“Tropical Storm Elsa is headed toward Florida, bringing life-threatening storm surge along our Gulf Coast, strong winds and very heavy rainfall. Communities in the Tampa Bay, Central Florida and Big Bend regions will face the most serious and dangerous weather, including the threat of tornadoes. We know severe weather can change very quickly and should not be underestimated,” Scott said.
At the start of the week, Florida’s two U.S. senators--Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott--sent a letter to President Joe Biden requesting that he promptly approve Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration in expectation of Tropical Storm Elsa.
The SBA authorized an Administrative Declaration for Miami-Dade County, as well as the contiguous Florida counties of Broward, Collier, and Monroe, in the form of low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans, Business Physical Disaster Loans, and Home Disaster Loans to eligible business owners and homeowners impacted by the Surfside condo collapse.
“In the wake of the condo collapse, bad actors will look to set up false charity sites in the hopes of using this tragedy for their own personal gain. If you believe you have been the victim of fraud, report it immediately at FraudFreeFlorida.com,” the CFO’s office noted.
While no charity fraud complaints have been filed with the Attorney General's Office at this time, Moody offered a reminder to anyone donating to the victims of the Surfside building collapse to remain alert and on guard against scammers looking to exploit this disaster for personal gain.
According to DeSantis’ office, the $169 million tax cut package in Florida’s Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget includes funding for three sales tax holidays.
This brings FEMA's total grants for the department's Hurricane Michael-related expenses to $179 million.
At the end of last week, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released “Beyond the Pandemic: Long Term Changes and Challenges for K-12 Education in Florida,” a report and the second installment in the taxpayer research institute’s COVID-19 Legacy Series, which highlights the unprecedented disruptions in learning caused by COVID-19 and the concern for long-term economic and societal risks to students, families, and communities in Florida.
According to an investigation by MFCU, Diane Ellis allegedly defrauded the Florida Medicaid program out of more than $5,000 over the course of three years.
“The price this Independence Day will be nearly a dollar more than last year. Pump prices last year were severely depressed due to low demand because of the pandemic. In 2019, holiday travelers paid an average price of $2.68,” AAA noted.