Florida

DeSantis Avoids Saying ‘Abortion’ in Speech Before Florida Anti-Choice Group

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2023

DeSantis Avoids Saying ‘Abortion’ in Speech Before Florida Anti-Choice Group

Not one to usually mince words, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was surprisingly demure Saturday evening during a speech before one of the state’s most vocal anti-choice groups. Over 40 minutes, the Florida Governor barely mentioned what might be his signature legislative achievement—a six-week abortion ban signed last month—even as the issue is shaping up to be a defining factor in the upcoming Republican presidential primary.

DeSantis’s speech could not have come in front of a more sympathetic audience. The organization hosting him, the Florida Family Policy Council, is a staunch social conservative group whose motto is “For Life, Marriage, Family, and Liberty.” The group, which was celebrating its annual gala, “welcomed him with a sustained standing ovation and provided a bagpiper in full Highland regalia playing ‘Amazing Grace,’” The New York Times reported. Yet DeSantis offered just a perfunctory two minutes on abortion, and barely mentioned Florida’s recent six-week ban—one of the strictest in the nation—which effectively ended the state’s long-standing status as an abortion outlier in the Deep South.

For the rest of his address, DeSantis proceeded to play his stump speech’s greatest hits: his opposition to Covid safety measures, championing of the police, and support for banning gender-affirming care for minors. “I really felt like I’d heard that speech before,” a Florida pastor and gala attendee told the Times.

On the campaign trail so far, DeSantis has been loath to raise the subject, and when he does tout the Florida law, he doesn’t mention the specific number of weeks after which it bans abortions. In contrast to his signing of a 15-week ban last year, which took place before a massive audience at a church, the passage of the significantly more restrictive ban came with little fanfare, late at night in DeSantis’s office.

DeSantis’s reticence, even among his most enthusiastic anti-abortion backers, underscores the difficult high-wire act he faces as he prepares to officially enter the presidential race. While his hard-right abortion record distinguishes himself from some of his Republican rivals, who have taken slightly less radical stances on the subject, it does so in an environment where backlash to the overturning of Roe v. Wade has fueled Democratic victories across the country, especially in last fall’s midterm elections.

DeSantis’s most fiery defense of his Florida ban only came in response to a provocation from his main rival and current Republican primary favorite, Donald Trump. In an interview early last week with the online outlet The Messenger, Trump said that “many people within the pro-life movement” feel the Florida ban “was too harsh.” DeSantis hit back at a press conference on Thursday. “As a Florida resident, you know, he didn’t give an answer about, ‘Would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did, that had all the exceptions that people talk about?’” he said.

Still, DeSantis’s tendency to avoid the subject doesn’t seem to have dampened the enthusiasm of his most hardcore conservative supporters. “He’s giving us action, and that’s what I’m interested in,” John Stemberger, president of the group that hosted DeSantis yesterday, told the Times. “He’s been stellar and historic.”

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Florida

Florida State rolls out new academic logo

Published

2 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Florida State University is giving its academic logo a face-lift.

The new logo will now be in place of the university’s seal on their website.

More Tallahassee news:

However, the logo with the seal will be reserved for special use such as graduation.

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Florida

Florida gas prices jumped 18 cents

Published

9 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

ORLANDO, Fla. – Fireworks were not the only thing going sky high last week. Florida gas prices shot up 18 cents per gallon in the days leading up to Independence Day, according to AAA.

AAA reported the state average price for gasoline as of Sunday was $3.51 per gallon. Florida drivers ended up paying an average of $3.53 on July 4. This was 27 cents more than last year’s holiday but just over a dollar less than the average price on the day in 2022.

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Officials stated the increase in price can be attributed to the traveling demand of the holiday weekend and the presence of the storm Beryl, which headed toward the Texas coastline over the weekend. The majority of Florida’s gasoline supply is sourced from transports that dock on the Gulf Coast and consequently sparked concern about the impact of the storm on oil supply.

“Florida drivers are now paying the most expensive gas prices in nearly two months,” Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA, said in a statement. “Fuel prices face continued upward pressure on concerns about Tropical Storm Beryl, and economic data suggesting that the U.S. Federal Reserve could lower interest rates to boost growth.”

The lowest metro market gas prices still remain in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach ($3.20), Pensacola ($3.22) and Panama City ($3.22), with the highest being in West Palm Beach-Boca Raton ($3.67), Naples ($3.58) and Homosassa Springs ($3.57).

To view state and local average gas prices, as well as anticipated costs, visit the AAA’s website. AAA also has a road trip calculator to help with your travel budget.

Ways to save on gasoline, according to AAA:

Combine errands to limit driving time.
Shop around for the best gas prices in your community.
Pay with cash. Some retailers charge extra per gallon for customers who pay with a credit card.
Remove excess weight in your vehicle. Every 100 pounds taken out of the vehicle improves fuel economy by 1-2 percent.
Drive conservatively. Aggressive acceleration and speeding reduce fuel economy.

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Florida

CFO Names Gallagher to Board of Florida Insurance Guaranty Association

Published

16 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

CFO Names Gallagher to Board of Florida Insurance Guaranty Association

Tom Gallagher, an éminence grise or elder statesman of the Florida property insurance world and current chief operating officer for People’s Trust Insurance Co., now has another job to put on his resumé: board member for the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association.

Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, announced last week that he had appointed Gallagher to the FIGA Board of Directors, filling a vacancy left after a previous board member’s term had expired. The board now has seven members, and can have as many as nine.

Gallagher

FIGA, which handles claims left behind by insolvent insurers and must occasionally issue bonds and raise assessments on insurers to pay for those claims, has seen its oversight go through some significant changes in the last two months.

The executive director for the past two years, Corey Neal, stepped down in May to become executive vice president at SageSure. Four FIGA board members also left after their terms were completed, and four new members have now been appointed.

In a career that spans five decades, Gallagher, 80, has served as state treasurer, chief financial officer, insurance commissioner (1989 to 1995 and again from 2001 to 2003), and as a state legislator. He also was state education commissioner.

Gallagher helped start an insurance agency in 2008 and has been a consultant for Colodny Fass, a law firm that specializes in insurance litigation and regulation matters. He joined People’s Trust, based in Deerfield Beach in 2017, the company noted.

Patronis Names GEICO Claims Director to FIGA Board, Giving Board an Auto Insurance Rep

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