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Iarossi Says DeSantis's 'Free State of Florida' Speech Rallied Floridians

Iarossi, a registered Republican and DeSantis fundraiser, believes that DeSantis has set the tone for the legislative session and because he is “wildly popular” for the way he has handled the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the mass exodus of Blue State residents to Florida can be credited to DeSantis.

"The Governor is setting the tone for the entire session with his state of the state address and has good partners in President Simpson and Speaker Sprowls.  As the leader of the republican party, the Governor is wildly popular, and obviously has his finger on the pulse of what voters in Florida and throughout the country expect from a political leader,” said Iarossi.  Just look at his leadership over the last 2 years during Covid.  He didn’t panic, took the long-term view, and made science-based decisions.  As a result, we’ve had a massive migration of people move down from the Northeast, California, Chicago, and have a red-hot economy with record-low unemployment.  There’s Florida and then there’s every other state.  That’s because of our Governor and legislative leaders.”

Florida Association of Health Plans plays defense in 2022 Session

The Florida Association of Health Plans’ 2022 legislative agenda sounds simple: Maintain the status quo.

“I think our Legislature has been moved by the improvement in quality and the care that has been provided,” FAMP President and CEO Audrey Brown said of her legislative agenda. “We want to continue to do business, but we want to continue to not have additional regulations or the removal of tools that are there to protect the taxpayer dollars.”

The association represents dozens of health insurers and managed care plans that provide health coverage to businesses and to those enrolled in Florida’s multibillion Medicaid program.

Brown said her organization doesn’t need to get any bills passed this Session. But to maintain the status quo, Brown said, the association will oppose what she described as “legacy bills” that get filed every year, such as prohibitions on step therapies or mandates for certain prescriptions to be placed on formularies used by insurers.

Florida hits milestone mark for COVID cases

The Center for Disease Control said Florida hit 5 million total COVID-19 cases this weekend, making it the third-highest state in the country for cases. Data from the CDC shows the state hit four million cases less than three weeks ago.

It took more than four months to go from 3 million to 4 million cases, hinting at a very infectious virus. It’s nothing to brag about.

“The seven-day average in the state of Florida is close to 60,000 people a day being diagnosed with COVID,” said Dr. Jonathan Kantor, Epidemiologist. Florida is now the third state to reach more than 5 million COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.

“For context, keep in mind that, you know, prior to the Delta surge early last summer, we were probably looking at, you know, between 1,000 to 2,000 cases a day,” Kantor said. “So, you’re talking, you’re talking about, you know, a 30-fold or up to a 60-fold increase over that.”

FPL completes first project to replace overhead power lines in Northwest Florida

In the first project of its kind in Northwest Florida, Florida Power & Light Company has finished replacing overhead power lines with more reliable underground lines to continue improving service and speed storm restoration for customers in a west Pensacola neighborhood.

FPL completed the undergrounding project for 131 homes in the Myrtle Grove community as part of a pilot to find cost-effective ways to put power lines underground. Trees and vegetation blowing into overhead power lines are a leading cause of outages, particularly during severe weather. Putting power lines underground improves reliability during good weather and bad.

“Because of the huge old tree canopy, there was often severe damage and power outages when hurricanes or major storms came through this neighborhood,” said longtime Myrtle Grove resident Jo Eichelberger. “So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see the underground service come. Also, I’m very particular about my yard and put a lot of time and work into it, so I’m pleased that when the job was over you couldn’t tell they were here."