Tag: bill galvano

Just a year ago, the Florida Legislature passed what then-Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, considered its key piece of legislation: a bill that would create three new toll roads. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill but now a year later opposition is stronger than ever.

“The DCF Accountability Act will permanently change the landscape of Florida’s child welfare system, addressing longstanding issues affecting Florida’s families, while keeping them safe and ultimately allowing them to thrive,” said DeSantis after signing the bill. “I am extremely grateful to Secretary Poppell and to our legislative leaders for their advocacy and dedication to seeing this important legislation through to fruition.”

While the governor did not offer a public statement after signing the legislation, leading Republicans including state Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, cheered the new law.

“Governor DeSantis has shown tremendous leadership in his budget action today," said state CFO Jimmy Patronis. “He put his own priorities on the chopping block during a time when many Florida families are having to do the same thing. We know many Floridians have been hurt by the economic shutdown from the coronavirus pandemic, but we are not defined by the obstacles that we face but by our shared strengths to overcome them.

Wright, the chairman of the state Senate Military and Veterans Affairs and Space Committee, replaces state Sen. Doug Broxson, R-Pensacola, whose term on the task force is scheduled to end on July 1.

Back in October, DeSantis called for raising new teacher salaries to $47,500 in an effort to attract better educators and retain them. This week, DeSantis announced “the approval of $500 million in the state’s budget that will be signed in the coming days, dedicated to raising teacher salaries in Florida.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Brian Ballard, the president of Ballard Partners, co-chair the effort and they announced the committee members on Thursday.

On Monday, as riots and protests continue across the nation in response to George Floyd’s murder, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he was calling up 700 members of the Florida National Guard soldiers and 1,300 Florida Highway Patrol troopers to support local law enforcement efforts.

While Patronis doesn’t have the best of bully pulpits at this time, he is raising an important issue that Floridians should be paying more attention to during the current crisis.

On Friday, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, state Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and state House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, on the need to convene the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) out of an abundance of caution to better understand the impacts COVID-19 will have on the state’s finances.

U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., and Donna Shalala, D-Fla., wrote DeSantis, state Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and state House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, on the matter.

This week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody held the second 2020 meeting of the Statewide Task Force on Opioid Abuse in Bradenton. Moody is the chairwoman of the task force.