Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! We hope that each of you enjoyed a blessed and safe holiday season with your loved ones. 2020 was quite the ride and many things have not turned out the way we would like, but God is still good and we know that he is in control.
The second week of January brings our first week of committee meetings in the Florida Senate and we are excited to be back in Tallahassee on your behalf to advocate for the principles that we hold dear. Faith, Family, Freedom, Opportunity, and Life. These principles are worth fighting for and we will not quit.
We are very excited that we have won a big fight on behalf of Life in Florida. Just a few weeks ago, Ocala, Florida become the first city in the state to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box. This “box” or “bassinette” as we call it is located on the outside wall of a building such as a fire station or hospital, with one outside facing door for someone to place the infant in, and an inside door for staff or personnel to accept surrendered children under Florida’s Safe Haven Law. The device has a dual alarm system that activates once an infant is placed inside, and staff is required to periodically check the device and ensure that the alarm system is operable at all times. This will save lives and is one more tool to be used to help someone in distress who feels that they have no other option. The message that we can send with this is that we do care about every life, and every little baby deserves a chance to live. We are continuing to work on legislation to expand our safe haven law and promote these safety devices so that every community in Florida has this option. Every life matters and we can make a difference!
In December, President Simpson released committee assignments for each Senator and we are very pleased to announce that your Senator will once again be serving as Chairman of the Committee on Ethics and Elections. We will continue to work on Florida’s elections system to ensure that it remains easy to vote and hard to cheat. We will not have a broken system like they do in states like Pennsylvania, Georgia or Nevada. With the help of our excellent Supervisor of Elections around the state, we will have a fair system that Florida’s citizens can trust and be proud of. In addition, your Senator was asked to serve on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice, Community Affairs, Criminal Justice, Health Policy, Judiciary, Rules and will also Chair the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee.
We will have more next month on those committees and policies we will be tasked with addressing. It’s an honor and privilege to serve you, do not hesitate to contact me if we can help you in anyway.
Onward & Upward,
Senator Dennis Baxley
