- 5 months ago
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) declares a "Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday" in Plant City, Florida.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I want to thank everybody who's here. We're joined by Tampa's own Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins is with us, our Green Beret.
00:11The Chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, been very busy recently, Rodney Barreto.
00:20From Tampa, U.S. Olympian and award-winning skeet shooter, Dania Vizzi is here with us. Thank you, Dania.
00:28And George Warthen, Chief Conservation Officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
00:36And I think we've got some local dignitaries as well, so I want to thank everybody for being here.
00:40So we're in Hillsborough County, eastern part of Hillsborough County.
00:46So do we have people, are they happy that USF beat UF or are they not?
00:52Because, you know, in this area it could be either one, so you're happy about it.
00:56You're happy about it. Okay, you're happy about it.
00:59You know, it's like the teams, like you got USF Florida, and obviously that was a big win for USF.
01:06I know the Gator fans are very disappointed.
01:08Then you've got USF playing Miami this weekend.
01:12And then you'll have Florida play Miami.
01:14And then, beginning of October, Miami play Florida State.
01:17So they all kind of beat up on each other, I guess, in this beginning part of the season.
01:21But I will say, I mean, I think USF looks good.
01:24They've had two ranked teams that they have beaten to start the season.
01:27Who knows what will happen with Miami?
01:29And I know in Tallahassee people are very happy that the Seminoles are starting good after last year.
01:34So we'll see.
01:35And then it was interesting at the end yesterday, but look, I'm a Bucs fan.
01:40So I was really happy that they beat the Falcons to start the season.
01:43And, you know, you want to have a good hope going forward with everything.
01:47So we're here to launch something that I think is really significant.
01:53It's really going to be meaningful for a lot of people.
01:55But before I get into the details of our Second Amendment tax holiday,
02:00I think it's important to just put in perspective where we are as a state in terms of all the different things that have been accomplished,
02:08but also our fiscal and budget situation.
02:11So, and you've heard me say, anyone that's ever come to any of our events,
02:16we have been ranked number one economy in all 50 states for three years in a row by CNBC.
02:23We have a triple-A credit rating from all major ratings agencies,
02:27much different than some other states and certainly the federal government.
02:31Number one in education freedom.
02:33Number one talent development.
02:34Number one entrepreneurship.
02:36Number one for public higher education.
02:39Number one for net in-migration.
02:41Number one for new business formations.
02:44Number one GDP economic growth amongst all large states.
02:49Unemployment rate has been lower than the national average for over 57 straight months.
02:55And of course, we continue to see more investment come in to the free state of Florida.
03:02We have no income tax, but even apart from not having an income tax,
03:06we have one of the lowest state tax burdens per capita in the United States by far.
03:13And you look at our fiscal situation.
03:17We've run big budget surpluses, really.
03:20I mean, you know, when COVID hit, everyone thought it was going to be, you know, so difficult
03:24because they thought people wouldn't come to Florida and all this, the tourism.
03:28And the reality was because we were open, because we were leading on all those issues, we really benefited.
03:34A lot of people come and visit.
03:37People did move.
03:38And you've seen, really, the economy do very, very well.
03:42But the budget do very well.
03:43Even though we're cutting taxes every year, you know, we get more revenue coming in to the coffers.
03:49So if you look at the entire history of the state of Florida from the 1840s to the present,
03:55and you added up all the taxpayer-supported state debt, we will have, by the end of this fiscal year,
04:03just since I've been governor, paid off almost 50% of that.
04:08And that's the entire history of Florida.
04:10So that's a big deal.
04:13We have the lowest per capita debt of any state in America that has any debt.
04:19And, you know, you look, the debt goes up in a lot of other places, including nationally.
04:23That debt per capita and net debt is going down.
04:27If you looked at what would your share be of the current Florida state debt would be,
04:33if every Floridian just had to cut a check, it would be about $450, which, you know, you wouldn't want to do.
04:39But, I mean, if that ever happened, you could do it.
04:42Most people could do it.
04:44Federal debt.
04:45If you just had to cut a check, every American citizen, to pay for the entire federal debt,
04:52it's $106,000 per American to extinguish debt.
04:57Very few people would be able to do that.
05:00And so ours is declining.
05:02It's obviously very manageable.
05:03We're going to keep doing it because I think it's important.
05:05And we worked with the legislature to continue our accelerated debt repayment program.
05:11You know, they can get these bonds on the open market, buy them for a discount, retire them.
05:17And so you're saving money on interest costs by retiring the debt early.
05:22So they've done a really good job.
05:23Our guys who work in bond finance have done a good job.
05:26So we're proud of that.
05:27We're happy about that.
05:28We've run big budget surpluses.
05:30You know, but honestly, it's like you don't want to be in deficit, of course.
05:34But there is a limit to how much surplus you want.
05:37I mean, you don't want to be even though we're lowering taxes.
05:40It's still if you're getting all this revenue, put that money back into the economy.
05:44And we've done that through tax relief.
05:46And so this past year we did about $2 billion in tax relief for Florida families and businesses.
05:54We've done almost $10 billion since I've been governor in tax relief.
06:01And those are numbers that had never been approached prior to our administration.
06:06If you look at what we just did in this current fiscal year, $1.5 billion to eliminate the business rent tax.
06:14We were the only state in the country that had that tax.
06:17It was anti-economic growth.
06:21It didn't make sense.
06:22And so we eliminated that.
06:24We've also done things that I think are going to be good for Floridians by taking things like back-to-school sales tax holidays,
06:31disaster response holidays, disaster preparedness holidays, and making those holidays permanent.
06:37So people know that that's going to be there.
06:39Actually, the disaster supplies are just permanently tax-free regardless.
06:43So if you want to start doing your hurricane prep for next year in January, you can do it.
06:48That's up to you.
06:49You're still going to get the benefit.
06:50You don't have to wait till those periods.
06:52Incidentally, it's not been very busy lately out there.
06:57We're watching, of course.
06:58We are basically arriving at what would typically be considered peak season.
07:03I mean, once you get in to kind of that middle of September into the third and fourth week,
07:09that is the most frequent tropical activity historically.
07:12So things look, knock on wood, look good now.
07:15But what I tell people is you can have a very, very, you know, inactive season,
07:22but then it could just take one to make, you know, a really catastrophic impact.
07:27And so we watch, we monitor, things right at this moment look good.
07:32But, you know, we are in the peak where these things start to develop.
07:35So we'll continue to do that.
07:36All just being said is there's not an imminent storm on the horizon.
07:40But if you haven't made prep, we could get one.
07:43And so take advantage of that tax-free and really, really get it done.
07:48We've also done things like tax holidays for event tickets, state park emissions, life jackets, sunscreen, bike helmets,
07:57other things we want people to be able to enjoy the outdoors.
08:00We think it's really, really important.
08:02So that brings us here today.
08:04So one of the things we were looking at when we did our budget last year was,
08:08what can we do to provide meaningful relief to people?
08:12The big kahuna that we're working on is the property taxes.
08:17And that is not something that you can just do through the legislature with normal legislation,
08:21the way Florida's constitution is set out.
08:23It actually requires to put the question on the ballot and the people need to vote it in.
08:29And so we're working on that.
08:31And I think that I don't think these legislators will be able to leave town
08:35without giving you an ability to vote yourself some meaningful relief.
08:40And for me, you know, I think the basic is if you're a Florida resident
08:46and you have a primary residence here, homesteaded residence,
08:49you ought to be able to own that free and clear of the government.
08:52The notion that you should be just paying rent to them indefinitely.
08:55People have been pinched by these property taxes.
08:58We have an ability as a state with tourism and other things and snowbirds and all this
09:03to be able for our local governments to have the adequate amount of revenue.
09:08But we've also been highlighting some of these local governments that have been increasing budgets dramatically recently
09:14because what's happened is home values go up and that means they assess your properties higher
09:20and you get more tax revenue pouring into local governments.
09:25And, you know, there have been some that have returned that to the taxpayers, but you've got others.
09:29I mean, Broward, they haven't even had a net population increase.
09:33Their budget's up like 60 percent, you know, in the last four years.
09:36And so the question is, do you need that type of increase or would it be better to give the property tax relief?
09:42So that is ultimately I think what people want.
09:45I think it's the best way for us as elected officials to help facilitate meaningful relief for people.
09:53You know, we've lived through a really tough period of inflation, prices at the grocery store, all these other things.
09:59As states, certainly, you know, we can't control the overall economic situation in terms of prices nationally.
10:09We're affected by that.
10:10The one thing that we can control is the tax.
10:13And so if we can do this, I think that's going to be a breath of fresh air, a sigh of relief for so many people.
10:19So stay tuned. We're going to push for that.
10:21So that's the big kahuna.
10:22But then we're looking, okay, how else can we make a difference?
10:25You know, it's good to not have an income tax.
10:27You know, when you don't have an income tax, you can't just propose a rate cut, right?
10:31Because there's nothing to cut. It's done.
10:33So where can you do to make a difference?
10:35And one of the things that we wanted to do was show our commitment to folks who believe in the Second Amendment,
10:43who believe in exercising those constitutional rights, as well as our new constitutional protections for fishing and hunting
10:52that the voters enacted last year in the 2024 election and added that to Florida's Constitution.
10:59And in terms of Second Amendment, you know, we've made a lot of progress on this since I've been governor.
11:05I did sign legislation making Florida joining now a majority of the 50 states for constitutional carry.
11:14You shouldn't need a permission slip to be able to exercise your rights.
11:18We also eliminated the ability for local governments to infringe on Second Amendment rights during a so-called state of emergency.
11:27Now, a lot of them have not tried this since I've been governor.
11:30But, you know, we've had a couple pop up and then I've had to come over the top rope with an executive order saying,
11:35no, you don't get to use a hurricane as a basis to go after somebody's Second Amendment rights.
11:41And that ain't happening here.
11:43So we're able to get that into law.
11:45So at this point, it's not even going to be able to be tried to begin with,
11:48even though I would have batted it down and would have done so proudly.
11:54I do think we also made sure, so we have constitutional carry.
12:00You know, the whole concealed carry license is not something that you need or is required in Florida,
12:06but they're still provided because some people want that for when they travel to other states.
12:11And in the farm bill, we were able to update those weapon license process to eliminate red tape
12:19and unnecessary bureaucratic delays.
12:21You know, that had been a massive backlog under Nikki Freed when she was commissioner
12:27because she didn't believe in it, didn't believe in Second Amendment.
12:30And so I think Commissioner Wilton Simpson has done a good job of really working through that.
12:35And that's much better now for Floridians who need that.
12:38You know, I've been saying, though, we've got almost a three to one majority in the Florida House of Representatives.
12:4438 states have open carry.
12:48It's not something that's controversial.
12:50The sky hasn't fallen in any of those.
12:52You know, why not pass that out of the Florida House of Representatives?
12:56And I've said for years that that would be something that I would sign doesn't seem to get off the ground,
13:02even with all those Republicans all running, saying their Second Amendment,
13:06all banging their chests in the primaries, then get up to Tallahassee and not follow through.
13:11So I think they should just follow through.
13:13And I think they should do what they promised the voters they would do.
13:16But that brings us here today.
13:18So today I'm proud to announce the beginning of our Second Amendment sales tax holiday,
13:25which will be no tax, no sales tax on the retail sale of firearms, ammunition, accoutrements,
13:34as well as items used for fishing or camping and other items used for hunting.
13:41And that is a big deal for a lot of people.
13:44This year's sales tax holiday will run from today, September 8th, until the end of the year, December 31st.
13:53And so this covers a lot of ground.
13:55As I mentioned, it covers ammunition.
13:57It covers bows and crossbows, as well as accessories.
14:01It covers firearms, including pistols, rifles, shotguns.
14:05It includes firearm accessories, holsters, grips, sights, stocks, cleaning kits.
14:10You name it, it's included.
14:12It also allows Floridians to save on supplies needed for other sportsman activities,
14:18like camping and fishing.
14:20And it covers items.
14:21And there's usually a dollar limit to this as they go.
14:24But camping lanterns and flashlights, stoves, hammocks, chains, sleeping bags, tents,
14:30bait and tackle, tackle bags and boxes, rod and reels.
14:35And so some of those, as I said, will have a limit to where you're tax-free,
14:39as the legislature did.
14:40But nevertheless, it allows you to save money.
14:42So you can find the full list of tax-free items online at floridarevenue.com
14:48slash huntfishcamp.
14:51floridarevenue.com slash huntfishcamp.
14:55And if you purchase guns or ammo during our Second Amendment holiday,
15:00we are inviting you to exercise your rights at one of FWC's public shooting sports ranges.
15:08So in addition to several of our state's shooting sports ranges that are already free year-round,
15:14we are also announcing today that during this sales tax holiday,
15:18we will further commemorate our constitutional rights as we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding
15:26by providing half-priced range passes for various public ranges across the state.
15:32The dates and locations include Sunday, October 12th, Columbus Day,
15:37all ranges, all public ranges in Florida.
15:41Saturday, October 25th and Saturday, December 6th at the Lakeland range
15:47and at the Panama City Beach range.
15:50Saturday, November 22nd and Saturday, December 20th at the shooting range in St. Cloud
15:56and the Palm Beach County shooting sports complex in West Palm Beach.
16:01Florida will also celebrate America's veterans and the freedom they have preserved for us
16:06by providing free range passes to all veterans at all ranges on Sunday, November 9th in honor of Veterans Day.
16:17Finally, over the past two years, we've reduced the cost of our hunting and fishing licenses through promotions.
16:24That included the first year of our promotion where we offered half-price lifetime and five-year licenses
16:29and last year's lifetime promotion for children's licenses.
16:33This year, in honor of America 250, we will be offering the usual $500 five-year gold sportsman's license for $250,
16:43cutting those costs in honor of the founding of the Republic and our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
16:49Floridians from all rocks of life have been able to enjoy our great natural resources.
16:55They want to continue to reduce costs for our families so that they can enjoy the great outdoors.
17:02I want to thank everybody that's been involved.
17:04We also just, I think as most people know, we have the record golf red snapper season that I authorized earlier this year,
17:13including they were there Memorial Day weekend, which was earlier than anticipated.
17:17That's going to be continuing throughout the end of the year and they have those dates if you need those.
17:23We are, we have requested that the federal government delegate to the state of Florida management over Atlantic red snapper.
17:32We've shown how it can be done in the Gulf Atlantic red snapper.
17:36They give like one or two days of red snapper for the entire Atlantic coast of Florida.
17:42And they're, they're using a faulty data. You talk to the fishermen out there, there's fish.
17:48I mean, they're like all over and that's the same thing they told us in the Gulf when I first became governor.
17:53And we're like, all right, well, let's do it right.
17:55And Rodney at FWC and those guys have done a great job.
17:58We're ready to be able to take on the Atlantic.
18:02And I would love to be able to open a really strong Atlantic red snapper season.
18:07I know that'd be a huge thing for so many people on the east coast of Florida.
18:11So this is a exciting day. It's an exciting time.
18:15I know there's going to be some of our residents that are probably going to save a pretty, pretty good chunk of change here.
18:21Knowing how they stock up on some of this stuff.
18:24So enjoy it.
18:25And we're going to continue to work hard to support taxpayers.
18:30So we're going to bring up some of our speakers now.
18:32So I think a lot of people in Tampa know our Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins.
18:37He was a senator from nearby in a different part of Hillsborough County and did a great job in the Florida Senate.
18:44Really was actually the constitutional carry was his bill in the Florida Senate.
18:49Got a great record on the Second Amendment.
18:51Also was the guy that he spearheaded our legislation that banned the purchase of farmland and other critical land by the Chinese Communist Party.
19:01We are the first or one of the first states to do that.
19:04Now they're looking at doing that nationally and Lieutenant Governor then Senator Collins.
19:09Now Lieutenant Governor Collins was really leading the way on that.
19:12And then he's been really strong on school choice and really strong on law and order.
19:17And we take it for granted sometimes in Florida, but we are a law and order state.
19:22There are a lot of things that happen in other parts of this country that aren't permitted to happen here.
19:28And I remember and I've mentioned this before, but there was a theft ring that CNN somehow interviewed like a year ago.
19:36They would steal all this stuff in New York City.
19:39But then when they get the proceeds, they would come down to Florida and they would hang out and they would do stuff here.
19:45And then they'd go back to New York and steal more.
19:48And the reporter's like, well, if you're going to spend it in Florida, why do you go back up to New York?
19:53Why don't you just stay in Florida?
19:55And they're like, because in Florida, if we do what we do, they put you in jail.
19:58That's why we don't do it in Florida.
20:00And that's really, I think, something that is meaningful.
20:03So he's been really strong on that.
20:04But he also has a really great background of service to our country.
20:08He was a Green Beret for 23 years in the U.S. Army and did a lot of deployments.
20:16He was in elite special forces.
20:18But one of the things that happened was he got injured throughout his service and he eventually lost one of his legs.
20:25And I think he had served for like 18 years at that time.
20:28So most people would just take a medical retirement.
20:31But, you know, he believed in the mission.
20:33He believed in doing the job.
20:36So he became the first person in the history of the U.S. Army to requalify for special forces with a prosthetic leg.
20:44And you've got to go through the same training that you had to do before.
20:47And so it was really remarkable that he was able to do that.
20:50And he's got a great military career.
20:53But then even taking those skills as a civilian, he is an operations officer, was for a disaster response charity.
21:01And so when we have storms, he's down there immediately feeding cops, first responders, displaced residents.
21:09Very quick, great operational tempo.
21:11And then even more recently when we had Floridians stranded in Israel when the Iran-Israel conflict broke out.
21:19We had a lot of people very frantic wanting their loved ones to get a pathway home.
21:23And we just do what we do.
21:25I authorized emergency rescues.
21:27We were able to get thousands of people out of Israel and to safety and eventually fly most of them back here to the free state of Florida.
21:35And it's great and I'm proud of doing it.
21:37But like, you know, I just signed the order and kind of gave the direction.
21:41Then Senator Collins, he flew to Israel, was on the ground and was personally rescuing people while the ballistic missiles were raining down.
21:50And so that tells you somebody, you know, that believes in service to others and service to this country.
21:55He's hit the ground running as lieutenant governor.
21:58I think like nobody has seen before.
22:00And I think people are seeing like this is a guy that is he's the real deal.
22:04So I'm going to invite our lieutenant governor Jay Collins to come up.
22:13Well, good morning.
22:14It is great to be here with a lot of friends, people we've known for years, our cattlemen in the back.
22:19Good to see you guys.
22:20And just appreciate you being here today.
22:23This is an incredibly important thing for our community.
22:26And frankly, for those of us who like to hunt, fish, do things outside and oh, yes, exercise our two way rights.
22:33But, you know, when you talk about the things we do, you talk about all those opportunities.
22:39You talk about going to Israel.
22:41I think the thing that often we don't talk about enough is the courage and the commitment to stand alone if necessary,
22:48to stand in that breach and protect our people, to stand on those things that perhaps some of the people out in the media,
22:54out in the rest of the world may not like because we know it's right.
22:58And the kind of courage and leadership that Governor DeSantis has shown repeatedly, guys,
23:03they don't just sell that at Walmart.
23:04You can't just pick it up anywhere.
23:06It matters.
23:07That's what we're used to in Florida.
23:09It's what we love in Florida.
23:10And it's why Florida is such an amazing place to raise a family and grow your business.
23:16You know, today's announcement builds on a pretty amazing record of fiscal conservatism,
23:22on making a difference for families.
23:24Think about what he just talked about.
23:26Hunting, fishing, your two way rights.
23:29You want to buy a shotgun, a rifle, a pistol, ammunition.
23:33It's expensive, right?
23:34We know that.
23:35But taking the taxes off the top, man, absolutely incredible.
23:38You know, after my family and I moved here and being in the military, we took a lot of things for granted.
23:44You know, some of the places we worked, we could go to the range pretty much any day we wanted.
23:49You didn't really realize the impact and the cost of all of that training when you left the military
23:54until you had to pay for it out of pocket.
23:56We were a little spoiled, right?
23:57I'm going to tell you, things like this make such a difference.
24:00We have an Olympic athlete today, a skeet shooter here, who has pushed and driven herself into excellence in all that she does.
24:08Can you imagine the cost of those training hours and how this can make a difference for her and her family,
24:13the people around her?
24:14Obviously, we have Chairman Barreto here today, who has led in many ways with FWC.
24:18And Layla, I can't forget about you.
24:21The most important person in my life and my family is my wife, Layla, who has been there through our thick and thin.
24:26You know, when we talk about 2A rights, I did have the opportunity to carry that bill.
24:31And while it did not get everything we wanted, guys, it was the first time in the history of our state, and I believe the nation at the time,
24:38where we clawed back Second Amendment rights that had been forfeited and given away.
24:43Think about that.
24:44You know, I am on the record many times.
24:46I am pro-God.
24:47I am pro-gun.
24:48I am pro-life.
24:49And I stand unequivocally for those values.
24:52It was a privilege and an honor to fight for those.
24:54And I stand with the Governor on this.
24:56Our 2A rights have to be codified.
24:58We're going to continue to fight for those, and we should be an open carry state.
25:02I think we're on record many times saying that.
25:04Hopefully this is the year, but we'll continue to fight for those freedoms and those rights each and every day until we get them all back.
25:10So these tax savings are one thing, and I want to share this website one more time just so people can get that.
25:18It is FloridaRevenue.com backslash HuntFishCamp.
25:22It makes a difference, guys.
25:24We take it for granted, but go enjoy those times with America's 250th anniversary coming up.
25:29I can't think of a better way to celebrate that than out fishing, hunting, living that Florida dream, that American life.
25:36And yes, shoot off some fireworks, do those things.
25:39But by God, enjoy the range day.
25:41And I just heard Sunday the 9th, right?
25:43You know where my family is going to be.
25:45We'll be exercising our 2A rights at some range, probably somewhere in Hillsborough County, doing what we do.
25:50But guys, aren't you glad to live in a state that values its people, that fights for the things that matter,
25:55and prioritizes things that make a difference at your kitchen table, at your dinner table, and for your family?
26:02I know I am.
26:03God bless each of you.
26:04God bless the free state of Florida.
26:06So Rodney is the chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
26:15And, you know, they've been instrumental in getting that red snapper.
26:19I'm always bugging.
26:20Come on, let's go.
26:21Let's go.
26:22Red snapper.
26:23We want more.
26:24And they've delivered on that.
26:25Pythons in the Everglades.
26:28Huge issue.
26:29You know, we've really upped the game, but they're hopefully we're going to have even more announcements coming ahead on that.
26:34And then obviously on these issues to be able to provide these discounts for Floridians over many years.
26:42And now this year, you know, really meaningful stuff.
26:45So thanks for putting Floridians first and embracing this great culture in Florida.
26:51Thank you, Governor.
26:52I got to tell you, I got to thank the governor for his unwavering commitment to the people of Florida.
26:59And he has called me numerous times.
27:01He says, what can we do to allow more people the opportunity to do more in Florida?
27:06Listen, I tell him all the time.
27:08I said, people move to Florida because they love the freedoms we have.
27:11Can you imagine that you can be yellowtail fishing down in the Florida Keys and scalloping in Northwest Florida in the same day?
27:19It's just it's just amazing the opportunities we have here for the outdoors.
27:22The governor has given us all the resources as an agency.
27:26He gives us all the tools to protect the environment, open up opportunities.
27:31A lot of people don't know that the governor under his leadership has bought 374,000 acres,
27:36new acres of conservation land for Florida for the future, for the for our children's children,
27:41so that they have an opportunity like we've had this opportunity to be on the outdoors and enjoy it.
27:46So I just want to thank you, Governor, for all your support.
27:49We do have some exciting news on the Python coming up that the governor is going to be announcing soon,
27:54and we're excited about that.
27:56It's something that we've been working on for quite a while.
27:58And, Governor, thank you for your leadership.
28:00And so what's our timeframe on our Python announcement, do you think?
28:10We're waiting on it.
28:11Okay.
28:12All right.
28:13Well, so that means it's going to be soon.
28:15We are going to be down.
28:17You know, we did the really historic agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Army
28:24to get some of those Everglades projects that the federal government has been in charge of
28:30and delegating that to us.
28:32Give us the money.
28:33We'll do it.
28:34We move very quickly.
28:35And that's been a really good partnership.
28:36So that's been underway.
28:38The projects have been bid.
28:39And you're going to see us moving forward on things that probably wouldn't have even
28:43broke ground for another five to maybe even ten, probably about five years.
28:49These things just tend to get delayed.
28:51So there's a lot going on down there.
28:52And I'm proud of all the stuff we've done for Everglades restoration.
28:55But, you know, these pythons, they just ravage everything.
28:59They're not native to there.
29:01And there's really no natural predator for it.
29:04So the only way to be able to protect the other wildlife there is to just get these things out of there.
29:10And there's been different things that have been creative to try to do that.
29:14I mean, we do the, we do do the competition every year.
29:17People do go and enjoy doing it.
29:19It's not easy.
29:20I mean, it's like, it's not like they're just easy to find.
29:22You got to really do.
29:23And it takes a while, but, but it's important.
29:26And so I look forward to making that announcement.
29:28Okay.
29:29Our great shooter.
29:30Come on up, Dania.
29:36Governor, I would just really like to thank you for your vision and leadership in providing this second amendment sales tax holiday.
29:43The shooting sports are a family oriented activity and something that I learned to love by watching my dad shoot.
29:50The exemption of sales tax on these items over the next four months will help so many Florida families
29:56and hopefully some young aspiring Olympians to participate in the sport that I and we all love so much.
30:02So thank you again, Governor.
30:04How'd you get involved?
30:05Tell them about your background a little bit.
30:07My background?
30:08Well, just how you've, like your career doing this.
30:11I started, well, I started shooting a little bit late.
30:14I was 16 years old.
30:15To make a long story short, I grew up as a competitive dancer.
30:19I went to the Juilliard school for a semester, thought I would become a ballerina.
30:23And then when I was 16, my dad took me to the shooting range, just something that we would do for fun.
30:29And there was an Olympic coach there who said, did you know this was an Olympic sport?
30:34I feel like you would be really good at it.
30:36And I said, this is an Olympic sport.
30:38So I tried the Olympic discipline of shooting, left New York, left Juilliard.
30:42And here I am now shooting, making shooting my living.
30:52All right.
30:53So again, today, September 8th until the end of the year, December 31st, 2025.
30:59These items are tax free firearms, ammunition, accessories, bows, crossbows and accessories, bait and tackle, reels and rods, camping equipment within certain limits on those.
31:14But basically the ammunition is, you know, do as much as you want and be able to be able to save.
31:20So I'm excited to be able to deliver this.
31:23This was something that we we had a lot of positive feedback from when I first floated it, however long ago we did that.
31:30And so we're like, all right, we've got to find a way to get this done.
31:33So I'm glad we made it across the finish line.
31:35And I hope everybody enjoys.
31:36Okay.
31:37Do we got any questions?
31:38Well, I would just say, you know, I've never been in favor of mandates.
31:52So let's just be clear on that.
31:54Now, there are things that have been in law that are legacy.
31:58In Florida, when you talk about schools, we have very generous exemptions.
32:02And so I think what you see is a lot of parents use that as it is now.
32:05And I also think a lot of people don't realize, you know, there's a lot of countries in Europe,
32:11especially UK, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, most of the provinces in Canada here in North America,
32:18they have zero mandates.
32:21And yet you end up seeing pretty similar results.
32:24So I think people are conflating, not forcing somebody with somehow not making it available.
32:31It'll be available for whoever, whoever wants it.
32:34But the way our certainly our schools work now is parents do have, you know, the ability, you know, to exercise those exemptions.
32:40And the reality is this since COVID and the disaster that the medical establishment inflicted on people and the lies that were told,
32:48people have lost confidence in the medical establishment.
32:51You have seen an increase in parents who are opting for those exemptions.
32:56The surgeon general believes and I believe that if you actually didn't say you've got to take this, otherwise you're going to be punished.
33:04I think you'd actually have more uptake on some of those.
33:06I think there's some people they're being told they have to do it.
33:10So they're opting for the exemption.
33:11But if they were told, hey, here's why you would want to do it there.
33:15I actually think you'd see more.
33:16And that's why in Britain in some of these, they have high uptakes on those because people have trust.
33:21But one of the things about so I've never been for mandates.
33:24But one of the things that I think is really, really frustrating to see how this gets weaponized.
33:29First, we saw it during COVID.
33:31They wanted to say that if you didn't get a COVID MNRA shot and show proof of that, that you shouldn't be able to go to restaurants.
33:40You shouldn't be able to go to sporting events.
33:42Shouldn't be able to attend college.
33:44You shouldn't be able to go K through 12 school without having any data to back that up.
33:49And they were even trying to impose mandates on people who had recovered from COVID and had natural immunity.
33:56So it was unscientific.
33:57It was basically them trying to control.
34:00Now, we batted that back in Florida.
34:02We banned vaccine passports.
34:03We made sure that colleges and universities couldn't mandate no mandate K-12, no workplace mandates and everything like that.
34:12And that saved a lot of people's livelihoods and jobs who were not in a situation where that was something that they wanted to do.
34:20But what happens now and then the CDC under Biden, they added the COVID MNRA shot to the childhood immunization schedule.
34:30The problem with that is that there was not a scientific basis to do that.
34:35They're doing it and they're telling and parents have rebelled.
34:38The vast, vast majority of parents do not do the COVID shot for that.
34:44So it's like, where are they coming up with this?
34:46So I think I think the trust has really been broken.
34:48But what what really bugs me because I think the schools there's exemptions.
34:52And so I don't actually don't think the outcome would be much different at all.
34:56But I think on some of these other things where you can be turned away from a doctor's office.
35:01If what your your six year old didn't take a hepatitis B shot, you know, that's for that's a sexually transmitted disease like sitting in a classroom in kindergarten.
35:11I think the chance of contracting hep B is probably pretty low based on how it's contract.
35:15And so a lot of parents are like, you know, that may not be what we want, but then you're going to be denied to be able to see they have places.
35:22And I don't think it's going on in Florida, but we need protections against this where you have been not.
35:28They have denied people surgeries because they didn't have a flu shot or they didn't have covid jab or they didn't have hep B in some of this stuff.
35:36And that's really weaponizing this against people imposing bad consequences on them just because the parent may have made a decision on one of those things.
35:48And and I think that's I think pretty much where people are at.
35:52But the conflation of unless if you don't force somebody to do something and impose penalties on them, then therefore they're not permitted to do it.
36:02No, of course, they're permitted to do it. And I heard I saw a lot of stuff over there.
36:06The Surgeon General Florida is taking away vaccine. He never said anything.
36:10He never said that there wouldn't be any availability. Obviously, that's not his position.
36:15But I think his position is that if you provide information and persuasion, that's better than coercion.
36:22And here's the deal. You see a lot of back and forth up in up in Washington about CDC and everything.
36:30You know, we just have to acknowledge that it was a catastrophic failure during covid.
36:36And I'd say our Surgeon General, who's feels very strongly about this, you know, in March of 2020, Joe Latipo said we shouldn't do lockdowns.
36:46He was pilloried for saying that very few people were willing to say that.
36:50He said you shouldn't be forcing young school children to wear masks shortly thereafter that he was pilloried for saying that.
36:58He said that schools needed to be open for in-person instruction when Florida did it.
37:03He was supportive of that. He was pilloried for that.
37:06He said you should not mandate mRNA vaxes on people and let it be their choice.
37:13He was pilloried for that.
37:15So on all these different things, he was doing what he thought was correct policy and what was in the interest of people, including their individual freedom.
37:25And he was pilloried. But yet he was right. He was right on all those.
37:29All those things, the lockdowns were harmful, the mass mandates on kids.
37:34Now, I overruled those in Florida, but, you know, there were school districts that wanted to do it.
37:39The forcible MNRA shots, that was wrong.
37:44Having kids locked out of school for a year like that was wrong.
37:48So, you know, you're in a situation where, you know, he's got very strong feelings about coercion ending up being counterproductive
37:57when it applies to these medical situations.
38:00And I would just say, because when, you know, he asked me, he's like, because he took certain action.
38:05There was regulatory mandates that were not in statute like Hep B.
38:09And he said, first of all, we don't have the really true authority to be doing that.
38:13So he took that away. Even though there's exemptions, he's doing that.
38:16And then he's making sure that the exemptions can't be watered down.
38:20So that's the actions he actually took.
38:22Now, some of the stuff in statute, obviously, that would require additional legislation.
38:27But when he told me, he's like, look, I want to say that I don't believe in any of these.
38:31Do you mind? I was like, say what you believe, man.
38:34You know, go ahead and do it.
38:36But I think one of the things when he told me, he's like, look, he's like, Britain doesn't have any mandates.
38:41Sweden doesn't have any mandates.
38:43Most of the provinces in Canada don't.
38:45Norway, Ireland, all these places.
38:48And basically, the results are not dissimilar from the United States in terms of all this.
38:55And I think the reason is is because parents are provided information.
38:59They're not being coerced. They're doing it.
39:01And I think when given accurate information, I think they're going to do what's best for their kids.
39:06I mean, everyone wants their kids to grow up to be healthy.
39:09And I think that's what you see in those countries that don't use coercion and don't use mandates to be able to do it.
39:17But those exemptions that he is fortifying in Florida law are something that a lot of parents currently are opting into.
39:26And I think part of that is I think some people just have views on what they want for their kids.
39:31But I do think some of it is a skepticism when they're being told, hey, wait a minute.
39:35You told me I had to put a mask on a two year old kid.
39:38You told me I had to do this.
39:40And so when they're telling you, even if they're right, I think some people are pushing back against it.
39:45So it's going to take some time to rebuild trust there.
39:48And I think what the Surgeon General's position is, is the way you build trust is to provide information and use persuasion rather than try to ostracize people from society if they make a different choice.
40:02Today, a Marine County, a child brought a gun to a, into, sorry, a child brought a gun onto a school bus.
40:11With these trust, with these test free cells, how are you ensuring that families know how to use these firearms and keep them properly secure?
40:20I could, could someone repeat that? I just couldn't hear enough.
40:23Was it about, about firearm safety?
40:26Until a school bus today.
40:29Okay.
40:30Well, well, I mean.
40:31So how?
40:32Yeah, yeah.
40:33So, first of all, you know, it's interesting, you know, if you look throughout American history, they used to have shooting classes in a lot of schools.
40:42Like, I mean, you know, these kids would be like, you know, ninth grade and they're out doing, doing this.
40:48It was really part of American culture.
40:50You actually, I mean, I remember the late Justice Antonin Scalia saying, he gave a talk to, he used to have a rifle in New York City that he would bring to school, you know, back in the day.
41:01And so it's just, it's a, the culture in somewhat has shifted in some, some respects on it.
41:06But in terms of, in terms of safety, you know, you have constitutionally protected rights.
41:12And the Second Amendment is one, but with rights come responsibility.
41:17And you have responsibility to be able to handle those firearms and exercise your rights in other ways, apart from Second Amendment, in a responsible way.
41:29And if you're impinging on other people, you know, if you're out there at a shooting range and, you know, you have some AD or something like that, then, then you're going to be held accountable for that.
41:39So, you know, someone like Jay Collins, I mean, he's been through every type of firearms training, you know, you could ever have at Fort Bragg and his elite special forces.
41:48You know, not everyone gets to go through that.
41:51But I think most people, the one thing I like about Florida, there's so many opportunities to be able to go to a class and to learn how to handle these, these firearms.
42:02And that's true for pistols, it's true for rifles, it really doesn't matter across the board.
42:07So I would encourage people, you know, make sure you know, know what you're doing.
42:10You have a right, but you also have responsibility to do it in an appropriate way.
42:14And if people are not able to exercise their rights in an appropriate way, you know, you absolutely can be held accountable for that.
42:21And part of it in Florida is, you know, this stuff can be done if you're not 18 under supervision of an adult, of course.
42:30But, you know, if you're, if you're school aged kid, you know, you don't have access to that on your own, absent parent supervision.
42:37And that's always been the law.
42:38Now, I also think they, before I became governor, the legislature extinguished the right of 18 to 21 year olds to be able to purchase long guns.
42:48And that's just something that I don't think was consistent with what the state or federal constitution to do a blanket prohibition on a constitutionally enumerated right.
42:59That's never been something that has really passed muster.
43:03I know that's being litigated now all the way up to the US Supreme Court, but I was against it at the time and said so publicly as a candidate.
43:10And then now I've continued to take that position as governor.
43:14The vaccine mandates part of that, you're gonna have to get the legislature to approve.
43:17And so far, some Republicans that have been actually bold enough to talk to the press have said basically no comment.
43:24I know there hasn't been a bill language yet, but the surgeon general said, you know, his position is he's going to work to do that.
43:32He recognizes his authority is important and he's exercising it, but it's limited.
43:40It's not unlimited authority.
43:42And so as he goes and meets with legislators, you know, all these agencies propose bills every year and they can do.
43:49Now, I would also say this apart from, you know, the overall mandates, which I think as people learn more about it,
43:58we'll understand that what the surgeon general was saying was was pretty consistent with what many countries are doing.
44:05And then if you look in practice with Florida, having our exemptions the way we do and a lot of parents opting for that,
44:11that that that I think likely you would see very, very similar outcomes, even in the absence of the current regime.
44:18And I actually think you'd see higher in some respects, because I think I think people would say, you know what, you're trusting me.
44:23Yeah, I'm going to listen. I think people have a more open mind on some of it.
44:26But we did not. We asked the legislature all the stuff I talked about, about preventing people from losing their jobs or vaccine passports or all of that.
44:37We did that in 2021. Very important. The legislature sunsetted that.
44:43And so it was going to be sunset this year. So we said, hey, let's make it permanent.
44:47They didn't make it permanent. They just extended it. That's got to be made permanent.
44:52I mean, that to me is everyone is glad that we did that.
44:56I mean, even the very far left, I don't hear them at least publicly.
45:01They won't admit they're for vaccine passports. It doesn't make sense.
45:04So so they need to do that. The other thing is, is addressing some of these issues of discrimination.
45:11I just I get like on some levels, you know, if someone comes for medical care and you're just in private practice,
45:20I don't know that you're under any obligation to necessarily see everybody.
45:25I mean, you'd have to talk to doctors about that. I get there's a business component to this.
45:29But to say that a mom can't get her daughter in to see a pediatrician because while they did MMR and all the standard vaccines,
45:39they didn't do maybe happy or they didn't do covid or some of those to me, that's discrimination.
45:45I mean, that is limiting people's freedom to be able to do what they think is right for their kids by having these restrictions.
45:53And basically, it's a it's a follow on from mandates. And if you look at the CDC schedule compared to what it was when I was growing up to now,
46:02I mean, it's a lot of shots for these kids and some parents, while they I think 90 plus percent would do the core,
46:10some of the other ones, particularly new ones, some parents may not may choose not to.
46:13Maybe there's an individual reason. I would much rather let people make those decisions than to say, oh, no, you're barred from seeing pretty much any physician going forward.
46:24And certainly if somebody needs medical care, they need a transplant or something to say that you're not going to be able to get that because you didn't do this shot or that shot.
46:36That is not what we want to do. So that's that is weaponized against people.
46:41And what we tried to do in this most recent session was really focus on the nondiscrimination.
46:47The legislature did not did not go for that.
46:51And I think that, you know, there is some currents in the legislature on both sides of the aisle.
46:55I mean, I think the Dems are very, very much, you know, believe in the coercion.
47:00But I do think you have some Republicans who their view is, is that, you know, people should face negative consequences for making different choices in that regard.
47:10And I think when you see those examples, you just kind of scratch your head and it's like, guys, you know, you're losing the plot here to allow that.
47:17So there's a lot of stuff that's kind of developed since then that I think is problematic.
47:21So make the stuff permanent that we've done.
47:24I think that's really important.
47:26We're going to take another whack at the nondiscrimination as well.
47:30And then I know the Surgeon General feels strongly about any any mandates for there.
47:36And I said, I've always been against mandates, but, you know, I focused on the nondiscrimination because I thought that was the easiest thing that we could do last session.
47:44And, you know, we got I think a lot of members support nondiscrimination, but I think some others, you know, just just have different views on it.
47:51And, you know, just as a as a dad, you know, we want to make sure that the parents are able to to be in the best position they can to do what they need for their kids.
48:01And if their kid needs a surgery or something to be able to say you're going to be rejected.
48:06Remember, they were and we we fought back against us in Florida, but there was a long time in this country during covid where people were being rejected for medical care in different parts of the country because of the covid jab, because of not taking the covid jab, including people who were who were naturally immune because they had had a prior infection.
48:27And this is why I think a lot of people get frustrated because like California, for example, this is during covid medical professionals were being in California forced to take covid shots.
48:41Now, there were some that didn't do it. I don't know if they got fined or maybe they had an exemption or whatever.
48:46So you had you had nurses and they had a big covid wave.
48:51So the hospitals are starting to fill up and then some nurses get covid.
48:55And so they have to go on the sidelines.
48:58The unvaccinated nurses were sent home and they were not allowed to help deal with the covid wave.
49:07And they actually because they were shorthanded brought back nurses who were covid, who had had the vax, but it had had covid.
49:15They're bringing them back. And I'm just thinking to myself, how nuts is this that they're doing it?
49:20A lot of the nurses that didn't take the MNRA already got infected by covid.
49:26And so for them, it's like, you know, they have protection through natural immunity.
49:30So it's almost like this has become something that's very political in nature, because if somebody has had a prior infection, you know, it's like when we were kids, like they wanted you to get chicken pox.
49:41Right. You get it. You get out of the way. You have natural immunity, lifetime immunity.
49:45Well, if you have immunity from that, would you would you now turn around and take the varicella?
49:51I don't think you would do that if you're already naturally immune.
49:54But yet that's what they were saying to do. So there's just a lot of things, I think, that people scratch their head with.
50:00But ultimately, we know from looking at the experience of other countries that you can have very robust availability and yes, even uptake on those core vaxes that have been around for a long time without coercing people and without without imposing mandates.
50:18And that's very clear. And I don't think many people know that. Honestly, I was a little surprised to see that when when the Surgeon General told me that.
50:26But this is kind of like remember during covid, Sweden was open. A lot of Europe was closed.
50:31Everyone said Sweden was going to be such a disaster. Oh, it's so bad.
50:34They ended up having the lowest excess mortality of any country in Europe during the course of the pandemic.
50:40And so, you know, you have these A.B. tests and you can kind of see how things shake out.
50:44What are you as a governor going to do about the court systems in Florida and the judges in Florida who are still behind the eight ball when it comes to the Tristan Murphy Act?
51:02Especially like me. I'm a disabled veteran, MST survivor, an ambassador.
51:07What service were you? I was in the Navy, just like you.
51:10Okay. I was first crew on the Lincoln. I played on it.
51:13And you live here in Hillsborough County?
51:14I live in Inverness. Okay.
51:17Which is best of the LaRoccese District. Yeah, I know it well.
51:20Anyways, we just thought about it. Yeah, it's a good question.
51:23The question is, is that they're behind the eight ball. I'm sort of playing into that act.
51:29Because last year, I made a mistake. The VA took away my health care.
51:34That causes the second emotion of anger. Now, it's no excuse.
51:40That's why I'm here. I'll tell you about it.
51:43This same shirt I told President Trump last year in Valdosta, Georgia, that the VA was cheating thousands through the Mission Act under criteria five.
51:51Which clearly states if you in your clinical position agree that community care is in the best interest of your health, so be it.
51:57It is in the best interest of my health because I'm an MST survivor.
52:01So if they're cheating me, just see who else they're cheating.
52:04Now, I'm not saying all those people are bad, but that causes the second emotion of anger.
52:07That's why I'm in trouble. That's why I'm here to ask you about the Tristan Murphy Act.
52:11And I hope that you can help me and those less people that I go every month to see in that court system that are less indigent than me.
52:19And they need more help than me. And that's my question to you. And I thank God that I'm here.
52:23Okay. Well, thank you for that. And look, first, the federal VA is a massive bureaucracy.
52:29And you're not the first veteran to get to get caught up in that.
52:33I've met many over the years, and it's been very, very difficult for a lot of people I know.
52:38In terms of your personal situation, I've got staff right there. Provide your information.
52:44We want to be able to help and do what we can to help you. How the Tristan Murphy Act.
52:50I mean, look, I think a lot of this is going to be driven by guidance from the Florida Attorney General's Office
52:56in conjunction with the local law enforcement and state attorneys.
53:01But we want to be helpful. Look, we pride ourselves on being strong for veterans in Florida.
53:06There's some difficult issues that come down the pike. There's just no question about it.
53:10The VA bureaucracy is very impersonal. It's very distant. And it's very cumbersome.
53:16I mean, the travel department, there's, right now, the travel compensation is almost like six months behind.
53:24And if you call the travel department, they'll say, well, it's such and such.
53:28Would it be David Isaac's fault? He's the director of visiting.
53:31Personally, I don't hate that guy, but I think there needs to be somebody else in there besides David Isaacs right now.
53:37Well, yeah, look, I mean, I think I know because I've talked to the new secretary and Doug Conn.
53:42He's very much attentive to the problems that we've seen. And it wasn't just under Biden.
53:47This has been happening for 10, 20 years. And so I and I do think and they they have indicated the VA that they want to work with Florida to maybe adopt a little bit different model.
53:58You know, I believe like if you if you need help, you go into the VA, the VA at the end all be all.
54:04We've got all these great organizations in Florida that focus on mental health for veterans, focus on providing service dogs, focus on economic mobility.
54:13There's so many people in this state. You have a reservoir of groups that want to be helpful for veterans.
54:19So we're working on the model that was pioneered by my wife with Hope Florida.
54:23Let's let's use the VA working in conjunction with all of our groups to link the veterans with all these additional resources.
54:31And I just remember, like when I was leaving the military, they give you like a packet about, hey, here's for vet.
54:36And I'm just thinking to myself, I'm looking at this. I didn't understand it.
54:40I mean, I was like, this is bureaucracy and it was really problematic.
54:43So there's a lot to be done. We.
54:46I don't know about that.
54:50What would be your favorite false hog radio song?
54:53Well, that's a discussion for another day.
54:56They actually just put out a someone like put out these like these like song lists and they attributed one to me.
55:04It just wasn't. I mean, there was some good stuff on there.
55:06You know, they had Johnny Cash, they had everything like that.
55:08And so people like, well, why don't you put out your your list?
55:11So we are going to put out the list. So stay tuned on that.
55:13Thanks, everybody.
Comments