Progress on Pride: LGBTQ+ Group Gets City Approval to Host Event in Community Center.
Christopher Saul
04/15/2024
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Mid Bay News
State Representative T. Patterson Maney gave a quick update on the latest special session of the Florida House of Representatives and Senate that Governor Ron DeSantis called in late May.
The Representative, who was able to pass more bills than any other freshman representative, said that the special session and the regular session were successful.
Representative Maney also discussed his predecessor and current Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Mel Ponder’s project to bring a walking trail, made of the sidewalk, from Forest Avenue to the south to Northwest Florida State College’s Campus on College Boulevard. “We got fully funded for Niceville. Next year, we will do more for the city. Thanks for sending me over there [to Tallahassee].”
Additionally, Representative Maney expressed some ire about the fact that much was made of the veto of $2 million in appropriations from the state legislature to Okaloosa County projects by the governor. Representative Maney says that the community gained much more than it lost. “They didn’t talk about the $20 million that I brought back to Okaloosa County working with the Northwest Florida delegation,” Maney said, “the biggest part [of the appropriation to the Okaloosa-County area] was to benefit our college. I asked for $10.7 million to renovate the Health Sciences Building – and we got $11 million.”
The main reason for the legislature’s recall had to do with insurance and changes in coverage. According to the National Law Review, the bills which were passed by the legislature and signed by the governor created a $2 billion reinsurance fund. The bill requires the insurers who participate in the scheme to give lower rates to customers. “It’s going to give everyone a little bit of a break,” Representative Maney said.
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