Sen. Corey Simon pushes trade options for teens and bringing funding to rural areas

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – “Grueling” is how Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, describes the 2024 Legislative Session – but in the end, he is happy with the results of the hard work that now waits for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature.

“It was an active session. I think, going into my second session, here, my first term, things were a little bit slower this time around than it was last year,” Simon told Florida’s Voice.

He represents Florida’s 3rd Senate District, which has 13 counties.

“I’ve got the largest district landmass wise of any of the senators. So. I’d go all the way from Gulf County on the west, all the way over to the Suwannee river valley areas,” he said. “Which encompasses Hamilton County, Dixie County, Lafayette and Suwannee County, and I got everything in between.”

With that large district comes big expectations for state funding. Simon believes the legislation he worked on will help bring some of the money to families and businesses in his district. Nothing makes him feel better than the moment he tells people that good news.

“The areas that I represent, they don’t ask for a lot, they really don’t. And so when you’re able to deliver on some of these resources that you know, they mean, but many times just, they they’re they’re very prideful, hardworking people, they don’t want to ask,” Simon said.

“‘Under promise and over deliver…’ I tried to deliver on every promise that I made to the folks of district three, and we’ll continue to do so,” Simon said.

One piece of legislation he is proud of is SB 460. The bill ensure options are given to teens who may not want to pursue a college degree.

“We have several programs around the state that have these construction trade areas. But there are parts in the state where we don’t have that,” he said to Florida’s Voice.

“If they don’t have currently have aspirations of going on to college, or they’re trying to figure out if college is what they want to do – it gives them an opportunity to get into our trade system and understand the building trades,” Simon said.

Simon pointed out college is not for everyone, and said he believes Florida’s growth will result in meaningful careers for teens who pursue a trade.

“I do want to make sure that we’re getting rid of this stigma that our trade schools and those opportunities that are there for our young people are available, and they are well paying jobs,” the senator said.

Simon believes DeSantis will sign off on the legislation as he has on other proposals that have had great results, like SB 2-C during the 2023 Legislative Session.

“Hurricane Idalia hit my region of the state and really decimated many of the those rural counties,” he said. “Taylor County being one of them, Suwannee County, Madison County, Hamilton County, Jefferson County, Dixie County, all of these small rural counties, these fiscally constrained counties.”

“What it did was it allowed for the state to recognize just how some of these states or some of these counties struggle, in terms of having just some of the basic shelter needs that you need when you have a hurricane event.”

One hard hit area is Lafayette County in north central Florida. It is where officials told him there was no safe place for the sheltering of first responders who needed to be ready to help with public safety and then recovery efforts.

“For you to have to leave the area that was established for events like this to go to another county to make sure that you can operate and that your families are safe and secure. That’s problematic,” Simon said.

The senator also continues to push for grade school children to get the help they need. In the past 2023 session, he successfully pushed for Universal School Choice – HB1 – signed by the governor.

The program helps pinpoint struggling students so they can thrive later. The senator believes it will ultimately help a child’s self esteem.

“I think what we’re looking at from a mental health standpoint, for our young kids, and so we want to make sure that we’re developing and developing them and getting them the proper supports, so that they can thrive as they move forward,” he said.