Jacob Ogles
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott called for President Donald Trump to declare the Florida coronavirus outbreak a major disaster.
“Federal government resources as well as coordination between federal and state officials are critical to Florida’s efforts to effectively and expediently combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” reads a letter from both Senators.
The two wrote in support of a request from Gov. Ron DeSantis. The letter cites the most recent data from the Florida Department of Health, which at the time listed 1,171 total positive cases.
Shortly afterward, DOH updated numbers further. The state now reports 1,227 cases and 18 deaths.
“New diagnoses are rising daily,” the letter from Scott and Rubio notes.
Vice President Mike Pence in a Monday press conference said he has spoken with all Governors requesting a major disaster declaration.
“I’ve assured them we are reviewing them in an expeditious manner,” Pence said.
He promised the full available resources the federal government could offer to states will arrive in a timely fashion. Pence stressed the need for response to be “locally executed, state-managed and federally supported.”
A declaration of a major disaster by the President would allow a more free flow of federal resources to the state.
Trump on Sunday approved a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a major disaster in that state. On Saturday, he issued a similar declaration for New York.
The last time the President declared Florida as eligible for major disaster assistance came after Hurricane Dorian affected the state last year.
The Senators issued the letter while the Senate continues to wrestle over a rescue package, which has failed to clear a procedural vote twice, The Hill reports.
Rubio has said on social media he believes a package will ultimately be approved.
“Given all the economic suffering people are facing I simply can’t imagine we end today without passing a deal,” he tweeted. “The alternative is too horrific to even contemplate.”
But Scott has expressed concern about the bill and said he won’t support a corporate bailout.
“I’ve been very clear that I have concerns with some aspects of the stimulus bill,” he tweeted. “I believe $$ should be going to the people and small businesses that need it the most, not big corporations.”
5 comments
Jerry
March 23, 2020 at 6:59 pm
Let’s stop people from comming from NY, RI. Please you know what this means. Please@
Sonja Fitch
March 23, 2020 at 8:47 pm
Omg. The three wise men. Thank you. Shut us down. Lock up trump in one of his cages. Save Florida citizens.
Sandra Finch
March 23, 2020 at 10:08 pm
Sonja, you are quite delusional, go get your Kleenex now please. Protecting America and its citizens should be the first priority (if closing down the border is offensive to you why don’t you go move to another country like Canada!)There is more to leadership than looking cool, doing nothing, and saying the right thing. Billy Nelson, the empty suit couldn’t save NASA and surely would have been in over his head here!
Kimberly McCracken
March 24, 2020 at 2:07 am
I don’t think she’s the delusional one. You said the health of the American people should be first, I agree. Unfortunately, the president does not show that as a priority. I think it was a great idea to close borders, I give him credit. But when the FDA tried for weeks to contact trump to warn of the seriousness.. his phone call on January 18th when the director asked the president what to do, Trump interrupted and asked about when flavored vaping juice would be back on the market.. doesn’t seem like he put health first.. or less than 4weeks ago when he says we have 15 cases and it’s going to go down to zero very fast. Or deciding to leave a ship off the coast because he ,”liked our numbers and didn’t want a ship to bring in more cases that wasn’t our fault”. So many more ways Trump does not put the health of Americans first. And as far as you saying, if it offends you to close borders than move.. has to be the most asinine thing to ever say. An important reason we have freedom is so that we’re free to debate politics, and to be able to criticize our leaders. Places like communism, authoritarian, and the like are the places who are against people criticizing leaders, those people aren’t expressing the desire for freedom.
Sonja Fitch
March 24, 2020 at 7:14 am
Yes Sandra looking cool. Ain’t leadership. Ignoring facts ain’t cool. Shut us down to slllllloooow the curve. We will be dealing with this for months and years. People first. July look again and look at businesses. We in Florida will exceed the China numbers! We are Americans. By damn it. Good move to limit movement into the state. But piecemeal. Lock us down. And begin to control what we can immediately do!!’
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