At today’s meeting of the Florida Cabinet, Commissioner Nicole “Nikki” Fried voted to approve the appointments of leadership for two state agencies. See below for statements by Commissioner Fried on those votes:
On vote to approve Noah Valenstein as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection:
“I believe Secretary Valenstein and I share a commitment to finding ways for his department and mine to work together on the important environmental matters facing our state. He’s assured me that water quality and environmental issues will be a priority in this administration. Our state has major environmental concerns to address, from red tide to toxic algae to Lake Okeechobee releases. And I’m hopeful that he takes as seriously as I do the threat of climate change, human contributions to our climate crisis, and the need to make plans to address them. I look forward to working with him and the Department of Environmental Protection on these issues – because the fate of our state’s next generation hangs in the balance.”
On vote to approve Ronald Rubin as Commissioner of the Office of Financial Regulation:
“Our state’s Office of Financial Regulation has a tremendous responsibility to ensure a safe financial marketplace for those living and doing business in Florida, and to protect our citizens from scams, fraudulent business practices, and bad actors. The Commissioner should be a watchdog over Florida’s financial services providers, and I believe Commissioner Rubin will take that mandate seriously. His experience with federal securities, financial industry regulation, and consumer protection authorities makes him well qualified for the role. It’s my hope that Commissioner Rubin will always keep the best interests of our state’s consumers at heart.”
