TARPON SPRINGS -- Governor DeSantis made an appearance at a Tarpon Springs restaurant today to sign a flood mitigation bill and also had a lot to say about the gas pipeline situation, worker shortages and Hamas rocket attacks on Israel.
DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1954, designed to improve flood protection and issues related to sea level rise. It establishes the Resilient Florida Grant Program, in which the Department of Environmental Protection will hand out grants to local communities for flood and sea level mitigation. It also creates the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
DeSantis also spoke about problems caused by the hack of a pipeline network that carries gasoline to much of the east coast, although not to most of Florida. He criticized the Biden administration, saying the feds "need to step up" and said that bigger trucks are bringing more fuel into Florida. The governor also said cybersecurity intrusions are "huge" in number. "The state of Florida has repelled a lot of attacks... we've done more for cybersecurity in the budget." As far as gas buyers are concerned, he said "if you need gas, buy it," but don't hoard it.
DeSantis also spoke about Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. "I have friends who spent the night hiding in bomb shelters because of Hamas, a terrorist group raining down rockets on civilians... Israel has every right to defend itself... Hamas (is) trying to stake a claim of being the leader of all the Palestinian(s)."
In response to a question, DeSantis addressed ongoing worker shortages, turning to the restaurant owner, who told him off-microphone that they have jobs open... "staff is either collecting money that we cannot compete with or they just don't want to work." DeSantis says he hears that concern in all parts of Florida. "I would much rather pay... to incentivize people to go back to work than unemployment," the governor said. But he prefers to deal with too many job openings than too few, and he says his policies of opening up the state are the reason.
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