Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) promotes bonuses for law enforcement officers.
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00:00Florida. We're getting close to that time of year where the snowbirds start to migrate north.
00:05Not quite. I tell you, it'll help with the traffic when that happens. I mean, it's amazing
00:09how many people are crowded down here. I'm joined by the Executive Director of the Florida
00:14Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which of course includes the Florida Highway
00:18Patrol Executive Director, Dave Kerner. I also have Amanda Gerhardt, the fiance of Trooper Fink,
00:24who was killed in the line of duty in 2024, and then Kat Turner, wife of Trooper Turner,
00:30who was shot but survived in the line of duty in 2023. So we're obviously going to have a law
00:36enforcement theme today. First, just to let everyone know, we were in Pensacola yesterday,
00:43and we were able to announce the expansion of Hope Florida into all of our state colleges.
00:49Now, Hope Florida is a program. It didn't need any money. It didn't need anything. It's just
00:55repurposing the way we do welfare programs. Instead of trying to foster a culture of dependency on
01:01government, we've enlisted churches, charities, individuals, businesses to be able to help people
01:10in need. And so our folks who work in government now, rather than be trained to try to find all the
01:17government programs they can get people on, they're trained to navigate the person in need and to link
01:23them with all these other resources throughout the community. And that's how you do a pathway to
01:28self-sufficiency. So just in a couple years, the program's gotten 30,000 people off of welfare and
01:35saved $100 million. Now that's really what it's all about. So now we're going to be able to do that in
01:43state colleges. Because if you think about it, you know, the folks that are at state colleges, I mean,
01:47some people graduate high school, go to a state college, there's kind of like a normal rhythm.
01:51So you got a lot of folks who are maybe in midlife, you got single moms that are trying to get more
01:57skills to be able to provide for their kids and all this stuff. And sometimes you can fall on hard
02:03times. So now you're going to have a liaison at all of our state universities, state, state colleges,
02:08and they're going to be able to link folks to all the great resources that are competing. You know,
02:12the thing about it is, and I kind of learned this in the military, you know, when you leave active duty,
02:17and I didn't need anything, I was fine. But they give you like this packet of like, oh, here's like
02:22veterans resource. And like, you don't understand, it's like your mind numbing bureaucracy. So a lot of
02:27times people don't know where to look. And so the job of the of the HOPE program is to really link
02:33the folks in need with with all the great resources. We got a great state, we got a lot of folks that
02:38want to be active to help people, particularly our faith community. And we need to utilize it,
02:43and we are utilizing it. So we're really excited about that announcement. We're also excited to be
02:47here with the folks who serve in uniform. It should come as no surprise to anybody who's been alive for
02:54the past six years that Florida is a law and order state. We believe in supporting the people that
03:00wear the uniform. We believe in holding criminals accountable. The result has been our crime rate
03:06is at a 50 year low. You didn't see cities burning down during the BLM riots here. When Hamas tried to
03:13take over roads in Orlando and Miami, they were removed in 11 and 13 minutes respectively, including by
03:20Florida Highway Patrol in Central Florida. We don't let the inmates run the asylum. We're not going to
03:26let people's quality of life be destroyed because we're embracing toxic ideologies and the woke agenda.
03:33And we've been very clear on that. You remember back when they were talking about defunding police.
03:39Now we said, of course, we're not going to do that in Florida, although have more on that in a minute.
03:43Um, but we also passed legislation preventing local governments from defunding police because,
03:50you know, you could, you know, you could have three bozos on some city council vote to fund police.
03:56And at that time, it was considered fashionable to do. You were celebrated in certain corners,
04:01but I'm not going to let, you know, those three bozos cut off a city's nose to spite its face. Like,
04:06we're going to make sure people are safe. So we did that. And we basically quashed the whole defund
04:12the police movement in Florida all the way back in 2020. I mean, it died here and never really got
04:18a foothold. We've also done things to make sure that when you do have disorder, that that officers
04:26are protected. We have the strongest anti rioting legislation in the country. You know, you can say
04:32what you want. You can peacefully demonstrate, but you don't have a right to commandeer other people's
04:38property. You do not have a right to block traffic. Uh, and you don't have a right to harass people.
04:43And you certainly don't have a right to launch attacks and law enforcement. So if you do those
04:47things, uh, you will be held accountable in the state of Florida. And that makes a really,
04:52really big difference. We saw the difference between Florida and many of these other jurisdictions.
04:59I remember I was in, uh, Southern California a couple of years ago and I, and I talked to police
05:05chief in like a nice part there and how's it going? He's like, I'm doing great, but just all my police
05:10officers now want to move to Florida, uh, because they saw the difference in terms of what was going
05:16on. So we saw an opportunity to capitalize off that if Seattle is going to treat their law enforcement
05:23personnel poorly. Uh, we want people to know we'll treat you good Chicago, all these other places.
05:29But we also wanted to send a message to young people in Florida, uh, that this was an honorable
05:34profession to pursue and to be in law enforcement was a good thing. You know, it used to be if there
05:39was a, uh, an opening at a sheriff's department, you know, you'd have like massive numbers of
05:44applications. And then that has changed over the years. I think part of it is because, uh,
05:49law enforcement's been denigrated by, by legacy media outlets, uh, by activists and all these other
05:55things. And so we said, no, we want to make sure. So we did a bonus program. All recruits,
06:02whether transferring from out of state or new recruits in state, uh, are eligible for a $5,000
06:09signing bonus right at the top. So if you're somebody that is just getting, uh, getting kicked
06:15in the teeth every day by the climate in Chicago or something, you come down to say Fort Myers or
06:22Lee County sheriffs, and all of a sudden, uh, you get a $5,000 bonus immediately, and then you get to
06:28work in a community that actually appreciates what you do. This $5,000 bonus also applies to state law
06:33enforcement. So you can do highway patrol. You can do Florida Department of Law Enforcement, uh, as
06:38well. Uh, we also during the COVID, you know, they're sending all this money during, I mean, they
06:43printed trillions of dollars sending this money. Um, they sent a bunch of money to the states. We, we got
06:50less because we had low unemployment, California, New York got more comparatively. Uh, but you know,
06:56a lot of this money, I would have rather than just keep it and, and, and pay down the debt.
07:00Turns out if you sent it back to them, then the treasury secretary at the time, Janet Yellen was
07:06empowered to transfer it to different states. So if I would have rejected some of the money,
07:12it just would have gone to California or would have gone to New York. And so I didn't. So I was like,
07:16okay, you know, let, let's, let's figure out what we're going to do. So we did three years in a row,
07:22a bonus program, all sworn law enforcement, firefighters and EMT got $1,000 after tax bonuses
07:29three years in a row. Now $1,000 doesn't pay for as much as it used to with an era of inflation.
07:35But I think when people got the check in the middle, like, well, heck it's the state of Florida
07:39actually appreciates what I do. And so that was a small token. And we were happy to be able to work
07:44and get that through. So we've done a lot. We've done law enforcement scholarships,
07:49and it's been really, really good. But we're now in this situation where we have a very successful
07:56track record in Florida about how we've approached a whole host of these issues. Obviously, if you look
08:02at why people have moved here, and I'm not asking anyone to move because we've got a lot of people
08:07and we've got a lot of issues we got to deal with. Trust me, we're putting money into infrastructure in
08:12southwest Florida and we're moving projects ahead of schedule. But it's tough. It isn't easy. So
08:18there's a lot of challenges with that. But the reality is it's a free country and people vote with
08:21their feet. And if you talk to people who've been moving here recently, but particularly kind of post the
08:28BLM summer and the defund the police stuff, a lot of people would say public safety. They wanted to be in a state that that really put a premium on public safety.
08:38So we were we were right about how we approached that. If you look at what we've done on things like
08:45fighting the woke and defending parents rights and education, this has been something that's been
08:51really, really important to a lot of parents. I mean, I've got young kids. You don't want your kids
08:57showing up at first grade and being indoctrinated and being told that they can change their gender.
09:03That's inappropriate. And we had to fight a lot of people, including a big company in central Florida,
09:08some of you may have heard of before, in order to do that. But it's the right thing to do. We also
09:12said our colleges and universities are not going to be indoctrination centers that they should be
09:19educating. We want a classical approach to higher education. We don't want the imposition of ideology
09:25like at Columbia University and Harvard and all these places. We want to really teach people to think for
09:32themselves to pursue truth and ultimately to be good citizens of this republic in years. So we've
09:38had to do a lot to overhaul that. We eliminated DEI. We're the first one state to do that. We have all
09:45tenured professors. Now I have to undergo review every five years and can be terminated for poor
09:50performance. We even allow university presidents and trustees to hire faculty directly from other
09:57universities without allowing the existing faculty to veto those people. Because if you don't tow the
10:04ideological line, a lot of the existing faculty will not want you there. So we've made huge strides
10:11in that and many other things. And a lot of people, obviously, if you look at the electoral track record,
10:18it's been very successful. When I became governor, this was considered a purple state. One point races were
10:24kind of the norm statewide. We had more Democrats than Republicans by hundreds of thousands. And we
10:30had a Republican majority in both the House and Senate in Florida. But we didn't have super majorities.
10:36Now we've got 1.2 million more Republicans than Democrats. We have the biggest super majorities
10:44we've ever had in the entire history of the Republican Party. And the reason why you got that
10:50is because people responded to the leadership that we've provided. They've responded to the results.
10:55They've responded to the policies in a very, very good way. And so I obviously, you know, ran for election
11:02in 22 on the record. We got a resounding victory. A lot of people ran in the House and Senate on the same
11:09record. But what's going on in Tallahassee right now with the Florida House of Representatives is really
11:15treacherous what they're doing because they all ran on this agenda. They never ran against law enforcement.
11:22I can tell you that because they would have gotten shown the door by the voters if they had done that.
11:27They never ran on trying to overturn our reforms in higher education. They never ran on joining with
11:34Democrats to try to manufacture smears against the administration, the governor, even the first lady
11:40they've tried to do that on. They never ran on any of that stuff. But that's what they're doing. They are not
11:46doing what they told you they would do. They are effectively stabbing the voters in the back with this
11:54really, really terrible agenda. And the agenda seems to be two things. One, rain down as much benefits by
12:03twisting and contorting and changing Florida law up to liberal trial lawyers so that they get more
12:10money and everybody else has to pay for that. That's a pure special interest play. There's nobody
12:17around the state are not begging to have more ability for for trial lawyers to bring more frivolous
12:24lawsuits or to have more jackpot justice. Nobody is asking for that. But yet that's a huge component
12:30to the House's agenda. And this is a Republican House, supposedly. And so they're doing that. The
12:35other part of their agenda seems to be doing everything they can to overturn what we've done
12:40over the last six years. And I've said this before, if they ran for election on that agenda,
12:46and you all sent them to Tallahassee on that agenda, I may not like it. But you know what,
12:51that's just the way the cookie crumbles. But that's not what they told you they would do.
12:55And I'm confident if they told you that they were going to reverse the success of the past six years,
13:01they would not have been nominated for office, and they would not have been elected for office.
13:05And this is being driven by the leadership in the House by some of the entrenched staff.
13:12This is the swamp in action. This is the swamp trying to strike back after six years of success,
13:19after Florida being the model state that so many people have sought to emulate, not just moving here.
13:25We will take cadres of people will come and visit Florida. We have people that are mimicking Hope
13:32Florida in different states across the country. You know, these House members, a lot of them,
13:37you know, they make fools of themselves. They don't even know what the program does. It's clear they
13:41don't know what they're talking about. And yet, how come someone from Iowa knows and is now implementing
13:46that there. We have people that come to talk about and try to mimic our reforms in education, K-12
13:53and higher education. They're trying to undo that. So, so the results speak for themselves.
13:59They're trying to, and I mentioned this yesterday, they actually have a bill in the Florida
14:03legislature that will serve the purpose of undoing the conservative reforms that we've instituted in
14:10higher education. They want the universities to be able to pursue a leftist indoctrination agenda.
14:18And they actually cut the governor out of the process because they know that I am your voice
14:24of the millions of Floridians who sent me here to be able to ensure that these institutions reflect
14:30your values and the best interests of the state. They want to cut that out. They want to reverse course.
14:36That was not anything they campaigned on. It's not something that they can justify in any meaningful
14:42way. They can try to give you talking points, but they can't do it. And I'm just thinking to myself,
14:46like seeing some of this agenda, you know, they actually tried to push through, maybe it's dead,
14:52this carbon sequestration. That's part of Biden's Green New Deal. I don't want Biden's Green New Deal
14:59in Florida, especially when you have almost a three to one Republican advantage in the Florida
15:04legislature. But I think what it's showing is this party labels that when you have one party that
15:10dominates like we have under my tenure, the party label means a little less because people who don't
15:17share the values know taking on that label is their pathway to power. And so they'll take on the label,
15:24chief power, and then they actually try to overturn the agenda that got them there in the first place.
15:32And that's what's going on, which brings us to today. No state was stronger against defunding
15:38the police and standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform than the state of Florida.
15:43And that has been true under every single speaker of the House I dealt with my first six years,
15:49under every Senate president I dealt with over my first years. And honestly, it also includes the
15:56current Senate president, President Albritton, who's been very supportive of law enforcement.
16:01And yet you have the House is pursuing this budget that is reversing all the momentum we have when
16:10it comes to supporting our state law enforcement. So this budget, you know, we know it's harder to
16:16recruit troopers because we need to increase the trooper pay. And I've proposed to do that. We have done that,
16:23but we got to do more. Their budget defunds the raises that we had set for law enforcement officers
16:30in the state of Florida, their budget cuts 84 current state trooper positions, which Oh, by the way,
16:38I don't think the workload is going down in Florida, you got a lot of people. And in fact,
16:43it's definitely going up because of my re immigration reforms that have required state and local to assist
16:51with immigration enforcement and deportation efforts. The Florida Highway Patrol is part of
16:56this federal 287 G program where they're actively working with the federal government to identify
17:02illegal aliens and get them out. And so why are you cutting positions? They even defund the ballistic armor
17:10that the Florida Highway Patrol needs to be able to do their job effectively. So you want to talk about
17:19a Republican supermajority. This is this is a donkey in an elephant suit when they're doing going after
17:27law enforcement. This is not what they campaigned on when they sought your vote. They you elected this
17:33house under false pretenses. They didn't tell you that they were going to throw away their principles
17:39and just follow whatever the leadership told them to do. But that's exactly what they're doing with
17:44this with this budget. And I just think it's disgraceful that they're targeting Highway Patrol
17:50and law enforcement the way they are. They bat their chest, they say they're for it. And then that's
17:55why I always say talk in this business talk is cheap. Anyone can tell you anything. Show me your deeds.
18:02Show me what you're actually doing. Our record in Florida of standing up for law enforcement is second
18:08to none. We have done it time and time again. We are continuing to do it. And honestly, Republican
18:16legislators have stood with us time and time again, all the way up until this current session in the
18:22Florida House of Representatives. Something is rotten over there. This is not what they were elected to do.
18:29But they are choosing to take the trust you placed in them and sabotage the best interests of your
18:36community and the state. And I just thought you ought to know about that. I think you ought to know,
18:41because I know most people probably aren't following what's in the House's budget, what
18:45they're actually trying to accomplish with this stuff. I haven't really figured out what they're
18:49trying to I mean, they obviously want to help personal injury lawyers get rich. I know that
18:54that. Because they've put a lot of bills up to try to do that, which by the way, are dead on arrival
18:59anyway. So go ahead and and do it make my day. So you have that. You also have them trying to sabotage
19:08everything we've done trying to try to join with Democrats to, you know, attack me attack the
19:14administration. You know, just manufacturing crap to try to distract from their failures. So you have that.
19:22But I don't really know, like, what are they doing to cut property taxes, as I've called for
19:29nothing. They are refusing in the Florida House of Representatives to do any property tax relief.
19:37They actually want to cut taxes for tourists and visitors and foreigners. I want to do I want to
19:42reduce your property taxes as Floridians. I'd rather the tourists pay more taxes. Why are we giving them
19:48a break on anything? I don't think that's going anywhere either. But that's what they're doing.
19:53So it's not a good agenda. Actually, one of the bills I had, I mentioned this yesterday,
19:59we really led the nation and dragged this country out of the COVID lockdowns. If it wasn't for the
20:04free state of Florida, we would have been mired in years and years of really bad stuff, especially once
20:11Biden got in. And I had to fight that fight very lonely for for much much of the time. I didn't
20:19really have a lot of folks backing me up. I got attacked a lot. But that just goes with the territory.
20:22But one guy I had that was willing to stand up and fight was Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph
20:28Latipo. And Dr. Latipo has basically been willing to stand up for evidence based medicine.
20:36So if the medical establishment is telling you that your newborn baby needs to get an MRNA COVID shot,
20:44Surgeon General is willing to look at the data and then tell you the truth that no,
20:48your newborn baby does not need to get an MRNA COVID shot. And some people don't like that,
20:54that he's willing to stand up and say the truth. But that's what he's been willing to do. They
20:58actually have a piece of legislation in the Florida House of Representatives that would have the
21:03effect of firing Dr. Latipo from his position. Basically, in Florida, we have me he works at
21:10University of Florida, he does a lot of other things. But I've said I don't want all the agencies
21:18cloistered in Tallahassee, I would rather have people that are out in the actual state and not in this
21:24little bubble, this little political bubble. So I think it's good. So Latipo, our Secretary of the
21:31Florida Department of Transportation, Jared Perdue would potentially be forced out over this.
21:36Remember, he was the one that helped me rebuild the Pine Island Bridge in three days, rebuild the
21:41Sanibel Causeway in two weeks. You know, if you had had California emergency response, you think those
21:47bridges would have been built yet? No, it would have taken years to be able to do it. So but he lives in
21:53Central Florida, because that makes sense where a lot of the projects are taking place. It's easier for
21:59him to get here in northeast Florida, from that place. You got to ask yourself, what is motivating
22:05this? Why are you doing this ridiculous nonsense? It's all a charade. It's really a pathetic agenda. So
22:14I know that the Florida senators do not agree with with what the House is doing. I know that obviously
22:20my administration does not agree with the House is doing. But you guys just need to know that this is
22:26what's going on up there. And I think these guys, I mean, the fix is this. They think that the leadership
22:35thinks they can jam through whatever they want, regardless of what the voters want. And that come
22:41election time, they can raise enough money from special interests to be able to send you mailers,
22:47text messages and run advertising to basically lie to you and tell you that these members actually
22:54stood for the conservative values that they ran on. And that's their bet. That's their bet that they
22:59can get away with it. Because come election time, you're not going to be following. You're going to
23:04get a nice shiny mailer saying, you know, John Q representative is is the most conservative thing
23:10since sliced bread. And they stood with the governor doing this Florida first. And they think that you're
23:14going to just believe that without actually evaluating the conduct. And so I don't think that that's
23:20good. I also don't think it makes sense. I mean, we have a very successful model in Florida,
23:27we leaned in on the tough issues, we were leading on all this stuff, fighting the woke first ones out
23:32of the gate, fighting the COVID hysteria first ones out of get all these things that we did,
23:37we're not even popular at the time, they were the right things to do. But people responded because
23:41they saw the leadership and they saw we were doing it for the right reason. And they responded
23:46overwhelmingly with very strong electoral performances. They did not have a super
23:50majority before I was governor. We got that after the 2022 election, we got it because we were running
23:56on a bold agenda. But more importantly than running on the bold agenda, it's converting on the agenda once
24:03you get into office and actually doing what you said you were going to do. If you just run
24:08unapologetically on a certain agenda, you get in and you implement it, even people that disagree with
24:14you, they will respect the fact that hey, this is what he said he was going to do. And that's what
24:18they're doing. What I think voters really don't like is when they run on one agenda, they get in
24:24and not only do they not convert on it, but actively try to undermine or sabotage that agenda. This is a
24:31sabotaging of Florida's law and order reputation. This is a sabotaging of the people that are wearing
24:37the uniform that are risking lives. You see the trend Agua gang members, who do you think's helping nab
24:43these guys highway patrol is they could they they see him FDLE is doing it. So these guys are working
24:49hard. They're putting their their lives on the line and and they deserve our support. They have my
24:55support. I'm pretty confident they have the support of the Florida Senate. But what the Florida House
25:00of Representatives done is just wrong. And you all ought to know about that. All right, we're going to
25:05hear from some folks that may have something to say about it. So first, we're going to hear from Amanda
25:10Gerhart. Good morning. My name is Amanda Gerhart. I would like to thank Governor DeSantis for joining
25:23us today and for fighting for our brave men and women in law enforcement. In 2020, my fiancee Zachary
25:30Fink proudly became a state trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol. He worked in Troop D Brevard
25:35County for two years before transferring home to Troop L St. Lucie County, where he was assigned the night
25:40shift. In the early morning hours of February 2, 2024, I received a notification that someone was at the
25:49front door. I hurried out of bed and rushed to the door and when I opened it, I saw two troopers standing
25:54there. I always asked Zach, how would I know if something were to happen to him? He said, you would know,
26:02there would be two troopers standing at your door. I will never forget the look on their faces.
26:09I knew what they were going to say next. That my Zach was in a very serious crash and was killed in the
26:15line of duty, protecting our community, trying to apprehend a fleeing felon. In an instant, my whole
26:21world fell apart. Over the last year, I have worked so hard at healing my heart and soul from the loss of
26:29Zach. I have made a lot of progress. So much progress that when Director Kerner discussed
26:35with me the opportunity to put my efforts into bettering the lives of state troopers and their
26:39families, I was ready to try to make some good happen from the devastating loss I experienced.
26:45Today, I am here to tell the people of Florida that I am ashamed at the actions of the Florida
26:50House of Representatives. I cannot understand and no one can explain to me why in the great state of
26:56Florida, the Florida House of Representatives is defunding the police. Why are they trying to cut 137
27:03state trooper positions? Why is the House of Representatives cutting funding for ballistic
27:09protection for our troopers? They even cut funding to replace patrol cars that have over 100,000 miles.
27:16All of this puts troopers in real danger at a time when we should be doing everything we can
27:20to support our law enforcement. I was not expecting to be received as a hero when I went to the Florida
27:27Capitol. However, I also did not expect state representatives to refuse to meet with me, tell me
27:33that they are busy, and to call back after session is over. And I certainly did not expect to see efforts
27:39to undermine and hurt our law enforcement officers. Despite the obstacles that are put up against our
27:44brave men and women by the Florida House of Representatives, I am deeply committed to making sure elected officials do not
27:50succeed in defunding the police while at the same time campaign on being supporters of law enforcement
27:56officers and their families. I would like to say thank you to Senate President Ben Albritton, who I had
28:02an opportunity to meet with. President Albritton and his fellow senators really have stepped up to the
28:07plate and made meaningful progress for our state troopers. And to Governor DeSantis, Director Colonel and
28:13Colonel House, Director Colonel, I'm sorry, and Colonel House, thank you for everything you've done to
28:18fight for our state troopers. Even though the Florida House of Representatives are trying to undermine
28:22our success, your commitment and dedication to our brave law enforcement officers and their families
28:27is deeply appreciated. Thank you.
28:38Okay, Kat.
28:39Good morning. I hope that you'll extend me a bit of graces. This is not something I do often or ever.
28:52And if you can't see me, well, sorry, I'm short and they didn't give me a step stool. So here we go.
28:58Good morning and thank you, Amanda, for your dedication in the face of such
29:02such painful loss to bettering the lives of our state troopers and their families. I join you,
29:09Governor DeSantis and Director Kerner in this honorable mission we have before us.
29:14My name is Kathleen or Kat Turner, and I am the proud wife of Stephen Turner and mom to our son Noah.
29:20Stephen has been a state trooper since 2019 and recently received both the 2023 National Trooper of the
29:25Year Award and the 2024 Florida Highway Patrol Trooper of the Year Award. It was truly an honor to receive
29:32such accolades, but unfortunately neither has come without a reason or a cost. On February 4th, 2023,
29:39when I was 17 weeks pregnant with our son, I received an iPhone alert at 3 46 in the morning
29:44that my husband, who was out on the midnight shift at the time, was in a traffic crash. I jolted awake
29:50and immediately knew something was wrong. I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't get in touch with him.
29:56Eventually, I was told that Stephen had been flown to a hospital in Tampa as a result of an accident.
30:03At this point, I still thought he'd been in a crash. A trooper picked me up and rushed me to
30:07the hospital where I was able to tell Stephen that I loved him before he was taken into emergency
30:11surgery, but I honestly didn't know if he was going to be making it through. I didn't know if I was
30:17saying goodbye for good. I was then told, I was kind of pulled to the side and told that Stephen had
30:23been in a pursuit and performed a pit maneuver to stop the suspects. They then fled on foot and Stephen did
30:29exactly what he was trained to do. He attempted to apprehend one of the suspects. Unfortunately,
30:34that man decided that my husband's life did not matter and he decided to pull a gun on him and
30:39shoot Stephen point blank in the abdomen. Somehow, by the grace of God, and we thank him every single
30:47day. Stephen survived, so good job, honey. Proud of you.
31:00Thank you. He began his long recovery process, which we are still working through today.
31:06But in spite of all he went through, there was no question that we were fully committed to him
31:10returning to full duty someday. He could have easily gone to a different department or agency.
31:14He could have made more money. He could have maybe even had a safer job. But we both take so much
31:21pride in his role as a state trooper that there was just, there was no question. Regardless of the
31:26fact that troopers are paid so little, and we were also about to start a family. So just like Amanda,
31:33I jumped at the chance to advocate for our state troopers because of how supportive our highway patrol
31:37family has been to us the past two years. However, I have watched Director Kerner fight and fight and
31:43fight only to be met with resistance every single time he has spoken on behalf of this agency.
31:50I was beyond excited to go to Tallahassee and was hopeful that our perspectives and stories would
31:55be appreciated and valued that our legislators of the great state of Florida just did not know
32:01how poorly our troopers were treated and that once they knew they would fix it. Makes sense.
32:06Every elected official I've met has claimed they are in full support of law enforcement, so why would
32:09I think differently? I finally did make it to Tallahassee and can honestly say I was horrified by
32:15what the Florida House of Representatives has done to state troopers.
32:21Cutting state trooper positions as if we have enough. Cutting funds to replace old cars. I'm sorry,
32:27do they not need safe vehicles to drive every shift? Defunding ballistic armor, bulletproof vests,
32:34the thing that that they need because people are shooting at them and don't care about their lives.
32:40I cannot begin to tell you how surreal it is to be the wife of a state trooper who nearly died after
32:47being shot while protecting the citizens of this state and be told that the House of Representatives
32:53cut funding to protect him. It is one thing if the House doesn't care that our troopers starting salary is
32:5948th out of 49 in the nation. Hawaii doesn't have a state highway patrol. And with no career
33:06development plan in place to help them prepare for the future. Unfortunately, we've become accustomed to,
33:11you know, the lack of support when it comes to law enforcement pay. But it is another thing entirely
33:17when you defund life-saving equipment for these troopers. Imagine almost losing your husband to a gunshot
33:24wound and then being looked in the eye and being told one thing and then seeing the House of
33:28Representatives cut funding for ballistic protection. I just want you to let that sink in for a moment
33:34because I see those scars every single day. I see what he went through. I watch it as we go to
33:40doctor's appointments still two years later because he hasn't fully healed.
33:47Governor DeSantis, Director Kerner, Colonel Howes, and Lieutenant Colonel Harrison
33:51are incredible state and law enforcement leaders and they know we have their back 100 percent.
33:56It has been the honor of my life to join them on this mission to protect and support the Florida
34:01Highway Patrol. And now it is time to end the blatant disrespect, blatant disrespect our state
34:08troopers and families have received from these elected officials. Amanda and I are just two voices,
34:13but I think we speak on behalf of every state trooper and their families when we say we are fed
34:17up and ready for this wrong to be made right. I would like to thank First Lady Casey DeSantis,
34:24President Albritton, Senator Collins, Senator Hooper, and so many others who were kind enough to meet
34:29with us, listen to our stories, and encourage us to continue fighting. Your sincere compassion and
34:34commitment to a budget that truly honors our state troopers and their families means more than you
34:41will ever know. And now it is time for the House of Representatives to be held responsible for saying one
34:47thing and doing another. It is time for them to follow through on approving the Florida Highway Patrol budget
34:52to not only compensate our troopers for the incredibly hard work they do every single day,
34:57but also to provide the necessary tools to do their job well and keep them safe. Because they are not
35:01just a number on a paper or a board or a spreadsheet. They are people and they matter. So I trust and believe
35:10that they will do the right thing for these men and women who are deserving of this and so much more.
35:22Well, thanks for that. I'm going to bring up Dave Kerner in a second, but just to kind of
35:26put a little bit of a bow on this. So, you know, the House, you know, they may say, oh, well, we just,
35:32we've got to reduce spending. We're spending too. First of all, your state, since I've been governor,
35:37we've quadrupled the state's rainy day fund. If you look at all the debt we've had in 180 years
35:43of our entire history, we've retired 41% of it just since I've been governor. We have the lowest
35:49number of state employees per capita in the entire country and the lowest per capita debt per capita in
35:55the entire country. And so we were doge before doge was cool. We've been doing this as a matter
36:01of course, it isn't like we're spending willy nilly here. But so so the whole premise, if that's
36:07what they're going to tell you is just is just false. But we can also look at their actions. So
36:12this is what they want to do to fund ballistic protection, all this stuff for for for highway
36:16patrol. But what have they done this year in the Florida House of Representatives? They've actually
36:21voted to undo 60 million in cost savings that I instituted in the budget last June, including 56
36:33million dollars for themselves in the legislature. So this is stuff that had already been decided in
36:39current year budget. We're almost done with the fiscal year, which is ends June 30th. And they're not
36:45focusing on cutting your property taxes. They're not focusing on ending and in the condo crisis. But they
36:50are voting to undo spending reductions that I made through the line item veto last June and add,
36:59which is this is pork that they voted to add into the budget. So this idea that they're fiscally
37:05conservative is a joke. Because if you were fiscally conservative, you would have applauded me
37:11for instituting those cost savings, you wouldn't have gone and tried to undo the cost savings. And that's
37:17exactly what they have done. Dave. Thank you, Governor.
37:26My name is Dave Kerner. I have the honor of serving as the Executive Director of the Department of Highway
37:30Safety and Motor Vehicles. And of course, I get to work with the Florida Highway Patrol. And there's
37:35really not much more for me to add after following very too passionate, persuasive, and focused young
37:46women who have experienced tremendous loss and an injury in the case of Trooper Turner.
37:56They spoke directly to you. There's nothing that I could add to that that is more compelling. I also
38:00followed my boss, the Governor, who has, of course, over the last six years, made the most compelling case about the
38:07importance of strong executive leadership and effective leadership. And but I did want to take
38:13this opportunity just to kind of give a little bit of context as to what my role is in this process and
38:20why we have these items listed here and just give for a minute or two a little bit of color.
38:25Um, first of all, thank you, Governor, for your leadership. There has never been a time in my two
38:30years as the Executive Director that I've gone to the Governor and said we need X, Y, or Z, and he hasn't had
38:36the back of our state troopers. These men and women in uniform, they served in Texas, they served in the
38:41border. Uh, they engage in just incredible amount of very dangerous duties that they have on a daily basis.
38:47And my public career and my public service started just like Amanda and Katz not I started as a law
38:54enforcement officer at the age of 19. But really, I always say I started my public service as a family
39:00member, the son of a police officer. And so the wives and husbands and children in law enforcement
39:07serve right there with these men and women in uniform. And they face the dangers and risks that their
39:12husbands and wives are exposed to. So if we could just give these troopers and these public servants
39:17here a round of applause for their service.
39:25What's unique about my relationship with Kat and Amanda is the way that we met. Uh, about two years
39:31ago, uh, I received a call from the Colonel of the Highway Patrol that a trooper had been shot. It was
39:36Katz husband. I rushed to the hospital in Tampa. We met in the hospital as her husband went into surgery.
39:43Almost a year later to the date on February 2nd, 2024. I received a call from the Colonel of the
39:49Florida Highway Patrol late at night that there was a very bad situation. Colonel Howes and I rushed to
39:57the hospital in St. Lucie County and I met Amanda Gerhart, um, having just lost her fiance and the love of her
40:05life. And we had an opportunity to see, um, Zachary Fink before he left for the medical examiner's
40:14office. He had passed away and that was the first time that I met Amanda. And so these are some of
40:20the duties that come with running a large law enforcement agency. And, um, I've watched these
40:27two women heal and grow and there came a point in time where they expressed interest in serving the state
40:32of Florida and these troopers by advocating for what is needed for this agency. And, uh, I told
40:39them that it wouldn't be easy. I didn't think it would be this hard, but they came to Tallahassee
40:44just on the heels of a Senate budget that was very productive and very dignified. It provided 15%
40:50raises for state troopers that have been here for five years or more. It funded everything on this list
40:56and more. Um, we could not have asked for a better show of support for state troopers, but it just so
41:02happens to be that the day that they got there, I had to sit down with Amanda and Kat and say,
41:09I've got some bad news for you. The Florida House of Representatives budget proposal defunds ballistic
41:15armor. It defunds vehicles over 100,000 miles. I mean, that's a weird number, but the state of
41:21Florida says that troopers should not be driving vehicles with 80,000 miles or more. Their husbands
41:28were in pursuits when this happened. This is very dangerous driving. More than half of our vehicles
41:35have over 80,000 miles. So we asked, can we at least repair the ones with 100,000 miles or replace them?
41:41Um, that was defunded. The Senate supported it. Uh, they, they cut the raises across the board,
41:47not one penny more for state troopers. Um, Florida is growing a lot of success. As the governor has
41:54pointed out, we're not asking people to move here, but there's a lot more people here now than there was
41:59in 2017, 2018. And the budget called for 73 positions to be cut state troopers. Um, and also our Florida
42:09dispatchers. Those are the lifeline to our troopers. And so had to break that news to them. Uh, it was
42:16very, very challenging conversation. And then the experience that they had in the House of
42:20Representatives. I mean, there were representative didn't want to meet with them. Um, wouldn't meet
42:24with them. The conversations that they had basically focused on, will we support law enforcement? Well,
42:30then why, why are you doing this? And there's, there's questions that we can't get answers to.
42:35Um, and so I thought it was important that they have this platform with the governor who
42:42is the most pro law enforcement governor in the history of the state of Florida and the nation.
42:47Um, as an administrator and as a leader, you know, these are just numbers on, on a piece of paper,
42:5673 law enforcement officers cut. But to me, when the Colonel and the Lieutenant Colonel and I get into a
43:02room and ask the legislature for things, um, we have to do it from an officer safety perspective.
43:08And I want you to understand two important data points. Um, in 2020, the average length of service
43:16for a state trooper at the Florida highway patrol was 9.8 years. And today, the average length of
43:22service is 6.8 years. And so in just a couple of years, that amount of experience of the trooper on the
43:28road, the men and women behind me has gone down almost 40% as a leader and as administrator, law
43:35enforcement officers understand that we send new troopers out into the road. We need experienced
43:40troopers out there to train them. And so when, when we cut law enforcement positions and the reason why
43:47they're being cut, they'll tell you is because they're vacant. The other piece of information that
43:52you need to know is that the last thing we want to do is send new troopers out onto the road with
43:58other troopers that have left less experience. Um, but the reason why we have vacancies is because
44:05troopers aren't paid enough. They start and, and the governor has fought year after year and made
44:11progress. But the reality is this budget will keep the Florida highway patrol as the second lowest starting
44:19pay in the nation out of 49 states. That's not acceptable. The governor knows that's not acceptable.
44:27That's why he submitted that budget. The Senate knows that and that's why they supported the governor's
44:31budget request. And so things have to change because my phone rings a lot at night from the Colonel of the
44:42Florida Highway Patrol and it is never good news. And so I thank you for telling your stories. I thank
44:50you for sharing your pain. My heart breaks for you, uh, for both of you, but Amanda to lose the love of
44:58your life and then have to come to Tallahassee and be treated the way that you've been treated, which is
45:04a whole nother story that we're not going to talk about today. Oh, I may say something about it.
45:10He's the boss, but I promise you this in addition to the governor, these two ladies have committed to
45:18this. This is not just one press conference or one visit to Tallahassee. I have a feeling that if
45:23things continue down the path that we're going, you're going to be seeing Amanda and Kat much more
45:30often and we thank you for that. But by the way, there's also about 2000 other husbands and wives
45:39and families that I have to go to sleep at night and think about that these women can speak on behalf
45:46and we may hear from more of these husbands and wives and children in the future. And so we look
45:52forward to continuing the conversation, but as a leader and as an administrator and somebody that has been
45:58inspired by the service of Governor DeSantis, we're going to be bulldogs and we're not going to back
46:05down from a fight. We don't ask these men and women to back down from a fight and we're not going to
46:09back down from a fight. I want to thank Senator Albritton, President Albritton, Senator Hooper,
46:15Senator Collins. It's been a joy and a pleasure to work with them. I want to thank the First Lady for
46:19meeting with them. The first time Amanda told her story about her loss publicly just happened to meet
46:25the First Lady of the great state of Florida and there were a lot of tears, but we thank her for
46:30being so compassionate and my heart. We're the Florida Highway Patrol is behind you the same way
46:35you're behind us and we thank you with all our hearts. Thank you.
46:45You know, look, I think there there could be things that, you know, at least sometimes little things get
46:49blown out of proportion. But I do think it's it's telling that you have two, you know, one who who
46:58lost her fiancee, another whose husband got shot and they want to meet and meet with legislators and
47:03these senators are meeting with them. But the House members told them to go fly a kite. Why is that?
47:10Yeah, it's reflected in this, right? I think they told them to go fly a kite because they they couldn't
47:15defend this. That's why I think they told them to go fly a kite. They didn't want to have to look them
47:20in the eye and tell them that this is what they were planning on doing. That's just my judgment in
47:27terms of how you're doing it. And so I think it's a little thing that I think speaks volumes about
47:32really the misplaced priorities that this Florida House of Representatives. I wish this were the only
47:37issue because if this were the only issue, we figure it out and they'll be good. But it's on issue after issue
47:44that the things that you voted for are not being respected and are not being honored.
47:49And that's just wrong. Okay, do we got any questions? Yes, ma'am.
47:54There seems to be a clear divide between you and the Florida legislature, at least the Florida House,
47:58that only seems to be growing. Is there a solution here so that you can actually look to get stuff
48:03done? Or is this kind of the new normal? Well, I think if you look at what was said, I mean,
48:07the leader of the Florida Senate, the senators are working constructively with
48:13with these family members and with our administration. I do think the Florida House
48:21is embarking on really unprecedented exhibit of self-sabotage. They are the least productive
48:32Florida House of Representatives that we have had in the modern history of the Florida Republican Party,
48:38certainly since I've been here, not even close, not even within the same ballpark of the other
48:46House of Representatives that we've had. Of course, those were under different speakers,
48:51Oliva Sprouse and Renner for the first six years. So the divide is not as much between me and the
48:59Florida House of Representatives leadership. There is a divide, but it's the divide that the Florida House of
49:05Representatives of leadership is doing to their own voters. You know, when they're attacking me,
49:12oh, they're fighting the governor. Well, yeah, but they're really fighting you. They're really
49:16fighting the people that elected them, because they're not honoring the agenda that they ran on.
49:22And I think you have, I said this yesterday, most of these rank and file members, so probably some of
49:26the folks down here in Southwest, but I've known a lot of these guys, you know, we've worked well.
49:30The leadership tells them they have to do certain things. And if they don't do it, they lose a
49:35committee assignment, they get their bills pulled, they don't get appropriation. So it's a retribution
49:42that is done. And they kind of hold that hammer. You know, you have these staff members that order
49:47these people around. And so I think a lot of them say, well, you know, I kind of have to vote this way.
49:53Otherwise, I'm going to get I'm going to get penalized. And that may be true. But that's not leadership.
49:58Leadership means you got to dig in and do what's right. If you say you're for law enforcement,
50:03and you're a rank and file house member, you need to come out and say this is wrong,
50:07that what they're doing is wrong. You got to be willing to do that. Are you are there going
50:10to be retribution to you? Yeah, there probably will be. But you know what, if I had taken that
50:16position back when I was getting hit during COVID or fighting Disney, oh, I don't I can't I can't take
50:22any incoming I got to do what's safe. This state would not be where it is today. And so leadership
50:27requires you to stand up and be counted. So in all these things, I'm always mindful. And that's
50:36what people say, Oh, you're not getting a lot. No, it's not personal. It's business. And my business
50:42is to deliver on the mandate that I got from voters to pursue a very bold Florida first agenda. And
50:48everything I told people I would do, I've done. You didn't elect me under one pretense. And I did
50:52other I did what I said, even even my critics would acknowledge I did. I've done what I said,
50:58I continue to do that. I think they are effectively rebelling against the voters that sent them here.
51:06And that just doesn't work. It's not sustainable to have a model like that. So I think that we need
51:13to continue with the success that we've had. The leadership in the Florida House, they're the ones
51:18who are trying to deviate from the Florida first model that has proven not only successful here,
51:24we have these other states come and try to mimic our policies. I mean, heck, the Trump administration,
51:30there's a headline in the Wall Street Journal last month, Trump administration, accountability
51:37for higher education, you want to know what that looks like, look at Florida, Florida did it first.
51:41And they talked about all the things that we've done, the House is actually trying to undo what we've
51:45already done. And what is now being replicated or attempted to be by the Trump administration.
51:52So we've led on these things. You got to build off that success. Do not tear down the success.
51:59And I do think there's a difference. I have not seen the same attitude or performance trying to
52:06reverse out of the Senate. I've seen that out of the House. I think the Senate has continued to try to
52:11put points on the board. And that's what it's all about. You mentioned motivation. What do you think
52:17the motivation is? And perhaps you may have just answered that. Are there any of those House of
52:22representative members here in Florida? And do you expect some vetoes when you have to start signing?
52:29Oh, well, there's always vetoes. I mean, that's for sure. But look, if they are doing the bidding
52:35of the Liberal Plaintiff's Bar trying to rain down benefits on these lawyers, even though that's
52:42going to cause people's costs to go up, it's going to be bad for business, bad for the economy,
52:47that is going to get met with a veto. That's for sure. If they are doing things that are not in keeping
52:54with what we promise voters, that will be met with a veto. I will tell you, though, and so yes,
53:01there will be. But I also think that their agenda has been so far outside what the voters that send
53:07them there expect that I think most of it's dead on arrival in the Florida Senate. I don't think a
53:12lot of this stuff is even going to end up reaching my desk. I think this was a gross miscalculation.
53:17I think it was an inappropriate use of of having an opportunity to pursue a very good agenda. I mean,
53:24just, and this was pointed out yesterday, you know, we have the biggest Republican supermajority
53:31in the history of the state. Are they producing things that are causing you to be like, yeah,
53:36go get them, attaboy? No, they're not producing anything that's been significant. And so you look
53:43at that and you just kind of scratch your head and say, why? And again, I don't think that that is
53:49something that rank and file members, you should talk to your state representatives,
53:53call your representative in the Florida House and say, what's going on with your agenda?
53:58Don't let them feed you talking points, you know, get the real scoop. But I think the real scoop is
54:04rank and file members, they face retribution. And, you know, this is why I think you're going to end
54:09up probably seeing a freedom caucus develop in the Florida House of Representatives, because it's just
54:15untenable to have a situation where leadership is walking these folks off a plank and making them be at
54:22constant war with their own voters. It just doesn't work that way. So will there be vetoes
54:27on on some of the legislation? Of course, there always is to certain extent. And sometimes the
54:33legislature is not happy with me. But you know, sometimes I will put the reasons and I'll have
54:38some of the folks come to me and say, you know what, you make a good point, maybe we'll work on it
54:42a little bit different way next year. So so that even that can be a collaborative process. But I think
54:47some of the stuff is going to run aground in the Senate. I don't think like this higher ed to try
54:52to kneecap our ability to to hold higher ed accountable. I don't think that's that's going
54:57to get on the desk. If it does, we'll invite you all to the ceremony. We'll veto as fine. But I don't
55:04even think it's going to get there. No, because it's a it's a private charity. It is not the government. This
55:21is why I think first of all, the whole thing that the House leadership's doing is a manufactured fraud. This
55:28is a hoax. They are trying to smear one of the most successful programs anywhere in the country,
55:34which is our government policy. It's not an associated church, our government policy
55:39that has gotten 30,000 people off of welfare and saved $100 million. But more important than that,
55:45it's actually given people hope. It's given a meaning. It's put them on their feet and people know
55:51who are in need that there's actually people in the community that care about you. And it may be the
55:55church, it may be a charity, it may be some of these other things. But but that's the name of
56:00the game. So so that's what this is. And a lot of these members, they didn't seem to even know
56:06that Hope Florida was was the state policy. And that Hope Florida was not necessarily this direct
56:12support organization, which has supplemented the mission. And it's given grants to charities,
56:17it's given grants to hope navigators. There have been different things that has been done,
56:21which has been which has been helpful and continue. But that is not the Hope Florida program. It is not
56:27operated by the government. It's a private group. And so you know, they can talk about, you know,
56:32how they did all that. But I could just tell you this, Hope Florida has changed lives for the better.
56:39Hope Florida because of the First Lady's vision and leadership has made a real difference in our
56:45communities. And there's some people that are threatened by that. There's some people that they
56:50don't that don't like that. Maybe it's because it conflicts with their vision of government first.
56:56Maybe they just don't like seeing other people have success in the political sphere. Maybe they
57:01have their own agenda or their own axe to grind. But I can tell you, the program has been fantastic.
57:10The DSO has provided support for anti drug efforts, grants to charitable organizations,
57:17as well as bonuses to our hope navigators, which has made a difference in the lives of the navigators
57:23who are working hard to kind of come to terms with a new approach, which I think is exciting for most.
57:29But it's also different than what they had been doing before. So, you know, for some of these
57:35Republican leaders to be joining with liberal Democrats and liberal media to manufacture smears against
57:44hope Florida against me against the First Lady, it just shows you they are not on your team.
57:50They are not doing what they said that they would do. So I thought the whole thing yesterday was a
57:56total flop. I think that these are people that are just trying to desperate for any type of
58:01attention that they can get. But they're not doing the people's business. And I can tell you there's
58:08nothing coming out of the Florida House of Representatives that is going to rival the success
58:13that Hope Florida has had in any way, shape or form. All right. Thanks, guys. We'll see.
58:22Thanks, guys.