Today, Governor Ron DeSantis briefly returned to the state he was elected to serve to deliver his State of the State address to kick off Florida’s 2024 legislative session. In response, Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo and Florida Watch Executive Director Josh Weierbach issued the following statements:
“While Governor Ron DeSantis has been criss-crossing the country on Florida taxpayers’ dime over the last year, the real issues facing his constituents have been sorely neglected and getting worse,” said Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo. “Today’s speech did nothing to give hope to working families struggling to pay the bills under a worsening housing affordability crisis, to parents whose children don’t have a full-time classroom teacher, or to women who want to make their own personal health care decisions without interference from politicians. Floridians deserve more than an absentee Governor whose sole interest in his current job is using it as a platform to campaign to voters thousands of miles away.”
“What we heard from Governor Ron DeSantis today was a laundry list of anti-freedom policies that will continue to make life in Florida less affordable, less safe, and less welcoming for the people who call our state home,” said Florida Watch Executive Director Josh Weierbach. “The Governor’s actual constituents have seen the devastating impacts of his ‘Florida Blueprint’ firsthand, with the nation’s highest auto and home insurance premiums, skyrocketing utility rates, and anti-public safety policies that put our communities at risk of increased gun violence. Floridians deserve the freedom to be healthy, prosperous, and safe, but it is clear that all Governor DeSantis cares about is grandstanding for his failing presidential campaign before he catches another private jet back to Iowa.”
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