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President Trump: Florida Ran a Clean Election

When it comes to elections, Florida is the model to follow, and President Trump agrees!

During the Evander Holyfield-Vitor Belfort promotional fight, President Trump praised Florida’s 2020 elections, saying "Florida has been great. And they ran the election clean and that’s very important.”

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Governor DeSantis: No further Florida election reviews

Governor DeSantis made it clear this week that Florida will not be doing any more reviews or audits of the 2020 general election. The state is considered by many to be the gold standard of clean elections with quick results, as was shown again in 2020.

“What we do in Florida is, there’s a pre- and post-election audit that happens automatically,” DeSantis said. “So, that has happened. It passed with flying colors in terms of how that’s going.”

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Governor DeSantis was asked about an audit by reporters during an appearance in St. Pete Beach. After the 2000 election, we have continued to improve our elections to the point where many Republican states have taken to copying what Florida does.

The Governor pointed out that Florida took more measures to secure the process after the 2018 elections were closely contested, and this year the Legislature passed more laws to further ensure the security and trustworthiness of the election process, providing confidence for all voters.

“Going forward, we did a great election package,” DeSantis said. “And I think some of the things that we did in there to make sure that there’s a voter ID, for not only in-person, but also when you’re doing absentee voting, also making sure there’s no ballot harvesting — that is totally toxic and that really undermines confidence.”

Of course, our new election laws that make it easy to vote and hard to cheat are being challenged in court by the normal leftist organizations that always fight against the basics of secure elections.

Real infrastructure done right in Florida

Florida is continuing to invest in real infrastructure around the state, unlike the fake infrastructure bill in Congress that is actually a giant, leftist giveaway program to establish yet more entitlements to earn Democrats’ votes with taxpayer dollars.

Governor DeSantis is traveling the state this week to highlight many of those investments.

In St. Pete Beach, he announced that the state is awarding $2 million in Florida Job Growth Grant Funds to the City of St. Pete Beach that will be used to finalize the overhaul of the City’s wastewater system to restore capacity for hotel and lodging expansion. The project is expected to create 1,316 permanent jobs and generate nearly $13 million annually for the local economy.

“This infrastructure will serve a vital role in protecting the incredible environment here while allowing the area to expand accommodations and welcome more visitors, which will bolster all parts of the local economy,” Governor DeSantis said. “By investing in projects like this one, we continue to make Florida the top destination in the country for job growth and economic activity.”

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The Governor announced more than $9 million in awards to the City of Winter Haven for road improvements at the Intermodal Logistics Center. The Florida Job Growth Grant Fund is providing $6.4 million, with the Florida Department of Transportation providing an additional $3 million, for road construction to improve access to more than 1,200 acres of industrial land, attract new businesses and generate nearly 5,000 jobs over the next several years.

“Winter Haven is a great and fast-growing community, and we understand to keep this area growing, it needs strong infrastructure,” Governor DeSantis said. “Today’s announcement builds upon the $60 million in investments we have already made in Polk County in 2021, because we know this area will help drive our state now and into the future. While there are worrying trends on the national level, we are going to keep doing our job in Florida and we will continue to capitalize on Florida’s strong economic momentum.”

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Governor DeSantis announced more than $3.1 million for 12 projects through the Rebuild Florida Hazard Mitigation Grant Match Program at the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Michael’s landfall.

These awards mark more than $228 million in total funding to date from the state to hurricane-impacted communities for long-term disaster recovery funding, rebuilding all of the required infrastructure for the area to thrive into the future.

Fines for those breaking Florida’s vaccine law

The Florida Department of Health is fining Leon County more than $3.5 million for its blatant violation of Florida statutes outlawing vaccine passports in our state.

In July, Leon County Administrator Vincent Long announced that all employees of Leon County would be required to be fully vaccinated and had to provide documentation by October 1. By October 2, 700 county employees had complied, but 14 employees had not and were fired on October 4. The fine covers all 714 violations at $5,000 per transgression.

"It is unacceptable that Leon County violated Florida law, infringed on current and former employees' medical privacy, and fired loyal public servants because of their personal health decisions,” Governor DeSantis said. "We will continue fighting for Floridians' rights and the Florida Department of Health will continue to enforce the law. We're going to stand up for Floridians' jobs, stand up for Floridians' livelihoods, and stand up for freedom.”

"Firing hard working employees over vaccine passports has real and lasting consequences,” Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said. “It leads to resentment in the workplace, and loss of employment impacts individual and public health. Individuals have every right to choose how to best protect themselves and their families, and the Department will continue to enforce this law.”

It’s worth noting that while Leon County has flagrantly broken the law and received notice of their fine, other local Florida governments have reversed course. Last week, after alerting the City of Gainesville of their possible violation of the vaccination passport ban, the Florida Department of Health received a response indicating the City of Gainesville rescinded its employee vaccine mandate. This reversal also follows an Eighth Judicial Circuit Court temporary injunction preventing vaccine mandates for city employees.

ICYMI

The Florida School Boards Association opposes the national organization’s call for the FBI to be used as an intimidation tool to silence parents speaking out at school board meetings.

The infamous September 29 letter from the National School Boards Association, reportedly sent at the urging of the White House, caused U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch the FBI into local school board meetings. That spurred Governor DeSantis to respond that the U.S. Justice Department was being weaponized to intimidate concerned parents.

And the Florida School Boards Association is siding with Governor DeSantis against its national organization. The FSBA wrote:

“Several elements of your [NSBA] letter run counter to the tenets embraced by the FSBA, and this communication has caused serious concerns, conflict, and consternation for many of our members within the FSBA,” FSBA Executive Director Andrea Messina wrote to the national organization. “It has strained important local and state collaborative relationships our members have worked hard to build and maintain for years. This includes our Governor, Legislature, local law enforcement, communities and our members questioning our commitment to First Amendment rights of citizens.”

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/state/2021/10/12/florida-school-boards-association-blasts-request-security-aid/8423016002/

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A Biden administration proposal to snoop on your bank account is an invasion of privacy that could cause severe disruptions and result in few local community banks, adding to the already outsized too-big-too-fail national banks.

Under the plan being pushed by the White House, banks would be required to share your account information including what went in, what came out, and where it went. The original plan was to regularly track and report transactions of $600 or more, although that specific number now is being negotiated.

“You’ll encourage more underground economy,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, one of nearly two dozen state financial officers who have written to Congress to oppose the plan. “At the end of the day, I don’t think having Uncle Sam sitting in my bedroom, finding out what I’ve purchased over the last thirty days is any of their business.”

Florida Bankers Association President Alex Sanchez called the plan expensive and disruptive.

“It’s just wrong,” said Sanchez. “It’s an incredible invasion of privacy by the Biden Administration, by the Internal Revenue Service.”

Social Media Highlights

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