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Last night, Congressman Curt Clawson (FL-19) introduced a floor amendment to the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act that would redirect $50 million from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve account into the Army Corps Construction account, which finances the nation’s water infrastructure projects in South Florida.

In support of goals and objectives in the County's "A Way Home" Plan to End Homelessness, the Broward County Homeless Initiative Partnership has been awarded grants of more than $8 million by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the 2015 HUD Homeless Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition

U.S. Representatives Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18) and Bruce Poliquin (ME-02) introduced the Senior Accessible Housing Act to provide seniors with a tax credit for the cost of modifying their homes to make them more accessible so they can "age in place." Home improvements such as constructing entrance and exit ramps, installing handrails, and adding non-slip flooring allow seniors to be more mobile and live independently in their own homes instead of costly assisted living facilities

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations, released the following statement after introducing the draft fiscal year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. The legislation will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today visited the Eureka Garden federal housing complex in Jacksonville, Florida, which has been plagued for months by mismanagement leading to dangerous and inhumane living conditions. Upon arrival, Rubio was greeted by representatives from Global Ministries Foundation (GMF), which owns and manages the property, which is under contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as Section 8 housing.

Lake County Solid Waste is encouraging county residents to dispose of toxic materials in a safe and environmentally sensitive way at two upcoming household hazardous waste collection events in Lady Lake and Groveland.

This morning, at the request of Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro met with Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Diaz-Balart’s senior staff to discuss the homeless grant award. HUD’s homeless assistance program has become increasingly competitive as HUD directs more funding to grantees that allocate resources to projects known to deliver better outcomes like permanent housing and rapid re-housing.

U.S. Rep. Dennis A. Ross (R-FL-15), Senior Deputy Majority Whip, released the following statement today after presenting U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony Cala with a U.S. flag and certificate to thank him for his service and congratulate him and his family on their new home gifted by Building Homes for Heroes

On Thursday, April 28th, the Congressional Homelessness Caucus, Co-Chaired by Representatives Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), hosted a briefing on the state of homelessness in the America. The Caucus was joined by representatives of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which earlier this month released its annual report, the State of Homelessness in America

U.S. Rep. Dennis A. Ross (R-FL-15), Senior Deputy Majority Whip, spoke on the House Floor this week before voting with his colleagues today to unanimously pass his legislation, H.R. 2901, the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act, a bipartisan bill that encourages the development of a robust private flood insurance market that can offer homeowners more options in terms of pricing and coverage.

Rubio: “We were fortunate yesterday to get the Committee to approve, at the Senate level, the Central Everglades Planning Project and obviously we’re hopeful of getting that passed in the full Senate, over in the House and ultimately into law… So there are a lot of moving pieces that all have to fit together and there’s not a single project that takes care of all of it. It has to all happen and one project will build upon another so it’s a complicated issue and it’s gonna take more time. We feel good about the progress, but there’s more work to do.”

U.S. Representative Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18) made the following statement regarding the inclusion of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) in the Senate's draft water bill text. Murphy has been a vocal advocate for this project's authorization to help restore the Everglades' natural southward flow as part of his ongoing efforts to address the crisis in local waterways

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act introduced by U.S. Representatives Dennis Ross (FL-15) and Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18) with a vote of 419-0. This bipartisan bill will allow competition in the flood insurance marketplace to meet homeowners needs and drive down costs. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for consideration

The Lake County Water Safety Team received the National Water Safety Congress Award of Merit, given on March 8 at the International Boating & Water Safety Summit in San Diego, California. Team member William S. Griswold, of Mount Dora, presented the award during the April 14 Lake County Water Safety Advisory Committee’s quarterly meeting.

Lake County’s Water Safety Advisory Committee, government agencies and private partners are hosting Water Safety Month in May. The events will offer free swimming and CPR demonstrations, life vest education, mock drowning exercises, swimming lesson registration, open swimming, exhibits and more

Lake County Solid Waste is encouraging Lake County residents to dispose of toxic materials in a safe and environmentally sensitive way at an upcoming Household Hazardous Waste Collection event. The county’s Household Hazardous Waste Mobile Unit will be on site from 9 a.m. – noon on Thursday, April 28 at the Eustis Square Shopping Center parking lot located at 218 Ardice Ave., Eustis

U.S. Representative Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18) made the following statement on yesterday's report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finding "no significant impact" in transferring authority of the Ten Mile Creek water preserve area from the federal government to the state. Since his first days in office,Murphy has been working with state and federal officials to allow for this transfer so that the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) can turn it into a functional water storage and treatment facility. With this report, the deauthorization moves one step closer to completion, as the SFWMD must now approve the transfer agreement before June 15, 2016.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27), Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, made the following statement after the Venezuelan Supreme Court, controlled by Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, declared that the Amnesty Law was unconstitutional. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen

President Barack Obama has signed into law the Senate companion of Congressman Alan Grayson’s (D-FL09) “Servicemember Foreclosure protections Extension Act of 2015,” which protects veterans from having their homes foreclosed on for one year after their return from active duty. This protection had elapsed at the end of 2015. The “Foreclosure Relief and Extension for Servicemembers Act of 2015” (S. 2393) extends the protection for two years.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater today announced the arrest of Maira Chirinos, owner of Pompano Beach construction company Tocoa Builders, Inc. Chirinos is alleged to have misrepresented information regarding Tocoa Builder’s operations, employees and payroll when applying for a workers’ compensation policy. By doing so, Chirinos avoided at least $1.8 million in workers’ compensation premium payments. Workers’ compensation policies protect employees in the event of an on-the-job injury and if proper policies are not in place, injured employees could be faced with lost wages and costly medical expenses to cover