District State Governor: Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis is currently the governor of Florida. He was elected in 2019 on a platform that stressed health care as one of his primary concerns, focusing largely on empowering patients to obtain health care plans best suited for their interests (“Ron DeSantis,” n.d.). Another notable part of his health care agenda was taking a firm stand against opioid addiction in Florida (“Ron DeSantis,” n.d.). In 2019, Governor DeSantis has signed Executive Order 19-36, prolonging the state of emergency caused by the opioid epidemic (DeSantis, 2019). Considering this, Governor DeSantis will likely demonstrate a further interest in legislation on health care with particular emphasis on combating opioid addiction.
State Senators: Miami-Dade
Source: The Florida Senate (2019).
Florida House of Representatives: Nicholas X. Duran
Representative Duran, a Democrat, was first elected in 2016. His committee assignments are as follows:
- Health & Human Services Committee (Democratic Ranking Member)
- Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee (Democratic Ranking Member)
- Appropriations Committee (Member)
- Health Market Reform Subcommittee (Member) (“Nicholas X. Duran, n.d.)
Federal Senators from Florida
Sources: Marco Rubio, (n.d.), Rick Scott, n.d.
United States Representatives
As of 2019, there are 27 representatives of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives (“Florida Representatives,” n.d.) Two of them are Neal Dunn and Donna Shalala. Neal Dunn is a Republican, was first elected to Congress 2017, and is up for re-election in 2020 (“Neal Dunn,” n.d.). He sits in the House Committee of Agriculture as a ranking member of Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research and a member of Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit and in House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs as a ranking member of its Subcommittee on Health (“Neal Dunn,” n.d.). He has sponsored bill H.R. 3832: Veterans Opioid Abuse Prevention Act, which was successfully enacted (“Neal Dunn,” n.d.). As one can see, he shares Governor DeSantis’ uncompromising position on the opioid epidemic.
Donna Shalala is a Democrat, who was first elected to Congress in 2019 and is up for re-election in 2020 (“Donna Shalala,” n.d.). In Congress, she sits in the House Committee on Rules as the Vice-Chair of Subcommittee on Expedited Procedures and a Member of Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process (“Donna Shalala,” n.d.). She also sits in the House Committee on Education and Labor, being a Member of the Subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (“Donna Shalala,” n.d.). Representative Shalala has sponsored such bills as H.R. 4322: Expanding Cannabis Research and Information Act and H.R. 3215: Disaster Relief Medicaid Act, although neither of these have been signed into law yet.
References
DeSantis, R. (2019). EO 19-36 (Opioid epidemic extension). Web.
Donna Shalala. (N.d.).
Florida Senate: 2018-2020 Senators. (2019). Web.
Florida senators, representatives, and congressional district maps. (N.d.).
Marco Rubio. (N.d.).
Neal Dunn. (N.d.).
Nicholas X. Duran. (N.d.)
Rick Scott. (N.d.).
Ron Desantis: Building a Healthier Florida. (N.d.).