Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is cheering the passage of the congressional disaster aid package.
The $19.1 billion spending bill includes funding for North Florida communities devastated by last year’s Hurricane Michael.
But Patronis has choice words for the two Florida congressmen who voted against the bill.
“If I was in their district, I’d vote them out," Patronis told reporters after Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. "Those individuals that don’t realize the harm and suffering that’s happening in Northwest Florida, and the recovery that we’re trying to endure right now. For them to put themselves over the better good of the recovery of the other citizens of the United States is shameful."
Patronis added: "Unfortunately, it’s a round world and they’ll probably get what’s coming to them somewhere, somehow else.”
Reps. Francis Rooney (R-Naples) and Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) voted against the measure.
It had previously stalled in the Senate as lawmakers squabbled over funding for Puerto Rico. Then, two House members blocked the bill from advancing under special unanimous consent rules.
The package now heads to President Donald Trump, who has signaled he will sign it.
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