LECANTO, Fla. – Today, Senator Rick Scott joined Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast and local officials to tour impacts of Hurricane Idalia in Citrus County and receive an update on response and recovery efforts. Senator Scott is traveling the state to visit impacted areas and continues to speak with mayors, law enforcement, business and community leaders, utilities and federal officials to ensure Florida’s families and communities are getting every resource needed to respond to and recover from the storm.

Earlier today, following the urging of Senator Scott and his colleagues in the Florida congressional delegation, President Biden approved Florida’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration to help draw down federal resources to help support response and recovery in the state.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Hurricane Idalia hit Citrus County hard and while the folks here are facing significant damage to their homes and businesses, we’re also seeing the incredible efforts of law enforcement and local emergency management coming together and begin the road to recovery. Floridians are resilient, but disaster response and recovery is an all-hands-on-deck operation and I’m focused on making sure the federal government shows up and delivers for Florida families. This morning, I was glad to see President Biden quickly approve Florida’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration at my urging. This federal declaration is a big deal and will help draw down important resources to support response and recovery efforts. I will continue to stay in constant contact with local, state and federal officials as we fully understand the storm’s impacts, and I’ll be fighting to pass my Federal Disaster Responsibility Act and make sure they have what they need from the federal government.”

See more information on resources available following the declaration of the Major Disaster Declaration for the State of Florida from FEMA HERE. Additional information on federal resources available to Floridians and impacted communities following Hurricane Idalia can be found HERE.

Yesterday, Senator Scott announced his new Federal Disaster Responsibility Act, which he will be fighting to immediately pass when the U.S. Senate reconvenes next week. Learn more below or HERE.

Senator Scott’s Federal Disaster Responsibility Act includes:

• Pass an enhanced version of the Disaster Relief Fund Replenishment Act and fully fund the immediate needs of FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund with at least $12.5 billion to ensure the federal government can uphold its obligation to quickly deploy emergency funding and resources to communities and Americans impacted by natural disasters.
• Ensure final passage of the bipartisan Block Grant Assistance Act which provides needed authority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue block grants to Florida’s citrus growers and all U.S. agriculture producers devastated by natural disasters in 2022.
• Secure final passage of the Hurricane Tax Relief Act which takes care of Floridians and Puerto Ricans by providing disaster-loss tax relief to families in 51 Florida counties and Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricanes Ian, Nicole and Fiona by making those storms qualified disasters for purposes of enhanced disaster casualty loss tax relief. This bill modifies the deduction for personal casualty losses in the hurricane disaster areas, waiving the requirements for impacted taxpayers to itemize deductions and to have losses that exceed 10% of adjusted gross income. Congress previously extended this tax relief for hurricanes Irma, Wilma, Dorian, and Michael, among others.
• Commit necessary funds and resources to Florida’s military installations to fully rebuild and recover from hurricane damage.

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