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Florida State Senator Corey Simon Chats With Preston · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Here we go, third hour. Already I'm literally turning the
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: page on the rundown. Here we go. It is a
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: show fifty two to fifty six of the Morning Show
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: with Preston Scott. Great to be with you. And is
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: this the first time we've been actually, I mean since
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: you've been elected. Is this the first time we've talked
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: in studio?
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: In studio? I did, we did a radio we did
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: a phone or phone interview. Yeah, but this is the
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: first time in studio. Yeah.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Do you like my place? I do like your place.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: It's been a while, Yeah.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: I have, And I don't know if you'll admit it,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: but I admit it. I have mentioned to listeners that
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: were friends. We've known each other for a very long time,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: a long long time, and I remember the days of
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: trying to nudge you into running for office, thinking very
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: highly of you. And so I say that in fairness
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: up front, because although I'm fair to anyone who comes
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: in here, I want people to understand that we talk
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: at a little bit of a different level than a
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: standard you know, me, me a person and candidate or
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: in this case, incumbent. So with that said and out
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: of the way, why'd you decide to run for.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Reelection, oh man, because there's work to be done. I
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: think over the last two years we have done an
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: amazing job of really tackling some big issues that I
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: ran on, workforce education being one of those, education in general,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: educational school choice, and that was a huge one for me.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: It was personal for me. And so those are things
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: that that we got done and I saw the You know,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: for me, I need to see the ship turn right.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: I can't just be on a ship that's not that's
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: just floating out there. I need to be able to
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: see results, and we're seeing those results. And so because
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: of that, that's why I want to keep going, because
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: there's a lot left to do when you wide around
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: this When I ride around this district, and.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: It's a huge district too, it is a.
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  Speaker 2: Big district, thirteen counties. I've got the largest district in
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: the state. But when I ride around this district, the
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  Speaker 2: need is so great and I know I have an
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  Speaker 2: opportunity and a seat at the table to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that I can tackle those needs. Got out of the
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  Speaker 2: thirteen counties, twelve are fiscally constrained, and so you take
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  Speaker 2: counties like Liberty County that has an avalorm of three
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  Speaker 2: million dollars. You can't build, you can't grow with three
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  Speaker 2: million dollars. You're living off grants, and so for me,
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  Speaker 2: it's it's making sure that these folks aren't forgotten. And
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: that's why I show up. I was on a conversation
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  Speaker 2: before walking in here with my folks over in Swanee
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  Speaker 2: County and looking at getting a regional shelter built over there,
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  Speaker 2: because I had eoc's across this district after the storm
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  Speaker 2: head that had to desert their eocs to go to
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  Speaker 2: other places. Your emergency operations centers are supposed to be
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  Speaker 2: your base hubs in the times of disaster, and they
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  Speaker 2: couldn't be in those places because they just weren't built
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  Speaker 2: to stand the storms.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So there's a lot of work that needs to
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  Speaker 2: be done. We've got rural healthcare all across the district
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  Speaker 2: that is struggling, making sure that people can see their doctors,
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  Speaker 2: and there's just a lot of issues that still need
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  Speaker 2: to be tackled. And two years went by way too fast,
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  Speaker 2: and you're trying to get as much done as you
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: possibly can, but we've still got big issues that we
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: have to tackle.
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  Speaker 1: I might have inadvertently for God to say it's Corey
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  Speaker 1: Simon is here with me. Corey is representing the third
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  Speaker 1: State Senate district here in Florida. You mentioned the breadth
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: of this district, the diversity of the district, the size
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  Speaker 1: of the district. We're going to run a minute long here, Hose,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: because I want to give you a chance to just explain.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: You are pro life. I am, but you voted against
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: the six week ban, and I remember you and I
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: talking about that and I said, give me your thoughts,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: and you did. I'd like you to share them with
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  Speaker 1: our listeners.
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  Speaker 2: Well, just my personal story and why I'm pro life
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  Speaker 2: is my wife and I. We have one son. He's
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: twenty one years old. That wasn't the initial plan. I
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: really wanted a big family, and we got pregnant several times,
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  Speaker 2: but we miscarried several times. Unfortunately, God has a plan
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  Speaker 2: and I understand that, but it was tough. It was
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  Speaker 2: tough to you know, my son is an absolute blessing.
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  Speaker 2: But we've lost a lot of kids over of the
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  Speaker 2: last twenty years, and so I have an affinity and
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  Speaker 2: affection for young kids and for babies, and I wanted
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  Speaker 2: those kids. But That's why I am pro life. But
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  Speaker 2: I understand my district and it doesn't always come down
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  Speaker 2: to what my personal feelings are. When I ran for
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  Speaker 2: office at the time, fifteen weeks is where the law was,
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  Speaker 2: and that's what was being pushed in a lot of
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: different places. And I said, you know what, fifteen weeks
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  Speaker 2: was somewhere about right. And when the six week band
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  Speaker 2: came up, I had already given my word to this district.
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  Speaker 2: And whether it's you know, Democrat, Republican, NPA, I give
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  Speaker 2: my word, and when I give my word, my word
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  Speaker 2: means something yep. And so that's why I voted the
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: way I did because I wanted to make sure that
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: the folks could trust me in this district to do
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  Speaker 2: what I said I would do.
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  Speaker 1: What is elected person doing what they say they'll do.
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  Speaker 2: I try to do this job the way I always
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: wanted to see it be done. Amendment four, I'm a
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  Speaker 2: I'm an absolute no on Amendment for Yeah, I think
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  Speaker 2: it goes too far. I think when you start talking
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: about taxpayer dollars and stripping away parental consent, those are
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: big issues for me.
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  Speaker 1: The Morning Show with Preston Scott, You're mocking me aren't you.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Oh no, no, no, no, no, no no. I used
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: radio one hundred point seven WUFLA twelve past the hour.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: State Senator Corey Simon with me this morning for a
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: couple more segments. What's on the to do list? Let's
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: just assume the constituents put you back in office for
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: another term. What is top of the list for you?
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  Speaker 1: Not necessarily for the Senate.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Well, for me, it is a couple of things. You know,
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  Speaker 2: access to healthcare is one of the big ones for
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  Speaker 2: me to find that. So when you look around this
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  Speaker 2: district and we have the pleasure here in Tallahassee of
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: having great hospitals here, we have access. And what I've
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: done over the last two years is trying to bring
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  Speaker 2: additional dollars to some of our f qacs in the
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  Speaker 2: area like Neighborhood Medical and Bond Community Health Clinic and
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  Speaker 2: do those things here and trying to sew up what
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: we're doing here in Tallahassee. The partnership that Tallahassee or
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: TMH and FSU have is going to be absolutely phenomenal
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: for the entire region. And so I look, I want
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: to sit at the table making sure we're having a
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  Speaker 2: seat at that table, because when I look at areas
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  Speaker 2: like Liberty County, Franklin County, Gulf County, all the way
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  Speaker 2: over into Swanee County, Lafayette, Madison, Jefferson, what color, all
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  Speaker 2: of these places don't have that kind of access. And
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  Speaker 2: so when we start talking about diabetes and SIKA cell
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  Speaker 2: and issues that are plaguing many of our communities, we
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  Speaker 2: have to make sure that there's access to care in
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  Speaker 2: these areas.
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  Speaker 1: And when you say access to care, you're literally talking
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  Speaker 1: at this point almost brick and mortar and places to
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  Speaker 1: go to get the care.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean when you you know, a lot of
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  Speaker 2: our folks, even in the places that we have hospitals
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  Speaker 2: now trying to bring attention to them, like over Doctors
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  Speaker 2: Memorial over in Taylor County. Folks are driving from Taylor
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  Speaker 2: County to Tallahassee and driving right by Doctors Memorial many
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: times because they just don't know the services that are
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  Speaker 2: being provided. So making sure that folks are informed to
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  Speaker 2: the medical choices that they have in their communities, uh,
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  Speaker 2: and then expanding those opportunities, whether it be through mobile
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: units and getting in there and making sure that we're
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: doing our prostate cancer checks I've had three friends over
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: the last two and a half months that have all
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: been diagnosed with prostate cancer. It's concerning for me. So
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  Speaker 2: we're using our emergency rooms and we have some eds
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  Speaker 2: in the area, but we need actually primary care in
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  Speaker 2: a lot of these places so we can get out
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  Speaker 2: in front of some of the disease that is affecting
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  Speaker 2: our communities. And so, you know, those that'll be a
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  Speaker 2: big focus for me as always. You know, these are
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  Speaker 2: these are things that I personally, I'm going to work on.
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  Speaker 2: You know. We're still trying to get our arms around
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  Speaker 2: our insurance industry.
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  Speaker 1: On all levels, on all levels. Yeah, on all.
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  Speaker 2: Levels, which is I I'm a no on Amendment three
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  Speaker 2: because it's going to run up insurance rates.
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  Speaker 1: It's a lot of other things exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Uh. And so we've got to wrap our arms around that.
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  Speaker 2: And I think we've done some work to try and
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  Speaker 2: to go in the right direction, but there's still work
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  Speaker 2: to be done. Uh. And then workforce education, we've got
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  Speaker 2: young people that are you know, and I think the
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  Speaker 2: Chamber of Commerce is coming out on Monday with a
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  Speaker 2: list of jobs that are that the job market is
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  Speaker 2: looking for, uh, and two thirds of them don't need
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  Speaker 2: a college education, and so we've got to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that families understand the options that are out there. Sure,
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  Speaker 2: as you know, Preston, my son's a welder and he
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: didn't want to go into our traditional post secondary institutions.
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  Speaker 2: And so making sure that the kids have a full
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  Speaker 2: understanding of the job force and what the needs are. Uh.
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  Speaker 2: And there's a return on investment on the things that
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  Speaker 2: they're that they're majoring in and spending time in. And
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  Speaker 2: so those are things that I'm working on that I
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  Speaker 2: really want to see move forward. We've taken some great
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: steps in many of those areas, but there's a lot
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: way to go.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty two past the hour State Senator Corey Simon, Florida's
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  Speaker 1: third state Senate district. Our guest, what's the what is
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  Speaker 1: the next biggest thing on the list? I mean, I
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: could probably grab the low hanging fruit, which is your
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: district has been hammered in the last few weeks a
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  Speaker 1: couple of times, and well in the last few months
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: a few times. And how is the district, first of all,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: recovering from the last set of storms.
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  Speaker 2: Oh man, it is a it has been a gut
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  Speaker 2: punch when you look back a couple of months ago
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  Speaker 2: and you had the tornadoes come through here, right, and
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: then of course over the last thirteen months we've had
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: three hurricanes, and so this last one was just a
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: gut punch. When you ride down the coast and from
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  Speaker 2: Degal Beach all the way down the Horseshoe Beach and
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  Speaker 2: Dixie County, it's absolutely des made it. And when I
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: was driving to Keaton Beach and you look for every
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  Speaker 2: one home that may be standing there, fifteen to twenty
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  Speaker 2: homes that it's just nothing but a concrete slab. And
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  Speaker 2: so these these these folks have been hammered. You know,
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  Speaker 2: the farming industry, chicken houses that are laying on the ground,
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  Speaker 2: that just product that has just gone Pilgrim is one
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  Speaker 2: of the largest producers and job providers in the in
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  Speaker 2: the district. Uh and so you know, those those folks
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  Speaker 2: have just been beat up. You know. The I think
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  Speaker 2: the mental health counseling that are that is going to
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: need to happen for a lot of these families is
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: going to be ongoing because they've put everything into rebuilding
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: after Adelia and then to see it all just go away.
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  Speaker 2: That's tough. It's tough. To stand in front of a
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  Speaker 2: family that has just lost it all for the second
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  Speaker 2: and maybe third time.
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  Speaker 1: What role does the state play? What can what role
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  Speaker 1: can it play well?
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  Speaker 2: And that's that's the great that's the great thing about
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  Speaker 2: this job. After Adelia hit sat down with our folks
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: over at FDx and sat down with the Governor's office
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: and sat down with our leadership, President Pasadonmo and President
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  Speaker 2: Designated all Britain, and we came up with a plan
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: to tackle some of the issues after Adelia. I ran
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: a disaster disaster recovery bill in terms of about the
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: four hundred million dollars that we put back into the
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: into the district. You know, it was really trying to
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: get our forestry industry back up and running and making
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: sure that those folks can go and replant and clean
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: up UH and then gave them a glad path. We
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: had a ten year loan, zero interest loan with the
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: last three years forgiven for those farmers to get back
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: on their feet so they can start seeing some production
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: and start to put some money back in their policet
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: before they have to come back to the state. So
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  Speaker 2: I think we can do a lot. I think we
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: can expand on that program.
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  Speaker 1: There is no international airport in this area. I mean,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: let's set Tallahassee aside. I mean, but you know what
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, Largely the area that has been hit the
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: hardest by these recent storms in the last year, in
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: a couple of months, this area doesn't have any big,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: noteworthy cities, and it's easy for them to fall off
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: the map, and in this case almost literally.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah no. And that's what I said when the day
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: the storm hit and I was standing over in Perry
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: with those with the families and the folks over there,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: and one of the things that I said when the
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: cameras were there, I said, listen, long after the cameras
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: are gone, and they'll be gone quickly, I will still
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: be talking about the recovery and the response efforts and
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: making sure that we get back up on our feet.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not gonna let the folks outside of these cities
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: that were impacted forget about us, and I'll continue to
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: beat that drum. It's important, you know, these families have
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: chosen to live in the areas that they live. This
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: is a gorgeous part of the state. It's an important
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: part of the state. Absolutely is when you go to
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: your grocery sto or people we take for granted. And
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: I didn't grow up farming. And so when I when
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: you go into your grocery store, you walk into your
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: publics or you're pickli wiggly and you pick up a
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: piece of meat and you're in some you know, cabbage
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: or whatever, and you just walked there and you pay
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: for it. But that's not how it happens. It didn't
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: just get there. And so but I went and spend
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: time with farmers, and you understand that the margins are
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: very thin already. We're waiting on a on a on
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: a farm bill that hasn't happened in Washington, d C.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: In a long time, and trying to dig these folks out.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: And so prices of our food goes up when the
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: supply goes down. And so we've got to make sure
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: that we're sewing up these areas and making sure that
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: these folks stay in the business, because we're losing our
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: farmers every single day. Farmers are walking away from the business.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: They just they can't take it anymore, they can't afford it.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: And so it's it's important for us to make sure
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: that we do all that we can to save our
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: industry here. I think we have a tremendous opportunity in
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: this region.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: I don't think. I don't think. I don't think citizens
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: understand in the state how big agriculture is in this
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: in this state. It's massive, it is.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: It is. I don't know. When you drive down Aut ten,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: just take a look into the left and right before
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: you get to seventy five. They're everywhere you get off.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: You know, drive down fifty one and get into Lafayette
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: County and see where our dairies are. See the production
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: that's going on there.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Corey, do you think you mentioned the farm bill and
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the dysfunction on a federal level. Florida is fiscally in
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: a very good position. This state has taken care of
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: its finances of course, go figure, no income tax and
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: a balanced budget. Amazing, Think what can happen? Right? But
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: does the state need to think about Okay, if the
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Feds aren't coming through on the farm bill, we need
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: to come up with our own own form of it.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Well, and now we will be doing that in the
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: upcoming session. We will. The great thing is my dear
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: friend and President designated Ben All Britain and comes from
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: rural Florida. He is from the heartland. He is a farmer.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: He's a citrus farmer in our citrus industry has been
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: absolutely dismantled to the storm through Milton and greening and
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: greening exactly the citrus screening that's happened. So I'm excited
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: because he is from rural Florida, he understands it, and
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: he's passionate about it. And so I look forward to
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: running that bill in the upcoming session, and uh, we're
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: gonna get some things done for these folks.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: I loved your use of the word tackle. It just
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: seems appropriate.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I hit other problems now it's I just don't
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: run into people anymore.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: That's good to see you. Corey Simon with us and
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: again running to return to the State Senate in District three.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: And uh, there you go. Thanks for the time. Eight
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: past the hour.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: M