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Buchanan secures $18 million in federal funding for Manatee community projects

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan recently secured nearly $18 million in federal funding for infrastructure and community projects in Manatee County.

Buchanan’s office announced Thursday that he earned $23 million in appropriations for Florida’s 16th District, which includes Manatee County and parts of Hillsborough County. Some of the largest appropriations will go toward Bradenton City Park stormwater improvements, SeaPort Manatee and the Manatee County Veterans Service Center.

This will be one of the last rounds of federal funding that Buchanan works on, as he announced earlier this year that he will retire at the end of his current term after 20 years in Congress.

“This funding supports veterans, strengthens infrastructure, protects our water resources and advances lifesaving medical research,” Buchanan said in a release. “These are practical investments that improve safety, create opportunity and protect our quality of life. These projects will make a real difference for families across our community and strengthen our future for years to come.”

There’s also a $3 million appropriation for the University of South Florida Center for Entrepreneurship, which will help fund a “state-of-the-art entrepreneurship center on USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus to support students, startups and small businesses.”

Kat Cammack brings Florida’s needs into long-awaited farm bill markup

As a farm bill heads into a Committee markup, U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack says she wants certainty for Florida farmers.

“Florida agriculture cannot afford to be an afterthought in a bill that determines the future of America’s food supply,” the Gainesville Republican said.

Congress traditionally passes a complete farm bill every five years, but last passed a comprehensive package in 2018. Cammack warned in 2023 that Florida had “the most to lose” in the ongoing fight over the legislation then. That’s partly because Florida had little representation on the House Agriculture Committee even as agriculture remains such a large industry in the state.

Cammack is now the only Florida lawmaker on the House Committee crafting the Farm, Food, and National Security Act (HR 7567). Neither of Florida’s U.S. Senators serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee either.

While a comprehensive bill is three years overdue, Congress has passed extensions of the 2018 bill and addressed piecemeal elements. Cammack said Americans deserve the process to get back on track.

‘Medical freedom’ measure gets facelift in final Senate Committee

A strike-all amendment, public objections and bipartisan critique greeted Sen. Clay Yarborough’s bill intended to protect parental rights regarding childhood vaccines, among other issues under the “medical freedom” umbrella.

While the Senate Rules Committee advanced the legislation (SB 1756), questions remain about not just how it will do on the floor, but also about what future it has beyond a full Senate vote. Similar legislation in the House has stalled amid the ongoing conflict between the two legislative branches.

Yarborough’s amendment maintained language requiring informed consent from parents about vaccines before administering, immunizing doctors from penalties and liability if they give out ivermectin and allowing pharmacists to do the same upon request, and keeps the “conscience-based objection.”

The Jacksonville Republican said the delete-all amendment reflected “a lot of movement” in previous Committees, and attempted to mollify the concerns of previously skeptical Republican Sens. Gayle Harrell and Ralph Massullo.

New additions include repealing the sunset date for mRNA vaccine requirements, compelling the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine to create information about vaccines, exemption forms from the Department of Health website, and board-approved educational materials.

Senate approves measure to establish Antisemitism Task Force

The Senate has unanimously passed a bill to establish an Antisemitism Task Force.

Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a Miami Republican sponsoring the measure (SB 1072), said there were more than 9,300 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in the past year. And in June 2024, there was a coordinated bomb threat targeting 54 Florida Jewish centers.

Calatayud said the Task Force will “make sure Florida remains the second-safest place” for Jewish people outside of Israel.

Calatayud acknowledged there was pushback from critics during the Committee process that the measure would allow Floridians to be punished if they criticized the state of Israel.

Calatayud had emphasized during some of those challenges that is not the intent of the bill. But she also provided an amendment Wednesday, approved by her colleagues, that specifically states there are no penalties for criticizing Israel.

Boca Raton Democratic Sen. Tina Scott Polsky said she was relieved the stipulation was added.