The 2022 Florida State Legislative Session has ended. During the 60-day session, the Republican-dominated legislature passed several bills, some controversial, and an historic state budget of $112 billion. It should be noted that the budget was aided by over $3 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds.
State Representative Andrew Learned, a Democrat who currently serves District 59, which covers Riverview and much of Brandon, said, “The 2022 legislative session is officially behind us. While many of our fights were hard this year, I am proud of the work we accomplished for Florida’s veterans, our local small businesses and towards fixing our roads.”
Learned added, “While we did some great work, the Republican majority’s focus on hyper-partisan culture war issues like ‘Don’t Say Gay’ and ‘Stop WOKE Act’ prevented us from doing anything concrete to address issues such as rising prices we are paying at the pump, dealing with the affordable housing crisis, skyrocketing property insurance rates and fighting climate change.”
The latter issues may require that a special session be called.
Learned said, “The reality of a 60-day legislative session is that there is only so much time to get anything done.”
Some of the work that Learned is proud of includes passing legislation to help veterans fill critical shortages in classrooms, taking on the challenge of ending veteran suicide statewide and helping military spouses find work by recognizing their out-of-state licenses in Florida.
Learned also stood up for small businesses against frivolous lawsuits. He fought against new data privacy lawsuits that would have cost the state’s Main Street businesses an estimated $80 billion in new compliance and litigation costs. He also helped pass sweeping workforce reforms to help with the ongoing staffing crisis across the state.
Learned added, “I promised I would fix the roads. The Bloomingdale and 301 intersection improvements are on schedule to be done soon, and work is beginning on the Big Bend/I-75 interchange and Boyette. Our Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, numerous local projects and helping fix the All for Transportation debacle by rerouting the $500M back into Hillsborough’s local road projects are all part of my ongoing effort to get us all moving again.”
As we all know, a U.S. census was conducted in 2020. This resulted in many things. Among them is redistricting of the state and federal legislative maps. Learned will be running for reelection in November in Florida State House District 69. It continues to cover much of his current district, but it now includes the FishHawk area.
For more information on the 2022 Florida State Legislative Session and to learn more about Representative Andrew Learned, please visit www.andrewlearned.com, www.myfloridahouse.gov and www.flsenate.gov.
