Before Monday morning, Braden and Kimberlie Dando had never heard of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Today, they say they owe their lives to the FWC officers who have been deployed to the Houston area to help rescue flood victims.

“If they didn’t show up I don’t what we would have done because we did not have a way to get out. I just want to thank them for what they did,” Braden, 25, said during a telephone interview from his mother-in-law’s house in Highlands, Texas.

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The Dandos two boys–Paxton, 3, who is autistic, and Nixon, 15 months old–were also inside the apartment. Their parents concern grew as the flood waters began to cover Nixon’s crib.

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“We had to swim with our kids,” Kimberlie recalled. “We literally had to drag our 3-year-old, while he was screaming, out of the house.” [Read more…]

More Than 400 Florida Volunteers Deployed to Texas and Louisiana 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers are continuing to actively assist with disaster response efforts in the Houston area. FWC officers have rescued more than 500 Texans since arriving in the area after being deployed by Governor Scott in response to Texas’ request for emergency assistance. Additionally, more than 400 Florida volunteers have been deployed to Texas and Louisiana as Volunteer Florida continues to coordinate the activities of 11 disaster relief organizations.

FWC Response Efforts:

• More than 500 Texans rescued by FWC officers since arriving in the area after being deployed by Governor Scott in response to Texas’ request for emergency assistance.
• Nearly 125 FWC officers are supporting ongoing search and rescue and disaster response efforts.
• FWC resources deployed to Texas include more than 40 boats, 17 high water vehicles, two Mobile Command Centers, and eight shallow draft vessels.

[Read more…]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers are continuing to actively assist with disaster response efforts in the Houston area. FWC officers have rescued more than 200 Texans since arriving in the area after being deployed by Governor Scott in response to Texas’ request for emergency assistance. Nearly 125 FWC officers, more than 40 boats, 17 high water vehicles, two Mobile Command Centers, and eight shallow draft vessels are currently in Texas to support ongoing search and rescue and disaster response efforts.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott announced he is deploying additional Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers and resources to Houston in response to additional requests from Texas for continued emergency assistance following Hurricane Harvey. These officers and resources will be assisting with ongoing search and rescue and disaster response efforts. Governor Scott spoke with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and reached out to FWC Major Andy Krause, who will be leading the response, this morning. [Read more…]

Please see the information below regarding Governor Rick Scott’s lunch with President Donald Trump.

“Governor Scott had lunch today with President Trump following an invitation from the White House last week. Governor Scott was solely there to promote Florida. They discussed a wide range of topics including the President’s commitment to partner with Florida on needed repairs to the federally-operated Herbert Hoover Dike at Lake Okeechobee. Governor Scott wants to do all he can to protect Florida’s environment and President Trump is very supportive to help. Additionally, they discussed the terror attack in Barcelona and the efforts President Trump is taking to keep America safe.”

This is a short summer for the legislature as we will already be starting Committee Meetings next month. Already we are starting to look at new legislation and beginning to plan delegation meetings so we may hear from our constituents on their issues and ideas. Marion County will be having their Legislative Delegation Meeting on October 19^th.

I have traveled a lot this summer and attended many conferences from Miami to Boston. I attended the National Conference of State Legislatures in Boston and was able to hear from Frank Luntz, one of the nation’s foremost political commentators and pollsters, about how many American’s trust their local and state officials much more than their federal counterparts. My office is always open and available to constituents for help or comment. Please do not hesitate to reach out. [Read more…]

It’s a good time to be in the Sunshine State! Last month George Mason University released an evaluation they completed “Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition”, and Florida came out on top! Florida’s No. 1 ranking ends Alaska’s three-year reign atop the leaderboard.

We work hard in the Legislature to ensure that Florida remains fiscally sound. That is our first responsibility to our constituents and all Floridians. If our state is not fiscally sound, all the rest of our goals and endeavors in Florida are put in jeopardy.

The group ranked Florida as the state with the strongest fiscal condition based on data collected from each state’s most recent audited comprehensive annual financial report. For the ranking, each state was evaluated on the amount of cash it had on hand as well as its budget solvency, long-run solvency, service-level solvency and trust-fund solvency. [Read more…]