FLORIDA— While Senate Democrats just came together to pass essential relief for Americans who are struggling from this pandemic, Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott chose instead to put petty partisan politics above the needs of their constituents.
In response to the passage of this historic legislation in the Senate and this historic failure on the part of Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Marcus Dixon released the following statement.
“Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have yet again failed to put the needs of Floridians over petty partisan politics. They just voted against COVID relief and direct payments which so many of their constituents desperately need. There is widespread bipartisan support for President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan from the public as well as from state and local leaders across the country. Despite this, Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott along with their Republican colleagues, chose to reject this historic relief bill that will increase vaccine distribution, help safely reopen schools, get direct aid to small businesses, and expand much needed unemployment insurance. And it wasn’t enough for them to just vote against the bill, they also insisted on forcing performative delays further preventing Americans from receiving necessary relief. Now along with their Republican colleagues in the House, Senator Rubio and Senator Scott are going to have to explain to struggling Florida families, who have bills to pay and children to feed, why they voted against direct relief.”
Corrupt and Ineffective from the Start: Governor DeSantis’ Disastrous Vaccine Rollout
Tallahassee, Fla— Governor DeSantis has been playing politics with the vaccine rollout from the very beginning, but recent reporting has shown just how corrupt the whole process has been.
Notably, in January when the majority of Florida seniors were struggling to even get vaccine appointments, nearly 1200 of the age 65+ residents of the ultra wealthy Key Largo enclave, Ocean Reef were already vaccinated. This is on top of the other vaccine pop-up sitesthat have shown up in wealthy communities full of DeSantis donors.
All the while, Florida’s Black and brown residents, especially those in more vulnerable communities, have been left behind. As of March 1st only6% of Floridians who had received vaccines were Black, despite the fact that Black Floridians make up over 15% of our population.
And on top of it all, Governor DeSantis had the audacity to say that the vaccine process is better without a clear plan.
In response, Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz released the following statement.
“Governor DeSantis has let political favoritism guide vaccine access here in Florida from the very start— showing a level of public corruption that is not only despicable, but also life threatening for many Floridians. The Governor made sure that the wealthy and well connected communities where his donors live received vaccine access first, a policy that has come at the expense of our vulnerable Black and brown communities and essential workers. Because of DeSantis’ blatant corruption, many of those who were hit hardest by the virus have been left out of the vaccine process entirely.”
The Florida Democratic Party also applauds the Democratic leaders here in Florida who have called for federal and state levelinvestigations. It is their leadership that will help us all hold Governor DeSantis accountable.
