Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Announces That State Perks On Memorial Day Will Be Free

last year

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announces that state perks on Memorial Day will be free.

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00:00 excited about being here. So today we're starting off kind of our out the day of

00:07 outdoor announcements that we're going to be having for for great things into

00:11 the future starting with Memorial Day weekend, Freedom Summer, and then I'm not

00:17 going to make that announcement here but big announcement on golf red snapper

00:22 season which I know a lot of people are really excited about. So but we're very

00:26 fortunate. First I want to recognize people we have here today. We have our

00:30 lieutenant governor Jeanette Nunez. We have Secretary Sean Hamilton from the

00:39 Florida Department of Environmental Protection. We have John Lye, president

00:46 and CEO Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce. How long have you been doing

00:52 that? A long time? Yeah because we I mean I remember the first time we met is when

00:57 they had all the 2008, before I was 18, before I was governor, they had all the red

01:02 tide with was affecting hospitality and we did big announcements last week on

01:06 what we're doing to continue our efforts on that and then of course major stuff

01:12 with Hurricane Ian that we've done and it's been been a lot of work so so thank

01:16 you for being here and then also both those same issues that we've been

01:20 dealing with with Marty Herity owner Doc Ford's Rum Bar and Grill, Sanibel and

01:25 other many other locations. So the one thing about Florida, you know it's

01:31 interesting, Naples, it used to be Naples like in the winter you couldn't get a

01:36 dinner reservation then it really hollowed out in the summer. Now more

01:39 people live year-round. I mean like it's just there's a lot of demand and then we

01:44 have a lot of people that will visit Florida in the summer because it's great

01:47 beach season, it's great time to do a lot of different things. In fact, last year we

01:53 set a record for summer visitors, 35.1 million visitors between the months of

02:00 July and September which really has great impact on the economy, gives a lot

02:06 of people from other states who come visit and other countries a lot of

02:10 satisfaction and part of the reason I think people have come to Florida is we

02:16 have the best beaches, we have the best fishing and we have the best state parks

02:22 in the entire country. In fact, our Florida State Parks had 29 million

02:27 visitors in 2023 and that generates an annual economic impact of 3.6 billion

02:34 dollars. We believe similar to what Teddy Roosevelt believed that you know we have

02:43 the appreciate the value of our natural assets and the effectiveness of outdoor

02:47 recreation in producing good citizens. It's important that people have the

02:52 ability to go out and enjoy our great natural environment and that's a

02:56 sentiment that we share with respect to our state parks. So I am pleased to be

03:01 able to be here today to announce because we want as many people to be

03:06 able to enjoy this as possible that for the entire Memorial Day weekend we are

03:11 suspending all entry fees for all Florida State Parks.

03:18 So you have places here like Collier Seminole State Park, Lovers Key, north of

03:26 here, all of the entrance fees waived on those and all other state parks May 25th,

03:33 26th, 27th and on May 28th and we think that that'll make a difference, it'll

03:38 entice more people to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. Our state parks are

03:43 such as me saying that we're the best state parks in the country. We've been

03:47 awarded four gold medals from the National Parks and Recreation

03:51 Association and that's more than any other state has been awarded and this is

03:56 something that this isn't our first visit to this dance. Last fall we

04:02 introduced a great outdoors initiative and between October of 2023 and January

04:07 of this year we provided a 50% discount on Florida State Park passes and on gold

04:15 sportsman fishing and hunting licenses and what you saw because of that

04:19 initiative we sold more than 55,000 passes including more than 40,000 family

04:26 park passes which is quadrupled the number of passes sold during the same

04:31 period last year and so people have responded to that and I have people come

04:35 up you know some of these things don't get as much attention in the media but

04:39 they have a lot of impact on people's quality of life and so I hear a lot

04:43 about this much more than you would think based on what you hear in the

04:47 media which is great that people appreciate it. Since 2019 we've invested

04:52 more than 440 million dollars in our state parks because we want to ensure

04:57 that Florida families are able to enjoy them now and in the future. I have a

05:01 budget coming up that we're still going through but I can report that we are

05:06 going to include the additional 15 million dollars for the state parks in

05:10 the upcoming budget so our commitment remains and we're going to continue to

05:14 do it. We were also down here recently in Southwest Florida highlighting the

05:18 funding for Florida Wildlife Corridor what we're able to do to be able to link

05:23 those lands to help the wildlife and to make sure that we can preserve that for

05:28 future generation. Just since I've been governor we've protected more than 260

05:32 thousand acres of conservation land and 90% of that was within that Florida

05:38 Wildlife Corridor so that's been something that's been really really

05:41 impactful and meaningful so I'm proud that we have the best beaches I'm proud

05:47 that we have the best boating I'm proud that we have the best fishing I'm proud

05:50 that we have the best state parks and I'm happy to be able to announce that

05:54 for all Florida residents the entire four-day Memorial Day weekend you go to

05:59 those state parks free of charge. All right.

06:05 So we're gonna hear from some of our folks so first we'll hear from our

06:11 lieutenant governor. Well good morning it's great to be here in Naples it's a

06:22 beautiful day and governor's right it is a Chamber of Commerce day and we're so

06:26 blessed to live in the free state of Florida and we're blessed to have a

06:29 great governor that worries about not just conservation but of course the

06:33 impact that our state parks have on Floridians and and governor's right we

06:37 do hear from so many Floridians about the benefit of being able to visit one

06:42 of our 175 plus state parks and what I'll say is governor I think that

06:47 Floridians are going to be wanting more of this so I'm excited to be able to

06:50 work with the secretary and our state parks and of course our friends in the

06:55 legislature representative Botana who's here and the local elected officials

06:58 that that really fight the good fight every day so one of the great things

07:02 about being Florida's lieutenant governor is that I'm able to travel

07:05 across every corner of the state meet with people from all walks of life and

07:09 and really get a sense of what the real Florida is and I say real Florida

07:13 because apart from the glitz and the glamour and the headlines and all the

07:17 things that Florida is known for in the media what you're able to see when you

07:21 visit these state parks is the unique things that we really consider what is

07:26 part of Florida's history so our wildlife our aquatic life our trails our

07:30 Springs our rivers and over the last couple of months I've endeavored to

07:34 visit as many state parks as possible and I've visited close to 20 and I've

07:39 been able to do everything from ride a riverboat tour and Wakulla Springs to be

07:44 able to see those gators and manatees up close and personal not too close but

07:49 also visiting a historic site Fort Clinch and firing a cannon being able to

07:56 feed a lobster at our only underwater Sea Park in the state at John Pennekamp

08:00 in the Florida Keys and of course seeing some of that great fishing that goes on

08:04 that the governor referenced that at Sebastian State Park and and what I've

08:09 noticed is that each state park has something different for everyone just

08:13 yesterday I was a few counties north of here and I was visiting my ACA River

08:17 State Park it's one of Florida's original eight state parks and what I'll

08:21 tell you is that no two parks are the same each one has something unique and

08:25 different for every age for every interest for every hobby and so if

08:29 you're looking for adventure and you want to embark on a 1,500 mile long sea

08:33 kayaking journey that goes around the entire state you can do that from Big

08:37 Lagoon State Park you can also ease your way into the world of camping I prefer

08:43 glamping myself but at Lake Kissimmee State Park they have these beautiful

08:47 cowboy themed teepees that come with a coffee machine and air conditioning so

08:52 if you're not into roughing it but every every state park is special and unique

08:56 and I know the secretary obviously is very proud of that part of his job but I

09:01 do encourage Floridians to take advantage to go outdoors to visit a

09:05 state park they are a gem they are a resource that we have and really

09:09 spending time with family I think is so important as we get close to Memorial

09:12 Day weekend and we honor our nation's heroes take advantage go visit a state

09:18 park but always make sure to keep our those who paid the ultimate price in

09:22 mind and thank you governor so much for this announcement it's an honor to be

09:26 here with you all today

09:28 thank you governor again I'm Sean Hamilton I have a pleasure serving as

09:41 secretary at DEP we have so many great reasons to get outdoors as the governor

09:47 noted and as lieutenant governor noted we've got some of the most beautiful

09:51 beaches in the in the in the world candidly we have some of the amazing

09:55 spring resources and just amazing award-winning state parks and just last

10:01 year the governor noted we welcomed 29 million visitors to our state parks and

10:07 generated 3.6 billion in economic impact and I don't know for obviously working

10:12 with the directly with the folks that maintain those resources they are very

10:16 passionate about the opportunity to serve those those visitors from day in

10:21 and day out and so I encourage you to take advantage of lieutenant governor's

10:25 offer to beat her she's only at 20 there's a hundred and seventy five and

10:30 so if you can top her I think that's a fair competition but last last week I

10:35 had a chance to spend time with the governor he's continued to roll out

10:38 record investments in our environment in restoration and maintaining our natural

10:43 resources for a generation to come and I can't think of a better way to connect

10:47 this current generation and future generations to that important mission

10:50 than getting out into the real Florida there's nothing like it obviously I use

10:55 it I constantly need my batteries recharged based on the cycle we live in

10:59 there's no better opportunity to do that in our natural resources so so the

11:05 governor talked about Memorial Day weekend kicking off this incredible

11:08 opportunity for our Florida families but as a lieutenant governor there's truly

11:12 something for everyone you know maybe your idea of a good day is relaxing on a

11:17 kayak or canoe going down a lazy spring run or maybe you just like to lay out in

11:22 the sunshine and soak it up in our award-winning beaches maybe you like the

11:26 thousand miles of trails I love trails that's my favorite because a I need the

11:30 exercise but be I love being out in nature and then there's also

11:34 opportunities at so many historical and cultural sites to sit back and reflect

11:38 on Florida this history and so many of the great things that we offer within

11:43 our state parks but at the core of that is some of the amazing passionate staff

11:48 and volunteers that maintain that resource and so I'd like to continue to

11:52 acknowledge all of their great work and like the governor said only State Park

11:56 with four of these we'll get five but they had to change the rules to slow us

12:00 down just a little bit but again it's because of those folks they had on so as

12:04 their official represented I want to thank them for their continued work and

12:08 in closing again I challenge you to get out this holiday weekend spend time with

12:13 your family connecting to the resources honoring our nation heroes and again I'd

12:18 like to thank the governor and lieutenant governor and our legislature

12:21 for continuing to provide these opportunities to connect our current

12:23 generations and future generations to what we all hold dear so thank you

12:29 thank you very much secretary Hamilton lieutenant governor Nunez and governor

12:42 Santos I appreciate you all for what you do our representative Adam Botana

12:47 thanks for being here and thanks for all that you do as well I'd like to take

12:50 credit for this Chamber of Commerce day as I am the presidency of the San

12:56 Marcos Chamber of Commerce put my colleague from Naples Christina Park is

12:59 in the crowd so I will allow her to take credit for this day in Collier thank

13:03 you today governor does not seem to be enough you see in in your short well in

13:08 your tenure those of us who represent our state's tourism driven economy have

13:13 so much to be grateful for that a simple thank you doesn't seem to sum it up for

13:17 you seemingly on the day that you took office you recently pointed out that we

13:22 asked you to help us we asked you to help us protect our water quality which

13:25 is our most precious asset here in Southwest Florida and you answered that

13:29 call we have asked you to support and fund our state marketing agency visit

13:33 Florida and you've answered that call we've asked you to help us recover more

13:38 quickly than our competitors following the the only pandemic I hope I ever see

13:43 in my lifetime and you've answered that call you've kept our great state going

13:47 by allowing visitors to come back to us before anyone else did and you kept our

13:52 economic engine rolling and because of these efforts our tourism industry

13:56 reported a record 121.5 billion dollars in fiscal year 2022 and if all of that

14:03 as if all of that wasn't enough on September 29th just one year seven

14:07 months and one day ago I'm not counting the day after Hurricane Ian we made our

14:12 what I thought was our biggest task yet we asked you to help us rebuild after

14:16 the worst natural disaster our state has seen in our lifetime and you answered

14:20 that call rebuilding our bridge in Southwest Florida on Sanibel and

14:25 Captiva Islands to get access to our beloved islands would have been enough

14:28 for me but you haven't stopped there in fact you've answered every other call

14:32 since then to not only help us recover physically but to ensure that economic

14:37 revitalization remains a priority and today's announcement is just one of

14:40 those many examples of your unwavering commitment to economic prosperity and

14:44 the promotion of tourism in our great state by opening up our state parks to

14:49 all at no cost over what will be a very busy Memorial Day weekend we will get

14:55 yet another opportunity to showcase our natural wonders and diverse landscapes

14:59 that make our rebuilding region of our state a true treasure your vision and

15:03 dedication to boosting our economy through tourism have played a crucial

15:07 role in shaping Southwest Florida into the vibrant and thriving area that was

15:10 pre-ian and undoubtedly will be again very soon as we look forward to the

15:15 royally weekend I invite fellow Floridians and out-of-state visitors to

15:19 explore appreciate and celebrate the natural wonders of our state but

15:22 selfishly come to Southwest Florida in closing I again extend my deepest

15:27 gratitude to you governor for your leadership dedication and vision for a

15:31 prosperous state and for all that you do to make Florida a beacon of prosperity

15:34 and hospitality good morning everyone I'm Marty Harady

15:47 I'm one of the partners in dock fords rum bar and grill September of 2022 was

15:55 devastating and the course of one day we lost about 75% of our total revenue I

16:04 talked to my wife after the event and the causeway was gone pretty sad time I

16:12 thought it's over we're done 500 employees right we're done and then all

16:19 of a sudden he shows up one word describes Ron DeSantis to me and it's

16:28 called leadership it's called leadership

16:33 being perfectly frank when he told us that he would have that causeway open in

16:41 less than 30 days I won't tell you what I did what it was in that in animal

16:45 house you know what he did in 28 days leadership anyway when when I look at

16:56 where we were and where we are today we still got a long way to go but I will

17:01 tell you this 1922 or 2022 was we were on our way to having the greatest year

17:07 we ever had revenue wise profit wise that kind of stuff and then the

17:12 hurricane hit well I can tell you unequivocally the first quarter of this

17:18 year we are only 1.6 percent behind the first quarter of 2022 thank you and and

17:31 all of that credit belongs to the people I work with Katie's here who runs

17:36 Sanibel and and the mayor the former mayor of Sanibel Holly Smith I was I

17:44 was involved in politics and I was a mayor for Charlie you all remember

17:49 Charlie and people used to say to me howardy howardy you know this Ian stuff

17:53 and you know and you were the mayor at Charlie and I said let me tell you

17:57 something Charlie was like turning your sprinkler system on compared to Ian and

18:02 the mayor did a heck of a job the governor did a heck of a job and I can't

18:06 I mean we are having we're on our way to having the best year we've ever had now

18:10 we're not done yet we've got plans for new restaurants and stuff like that and

18:14 we still got a lot to do but the pedals to the metal and we're going to keep it

18:19 going and with all the stuff like Memorial Day weekend I mean that equates

18:24 to butts in my booths so to speak okay and people come here but anything the

18:31 governor can do to help us he's shown time and time again you know what

18:36 leadership and I can't thank you enough thank you

18:41 yeah we're uh you know I think the thing about Ian was such a big storm it's true

18:52 if you look at like Charlie's how big Charlie was like it was like a dot

18:56 compared on the map and how much Ian went through it was a really catastrophic

19:00 storm and obviously a lot of damage and there's been a lot that needed to be

19:04 done and still needs to be done but people are bullish on on Southwest

19:10 Florida people are bullish on saying of all these places like there's no

19:13 question that they're gonna come back better and it's really good to see that

19:17 they're doing very well even even in 2024 already so sometimes people areas

19:22 can get hit by something like that and it's like the end of it like like it

19:26 just never comes back and that clearly isn't the case here and I think there

19:30 are a lot of a lot of folks worked really hard to ensure that and yeah look

19:33 on the causeway I understood how important it was I mean we were flying

19:37 things in on helicopters we were running these boats I'm like that it's just not

19:41 gonna work like you can't have a normal life with that that could be in an

19:46 emergency you can do that but people have got to be able to get to and from

19:49 and so we were we were happy to be able to push that through and get that and

19:54 connect the island back and same with Pine Island as well I mean it was just

19:58 something that needed to be done so we're excited about Memorial Day weekend

20:02 we've got other things we're going to announce later today and some of our

20:06 other stops including our our red snapper announcement for the golf so so

20:10 stay tuned on that but we hope that Floridians will be able to enjoy one of

20:14 our state parks or more of them what or maybe even more than that over the the

20:18 four-day Memorial Day weekend you'll be able to do that free of charge and

20:21 hopefully be able to take your family and have fun we're unique in this

20:27 country in some respects for what we have to offer when people come we're

20:31 also leading on how to handle things like University decorum and and these

20:38 protests and I look around what's happening in like Columbia I look around

20:46 what's happening at places like Columbia and the inmates are allowed to run the

20:51 asylum it doesn't work that way in the University of Florida Florida State all

20:56 universities have been very strong in saying you can say what you want but you

21:00 don't have the right to commandeer territory you don't have the right to

21:04 harass students or faculty or any of that and if you do violate code of

21:10 conduct we're going to show you the door you will be expelled and that's what

21:15 should be done in every part of this country so we're going to continue to do

21:21 that and make sure that that we are upholding basic standards of conduct and

21:27 basic standards of decency and what I found is you know these people that to

21:32 do this stuff and these other and these other parts of the country they do it

21:35 because there's never any repercussions and so they just get away with it the

21:40 minute the minute you tell one of these people you're not going to get graduate

21:46 from Columbia you're expelled you will see a change of behavior that's just the

21:50 reality but they don't have but the administrators don't have the fortitude

21:55 and the strength to actually stand up and do what's right and that's different

21:59 in Florida we're doing what's right we're going to do that and we also and I

22:03 announced in January that we would be waiving our transfer rules because

22:09 usually you have to be in another University for a certain period of time

22:12 we're going to be waiving that for students who are being discriminated

22:17 against largely right now that's Jewish students in this country given what's

22:21 going on our rules aren't limited that I mean if there's other people that are in

22:25 a bad environment we do but I think you're going to see some of these

22:29 students and some of these schools to say you know what the hell with it why

22:33 would I want to put myself through that and be targeted by these rage mobs on

22:39 campus I can come to Florida and actually know that I can study in a good

22:46 environment and be treated with respect so I think you're going to start to see

22:49 a lot of people take us up on that offer we won't know until the fall semester

22:54 but but we're we're much different environment and people are noticing that

22:59 and and what we're doing is the right thing to do and it's sad that what we're

23:03 doing is even noticeable because this should just be kind of how all this is

23:08 you know used to be you would have some of this campus stuff you know maybe it

23:12 like a Berkeley or in some of these pockets but now it's kind of become the

23:16 norm all across most of the United States I think Florida certainly is an

23:20 exception and there's some others that are exceptions and the same thing with

23:24 just outside of university campuses you know you have these pro-hamas people

23:29 taking over bridges and taking over streets and other parts of country you

23:34 know they tried to take over a street in Miami and they got dragged off the

23:38 street and dumped on the side of the road we're not gonna let you take over

23:42 the streets it's absurd that you're gonna make people wait in traffic and do

23:46 all that stuff it doesn't make sense so I'm proud of what we have to offer with

23:51 with natural resources and this but I'm also proud of just leading with common

23:57 sense and saying you know what Florida is going to be a refuge from the

24:01 insanity that we see in so many other parts of the country all right we have

24:07 any questions anybody back there

24:11 first of all what that's that's not what we've done in Florida at all you know

24:33 you have a right to support or not support Israel that's a First Amendment

24:38 you don't have a right to pitch a tent in the middle of campus and commandeer

24:42 some of the property and so what we've seen is when students in there look

24:46 there haven't been that many in Florida I mean it's a much smaller compared to

24:50 these others but when you go and and you're bringing a tent or something on

24:55 like a campus lawn you know what they did at Florida State and University of

24:58 Florida they turn the sprinklers on and said okay you know you want to have so

25:03 so that's just how it's going to be but it's about conduct and it's about making

25:07 sure you're doing the code of conduct so you can say whatever you want about

25:11 Israel pro or con which you don't have a right to do is commandeer property you

25:17 don't have a right to harass individual students or faculty members you know in

25:22 Columbia they were blocking a Jewish professor from being able to cross into

25:27 a building just because he was Jewish they were targeting for that that's

25:31 different than having an opinion on something and so no what we're doing is

25:36 absolutely right I think the University of Florida put out a statement yesterday

25:39 saying you know people can can have the views that they want but the University

25:44 of Florida is not a daycare center like you were we're not going to be sitting

25:48 there and indulging this and I think

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Announces That State Perks On Memorial Day Will Be Free

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