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Chairman's
Message
Keeping Florida’s
children in school
Florida parents gained more control over handling
Covid for their children in schools when Governor DeSantis’
newly appointed Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, issued a new set
of rules Wednesday giving parents expanded choices.
The new
rules empower parents to have their children return to in-person
classes “without restrictions or disparate treatment, so long as the
student remains asymptomatic” after being exposed to someone who is
positive for Covid. The new rule continues to provide parents or legal
guardians with the option for masking their children in schools,
leaving it to their “sole discretion.”
The
Emergency Rule prevents the unnecessary exclusion of healthy students
from in-person schooling; safeguards the rights of parents and legal
guardians and their children; provides health protocols for
symptomatic or Covid positive students; and provides opportunities for
parents and legal guardians to choose which protocols to implement
when their student has had direct contact with someone who tests
positive for Covid.
The rules
change resulted in the dismissal of a legal challenge by five school
districts wanting to mask up all students and require quarantining
even when healthy.
“Parents
have the right to have their healthy kids in school,” Governor
DeSantis said. “In-person education is important for a students’
wellbeing, their educational advancement, and their social
development. The idea that schools are somehow a big problem when it
comes to spread of the virus has been refuted yet again. Not only is
the forced quarantining of healthy children disruptive to a student’s
education, but many folks in Florida are not able to work from home.
With this rule, we are following a symptom-based approach to
quarantining students in Florida.”
“The
Governor and I share a similar vision of weighing the costs and
benefits of public health policies – and our new rule today is an
example of that,” Surgeon General Ladapo said. “We must make sure that
we are doing what is right for parents and for students. There’s not a
single high-quality study that shows that any child has ever benefited
from forced quarantining policies, but we have seen demonstrable and
considerable harm to children. It’s important to respect the rights of
parents.”
Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2021/09/22/governor-ron-desantis-announces-new-department-of-health-rule-to-protect-healthy-students-from-forced-quarantining/
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The
day before the new rules, Governor DeSantis announced the appointment
of Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo as Florida Surgeon General and
Secretary of the Florida Department of Health.
“Dr. Ladapo
comes to us by way of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA with
a superb background,” Governor DeSantis said. “He has had both a
remarkable academic and medical career with a strong emphasis in
health policy research. Dr. Ladapo will bring great leadership to the
Department of Health.”
“We need to
respect human rights,” Dr. Ladap said. “People do have autonomy over
their lives. It’s not OK, it’s not virtuous and it’s not right to just
take away those rights from individuals...The state should be
promoting good health. Vaccination isn't the only path to that. It's
been treated almost as a religion. That's senseless. There are lots of
good pathways to health, and vaccination isn't the only
one.”
Dr. Ladapo
was recently granted a professorship at the University of Florida (UF)
College of Medicine. Prior to joining UF, he served as an associate
professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA) caring for hospitalized patients. A
graduate of Wake Forest University, Dr. Ladapo also holds an MD from
Harvard Medical School and a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Watch the announcement: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=461972724929378&ref=watch_permalink
Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2021/09/21/governor-ron-desantis-announces-dr-joseph-a-ladapo-as-florida-surgeon-general/
Florida
Governor DeSantis awarded Felix I.
Rodríguez-Mendigutía the Governor’s Medal of Freedom, the
highest honor in the State of Florida, to recognize his heroic
contribution to the cause of freedom around the world and continued
involvement in Florida’s rich Cuban-American culture.
“Felix’s
life has been dedicated to fighting communism, to supporting freedom,
to supporting liberty, and we appreciate Felix as a brave and
courageous freedom fighter,” Governor DeSantis said. “From his service
as a paramilitary officer with the Central Intelligence Agency during
the Bay of Pigs Invasion to a Colonel in the United States Army at the
height of the Vietnam War, Felix has marked his legacy as one of the
bravest fighters for freedom in history.”
The
Governor was joined by Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez at the
Brigade 2506 Museum and Library.
“As a Cuban
American, I am incredibly grateful for Felix and the soldiers of the
Bay of Pigs who fought to liberate Cuba from the Castro regime,”
Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez. “As we recognize Felix with the
Medal of Freedom, we also remain committed to doing anything we can to
help the people of Cuba who fight for their God-given rights against
the tyrannical dictatorship.”
Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2021/09/17/governor-ron-desantis-awards-felix-rodriguez-with-governors-medal-of-freedom/
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The
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported 16 consecutive
months of job growth, with August gaining 19,400 private
sector jobs over the month. In total, Florida has gained 990,400 jobs
since April 2020.
Florida’s
unemployment rate of 5.0 percent for August 2021 dropped 0.1
percentage point from July 2021. For 13 consecutive months, the state
of Florida’s unemployment rate has remained below the national rate,
which is currently at 5.2 percent. Florida’s labor force also
continues to grow substantially, increasing by 65,000 over the month.
Over the last five months, Florida’s labor force has grown by 373,000,
showing the success of the state’s ‘Return to Work’
initiative.
Florida’s
unemployment rate has lowered sharply over the year, decreasing by 2.9
percentage points. Data in the month of August indicates that there
continues to be many job opportunities available for Floridians
throughout the state, with more than 520,000 jobs posted
online.
Read more: https://floridajobs.org/news-center/DEO-Press/2021/09/17/the-florida-department-of-economic-opportunity-announces-august-2021-brings-16-consecutive-months-of-private-sector-job-growth
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Governor DeSantis and 25 other governors signed a
letter requesting President Biden meet with them within 15
days to do something about his failed open border policies.
By
dismantling everything that was working for a stable border when he
took office, Biden has created a national security and health crisis
for America and an international humanitarian crisis, while opening
the floodgates for human traffickers, drug smugglers and other
criminals. This disastrous policy has taken its toll on overwhelmed
Border Patrol Agents.
It’s time
for the Biden Administration to actually do something for America’s
southern border.
Here is the
full letter:
Environment
Governor DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet
approved seven Florida Forever land purchases and conservation
easements that will protect Florida’s fragile natural
environments in Hardee, Hendry, Indian River, Leon, Okeechobee and
Santa Rosa counties.
The
properties total nearly 20,000 acres and will be managed by the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and the Florida Department
of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS). Six of the seven
projects, totaling 19,739 acres, are within the newly designated
Florida Wildlife Corridor.
“Land
conservation is an essential tool for environmental protection,”
Governor DeSantis said. “I thank the Florida Cabinet for their support
in approving these critical land acquisitions and conservation
easements which will conserve Florida’s wide array of natural lands,
protect our wildlife, and provide recreational opportunities for
residents and visitors.”
Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2021/09/21/governor-ron-desantis-and-florida-cabinet-approve-seven-florida-forever-land-acquisitions-and-conservation-easements-totaling-nearly-20000-acres/
Washington,
D.C.
Senator
Marco Rubio recently wrote a guest column in the American Conservative
on how to redirect resources after Afghanistan.
Washington isn’t quite sure what to do after the
chaotic end to America’s longest war. Some suggest we may need to
reestablish a military foothold in the country. Others want to funnel
money to the Taliban under the guise of diplomacy. And there are those
who want to wash their hands to focus solely on funding refugee
resettlement programs.
How
Congress decides to commit our national resources following the
withdrawal will be the clearest indicator of the state of our policy
toward Afghanistan and our foreign policy priorities going
forward.
I
believe there is only one right answer: rescind any remaining funds
appropriated for maintaining a military and diplomatic presence in
Afghanistan, as well as funds to support the Afghan government or
military, and put them to better use. Namely, put them toward great
power competition with the People’s Republic of China.
Last
year, Congress appropriated more than $3 billion toward the Overseas
Contingency Operations Afghanistan Security Forces Fund, in addition
to funds for supporting the U.S. diplomatic presence in the country,
training Afghan military and law enforcement units, and rooting out
corruption in the government. Given Taliban control of the country,
and the Taliban’s role in harboring terrorists, no taxpayer dollars
should be released to the regime.
Rescinding these funds would be a clear message from
Congress that it is time to rebalance and focus on strengthening
America...
Read the entire column: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-to-use-americas-new-peace-dividend/
ICYMI
From
the Washington Times:
For the
Biden White House, there is no bigger boogeyman than Florida Governor
Ron DeSantis. President Joe Biden is frustrated Mr. DeSantis has
refused to issue school mask mandates, has condemned vaccine
passports, and opposes COVID-19 vaccine mandates for
students.
“The worst
kind of politics,” Mr. Biden said last week about Mr. DeSantis’
COVID-19 stance. “It’s putting the lives of citizens of their states,
especially children, at-risk…I refuse to give in to it.”
Yet, Mr.
Biden is playing those exact politics with Mr. DeSantis. Mr. Biden’s
Department of Health and Human Services dramatically cut off the
Sunshine State’s supply of monoclonal antibody treatments, which are
being used to treat COVID-19 patients. Florida’s supply has been cut
from 72,000 to 30,950 treatments per week, putting the lives of
thousands of Floridians who have contracted COVID-19 at
risk.
It reeks of
partisan politics. On Sept. 9th Mr. Biden promised he would send 50%
more supply of monoclonal antibodies to states, yet he’s cutting
supplies in red states by about the same amount.
“Monoclonal
antibodies are life-saving therapies that are used after infection to
prevent more severe outcomes,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
explained last week. “So clearly, the way to protect people and save
more lives is to get them vaccinated so that they don’t get the COVID
to begin with.”
And there
you have it – the real reason why supplies are being cut. Mr. DeSantis
and his fellow red state governors are simply not doing enough to push
Mr. Biden’s universal vaccination policy, individual choice be
damned.
Read the entire editorial: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/sep/19/editorial-bidens-playing-deadly-games-with-florida/
Social Media
Highlights
REMEMBER: @FloridaGOP and retweet and
share. The Republican message must be spread around the state and you
are integral to making that happen.
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