Florida democratic Party update

  Marco Rubio Voted Against Critical Funding To Restore The Everglades And Strengthen Supply Chains
Today the White House announced new funding to invest in ports and waterways as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Marco Rubio and every Florida Republican voted against. This funding will strengthen the country’s shipping infrastructure to help move goods to their destinations faster and makes one of the largest investments on record in restoring the Everglades and protecting Florida’s coastal waterways from the damaging effects of climate change. 
“The Everglades are an essential part of South Florida’s ecosystem, providing clean drinking water for millions and protecting communities from dangerous flooding and storm surges. Yet Marco Rubio was too weak to put his own political agenda aside and vote for legislation to protect and preserve the Everglades for years to come. Floridians who depend on the Everglades can’t depend on Marco Rubio to do what’s best for them,” said Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Grant Fox.  
Some of the most critical new projects that the new funding for ports and waterways Rubio voted against include: 

• The largest ever single investment in protecting and restoring South Florida’s Everglades 
• Restoration of coastlines to protect against erosion and flooding in Pinellas County  
• Funding to enhance waterway infrastructure across the country to improve shipping

March 15, 2022 For Immediate Release Contact: Travis Reuther treuther@floridadems.org 202-340-9652 Fact Check: Republicans Wrongly Blame Biden for Rising Gas Prices  Republicans are trying to have it both ways on gas prices – they support President Biden’s ban on imports of Russian oil amid Putin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, while also blaming the Biden administration for Putin’s price hike. A recent New York Times fact check laid out their hypocrisy.  Read More: New York Times Fact Check: Republicans Wrongly Blame Biden for Rising Gas Prices  WASHINGTON — As gas prices hit a high this week, top Republican lawmakers took to the airwaves and the floors of Congress with misleading claims that pinned the blame on President Biden and his energy policies.  Mr. Biden warned that his ban on imports of Russian oil, gas and coal, announced on Tuesday as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would cause gas prices to rise further. High costs are expected to last as long as the confrontation does.  While Republican lawmakers supported the ban, they asserted that the pain at the pump long preceded the war in Ukraine. Gas price hikes, they said, were the result of Mr. Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, the temporary halt on new drilling leases on public lands and the surrendering of “energy independence” — all incorrect assertions.  […]   “Covid changed the game, not President Biden,” said Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, which tracks gasoline prices. “U.S. oil production fell in the last eight months of President Trump’s tenure. Is that his fault? No.”  […]  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only compounded the issues.  […]  The notion that the United States gained “energy independence” under Mr. Trump, and reversed course under Mr. Biden, is also misleading.  Even before Mr. Trump took office, the United States had been projected to become a net energy exporter in the 2020s “because favorable geology and technological developments result in the production of oil and natural gas at lower costs,” according to the Energy Information Administration.  […]  Moreover, the specific policies cited by Republican lawmakers as evidence of Mr. Biden’s supposed “war on American energy” have had little impact on rising gas prices.  The Keystone XL pipeline, which would have expanded an existing system transporting oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, has been a political and environmental battleground since its conception in 2008. The Obama administration denied the company behind it, TransCanada, a construction permit in 2015. The Trump administration approved the permit in 2017, but the project stalled in the face of litigation. By the time Mr. Biden rescinded its permit on his first day in office, just 8 percent of it had been built.  […]  Absent the Keystone XL pipeline, crude oil imports from Canada have nonetheless increased by 70 percent since 2008, transported by other pipelines and rail. The Trump administration itself told PolitiFact in 2017 that the pipeline’s impact on prices at the pump “would be minimal.”  The claims about oil and gas leases are even more incorrect.  Though Mr. Biden temporarily halted new drilling leases on federal lands in January 2021, a federal judge blocked that move last June. In its first year, the Biden administration actually approved 34 percent more of these permits than the Trump administration did in its first year, according to federal data compiled by the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group.  “None of these permits are relevant to production right now,” Mr. Rajendran said. “These permits are for production three, four years down the line. If they had approved 10 times as many permits, we would have the same production issues.”  READ THE FULL FACT CHECK HERE. 

Three of the major components of the Build Back Better Agenda are:

• CLIMATE: Tackling the climate crisis by creating good-paying, union jobs – like those building electric cars - that build a clean energy future, strengthens our nation’s resilience to more frequent extreme weather events, puts people to work capping wells and restoring abandoned mines, and puts in place tax cuts that accelerate clean energy technology and bolster domestic supply chains.
• HEALTH: Making health care more affordable, lowering health care costs and premiums by extending the American Rescue Plan’s cost savings and closing the Medicaid gap for low-income Americans, and lowering prescription drug costs.
• FAMILY: Making caring for your family more affordable, extending the Child Tax Credit to cut taxes for middle class families to give them more breathing room, and making child care and elder care more affordable – and helping people, especially women, get back into the workforce.

 As more and more businesses and organizations across the country implement vaccine requirements it is becoming clearer every day: Vaccination requirements are working.

• The White House released a new report on how vaccination requirements are helping to drive up vaccination rates, put people back to work, and strengthen the economy.
• First, vaccination requirements result in more people vaccinated. They have increased vaccination rates by 20+ percentage points to over 90% in many organizations—across different sectors.
• United Airlines has over 99% of its 67,000-person workforce in compliance.
• Houston Methodist got 98% of its workforce vaccinated.
• Rutgers University got over 99% of their 71,000 students vaccinated or in compliance.
• Second, vaccination requirements are good for the economy and the labor market. Higher vaccination rates could help up to 5 million workers return back into the workforce as people feel safer to go back to work and no longer have childcare issues. And higher vaccination rates will boost consumer demand and spending as people feel more comfortable dining out at restaurants, shopping at local small businesses, and traveling.
• Third, vaccination requirements are becoming the standard across all sectors. More than 3,500 organizations have already stepped up to require vaccinations, and thousands more will do the same in the weeks ahead as the president’s vaccination requirements go into effect.
• Fourth, vaccination requirements have broad public support. Vaccination requirements are nothing new in this country. They have been helping us successfully fight diseases like measles and polio for years. COVID-19 vaccination requirements are supported by businesses, labor unions, workers, students, and a majority of the public support. Why? Because people want this pandemic to be over and understand that getting more people vaccinated is the key to doing that

 Since January 20, we have gone from about three million fully vaccinated Americans to more than 187 million.

• We are bringing the same wartime spirit and science-based approach that we have always brought to match the scale and type of challenges we face as the virus evolves.
• President Biden’s COVID-19 action plan focuses on:
• Vaccinating the Unvaccinated: President Biden announced vaccination requirements that cover an estimated 100 million Americans – two-thirds of all workers – including all employees in the federal government and those at most health care settings.
• Further Protecting the Vaccinated: President Biden announced there will be enough booster shots available to everyone for free as soon as they are authorized – with a national distribution system ready, providing easy access for all eligible Americans, and ensuring Americans know where to get a booster.
• Keeping Schools Safely Open: The president called on all governors to require vaccinations for all teachers and staff, will require vaccination for educators at federal Head Start Programs, and is helping increase regular testing at schools. And, any teacher or school official whose pay is withheld by a governor will have that pay restored by the federal government – 100%.
• Increasing Testing & Requiring Masking: The president’s plan will ensure that every American – no matter their income – can access free, convenient tests. The plan expands easy-to-use testing production through the Defense Production Act, makes tests more affordable, expands free pharmacy testing, and sends free rapid tests to food banks and community health centers. The plan also continues to require masking for interstate travel and on federal property.
• Protecting Our Economic Recovery: The president announced several programs that will help ensure the U.S. economy continues to grow, including an expansion of the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program so small businesses can borrow up to $2 million to keep their businesses strong.
• Improving Care for Those with COVID-19: The administration is strengthening its surge response, with nearly 1,000 personnel already deployed across 18 states and the Department of Defense doubling the number of their teams deployed to support hospitals. The administration is also increasing the weekly pace of monoclonal antibody shipments.