RUSKIN, Fla — U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, joined by local school and law enforcement leaders at a roundtable in Ruskin, laid out his proposals for more protections in school and online for kids.
Social media, cell phone use and its impact on teen mental health were the top themes of the conversation, where Scott discussed his proposal to commission a study on the topic.
“The suicide rate and mental health issues that our youth is dealing with, it’s just a totally different world from when I grew up,” said Scott, who also proposed a bill to prevent kids from accessing artificial intelligence features on social media apps without parental consent.
The senator supports a full-out ban of the popular social media app TikTok that’s been under fire for months over its ties to China and potential security concerns.
“They shouldn’t be on our phones, period, it's toxic — it's communist China propaganda and it's toxic,” Scott said. “How they present things that impact our young people is toxic and it should stop.”
When it comes to school safety, Scott who was governor of Florida during the school shooting in Parkland, also proposed legislation that would take money earmarked for the IRS and use it to put an armed officer in every K-12 school in the country.
“I have not talked to one person in this country that thinks we need more IRS agents, not one person,” Scott said. “You know what they do want? They want their kids safe.”
10 Tampa Bay had more questions for Scott when it comes to the rising cost of living in his home state.
When the U.S. Senate reconvenes next month, Scott says cutting federal spending should be lawmakers’ top priority.
“The biggest issue facing the country right now is inflation and it’s caused by reckless spending. We haven’t passed the budget for this upcoming fiscal year and I think its important we got our fiscal house in order,” Scott said.
Though they will soon be asked for additional spending, the Associated Press reports the Biden Administration will ask Congress to provide an additional $20 billion to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.
“I think it's important we help Ukraine win, I think it’s important that Russia lose but I also think it's important that all the European countries like Germany and France step up; the war is closer to them," Scott said. "I think it’s really important that the aid we are giving is lethal aid, and it’s really got to be tied to Europe doing their part."
Aaron: How do you justify that for Floridians? Saying hey, there is a chance we are going to spend tens of billions of more dollars here, while people are dealing with affordability issues.
Scott: I think it's something you have to look at very closely. We got $32 trillion worth of debt, we got to be careful how we spend money and we have to make sure Europe does are part.
Here in his home state, Floridians are facing a rising cost of living, propelled by spiking insurance costs; Scott says his focus is on trying to build a robust private flood insurance market. Flood insurance is required on top of most homeowners’ policies in the state.
Scott says he introduced a series of bills aimed at building the private market: “Florida is a donor state in the national flood insurance, so our rates should never be going up.”
When it comes to property insurance, Scott implies more should be done in Florida to tackle the issues.
”Rates are going up and companies are still leaving so as long as that’s happening there’s still more work to do,” he said.
The governor's office and leaders in the Florida Legislature maintain actions taken to wrangle frivolous lawsuits and other measures taken over the past few legislative sessions should, in time, have a positive impact on the market.