personnel, resources, authorities, and the ability to close legal loopholes that are exploited by smugglers, traffickers, cartels, criminals and terrorists.

The Department of Homeland Security must have the tools to deter illegal immigration; the ability to remove individuals who illegally enter the United States; and the vital authorities necessary to protect national security.

These measures below are the minimum tools necessary to mitigate the rapidly growing surge of illegal immigration.

$25 billion trust fund for the border wall system, ports of entry/exit, and northern border improvements and enhancements.

Close crippling personnel deficiencies by appropriating additional funds to hire new DHS personnel, ICE attorneys, immigration judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement professionals.            Continue reading →

As we approach opening day of Legislative Session on March 5th, many bills are in drafting and over 1,600 filed by members. Of the many bills being heard in committees, I will focus on two. The Senate Education Policy Committee has passed an update to school safety expanding access to The Guardian Plan which permits more educators to volunteer for service, additional training, and background clearance to provide an added defense team of leaders already on site to provide armed response in the first three minutes in a crisis to prevent an incident from becoming a massacre like we saw last year . Time is of the essence. Seconds count. No educator is required to participate but can be considered. Thankfully over 2.8 million students safely attend school. There are full safety and prevention steps in the updated school safety plan. Another bill filed that is stirring debate is the Heartbeat Bill which will protect the unborn child who demonstrates a heartbeat. Over 60 million young lives have been extinguished since abortion rights were expanded by court ruling in 1973, more than all soldiers killed in all the wars of American history. It is time to reconsider this sensitive policy that erodes our future and our respect for human life.

We look forward to a meaningful debate for the many issues before us. Be a part of this discussion. It is your government.

Sincerely,

Dennis Baxley

Photo Credit: Governor Ron DeSantis Press Office

The Villages, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced his commitment to create a prescription drug importation program for Florida. This program will offer access to FDA-approved prescription drugs that have been imported from Canada, allowing the drugs to be sold to Floridians at a much lower cost. The Governor was joined at the announcement by Speaker Jose Oliva, Representative Ray Rodrigues and Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew.

“One of the biggest drivers of this country’s out of control healthcare spending is the cost of prescription drugs,” said Governor DeSantis. “While our prices remain high, our neighbors in Canada are spending significantly less for the same drugs. These price disparities are indefensible and inexcusable and I am ready to act. I thank Speaker Oliva for prioritizing this issue and look forward to working with him to reduce the prices of these drugs for Floridians that depend on them.” Continue reading →

President Trumps results of latest medical exam were released. Dr. Sean Conley, his physician, says Trump gained four pounds in the past year but proclaimed that he is in good health.

Chuck Schumer and Alex Soros, yes son  of George Soros, having drinks. Chuck is probably being reminded of who is really in charge!

Governor DeSantis also announced an additional $2.8 million in matching funds for debris removal in Mexico Beach 

Bay County, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long visited local communities in the Florida Panhandle that were heavily impacted by Hurricane Michael. Stops included Panama City, Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe. 

Governor DeSantis and Administrator Long, along with Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz, also received a full briefing on recovery efforts at the Calhoun County Emergency Operations Center.  

“Today marks my second trip to the Panhandle since taking office. Hurricane Michael may be gone but the emergency remains,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “We thank Administrator Long for recognizing the recovery effort is far from over. We will continue to work diligently with our federal, state and local partners to support Florida families as they rebuild.”   Continue reading →

Chairman’s Report

January 4, 2019

By Steve Hayes, Chairman and President – Americans for Fair Taxation 

THE ELITE SEEK A REWARD FOR THEIR FAILURES

Most people in America still believe in the basic principle that to get more of something you should reward it.  We know that if children find that they can get what they want by screaming and throwing a tantrum every time someone says no, they will use screaming and tantrums as a way of addressing anything they don’t like.

If an employee who is habitually late, makes many errors and is more interested in looking at social media than working is given the same raise as other employees who are on-time, work hard and concentrate on their job—the company will be sending a message to the hard-working employee that they can get the same pay but are actually somehow stupid for working diligently.

In a more basic example, we want to stop people stealing and we have laws.  Unfortunately, we are seeing that for most of us, if we are caught stealing then we are prosecuted.  However, if we are part of the Elite then it becomes, as Bill Clinton famously said, “It depends on what the definition of “Is” is”.