Governor Ron DeSantis announced proposals for Florida’s upcoming Special Legislative Session. The proposed actions will position Florida to quickly carry out President-Elect Donald Trump’s mandate to combat illegal immigration.

“Florida is ready to lead,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “With President Trump taking office, Florida has a unique opportunity to help facilitate the end to America’s immigration crisis.”

Proposed legislation includes:

• Mandate maximum participation in the 287(g) deportation program, with penalties for non-compliance, including suspension of officials;
• Establish a state crime for entering the U.S. illegally and a process for self-deportation;
• Appoint a dedicated officer to oversee coordination with federal authorities and the Unauthorized Alien Transport Program (UATP);
• Expand UATP to detain and facilitate the deportation of illegal aliens from the U.S.;
• Broaden the legal definition of gang-related activities to include more groups of dangerous illegal aliens;
• Repeal in-state college tuition for illegal immigrant students;
• Require voter registration affirmation of U.S. citizenship and Florida residency;
• Increase penalties for unauthorized aliens committing voter fraud or providing false voter registration information;
• Mandate identity verification for foreign remittance transfers; and
• Create a rebuttable presumption that illegal aliens are flight risks and deny bail.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida’s high school graduation rate rose to 89.7 percent during the 2023-2024 school year, an increase of 1.7 percentage points over last year, exceeding the pre-pandemic rate of 86.9% for the 2018-2019 school year. The 2023–2024 high school graduation rate represents the highest rate in Florida history, with the exception of the pandemic school years 2019–20 and 2020–21, in which graduating classes were exempt from statewide, standardized assessment requirements stipulated in state law.

“Florida leads the nation in education because we put education over indoctrination, empower parents, and have made school choice universal,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “This record graduation rate is a prime metric of our success, in addition to our #1-in-the-nation rating.” Continue reading →

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Kat Cammack joined Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX)’s legislation, the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act. The bill would prevent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from using the balance of the Biden-Harris administration’s massive, $80 billion infusion of taxpayer dollars to increase audits on middle-class families while preserving funding for customer service and IT modernization at the IRS.

The members released the following statements:

“In their 2022 Inflation Act spending spree, Democrats’ attempted to supersize the IRS with 87,000 new enforcement agents. Since then, TIGTA has reported the IRS has struggled to find new hires, targeted middle-class families with the majority of new audits, and neglected to update its own antiquated technology,” said Rep. Smith. “I have fought hard to successfully reclaim much of these taxpayer funds, and now it is time to finish the job. A broken IRS doesn’t need more taxpayer dollars thrown at the problem. It needs to focus on serving Americans. This bill would hold the IRS accountable while preserving funding to improve IRS taxpayer service and systems.”

“Families and small businesses have suffered enough under burdensome IRS regulations,” said Rep. Moran. “I’m proud to join Congressman Adrian Smith in introducing the Family and Small Business Act. This bill will protect middle-class families from audits they cannot afford and to prevent the IRS from using its massive infusion of taxpayer dollars to harass and squeeze more revenue out of American families and small businesses.”