Dear Neighbor,
This week, I am back home in the Sunshine State’s Third Congressional District! It’s always a breath of fresh air to be back and on the ground meeting with my neighbors. After a busy legislative year, I always look forward to August as the chance to connect with you and take back more great ideas to Washington in September.

As we head into the weekend, we’re closely monitoring Invest 97L, a tropical development heading into the Gulf of Mexico. The latest models as of Friday morning indicate it will weaken as it moves north, but we know how quickly these storms can change. With this in mind, please stay tuned to local news and weather alerts for the latest information regarding heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and flooding that this storm may bring. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.

This week, we said goodbye to our four summer interns as they finished their final week in our office. We’re so thankful to have had these wonderful students work for our district. I wish them luck as they return back to the Swamp and law school this fall.
Back home, Team Kat had the privilege to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for our community’s newest green space, Ocala Park Estates. This new park will only add to our already beautiful home and serve as a place for all to enjoy. Continue reading →

This week, as millions of Florida students prepare for another academic year, we honored the school resource officers who protect them with a Thin Line Tribute. Our Thin Line Tribute initiative recognizes the daily, often thankless efforts, of Florida’s front-line law enforcement officers—and you don’t get more front line than serving in a school!

During the tribute, at a high school in Volusia County, we also announced that the school district will be joining our Hallway Heroes program. We created Hallway Heroes last year to encourage students to build bonds of trust with school resource officers—so they are more comfortable reporting suspicious or dangerous activity in schools.

Through this unique program, attention-grabbing, age-appropriate posters are strategically placed in school hallways instructing students on how to engage with school resource officers. For older students, these displays include our statewide anonymous crime-reporting tipline, **TIPS.  Continue reading →