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Chairman's Message

SPECIAL SESSION

Governor DeSantis calls for quick legislative action to block vaccine mandates

Governor DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, and Floridians threatened with job loss due to vaccine mandates stood together today as the Governor called a Special Session of the Florida Legislature to provide protections for employees.

“Your right to earn a living should not be contingent upon COVID shots,” Governor DeSantis said. “When the vaccines first came out, we worked very hard to provide them, particularly to our elderly, but we said from day one: we will make it available for all, but we will mandate it on none because ultimately we want individuals to make the determinations about what is right for them. I want a state in which people are able to maintain their livelihoods, earn a living, and provide for their families. And if the federal government or big corporations are hurting people, then we have a responsibility to step up and lead.”

During this Special Session, Governor DeSantis is asking the Florida Legislature to provide protections for employees facing termination because of discriminatory vaccine mandates and to make clear that government entities, including school districts, may not fire any employee based on vaccine status. Employers’ broad liability protections should also be reevaluated if they harm their employees through vaccine mandates.

Further, the Governor is asking the Florida Legislature to provide greater protections to parents to manage the health care decisions of their children, including the freedom to opt their children out of mask mandates. According to Florida Department of Health data over the last twelve to fourteen months, COVID-19 infection data from Florida counties reflects no meaningful difference between counties with parent opt-outs for mask requirements.

There is strong support for these freedom-protecting steps in Florida leadership.

Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez: “Mandates have no place in the free state of Florida.”

Attorney General Moody: “We will always fight illegal government actions that negatively impact first responders, America’s workers, and public safety.”

Dr. Joseph Ladapo: “Condemning Americans to financial instability is detrimental to the well-being of this country and to public health.”

Florida Ports helping break supply chain logjam

Governor DeSantis is making it clear that Florida Seaports have the available capacity to help unclog the supply chain in America and meet holiday demand, while other seaports across the country, particularly in California, are struggling to keep up.

At an event with the Governor, Jaxport officials announced this week that they will be offering incentives to any company that chooses to bring its business to the port, freeing up backlogs at other ports while ensuring Americans are able to receive the goods they order.

“Year after year we continue to invest in our seaports, in infrastructure and in workforce education to make sure our supply chain is resilient,” Governor DeSantis said. “I’m especially proud of Florida’s seaports. They are crown jewels in our state.”

While California is just now opening their ports 24/7, that is the norm in Florida.

“While other U.S. ports are just now announcing around-the-clock operations, in Florida many of our ports are used to serving Florida farmers, families and businesses with 24-hour operations,” Governor DeSantis during a press conference at Jaxport. “As the rest of the nation faces rampant inflation and businesses stare down unprecedented supply chain problems, our message is this: Florida is here, we have capacity, we have incentive packages to help businesses who want to move here and we are going to make sure Americans get their Christmas Gifts this season.”

The Governor pointed out that at least one European container ship supplier has chosen Jaxport for its U.S. unloading destination bringing an extra 1,000 shipping containers a week through the port, highlighting an incentive package aimed at gaining more customers to the state.

The Governor also said that Port Everglades unloaded nearly 7,000 containers from a ship this past weekend, and a second ship from India is coming to the port with more than 9,000 containers.

“We in Florida have the ability to help alleviate the logjams and help ameliorate the problems with the supply chain,” the Governor said. “Part of it is because we’ve long been committed to reliable, modern and accessible port facilities.”

And here: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-desantis-press-conference--20211019-bywe53a6jrfxtnb2e7f3vt2cru-story.html

Fortifying parents rights

Governor DeSantis stood with parents who were targeted in a recent memo from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland that attempted to silence them for speaking out to protect their children, saying that Florida would further fortify their parents rights.

Garland’s memo followed a letter from the National School Board Association to President Biden, which likened parents who oppose the masking of kindergartners and teaching critical race theory in public schools to “domestic terrorists.” Revealing the divisiveness of this, the Florida School Board Association fired off an opposing response to the NSBA, urging the organization to acknowledge their request is federal overreach. The state intends to do more.

“The Federal Government would have you believe that parents who care about their children’s upbringing are a menace to society. In Florida we won’t allow it,” Governor DeSantis said. “Debate is welcome in the state of Florida and should be welcome anywhere in the United States. If that debate turns into anything that’s not peaceful, then we have the best law enforcement in the nation to handle it.”

Punctuating the point, the Governor was joined by members of local law enforcement and state attorneys who are capable of assessing threats in their community without meddling by politicized federal bureaucrats.

“We don’t need the federal government investigating and intimidating parents in an attempt to squelch dissent. Today, I was proud to support the parents who won’t be silenced by the Biden Administration’s threats,” the Governor said.

Senator Debbie Mayfield added: “Our children do not belong to the federal government nor to the school boards, they belong to their parents. Parents have every right to be involved in their child’s education and should not be silenced by the federal government. I want to thank Governor DeSantis for continuing to fight for Florida’s parents and children.”

Read the FSBA’s letter here: https://spacecoastdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FSBA-Letter-Response-to-NSBA-Letter-to-President.pdf

Our Fighting First Lady

First Lady Casey DeSantis joined Governor Ron DeSantis to deliver surprise remarks at the Hernando County Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner on Saturday night, vowing “to never ever, ever give up the fight, ever.”

“I just want to say God bless you and thank you,” said First Lady Casey DeSantis. “There’s a lot that we can be upset about, that we can be sad about: the direction of our country, the future of our nation, our families, our communities, our safety, our children, their education, their futures, our health, and our wellbeing. But I’ll tell you one thing that’s for sure, I’m sure as hell not giving up,” she said. “When you know in your heart what is right, never ever, ever give up the fight, ever,” she said.

Governor DeSantis highlighted the strength and determination his wife has shown during this difficult time. “Probably the most important person that has stood by me is our wonderful First Lady,” said Governor DeSantis. “I trust in the Lord. I know how tough she is.”

Watch the video of her here: https://twitter.com/RonDeSantisFL/status/1450097460781756417

Protecting Floridians’ jobs

Instead of changing course to stop the crisis of mass illegal immigration occurring at the Southwest border, the Biden Administration has doubled down to further weaken immigration enforcement. A memo issued last week by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directed immigration authorities to stop deploying worksite operations that enforce illegal immigrant employment laws, effectively greenlighting American employers to hire illegal aliens.

As usual, it will be up to states to enforce the law.

“This latest action by DHS should come as no surprise given that mass illegal immigration is this administration’s policy, but yet again, Florida will fill the chasm left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to enforce the law,” Governor DeSantis said. “State and federal law explicitly prohibit the employment of illegal aliens. In Florida, we will enforce the law, and we will protect the jobs and wages of Florida’s workers.”

Investing in Florida infrastructure

Governor DeSantis announced a $6 million infrastructure grant to Sumter County to help complete a one-and-a-half-mile road expansion that serves a 300-acre industrial park. The road expansion will support high-demand fields like manufacturing and construction, creating nearly 7,000 jobs and adding an estimated $336 million in additional income for Sumter County residents.

Governor DeSantis made this announcement as part of a multi-week tour of the state highlighting job growth, workforce training initiatives, and infrastructure investments in small and rural communities. “Infrastructure projects are vital for the growth and development of new business in the State of Florida,” Governor DeSantis said.

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Governor DeSantis announced a $6.1 million infrastructure grant to Hernando County for the development of an 18-acre site where Pasco Hernando State College and Suncoast Technical Education Center will build additional campuses and provide new workforce training programs for residents.

The training offered at the new campuses will focus on skills in targeted industries, including manufacturing, professional services, aviation, and medical and diagnostic laboratories, which will help create job opportunities for residents of small and rural communities.

Governor DeSantis made the announcement at American Aviation, a local company that has supported the project and will serve a pivotal role in providing training for students who want to pursue aviation. “The more that we invest in workforce education, the more we see companies moving to our state because they know they will have access to a talent pool unlike any other state in the nation,” the Governor said.

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Governor DeSantis announced a $1.69 million infrastructure grant to the City of North Port for the installation of water and wastewater infrastructure across 500 acres at the Panacea Activity Center. The City of North Port represents 20 percent of Sarasota County’s growth over the past 10 years, but 90 percent of the workforce commute to work outside the city’s borders.

The City of North Port is matching the state’s investment, resulting in a project that is estimated to create as many as 9,700 new, permanent jobs to support the area’s self-sufficiency. This announcement was the final stop on Governor DeSantis’ weeklong tour announcing investments in small and rural communities.

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Governor DeSantis announced a $2.8 million infrastructure grant to Northwest Florida State College to fund a new diesel mechanic technician training program. Diesel mechanics are in-demand both nationally and in Florida.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for diesel service technicians and mechanics is expected to increase by 8% over the next 10 years, and in Walton and Okaloosa counties, current projections show an 18% increase in demand for transit technicians over the next five years. “To support job growth in our state, we are focused on not only investing in infrastructure, but also supporting workforce training programs like the great ones here at Northwest Florida State College,” Governor DeSantis said.

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Governor DeSantis announced a $5.8 million infrastructure grant to Collier County Public Schools to open iTECH Glades Technical College in Moore Haven, a new location of Immokalee Technical College. The new iTECH Glades campus in Moore Haven will serve an area that does not have any post-secondary training programs within 30 miles.

The $5.8 million award will cover five years of startup costs and 12 career training programs. Workforce training will be offered in high-demand fields such as HVAC, diesel systems, accounting, nursing, welding and healthcare, and will be available to Floridians in Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Okeechobee and Collier counties.

“This new campus will provide the area with access to workforce education that actually helps Floridians find high-paying jobs without being saddled by debt,” Governor DeSantis said. “By investing in projects that make a meaningful difference to Florida’s workforce, we have been able to keep our economy growing month-after-month, and we are continuing to build an even stronger industrial base in our state.”

ICYMI

Val Demings radicalness is showing. Congress is back in session and the progressives will fight to keep spending trillions of dollars we don’t have on an America-changing liberal wishlist. And Val Demings is right there with the most radical members of Congress, such as the socialist Squad, supporting every penny of the full-fledged $3.5 trillion socialist spending spree. She is wildly out of touch with Floridians.

In joining fellow radical progressives to push this budget, Demings has indicated her support for forty separate tax increases, totaling an eye-popping $2 trillion to be taken out of Americans’ pockets.

Senator Marco Rubio, who Demings is trying to unseat, released a great ad highlighting how radical his opponent is. The video shows how closely aligned Demings is with the socialist squad of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley and her willingness to vote with the squad 94 percent of the time. You can watch the ad here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zuqqrSoiE

In addition to tax hikes on Florida families, the socialist spending spree paves the way for the Green New Deal, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and taxpayer-funded abortion.

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Senator Marco Rubio responded to the Biden Administration’s proposed woke Department of Labor regulation that would allow fund managers to consider “climate-change related factors” and “progress on workforce diversity [and] inclusion” when investing the savings of fund beneficiaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

“Following the lead of Wall Street and corporate America, President Joe Biden wants the investment of workers’ and retirees’ hard-earned savings to advance progressive, woke social policies instead of their best interests,” Rubio said. “This is the latest example of how the political left works. They want to remake the entire country to comply with the latest woke agenda. And with this rule, the political left’s allies on Wall Street and corporate America will be free to do it with no recourse for the workers and retirees harmed by it.”

Read Senator Rubio’s full statement here: https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=30E556A9-BF2B-462A-B8D1-116FD94ED00A

Connected to this, Rubio previously filed the Mind Your Own Business Act earlier this year, which would “require corporate directors to prove their ‘woke’ corporate actions were in their shareholders’ best interest in order to avoid liability for breach of fiduciary duty in shareholder litigation over corporate actions relating to certain social policies. If they really believe that being woke is good for business, they should have to say so — and prove it — under oath in court,” Rubio said.

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