Page A-4 • Tuesday, November 17, 2015 • Financial News & Daily Record
Governor says no Syrian refugees By Jim Turner The News Service of Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to close Florida’s borders to additional refugees from Syria in the wake of Friday’s terrorist assault on Paris in which at least one of the attackers held a Syrian passport. Scott advised U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a letter Monday that the Florida Department of Children and Families, which receives federal funds, won’t assist efforts to relocate the up to 425 Syrian refugees destined to be resettled in Florida. As the move doesn’t preclude federal officials from resettling Syrian refugees by working with local social-service agencies, Scott also asked in the letter for congressional leaders to prevent funding for such relocations to Florida or anywhere else within the U.S. “As the federal elected body that exercises oversight and authorizes federal spending, please take any action available through the powers of the United States Congress to prevent federal allocations toward the relocation of Syrian refugees without
extensive examination into how this would affect our homeland security,” Scott wrote. Appearing on former Reagan administration official Bill Bennett’s radio show Monday, Ryan said he is looking for the “best legislative option we have” and has directed lawmakers to come up with recommendations to determine how to ensure terrorists won’t be able to mix with actual refugees. “Look, we’ve always been a generous nation taking in refugees,” Ryan said. “But this is a unique situation. This is a situation where you have single men coming over, which is not women and children.” Scott’s letter came as Republican presidential candidates questioned the nation’s Syrian refugee policy, governors in a number of other states announced they wouldn’t accept more Syrian refugees, and Florida U.S. Senate candidate Ron DeSantis quickly moved to infuse the refugee issue into next year’s Senate race. “We have to err on the side of protecting the American people and we cannot run the risk of bringing terrorists into the United States,” DeSantis, a Republican from Northeast Florida, said in
Scott a release. Also, state Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and his son, state Rep. Matt Gaetz, R- Fort Walton Beach, offered support to Scott for any border-closing legislation. The Gaetzes wrote in a letter that the terrorist attacks “in France underscore a stark reality — that no one anywhere is entirely safe from the murderous reach of ISIS and radical Islam. The president of France has called these attacks by ISIS against a civilian population ‘an
Uber
act of war.’ European governments have closed or may close their borders. The increasing likelihood that mass migration of Syrian refugees may be infiltrated with terrorists makes it necessary that extraordinary vigilance be exercised before accepting this unplanned resettlement.” The Gaetzes added that Florida has in the past “done its share” regarding refugees, but the “current circumstance is far more different and far more dangerous than any other time when we have been asked to open our borders and communities.” Coordinated attacks by Islamic State, or ISIS, terrorists killed 129 people Friday in Paris and left hundreds injured. An estimated 4 million people have left Syria due to its ongoing civil war, with many traveling to Europe. In September, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged the United States would take in 15,000 Syrian refugees in the current fiscal year and another 85,000 the following fiscal year. Florida has already received a little more than 100 refugees, according to the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Scott is not alone in seeking
to block Syrian refugees from his state. Governors in Arizona, Arkansas, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin have also announced they will refuse to accept any more Syrians. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is running for president, said Sunday that U.S. aid should focus on Christians fleeing persecution in Syria. “I think we need to do thorough screening and take in a limited number,” Bush said while appearing on the CNN “State of the Union” show. “There are a lot of Christians in Syria that have no place now. They’ll be either executed or imprisoned, either by (President Bashar al-Assad) or by ISIS. We should focus our efforts as it relates to the refugees for the Christians that are being slaughtered.” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, also running for president and also appearing on a Sunday news show, ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” said that the U.S. “won’t be able to take more refugees.” “It’s not that we don’t want to,” Rubio said. “It’s that we can’t.”
20 years, 1,700 names
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Jaguars, Uber announce partnership From staff The Jacksonville Jaguars and Uber announced Monday a first-ofits-kind partnership that will provide in-app access for tickets and rides to EverBank Field. It’s the first time the digital dispatch company has partnered with a professional sports team and comes when local elected leaders are determining how to regulate such transportation companies. The promotion starts Thursday with the Jaguars home game against the Tennessee Titans. When fans are ready to go to the stadium, they can access the Uber app on any smartphone and select the Jaguars paw icon. After selecting a pickup location, fans can then pick up to four lower-level bowl tickets at special rates. They’ll be billed directly through Uber and receive a confirmation message that can be presented at ticket will-call with identification. due at the beginning of the year. Typically, the medallions have to be purchased then, but it was suggested those should be put on hold while council decides how to handle the issue. Two bills are in committee. One would incorporate transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft into the existing vehicle-for-hire code and increase
enforcement efforts. The other would break them out into their own section. Both will be looked at by the subcommittee that will have a report back to Anderson by the end of March. dchapman@jaxdailyrecord.com @writerchapman (904) 356-2466
The city will host the 20th anniversary celebration and rededication of the Veterans Memorial Wall at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The monument, in the parking lot between EverBank Field and The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, is inscribed with the names of more than 1,700 members of the U.S. armed forces from Northeast Florida who gave their lives in defense of their country. The public is invited to attend the celebration.
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“We’re bleeding to death here,” said Brad Braddock, general manager of Check Cab & Shuttle. Traditional taxicab companies contend the upstart, lucrative app-based companies have an unfair advantage by not adhering to city regulations. Cab companies must have commercial insurance, regular city inspections and “medallions” — city-issued tokens that show they are OK to be in business. Those medallions cost $100 per car, and commercial insurance is more expensive than personal insurance regular drivers carry. Steve Diebenow, a local attorney representing Lyft, said ridesharing companies also want a level playing field with the traditional companies. “We just want a different playing field,” he said. He maintained Lyft’s standards are higher than the city’s and require three times as much insurance as a taxicab, a stringent background check on drivers and regular vehicle inspections. One idea floated that could help cab companies was passing a moratorium on some of the fees