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Volunteer Florida Recognizes Emergency Management Volunteers

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Earlier this week, during Volunteer Florida’s third annual emergency management partner convening meeting in Orlando, the organization recognized Heather Mazurkiewicz, Sonja Sanders and Bill Wealand for excellence in volunteerism.

Volunteer Florida CEO Vivian Myrtetus said, “Last year’s Hurricane Irma caused widespread devastation across the state. During this time of loss, we saw communities come together and we were reminded of the power of selflessness as so many people left behind their own families and homes to come to the aid of others. That spirit is reflected in the emergency management volunteers honored this week who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.”

Volunteer Florida Emergency Management Director Ken Skalitzky said, “Volunteers are critical to every community’s ability to respond to an emergency. They are at the front lines of an emergency situation from the time a threat emerges to well into the recovery phase. They are an integral part of the support systems that must be provided to those in need before, during and after an emergency situation. I commend Heather, Sonja and Bill for their exceptional commitment and dedication to their communities.”

The third annual emergency management partner convening meeting brought together more than 150 government, nonprofit and private sector emergency management leaders from more than 60 organizations across Florida.

About the Volunteers Recognized:

Heather Mazurkiewicz
Heather is the Public Education Officer for the North Collier Fire Control and Rescue District in Naples. She is the Program Manager for their Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Before, during and after Hurricane Irma, Heather led her team to volunteer more than 2,000 hours. The volunteers were used to evacuate elderly persons to shelters, they also staffed shelters, phone banks, food and water distribution sites, conducted community assessments and distributed community safety messages door to door. Additionally, she has trained more than 200 new CERT volunteers since the hurricane and has more than 70 people attend her monthly alumni meetings. Heather also serves as a volunteer firefighter.

Sonja Sanders
Sonja is a volunteer with the American Red Cross. She began as a volunteer in 1990 at Eglin Air Force Base Hospital specializing in administrative support and patient care. She continues to volunteer with the American Red Cross serving as the disaster chair for the entire Disaster Leadership Team in the 10 northwestern counties of the Florida Panhandle. As the lead liaison to the Florida SECO, Sonja has deployed and responded to over 30 National Disaster Operations. Sonja was deployed in Tallahassee for Hurricane Irma for 13 weeks. She is also a nationally recognized Red Cross Disaster Instructor for multiple exercises that include training.

Bill Wealand
Bill started a disaster ministries program in Ohio through United Church of Christ (UCC). In 1998, he began a disaster ministries program in Florida through UCC. That same year, Bill became the UCC representative for the Florida VOAD. After Bill retired from United Church of Christ, he continued part time as the disaster ministries coordinator until 2017. In 2017, Bill began the emotional and spiritual care program through the Florida VOAD and coordinated his efforts through FEMA.

Nelson, FL lawmakers call on state to help communities facing economic hardship

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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and a group of Florida lawmakers sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott Thursday urging him to designate communities in Florida facing the greatest amount of economic hardship as “opportunity zones,” to encourage more private investment and economic growth in those areas.

“One thing we should all be able to agree on is that more needs to be done to help expand economic opportunity in the state, particularly in those communities with limited access to affordable healthcare, quality education, and affordable housing,” the lawmakers wrote.

Under the tax code, governors can designate up to 25 percent of eligible low-income communities in each state as opportunity zones—whereby investors can get a tax break if they invest in the area.

The lawmakers went on to highlight areas of the state facing the greatest challenges: “As you know, many parts of Florida have not fared well over the last several years, including many rural areas and communities of color. Therefore, we ask that you designate areas as opportunities zones based on the amount of economic hardship they face—with special consideration for Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones) … areas with a readily retrain-able workforce, economically-depressed rural areas, and other areas that have not benefitted from some of the decisions made by state officials in recent years.”

There are over 1,699 low-income community census tracts in Florida, allowing Gov. Scott to designate more than 400 communities.

In addition to Nelson, the letter was signed by Florida Reps. Charlie Crist, Kathy Castor, Val Demings, Alcee Hastings, Al Lawson, Stephanie Murphy, Darren Soto and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Following is text of the letter and a .pdf copy is available here.

March 22, 2018

The Honorable Richard Scott
Governor, State of Florida
Plaza 05, The Capitol
400 South Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-001

Dear Governor Scott,

We are writing about the designation of opportunity zones in Florida and the need to help communities facing economic hardship. One thing we should all be able to agree on is that more needs to be done to help expand economic opportunity in the state, particularly in those communities with limited access to affordable healthcare, quality education, and affordable housing.

As you know, many parts of Florida have not fared well over the last several years, including many rural areas and communities of color. Over 2.9 million Floridians live in poverty, including 21 percent of children in the state. Meanwhile, over 2.4 million Floridians lack health insurance and around 52 percent of the state is burdened with student loan debt, amounting to about $80 billion in total outstanding debt. Around 70 percent of low-income renters are stuck paying more than 40 percent of their income to rent, over 32,000 Floridians are known to be homeless—living on the street, in shelters, or in places deemed uninhabitable for humans—and far too many homeowners in the state still have underwater mortgages. All the while, since 2015, there’s been over 250 mass layoffs.

Federal law gives you the opportunity to fix this and finally give these communities the attention they deserve. Under the new tax law, you can designate 25 percent of eligible census tracts as opportunity zones—where investors can earn investment income tax-free and, in the process, help these communities emerge from years of neglect. Regardless of how you feel about the new tax law, we believe it’s important to work together to ensure the law is working in the best interests of those most in need, and not just for the well-connected.

Therefore, we ask that you designate areas as opportunities zones based on the amount of economic hardship they face—with special consideration for Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones), areas with attractive private investment opportunities that can leverage existing assets such as transit infrastructure and access to other investment incentive programs, areas with a readily retrain-able workforce, economically-depressed rural areas, and other areas that have not benefitted from some of the decisions made by state officials in recent years. In making this decision, we also ask that you listen to local leaders, who know their communities best.

We greatly appreciate your attention to this matter and stand ready to help you build a better and brighter Florida.

Sincerely,

Senator Keith Perry Announces Project Leo Expansion

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Senator Perry (R- Gainesville) today announced that Governor Scott signed into law a bill earlier this week that expands Project Leo, a state-funded program that provides locating technology to aid search-and-rescue efforts for persons on the Autism Spectrum Disorder.

In 2016, the Florida Legislature created a pilot program known as Project Leo, which was named after 9-Year-old Leo Walker of Live Oak, FL who wandered away from home in 2014. Project Leo works to provide devices to aid search and rescue efforts for persons with special needs in the case of elopement.

“All too often we hear of tragic stories coming from our communities about persons who have gone missing,” Senator Perry said. “This legislation will provide a vital resource and peace of mind for so many families dealing with this issue.”

Senate Bill 1156 expands this voluntary program statewide for autistic children and others with a history of elopement. The program is administered through a partnership between the state university Center for Autism Related Diseases (CARD) program and local law enforcement.

“The signing of this legislation is a giant step forward in protecting some of Florida’s vulnerable citizens,” Senator Perry concluded. “I commend my colleagues in the House and the Senate for passing this common sense legislation, and working together to improve public safety for all Floridians.”

UF research spending reaches record $801.4 million in 2017

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University of Florida research spending reached a record $801.4 million in fiscal year 2017, according to a new report to the National Science Foundation.

UF’s response to NSF’s Higher Education Research and Development, or HERD, Survey showed a $10.1 million increase, or 1.3 percent, in total expenditures over 2016’s total of $791.3 million.

Research spending is fueled primarily through individual grants and contracts that are secured by UF faculty in a very competitive funding landscape. This increase reflects progress in the university’s efforts to enhance its impact and reputation.

Expenditures on projects supported with federal agency funding increased $20 million, or 6.6 percent, to $327.3 million while state projects increased $7.3 million, or 5.4 percent, to $142.5 million. Funding from non-profit organizations and foundations rose 15 percent to $42.3 million.

Life sciences research, including health and agricultural research, accounted for $589.8 million, or about 74 percent of the total. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health, is UF’s largest funding agency.

Engineering accounted for $97.8 million, while physical sciences – like astronomy, chemistry and physics – accounted for $28 million.

“UF’s research enterprise has been on a steady upward trend for many years,” said David Norton, UF’s vice president for research. “Surpassing this milestone of $800 million in research expenditures is testament to the thousands of faculty members who are helping to change the world with their science, and to the staff who guide these projects from proposal to completion.”

NSF collects expenditure data from universities around the country and compiles it into a report that will be released later this year. Last year, based on fiscal year 2016 data, UF ranked 24thamong all universities and 14th among public universities in research expenditures.

Among the largest projects under way in 2017 were a U.S. Department of Agriculture project to refine an inedible seed called Brassica carinata into a renewable jet fuel; a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention project to keep Zika and other vector-borne diseases from gaining a foothold in the United States; and a U.S. Department of Defense project to study a type of heart disease that primarily effects women.

Source: David Norton, [email protected]
Writer: Joseph Kays, [email protected]

Gov. Scott: Florida Businesses Created More Than 25,000 Private-Sector Jobs in February

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Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida businesses created more than 25,000 private-sector jobs in February. Since December 2010, Florida businesses have created nearly 1.5 million jobs. Florida’s annual job growth rate of 2.2 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.8 percent. Florida’s annual job growth rate has exceeded the nation’s rate for 70 of the past 71 months. The only month that Florida did not exceed the nation was a result of Hurricane Irma. Governor Scott made the announcement at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new development project in downtown Ocala, which will include a new Hilton Garden Inn, apartment complex and restaurants. This project will also create more than 280 jobs for Ocala families and help bring more visitors to Central Florida.

Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce that Florida businesses created more than 25,000 new jobs last month, which means thousands of more opportunities are available for Floridians. Earlier this month, we concluded the 2018 legislative session by securing major initiatives that will help ensure this economic growth continues in Florida for years to come. This includes cutting taxes by nearly $550 million and ensuring Floridians have the opportunity to make it harder for politicians to raise taxes with a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. I am proud of the work we have done to encourage job growth, and we will not stop working until Florida is the best place in the nation to succeed.”

As of February, Florida’s unemployment rate remains low at 3.9 percent, a drop of 6.9 percentage points since December 2010. This drop is faster than the national decline of 5.2 percentage points. In the last year, 136,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.4 percent, which is greater than the national labor force growth rate of 1.2 percent, and shows more Floridians are looking for and finding jobs across the state.

Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “We are proud that businesses are continuing to create jobs in Florida, and that our state’s unemployment rate remains low at 3.9 percent. The nearly 1.5 million jobs created under Governor Scott’s leadership demonstrate that the Sunshine State is the best place to live the American Dream.”

Other positive economic indicators include:

  • Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over-the-year were:
    • Professional and business services with 46,900 new jobs;
    • Construction with 31,700 new jobs;
    • Leisure and hospitality with 25,600 new jobs;
    • Education and health services with 18,500 new jobs; and
    • Financial activities with 15,300 new jobs.
  • Florida job postings showed 250,145 openings in February 2018.

To view the February 2018 employment data, click here.

PSC Hearings for Gulf Power Settlement and Florida City Gas Settlement Begin Monday

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The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) will hold two hearings on Monday, March 26. At 1:30 p.m., the Commission will consider a Settlement Agreement (Settlement) on Gulf Power Company’s (Gulf) treatment of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The Office of Public Counsel (OPC), the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy are signatories to Gulf’s Settlement.

Following the conclusion of Gulf’s hearing, the Commission will begin a hearing on Florida City Gas’ (FCG) Settlement Agreement (Settlement) for its rate increase request. OPC and Federal Executive Agencies are signatories to FCG’s Settlement. FCG filed its rate request with the PSC on August 23, 2017. The PSC held customer service hearings on January 23 in Coral Gables and on January 24 in Port St. Lucie and Melbourne. FCG currently provides natural gas service to approximately 108,000 retail customers across South Florida.

The hearings are set for the following times and location:

Monday, March 26, 2018
1:30 p.m., Gulf Power Company Settlement
Betty Easley Conference Center
Joseph P. Cresse Hearing Room (Room 148)
4075 Esplanade Way
Tallahassee, Florida

and

Following the conclusion of Gulf’s hearing
Florida City Gas Settlement
Hearing will be held at the same location

In addition, March 27-30 are reserved to continue the hearing on FCG’s Settlement, if needed.  The starting time of the next day’s session will be announced at the conclusion of each day.

The hearings will be available online at floridapsc.com. Access the “Watch Live Broadcasts” camera icon on the left side of the homepage.

Nelson secures federal funding for Florida defense projects

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The $1.3 trillion spending package Congress unveiled last night includes funding for projects important to national security and Florida’s defense industry.

The bill includes a number of projects that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), a senior member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, pushed for:

  • B-21 Long Range Strike – Bomber. Senator Nelson fought for full funding of the B-21 Raider Long Range Strike-Bomber, a dual-purpose, long-range, stealthy, penetrating bomber capable of delivering conventional or nuclear weapons.  Designed and engineered at Northrop Grumman facilities in Melbourne, the B-21 is key to modernizing the strategic bomber capability and full funding in FY18 is important to ensure the program remains on track to deliver capability in the mid-2020s
  • Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program.  Nelson advocated for an additional $100 million for the program over the President’s Budget which will support vital commercial and military space operations at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral.
  • Israeli Defense Cooperative Missile Defense and Anti-Tunnel Defense cooperation. Senator Nelson was proud to continue his support for Israel by fighting for $558 million for U.S.-Israel cooperative missile defense programs and additional funds to develop anti-tunneling technology.
  • MQ-4 Triton. Senator Nelson fought for full funding for research and development for the Triton.  The Triton is critical to national security and helps meet maritime information, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting needs as well as for homeland security, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and other missions.  Mission crews for the Triton are based out of Mayport and the vehicles and maintenance crews are out of NAS Jacksonville.
  • Eglin Test and Training Range. Senator Nelson fought for a $62.4M increase for DODs Eastern Training Range in the Gulf of Mexico. As test and training of 5th Generation aircraft continues to ramp up, there is a growing need for a modern, large training area, and the Eastern Range is critical to our Air Force and Navy.
  • Littoral Combat Ship. Senator Nelson fought for the purchase of two additional Littoral Combat Ships—three total—in FY2019. A number of Littoral Combat Ships are based out of Mayport.
  • DOD Partnerships for Cancer Research. Senator Nelson fought for language encouraging DOD to expand partnerships with private cancer research centers for sharing data, information and treatment responses.

Sarasota Man Sentenced for Role in Advance Fee Loan Scheme

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The Office of Financial Regulation today announced that Stephen Hummell was sentenced to three months in jail to be followed by 15 years of probation, after a guilty plea for his role in an advance fee loan scam. He is barred from the lending industry for life.

Commissioner Drew J. Breakspear said, “Collecting an advance fee for the promise of a loan is illegal in Florida, and our investigators will continue to work tirelessly to ensure Floridians are protected from these scams. I thank the Sarasota County State Attorney’s Office and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia for their assistance in this case.”

Hummell used a website, capitalfirstinvestorsgroup.com, to offer online loans to prospective borrowers. He purportedly assessed and collected more than $1.2 million in advance fees from more than 40 victims in exchange for promising them business loans. However, no loans or refunds ever materialized. The investigation revealed that the victims’ money was used for personal expenses.

To report investment fraud or suspicious activity, please file a complaint with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation online, flofr.com, or call (850) 487-9687.

Florida Attorney General Bondi and Utah Attorney General Reyes Joint Statement on Passage of H.R. 1865

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Attorney General Pam Bondi and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, both leaders in the fight against human trafficking, today issued the following joint statement commending the U.S. Senate passage of H.R. 1865:

“Today, we applaud the U.S. Senate for making the right decision and overwhelmingly passing H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, in a 97 to 2 vote. This legislation will significantly support all state attorneys general and state prosecutors in their effort to hold online sites accountable for supporting the sale of sex trafficking victims.

“We thank President Trump and his Administration for working closely and proactively with Members of Congress, including our dedicated Florida and Utah federal delegations, industry experts and human trafficking survivors in the fight to eradicate sex trafficking across the country and around the world.”