On July 29th, Florida health officials announced locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus. For the first time, Zika has been transmitted by mosquitoes in the continental United States, and it happened right here in our state. The World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency over the Zika virus back in February. At the time there were nine cases of Zika in Florida. As of today, there are well over 500 cases in our state alone. Zika is a serious health crisis that... Read more

In March 2015, I greeted President Barack Obama at the Treasure Coast International Airport. In my hand was a bottle of dirty water from the St. Lucie River. While not a typical present for the leader of the free world, I was determined to show President Obama what we were up against on the Treasure Coast. When I took office in 2013, massive discharges from Lake Okeechobee started flowing into our waterways with toxic algae following. Experiencing the "Lost Summer" firsthand, my office and I hav... Read more

Our state of Florida is no stranger to catastrophic storms and devastating hurricanes. With 98 percent of Florida communities participating in the federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), homeowners and business owners know firsthand the importance of purchasing flood insurance to protect their families and businesses from disaster. In 2014 alone, and to no surprise, Florida surpassed all other states in total number of insurance claims and total claim payments for flooding. Furthermore,... Read more

Our state is no stranger to catastrophic storms and devastating hurricanes. With 98 percent of Florida communities participating in the federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), homeowners and business owners know firsthand the importance of purchasing flood insurance to protect their families and businesses from disaster. In 2014 alone, and to no surprise, Florida surpassed all other states in total number of insurance claims and total claim payments for flooding. Furthermore, out of the... Read more

“Crisis Humanitaria.” Se usa esa frase frecuentemente en un mundo donde la guerra civil, la depresión económica, y los desastres naturales cada vez más violentos han desplazado a más de 59 millones de personas. Hasta ahora, en los Estados Unidos, hemos sido bendecidos con paz y prosperidad. Hemos estado protegidos de circunstancias terribles por generaciones. En octubre, un informe del Departamento del Tesoro de los Estados Unidos advirtió que la crisis económica en curso en Puerto Rico está a ... Read more

“Humanitarian Crisis.” That phrase is used frequently in a world where civil war, economic depression, and increasingly violent natural disasters have displaced more than 59 million people. However, in the United States, we are blessed with peace and prosperity and have been sheltered from such dire circumstances for generations. Until now. In October, a U.S. Treasury report warned that ongoing economic turmoil in Puerto Rico is on the verge of exploding into a full-on humanitarian crisis for th... Read more

The right to vote is one of our most precious rights, and is the absolute cornerstone of our great democracy. While men and women throughout the history of our nation have fought and died for access to the ballot box, that right remains under attack even today. The Brennan Center for Justice, a pre-eminent nonpartisan law and policy institute, released a report showing that recent changes in voting laws across the country will make it significantly harder for more than 5 million Americans to mak... Read more

My family's history is inescapably linked to agricultural disease. If you could not guess by the name Patrick Erin Murphy, I am of Irish descent. Ireland's history and that of the Irish people was forever changed during the potato famine. In the 1840s, the harvest of potatoes, a staple in the diet of almost half of Ireland's population, was decimated by disease. The blight traveled from North America across the Atlantic and resulted in one million people starving to death and nearly a million mo... Read more

Throughout the month of October, we celebrate LGBT History Month in recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history. This time is also for reflection on the LGBT civil rights movement — and is an opportunity to realize that this fight for equal rights is not yet over, even after a historic Supreme Court ruling upholding marriage equality this summer. Did you know that it is currently legal under federal law to fire an employee or pass over them for a promotion solely on the basis ... Read more

Americans should be outraged. A handful of extremists are trying to mislead people and restrict women’s access to health care. Lawmakers cannot sit by while baseless claims are used to try to cut off Planned Parenthood’s critical health services across our country. The facts are clear. More than 90 percent of the care Planned Parenthood provides is for lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, sexually transmitted infections testing and treatment, and family planning. Furthermore, over half o... Read more