Democrat for Congress
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About

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Accomplishments

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IN CONGRESS

As an experienced legislator, I have delivered for Central Florida.

Bills I've gotten passed during my time in Congress include:

  • Designating the National Pulse Memorial 

  • Billfish and Sunfish Protection Act

  • Puerto Rico Medicaid Equality Bill (includes all US territories)

  • Venezuela TPS bill (passed House twice/President Biden Executive Order)

  • Hurricane Hunter aircraft bill

  • Foreign oil spill prevention bill

  • Kissimmee River Wild and Scenic River Act

  • Restoring Resilient Reefs Act

  • Seminole Tribal Lands Bill

  • Borinqueneers Kissimmee Post Office (Puerto Rican veterans)

  • Althea Margaret Daily Mills Post Office (Black civil rights leader)

I have made sure the Ninth District gets its fair share of federal funds by securing these resources for our community:

  • Over $1 billion in COVID-19 pandemic relief (stimulus checks, PPP small business loans, as well as housing, food, and unemployment assistance)

  • $233 million for Orlando International Airport upgrades (Infrastructure Law)

  • Hundreds of millions in Hurricane Irma relief 

  • $2.5 million for St. Cloud clean water project

  • $1 million for Kissimmee Berlinsky House restoration

  • $1 million for new Lake Nona community center

  • $1 million for Hope Partnership 192 transition house

  • $1 million new Haines City fire station

  • $850,000 for Polk County Behavioral Outreach Mobile Crisis Team

  • $800,000 for Lake Wales Central Avenue streetscape upgrade

  • $500,000 for Winter Haven intermodal center dark fiber upgrade

  • $500,000 for Poinciana Valencia solar project

  • $461,000 for Osceola Schools/NeoCity high-tech internships

  • $4 million for the Polk Fire Department

  • $3 million for the University of Central Florida RESTORES Clinical Research Center for PTSD

  • $600,000 for the Haines City Fire Department

  • $63,000 for the St. Cloud Fire Department

  • $4 million for the National Early Child Care Collaborative Program at Nemours Children’s Health System

  • $2.2 million for the Kissimmee Airport

  • $1 million for specialty crop research to fight citrus greening

  • $557,000 for the Bartow Airport

  • $82,581 for the Winter Haven Airport

  • $82,581 for the Lake Wales Airport

  • $468,000 increase for the National Estuary Program

  • $500,000 increase in the National Wildlife Refuge System program to combat invasive species

  • Funding for police cars (Lake Hamilton)

  • Funding to prevent tax fraud for seniors

  • Funding for seniors affordable housing

  • Funding for tax help for the poor

I led or co-led Congressional letters and efforts driving progress on these issues: 

  • Over $2 billion for the Beyond I-4 Ultimate Project

  • $1.3 billion in American Rescue Plan mortgage/rental assistance for Florida

  • Over $1 billion for SunRail/Brightline expansions – Connections to the airport, theme parks, and Tampa + Polk extension and weekend service

  • High U.S. Census response rate for FL-9

  • Central Florida Hurricane Irma disaster relief

  • Extending CF hotel vouchers

  • Stopping FEMA from ending food and water benefits for Puerto Rico

  • Pushing for disaster relief for citrus growers and cattle ranchers

  • Fighting for PTSD benefits for first responders

I accomplished the following major committee work on Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources:

  • American Rescue Plan 

  • Infrastructure Law

  • CARES Act

  • Lower Drug Costs Now Act

  • ACA Enhancement Act (Obamacare)

  • CHIPS Act 

  • Northern Everglades/Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Restoration

  • Great Florida Reef restoration

  • Manatee protection

  • Opposed offshore oil drilling

  • Supported Everglades restoration

  • Led the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) opposition to the discriminatory proposed citizenship question on the census, gerrymandering, and voting rights

  • Supported agriculture sensors research

  • Opposed food stamp cuts

  • Protected endangered species

  • Opposed President Trump’s border wall with the CHC

  • Advocated for DREAMers with the CHC

  • Opposed the Muslim ban

 
 
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IN THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE

In more than nine years in the Florida Legislature, I helped bring high-paying, high tech jobs to Central Florida in the biotech, simulation, space, software, and solar industries. And did much more...

In the Florida House, I got landmark legislation and initiatives passed to:

  • Protect families of fallen firefighters

  • Prevent dangerous street racing

  • Create SunRail and expand Osceola Parkway

  • Eliminate debt and provide principal reductions to families in foreclosure

In the Senate, I got landmark legislation and initiatives passed to:

  • Protect victims of sexual violence

  • Provide IDs for deaf Floridians

  • Seal records of minors with minor criminal infractions

  • Allow DREAMers to be admitted to the Florida Bar

  • Increase the high stakes testing exemption for foreign language students from one to two years.

  • Provide notice to tenants in foreclosure

I successfully delivered critical funding that has made a difference in the lives of many people in our community:

  • Billions to build I-4 Ultimate, SunRail, and Poinciana Parkway

  • Over $20 million to create a Poinciana Valencia Campus

  • $20 million to continue Kissimmee River/Northern Everglades Restoration

  • $1 million to restore Lake Toho

I also fought to give our students the education they deserve by pushing for smaller class sizes and a minimum teacher salary of $50,000 in order to recruit and retain the best educators.

I also fought to expand Medicaid to provide health coverage to over 800,000 more Floridians and to establish Florida’s health care exchange under the Affordable Care Act.

I have championed environmental protection and fought to preserve Florida’s greatest treasures – our springs, beaches, and precious wild places. I fought to ban fracking in Florida and protect our fragile supply of drinking water.