Jason Delgado
The Senate passed a memorial Thursday calling on federal leaders to bolster the ranks of the Florida National Guard.
The memorial (SM 826), though symbolic in nature, marks Florida’s latest effort to beef up its understaffed militia.
Despite serving the third most disaster-prone state in the nation, Florida ranks second to last in a “Guardsmen-to-citizen ratio,” with roughly 12,000 troops serving more than 22 million residents.
Lawmakers, including New Smyrna Beach Sen. Tom Wright, want federal decision makers to reevaluate how many troops the Florida Guard can welcome into its ranks.
Wright, the bill sponsor, noted the current allotment is based on Florida’s population in 1958.
“We must increase the number of guardsmen for the protection of Florida, which has had the fifth most declared state emergencies over the last 70 years,” Wright said on the Senate floor. “The Florida National Guard is made up of many brave men and women who are heavily relied upon and we must ensure that they have the necessary assets to respond.”
If passed by both chambers, President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of Florida’s congressional delegation will receive a copy of the memorial — which does not require the Governor’s signature.
The memorial isn’t Florida’s first ask for help.
In February 2021, a collective of Florida congressional members urged Congress to act in a bipartisan letter. The letter also highlighted troop recruitment and retention concerns, among other issues.
In response to the COVID-19 mission alone, the Florida Guard deployed 2,906 service members for a total of 660,657 days.
“The situation is exacerbated by the simple fact that the Florida National Guard, by nearly any metric, is not large enough,” the letter said. “This means that individual guardsmen must respond to mission requirements again and again without enough rest or sufficient ability to rotate personnel.”
Democratic Rep. Dan Daley Sunrise is the companion bill sponsor (HM 505).
