The Florida Legislature’s special session began Monday, with lawmakers aiming to work through several issues facing the state.
Florida lawmakers will be tackling a series of bills ranging from disaster relief to the expansion of school vouchers for children with disabilities. Other bills could impose sanctions on businesses involved with Iran.
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Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that aid distributed in the wake of natural disasters like Hurricane Ian should be “based on equity.”
“It is our lowest-income communities and communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues not of their own making—” Harris said before being interrupted by Priyanka Chopra Jonas at a Democratic National Committee Women’s Leadership Forum.
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U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has been busy checking in on the state’s response to the deadly tornadoes that hit Middle Tennessee this week.
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The Daily Caller reports that Christian non-profits do more than any government agency to support victims of disasters like hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The story says that faith-based organizations provide the bulk of relief, even when compared to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, quoting a national media story. The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) works with FEMA to distribute resources in disaster areas and help victims find the help they need. Seventy-five percent of NVOAD’s membership is comprised of faith-based organizations, The Daily Caller reports. The disaster coordination agency’s membership, includes notables like the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team and Convoy of Hope, plus many denominational response organizations including those for the Adventists, Disciples of Christ and Episcopalians. There are non-Christian and secular groups as well. Such organizations have the experience and logistical infrastructure to effectively respond to disasters and work with devastated communities in the long-term. Jake Raabe, in the Baptist Standard, speaks out against the “second disaster” created when well-intentioned people send useless items like teddy bears that overwhelm meaningful relief operations. Supply planes could not land in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch ravaged that nation in 1998 because Americans had donated so much used clothing that boxes of…
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