Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) promotes $2 million in infrastructure funding for Seaport Manatee.
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NewsTranscript
00:00here at Port Manatee. We're joined with our FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue, Executive Director
00:06Carlos Baqueres. We're also representative Bill Connerly and Mike Rahn, the Port Chairman
00:14of the Board here. We were here last year, of course, with extenuating circumstances,
00:21and we're here with another great announcement that's going to, I think, be really, really good
00:25for the Port. As you know, we've consistently been ranked as the top economy in the country
00:31of all 50 states over the last two years by multiple publications. That has been the case.
00:37If you look at GDP growth since I took office, we've grown in Florida by over 30 percent,
00:43our state's economy. We would be, I think, the 13th or 14th largest economy in the world if
00:49we were our own country, and our growth rate exceeds every large state and every state except,
00:56I believe, Idaho. But, you know, I think Idaho's population is probably, I don't know if it's less
01:02than Manatee County, it might be less than Sarasota, but it's definitely less than a lot
01:06of counties, you know, that we have in Florida for sure. We continue to be number one in new
01:11business formations, continue to have a strong AAA credit rating. We have added jobs 52 of the
01:18last 56 months in the private sector. For the 50th month in a row, our unemployment rate has
01:24been lower than the national average, and our year-over-year private sector job growth rate
01:29has exceeded the nation's job growth rate for 40 consecutive months. And we just had,
01:35I saw some stuff on the transtrom, I did a little response about, and I don't know why we have to do
01:41these comparisons anymore because the truth is obvious, and I think people have voted with their
01:47feet, but it was it was said that somehow California does better on like tax and some
01:53of these metrics, and it's just insane to even think that. California has the stiffest income
02:00tax of all 50 states. I think it gets up to like 13 something percent. Florida has no income tax
02:07for anybody, and so we're obviously better there, but you say, oh well you don't have an income tax,
02:13but you have a sales tax. But get this, even though California has the highest income tax,
02:18their sales tax is higher than Florida's. Their sales tax is the highest in the United States
02:24of America. Then you look at other things that affect people like gas prices.
02:29California has the highest gas prices in the entire United States of America. They're averaging
02:34about five bucks a gallon. We're averaging about three bucks a gallon right now. Obviously we know
02:39that can fluctuate, but the delta between the two is always, and it's because of their taxes and
02:44regulations and all the policies they put on, and then utility. Their utility rates are twice what
02:51Florida's utility rates are. So in terms of being a friend of the taxpayer, in terms of having a
02:57strong environment that people are able to do well in, we obviously do that. Yeah, look, they've got
03:04Silicon Valley. They've got things where people make a lot of money, but that's in spite of the
03:08policies. That's not because of the policies, and if you look at our fiscal posture, and we'll see,
03:13you know, the legislature is in session now, so they're going to produce a budget for next year,
03:18but our current budget that we're operating under spends less money this year than we did the year
03:23before. How many places are actually reducing spending? We've paid down since we just celebrated
03:30our 180th anniversary as a state, and if you take 180 years, all the debt that Florida accumulated
03:36during that period of time, just since I took office, we've paid off 41% of that, and we're
03:42going to do more over the next couple years, which is great. So now of all the states that have debt,
03:47we have the lowest per capita debt of any state in the country. Your share as a Floridian of our
03:52state's debt is about $660. Your share of the U.S. federal debt, which is $36 trillion and counting,
04:01would be over $100,000 per U.S. citizen, and that obviously continues to go up.
04:08So we've done it right, and we've done it on really good budget.
04:13New York. A lot of people have moved from New York to Florida. I mean, that's always been the
04:17case to a certain extent, but certainly recently. New York now has millions fewer people than we do.
04:24They always had more people than us until relatively recently, and then we were kind
04:29of comparable. Now we're over 23 million. They're around 19, 19.5 million, and yet
04:36with millions of more people, our budget is less than half of their budget, and yet where is all
04:42this money going? People come here. They can get a driver's license much easier. The roads are better.
04:48We just ranked number one in another education survey, the Education Freedom by EdChoice,
04:54a national publication, ranked us number one in that. We were number one in education by U.S. News
05:01last two years. So where is this money going? And they're not treating taxpayers well,
05:07so we're doing it, and I think those states that are really high taxed, what ends up happening is
05:12the organs of the government themselves become constituents to the money going to this group or
05:20that group or the union, and so they end up really controlling the government, not for the overall
05:27public interest, but for those specific discrete interests, and so that's why they do the policies
05:32that they do. We do it much different. We're really focused on what's in the public's interest
05:38and making sure that we're hitting these things in a big way, and that, and infrastructure has
05:43been something that we've been really, really supportive of. We've done an awful lot to advance
05:48infrastructure in Florida at our seaports, but also on our roads. We did a project called Moving
05:55Florida Forward, where we sunk billions of dollars into accelerating some of the projects around the
06:01state that were slated to start, but a lot of them not slated to start until next decade. Now we're
06:07getting them done, starting now, finishing them five years, ten years, sometimes even 15 years
06:13ahead of schedule, and we're proud of doing that, and one of the things, one of the tools we have
06:18for infrastructure is this job growth grant fund, so we've been able to give grants around the
06:24country, around the state, excuse me, around the state for things that can really have value, so
06:29that's helped industrial parks. It's helped different types of transportation, and we have, of
06:35course, used it at the seaports, and Florida being a big peninsula, you would imagine that seaports
06:42would be very, very important. Currently our seaports in Florida support nearly 1.2 million
06:48jobs and contribute to over 195 billion in total economic value to the state. Our maritime activities
06:56account for about 13 percent of Florida's GDP and contribute over 4 billion to state and local tax
07:03coffers. Florida seaports continue to grow, and that is evident here at Seaport Manatee. This is the
07:11primary deepwater seaport in southwest Florida. Its strategic location at the mouth of Tampa Bay
07:17and is the closest deepwater seaport to the Panama Canal allow it to handle 400 million gallons of
07:23transportation fuel, fruits and vegetables, appliances, construction materials, and wood
07:28for distribution across southwest Florida and the entire southeastern United States. In 2023, Seaport
07:36Manatee supported 42,000 U.S. jobs, generated 275 million in state and local tax revenue, and
07:44contributed 7.3 billion in economic value to the economy. Seaport Manatee has played an important
07:51role in responding to many of the recent disasters that Florida has faced. Of course, this place was
07:58at the epicenter of Helene with the surge and then also Hurricane Milton, and those were back-to-back
08:05punches. Now, we knew that this was important and we wanted to do what we could to be helpful,
08:10so after damage assessments, estimated significant losses, we stepped in as a state to help mitigate
08:18some of the impact on the cost. We awarded Seaport Manatee $9.5 million to jump-start its
08:25recovery efforts and help repair impacted infrastructure, so that's birth repairs, dredging,
08:31security needs, fortification of the surviving infrastructure. We also supported the port's
08:38rebuild by providing subject matter experts and skilled workers from the Florida Department of
08:43Transportation. We also directed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to
08:48expedite all permits for the immediate rebuild of port infrastructure, and we provided support
08:53from the Florida Division of Emergency Management in navigating the FEMA awards process, and we
08:58provided personnel from the Florida National Guard to re-establish perimeter security and assist in
09:05repairing the port fence. Now, every state dollar we've invested in seaport infrastructure, we
09:11believe returns a significant amount of money to the economy. We're proud to make these investments,
09:17and we understand how important it is, and I would also note last year when we were facing
09:23the wreckage of these hurricanes, you had the prospect of the longshoremen launching a strike
09:29that would have threatened our supply chain right before holiday season, and I said
09:34we're going to use National Guard, we're going to do whatever we could to keep this going,
09:38and it was Seaport Manatee that was one of the first that was willing to step up and support
09:42our supply chain as other ports were facing shutdowns because of the strike, so we prepared
09:49our state and National Guard to deploy to Seaport Manatee to operate critical port duties
09:54and ensure port functions could continue for the duration. Luckily, it did not come to that,
10:00but we were prepared, and Seaport Manatee was on the front lines in that effort, and I want to
10:05know that the state, and I know a lot of people really appreciate willing to do that. So everywhere
10:10you look in the region, you can see the impact of Seaport Manatee on the daily lives of Floridians,
10:14especially those in the Bay Area and Southwest Florida, which is why we're here today. We want
10:20to continue to make strong investments in ports like this one, which will expand opportunities
10:26for new businesses and opportunities for more operations. So today I'm announcing that through
10:33the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, we are awarding two million dollars to the Manatee County Port
10:39Authority to make key infrastructure improvements at Seaport Manatee. These funds will be used to
10:45rebuild and repave South Dock Street at Seaport Manatee and make additional infrastructure
10:51improvements, including stormwater mitigation. This award will help fulfill the demand from
10:56current and new businesses as they expand their operations and create new jobs. The project is
11:02expected to create 300 jobs. Beyond enhancing port efficiency, these upgrades will facilitate
11:08supporting an expansion for home, aerospace, and automotive product manufacturer Honeywell.
11:14This includes supporting Honeywell's expected development of new businesses over the
11:19next five years, including a cold storage warehouse, a fuel terminal, and a manufacturing facility. So
11:26I'm proud to be able to do this award. We appreciate what's been done here. We know that there's a lot
11:32of prospects to do a lot more, and we need it. I mean, this part of the state, I mean, the state
11:37has obviously grown dramatically anyways, but certainly this part of the state has grown
11:42significantly when you look at the Bradenton, Sarasota areas, and even beyond as you get into
11:49to Charlotte County. And of course, Collier has always been, and Lee have had a lot of people
11:56for a long time. So this is really key, I think, to the state's success going forward. So I'm happy
12:01to do it. I'm happy to be able to bring up some people. So we'll start with Jared Perdue first,
12:06then we'll hear from Carlos, and then Mike.
12:16Thank you, Governor. So happy to be with you here today at Seaport Manatee, which is truly a crown
12:21jewel of Southwest Florida. And I'll tell you, no governor has done more for infrastructure
12:26than Governor DeSantis. If you look at Florida's 16 deepwater seaports alone,
12:32under the governor's tenure, we've invested over a billion dollars in seaport infrastructure.
12:36So that's truly incredible, and it's really one of those things that has helped our economy
12:41continue to grow and thrive. We're actually in a new building here on Seaport Manatee,
12:46and believe it or not, this building is going to be utilized to process de-icing salt. You know,
12:52who would have thought that de-icing salt going to the north would come through Port Manatee?
12:56And I just wanted to tell the Port Director Carlos that as the salt is headed north, maybe he
13:02could drop a little off in the panhandle, since now we have major snow events. We're going to be
13:08needing it, evidently. But really happy to be here to announce this job growth grant of two million
13:13dollars. It's going to help Seaport Manatee continue to improve the infrastructure on this
13:18port. The growth has really just been tremendous, and you heard from the governor the impact that
13:22has on the economy. And so we're really excited to keep making those investments. If you look at
13:28the FDOT investments with Seaport Manatee over these last few years, it's totaling over 40 million
13:33dollars, and that's really a testament to the growth that's continuing to occur here. And really
13:39Seaport Manatee's forward-thinking vision for preparing future growth in the economy. So really
13:46proud to be here to announce this, and we're looking forward to the continued partnership
13:50and strengthening of the supply chain and the economy here in Southwest Florida. Thank you,
13:55governor. Good morning, and thank you for being here today. We really appreciate, you know, the
14:09measurable support the state of Florida, FDOT, and Commerce bring to the port and to international
14:15trade. That creates opportunities. It creates jobs, just like the de-icing salt from the north
14:22or for the north. We're handling it here first. Who would have thought that, you know, that the
14:26de-icing for Pittsburgh and so on is going to happen here at Manatee and in Florida in particular.
14:33Florida, with its 16 public seaports, contributes about 195 billion dollars annually to the economy.
14:40It's huge. So taken as a port system, which is what we have, the impact that Florida has
14:48on the rest of the country is enormous because of its abundance of ports. Very few ports,
14:53you know, very few states have as many ports as we do working so well together.
15:01As a result, the support of the state to help us grow the port is critical. We can't just do it by
15:08charging, you know, super high fees, super high taxes to these companies. And that results in them
15:15investing, in them creating additional opportunities. That's what it's about. It's having other people
15:20invest the money here from foreign countries. The one we're here today, AMT, Agunza Manatee Terminal,
15:27is part of a company that is based in Santiago, Chile. Okay, we have companies from Brazil,
15:32we have companies from Argentina, we have companies from all over Latin America, especially
15:37and even Europe. The best testament that we can do here is that others feel so strong about it
15:42that they're willing to invest in this country. Foreign direct investment is what we pursue in
15:47addition to seaports. We want those countries and those companies to invest here. So as a result,
15:54really, we're seeing the opportunities come our way and we help these companies and the
15:59Port Authority and the County help the companies and the Governor's Office at Commerce help the
16:04companies locate here. So as a result, we really want to be able to welcome these companies, be
16:10ready, have the roads. You know, we also, of course, want to thank Secretary Perdue because he's been
16:15critical in helping us, even going on foreign missions with the Ports Council overseas. Nothing
16:21impresses people more than when you bring a Secretary of Commerce, you know, and transportation
16:27to that country. It really says something about, you know, how we feel about that community
16:33and those opportunities. It's unique. And as a result, you know, even with Governor DeSantis,
16:38you know, recently in Italy, a fantastic trip, you know, big, you know, one of the largest countries
16:43in Europe. We want to diversify, of course, more to Europe as well. We just cannot depend on living
16:49on Latin American business. So as a result, the Port is ready to handle that. We want to supersize
16:54the Port, grow the Port more with the entire Florida seaport system, and I think we're doing
17:00it with the state and the Secretary's support. Now I would like to introduce the Chair of the
17:05Port Authority, Chairman Mike Rahn.
17:14Good morning, Governor. Thank you for being here today. Good morning. It's another wonderful day
17:18here at Seaport Manatee. On behalf of the Port Authority, our Executive Director Carlos Piqueiras,
17:24our great staff, and our wonderful business partners here at Seaport Manatee,
17:28welcome to the best Port in the state of Florida and the Southeast United States.
17:33This is the best Port in Florida. This morning, we're honored to have America's Governor,
17:39our Governor, the Governor of the Free State of Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis, with us this
17:43morning. It's an honor for you to be here, sir, and it's always great to see you. Governor, we
17:48thank you for your continued support and commitment to Seaport Manatee. With your support and your
17:53team's support of FDOT and the Department of Commerce, Seaport Manatee continues to grow
17:59and thrive as the best Seaport in Florida. But also, Governor, we want to thank you for your
18:06service and dedication to our great nation and to the state of Florida. And Governor, thank you
18:11again for all you do for Seaport Manatee, the citizens of Manatee County, and the citizens of
18:16the state of Florida. Thank you, Governor. We really appreciate you. Thank you so much. Yes,
18:21sir. If all the Port Authority commissioners could come forward, Charlie, Courtney,
18:28Representative Connerly, we're all going to go and get a picture with the Governor
18:32for the presentation of the check.
18:51Well, we're excited. I know this will make a big difference. And yeah, I mean, you had the de-icing
19:10salt coming through here. It just shows you, I mean, there's all kinds of things happening. We
19:14did use it in January up in northwest Florida. Our previous record for snow in the state had
19:20been four inches. And we got 10 inches up in Milton, Florida. And so we had snow plows. We had
19:28the salt because we were worried. Florida driving is challenging enough to manage. But then when you
19:35add in icy roads, it's like, man, that's not a good combination. But I think everything worked
19:40really well. And we were able to get things going, particularly with the bridges and everything.
19:44But yeah, I mean, 10 inches of snow in January in the state of Florida,
19:49in northwest Florida, that's one for the record books. Okay, we got any questions?
20:00And they want to know why. Why are you pushing to loosen some of these restrictions in the state
20:03of Florida? Well, I would say I'm vindicating people's constitutional Second Amendment rights.
20:10And we always have an obligation to do that. So if you look at what we've done,
20:14we have constitutional carry. So you can carry a firearm concealed. That is in law as a constitutional
20:23right. But if you take your jacket off and put your jacket on and you have a firearm in your
20:27holster, somehow you could be prosecuted for that because it's a quote, open carry. And it doesn't
20:34make sense. Other states have actually done the opposite in some respects. So this is just
20:40common sense stuff. I think the legislature prior to me becoming governor, they went overboard on
20:47some of the things. And I think it did violate people's due process rights. I think it totally
20:51eliminated rights for young adults. I mean, you have some 20 year old Marine be out there carrying
20:57a firearm and in Fallujah back where I serve back in the day, and then they come here and they can't
21:03purchase a rifle to go hunting or something like that. It just is. It's not something that is
21:09consistent with due process. And I would note, when we did constitutional carry, people were
21:14saying, Oh, my gosh, this is like, and they were trying to create some type of narrative that this
21:20was going to be problematic. And yet, our crime rates at a 50 year low, you know, it just reality
21:27is is law abiding gun owners are part of the solution. They're not part of the problem.
21:32And a criminal doesn't care about any of these restrictions about where you can carry or if you
21:38can carry right, they're going to go commit a crime, they're going to go commit a crime.
21:42And I think it's been borne out and other states have done similar things and seen similar results.
21:48The states that have the most stringent infringements on Second Amendment, a lot of
21:55them have like really serious problems like Chicago, and some of these other places. So
22:01I've always been this is not anything new for me. This is what I mean, I said back in 18,
22:05where my position was, and we've been consistent the whole time. So we'll see,
22:10you know, the legislature response, I do know that a lot of people run for office,
22:15you know, saying Second Amendment. So the question is, when you get in,
22:18are you going to follow through with that or not? And I think people want to see follow through.
22:22Yes, sir.
22:22You and Mason are big baseball guys. The big news 20 minutes north of here yesterday,
22:27Ray's pulling out of that deal for a new stadium in St. Pete,
22:31kind of shocking the community there. Do you have any thoughts on that decision from the team?
22:37So it's interesting. Mason vacillates between the Rays and the Marlins,
22:42just because you know, he just when he sees something or whatever. But we, we actually got
22:49to go down, you know, we've been able to do some spring training over the years. And we're very
22:54fortunate to have a lot of a lot of good clubs in Florida. I mean, if you look, we've got
22:59all these AL East teams, which they're very good. The Orioles are good. The Red Sox are good.
23:03They're going to be good this year. Yankees, I think will probably be good. I know they've had
23:07some injuries and whatnot. Look on the Rays, you know, my view is, is, you know, it can be a viable,
23:15good franchise. I mean, they've had good baseball decisions that have been made over the years.
23:21I mean, with with really significant financial challenges, they've still been able to produce
23:27a good product and compete in a very difficult division. But the fan and the attendance really
23:33hasn't been there. And I think the question is, is why I could just tell you is having grown up in
23:37the Tampa Bay area, there were 10 times more baseball fans than hockey fans. And yet, one of
23:44the most successful franchises has been the Tampa Bay Lightning. And because I think you know, I
23:48think Jeff Vinnick did a great job. They really got involved the community. It became something
23:54that people wanted to be a part of. And so they have good attendance. They've obviously been able
23:58to win Stanley Cups. And you know, look, I mentioned the state of the state. But I mean,
24:04you know, there have been more Stanley Cups won in Florida since I've been governor
24:08than Canada's won since Trudeau has been prime minister. That's just the truth.
24:12But I think it's important that baseball needs to be in Florida. Obviously, we have one in Miami,
24:19but but in this part of the state, this is a great part of the country for baseball. And,
24:26and I think it needs to I think it can succeed, but it but it got to it's got to have the right,
24:33right direction, you got to have the right infrastructure, and all that. So you know,
24:37infrastructure, and all that. So you know, I don't really get involved in this or that,
24:42because there's other people that can handle that. But just as a baseball fan, and as a Floridian,
24:47I know, I know baseball can do well in the Tampa Bay area, I have no doubt that it can do well.
24:54You know, it's interesting on the Tropicana, you know, because they have the the roof. And,
24:59you know, honestly, I you kind of forget that it's not really a roof. It's like a canvas that
25:03covered that dome. And it was rated for 115 mile an hour sustained winds. Well, we had people for
25:12Hurricane Milton, we had some first responders staged, because it's a great staging area. It's
25:17right there in St. Pete, you have guys, they can go out as soon as the storm passes. And, you know,
25:23Kevin Guthrie is very good at this. He's he made the decision to pull them out as Milton was going
25:28because he didn't think that it would be able to handle it. And sure enough, that was a that was
25:33the correct decision. It didn't handle it. And so you now have this situation where the roof's gone,
25:38they're going to play in Steinbrenner. But then do you how much is it going to cost to fix that?
25:43What about creating a different stadium? And the challenge that we have in Florida is to do
25:49baseball, you probably have to do it where there's a covering, because it's just the rainy season,
25:55it makes it more do you probably have too many rain outs. People say it's too hot. Yeah, I mean,
25:59it is hot. But I think more than that is just the rain. So once you start talking about having a
26:05cover, however much a stadium would cost, you add a lot to that, right? I mean, if you could do a
26:11good one for a billion, which maybe you can't even do that anymore. But let's say a billion,
26:15it's probably another 500 million to put a good cover on top of it. And a retractable would even
26:21be more. So So these are things I know that the communities are doing. I know they've they're
26:27having this the issues with Pinellas. It's an unfortunate situation. I know there's people that
26:32have been interested in buying the team. I've been hearing the team was going to be sold for like
26:36years now. Oh, governor, it's going to happen. That never seems to really happen. But but maybe
26:40that I know there's people that are interested in in doing it. And there's people that want to
26:46bring baseball to other parts of the state, not necessarily the Rays, but maybe an expansion team
26:50to Orlando people talked about. So I'm just hoping that it works out for the for the folks here in
26:55in the Tampa Bay area. But certainly from a Florida perspective, we need to have a major
27:01league baseball franchise in this part of the state. We're one of the fastest growing part.
27:06This is one of the most fastest growing markets in the country. It's already a massive market.
27:11There is no way that it can't be successful. And they've made really good baseball decisions
27:16over the years compared to some of these other teams that have had more bloated payroll. So
27:21I think it definitely can work. We just got to figure out they got to figure out what that
27:26formula is. But I can tell you this. I have spoken to the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred,
27:33and he has given me assurances. There is no way they want to leave Florida. They're committed to
27:40it working here because we have the fastest growing state. We have all this stuff going.
27:45It would not be a good look for major league baseball if you ended up doing that. So I'm
27:50hoping that this could all get resolved. But I have no doubt. I mean, when the Bucks do well,
27:55huge interest, right? The Lightning have generated huge interest. There's no reason why the Rays
28:02can't generate really big interest and really big support. But there's certain pieces of the
28:08puzzle that just have to be put in place. And there's certain factors that go involved in that
28:13in terms of how you get it right. So we'll see what happens. But we're going to be
28:20continuing to root for sports to do well here. I think we have done very well. Obviously,
28:25in hockey, we've done tremendous between the Lightning and South Florida. I mean,
28:30who would have thought that 20 years ago that Florida would be such a good hockey state? And
28:34people really like it. And it's been something that's very... And incidentally, you know,
28:39on these Canadians, they're coming like, no, I'm running into Canadians left and right.
28:46And it's anecdotal, but they're here. They are here. They're vacationing. There has not been a
28:51boycott of Florida. I can tell you that. I've seen a lot all throughout Central Florida over the last
28:57couple of weeks for sure. So they're here. But we've got really good. And then it was just a
29:01couple of years ago where we had all three Florida NFL teams were in the playoffs. I know the Jags
29:06had a rough run last year. It was a lot easier with the Bucks when we had Tom as the quarterback,
29:13because, I mean, he just do his plug and play. You know, it's interesting when he was at New
29:16England, they said, I mean, like, I thought he was the greatest of all time. Most people did.
29:22But the naysayers, well, yeah, he won six, but it's the system. It's Belichick. And it's the
29:28ownership. And not that Belichick's a great coach, Bob Kraft's a great owner, but it was always the
29:32Patriots had a system. Well, what happens? Tom comes to Tampa. He takes a pretty mediocre NFL
29:39team and wins a Super Bowl. What happens to New England? The bottom immediately falls out of the
29:45franchise. No, Brady wasn't the product of the system. Brady was the system. He was the straw
29:50that stirred the drink. And he was the reason why they won the six Super Bowls more than anything
29:56else. And it is a team effort. And he was the reason why Tampa were able to win our second
30:00Super Bowl. And then really, if you look at his second season, they ran into the Rams. And had
30:06they beat the Rams, I think they would have won out there. I mean, he threw for like 4,500. You're
30:10just ridiculous statistics with that. So but NFL and you know, I know the Dolphins, you know, have
30:17been have been pretty good. We're waiting for them to get over the hump. But we've we've done well
30:20there. So now I think the last one is Major League Baseball to to get those franchises humming.
30:27Because like Miami, are you kidding me? There's more baseball fans down there. Just about. It's
30:32like the one of the best places. For a fact, one of my friends who's in Major League Baseball says
30:36he thinks the best baseball in the United States for scouting is down in the Miami Fort Lauderdale
30:43area, especially these Catholic schools like they produce great players. So there's no reason they
30:47can't do well there. And I know from growing up in Tampa Bay, people like baseball, and they're
30:51going to do it. Then we just have to get Florida back to where we used to be on college football,
30:57because it used to be year in, year out. It was like a Florida team was up there.
31:02I know Florida State had a good year two years ago. The last year was was rough. I think Florida
31:07Gators look good. I think they're going to be I think they're going to be in position. They got a
31:12very tough schedule, but I think they're going to be in position. And then we'll see with Miami.
31:15You know, they got Georgia's quarterback coming in. He's battling some injuries, but but but it
31:21could be interesting there as well. Yes. Yeah, so I think most people know I called the special
31:33session of the legislature in January to do a number of things. But one of the things we wanted
31:39to do is have all state and local law enforcement have a legal duty to assist with the enforcement
31:46of federal immigration laws. Because if you think about it, Florida Highway Patrol pulls
31:51somebody over on a highway who's driving drunk. They have no license. They're not here legally.
31:56Being able to just transport them to ICE and get them out is the easiest way to do it.
32:02There's some states where they do the opposite. They try to block immigration enforcement.
32:07We aren't we aren't a sanctuary state, and we ban sanctuary cities. My first year as governor,
32:11but it's not enough to just not sabotage. You got to be part of the solution.
32:15So we now have all 67 counties. And yes, most of those sheriffs are more prone
32:21to want to enforce the law, but not all 67 necessarily. But because you have the obligation,
32:27all 67 counties with their sheriff's department have done what are called 287G agreements with
32:34DHS and ICE, which basically creates this task force model where they're working with these
32:40federal immigration officers to enforce immigration law. Then you have local police
32:46departments are now in the process of doing their agreements so that they're going to be part of the
32:52solution as well. And then I directed immediately all of our state agencies, FDLE, Highway Patrol,
32:58Fish and Wildlife, State Guard, to do similar agreements. And so you're seeing this. But we
33:03just had Brevard County, Wayne Ivey, the sheriff, great sheriff. He started this shield program,
33:11and they're busting up. They just brought in they brought in six illegals yesterday. They're doing
33:18more. They're working very collaboratively with that. So if you want to have enforcement
33:23of immigration law, you have to have state and local involved. If they're not involved,
33:28there just aren't enough federal people to be able to really make a meaningful difference.
33:33So I think Florida is definitely leading the way on this. And, you know, people talk about criminal
33:38illegal aliens to say, oh, well, if you come here illegally and then you commit more crimes,
33:44well, then we'll send you. Well, yeah, you should definitely send them, but that should not be the
33:48trigger that you're committing more crimes. I want to send them back before they commit these crimes.
33:53Why would we want to have victims in this state when we could do something about it?
33:58And so what we did with the special session, we made it a crime to enter Florida illegally.
34:04So they just busted a guy who had been deported before. He's back in Florida illegally somehow,
34:10probably be under Biden. And so now he's subjected to a felony and then they can turn them over to
34:16ICE and then they can do this. And the border and the southern is much better now. So the chance of
34:21them getting in is probably less, a lot less than it was in recent years. So that's something that's
34:27really, really positive. But I also look at it. It's like, well, we in the emergency rooms,
34:32anyone that shows up gets treated. That's federal law. And so people that come that are illegal,
34:37they use the emergency room as like kind of primary care and that costs money for taxpayers.
34:43And they just did the survey. It costs Florida last year, six hundred sixty million dollars
34:49for emergency room services for illegal aliens in the state of Florida. I mean, what could you
34:54take three hundred million of that and give it to like teacher pay or something like that? I mean,
34:59wouldn't people rather do that, cut taxes with it? So so it does have burdens apart from criminal
35:05aliens, burdens on taxpayers. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 80s must must go to public
35:13school like you can't say that you have to be here legally. And so they forced public schools.
35:17So that creates crowding. It creates issues there. And then, of course, the criminal system
35:22and then just even like traffic accidents, not having driver's licenses, insurance,
35:26that's a big deal as well. And then with businesses, you know, I was talking to some
35:30guy who does like I think it's roofing. He'll only hire legal people, but because he only
35:36hires legal people, he's got to charge more. And so it's harder to get business because some of
35:42these other guys, all the workforce is illegal under the table and they're paying very little.
35:47And how is that fair? Wouldn't we want our local businesses who are doing it right
35:52to be able to get ahead? And it's almost like you're benefiting people for not doing it right
35:58and cutting corners. And that's not what we want to see either. So I think this is a huge,
36:03huge effort. I'm glad that we're leading the charge. You're going to hear more from us about
36:08what's what's going on, because these guys now have been in the process. We did the agreements
36:14and we did our agreements very quickly. The locals are now doing the sheriff's did theirs.
36:18The police are getting ready to do theirs are in the process. Some have done it.
36:21But then you've got to train these guys to be able to exercise the immigration authorities.
36:27And that's ongoing. We worked with DHS to get that streamlined. And so you're going to have
36:32more and more people that are deputized because prior to Trump administration,
36:37if if we had a highway patrol, you had an illegal alien driving drunk,
36:42endangering motorists pulled over. We know he's illegal. We know he was driving drunk.
36:47If they called ICE and ICE came to get them fine, but ICE would not do that.
36:53They were not permitted to detain and transport to ICE under federal law. Now they're being
36:59deputized under the Trump administration to be able to do that. So that makes a huge,
37:03huge difference. And just think about your safety as a motorist, as a Floridian on this.
37:09And one of the things that that has been really frustrating is when you have the fatalities
37:16on the roadways by the illegal alien drivers, those almost always followed previous stops
37:25and arrests of the same individual. So they're driving drunk and maybe they don't run into
37:30anybody. Obviously, that's fortunate that no one got hit in that instance. But then it's just they
37:35go and then they get released and the catch and release doesn't work. And so those days are over
37:40in Florida where we've ramped up very quickly. We've got more ramp up to do. I think you're
37:45going to see more that that's going to happen in the ensuing weeks and months. And certainly
37:50over the balance of the Trump administration, you're going to see a lot that's done that I
37:56think a lot of people have been wanting to see for a very, very long time. Okay, thanks, everybody.