Brian Mast

Brian, and many other Republicans, are celebrating because Speaker Pelosi finally said Members of Congress can go “mask-free” if they are fully vaccinated. A few weeks ago, Brian received a $500 fine for not wearing his mask on the House floor. Unvaccinated lawmakers and staff are still required to wear masks. If you remember, we spoke about this in our PP newsletter, noting that while all 217 Democrats are vaccinated, only 97 out of 211 Republicans have admitted to being vaccinated. What are your thoughts on this?

The Federal Government has long been a wealth of contradictions and inefficiencies, and this week, Brian found himself in an amusing moment where the Government’s right hand seemed to forget what it’s left hand was up to. As of May 13, 2021, CDC guidance states that fully vaccinated people can now go maskless indoors. And yet, as Brian descended onto the House Floor sans facial covering, he was greeted with a $500 fine for doing so. House rules still stipulate mask requirements. Brian has appealed the fine, stating that he’s fully vaccinated and strictly followed the science in accordance with CDC guidelines thereby not in any violation. But he didn’t miss a moment to elbow back, saying “it was the best $500 I ever spent.”

In addition to leading a GOP revolt against wearing masks on the House floor, Brian has been up to his usual environmental work down in Florida. He’s now calling on the Army Corps of Engineers to pay a visit to the communities that will be affected by the harmful algae blooms in Lake Okeechobee. In a letter to the Corps, Mast said that the lake “recently tested more than 100 times too toxic for human contact” and did not mince words in reprimanding them for not putting people’s lives first. The Corps, in response, said that the weather conditions in the next several weeks will determine the environmental impact and that they, as Brian requested, plan to visit the area. Algae drama!

If you are a Florida resident and care about the environment, Brian is your man. He has consistently fought to protect Florida’s waterways and ensure that Floridians have access to safe and clean drinking water. Brian proposed three policies to be included in this year’s appropriations bill. The first defunds the spraying of toxic chemicals used to manage invasive plants, the second prohibits the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from spending any money to discharge dangerous water from Lake Okeechobee and third prioritizes funding for the Everglades Agricultural Area. That is a mouthful of environmental legislation, but at least Brian is working hard for his constituents.

The Everglades…they’re ever-so beautiful and apparently ever-so in need of environmental repair. Brian has been leading the charge of the entire delegation of Florida Republican and Democratic Congresspeople to make sure water infrastructure isn’t shortchanged in this forthcoming infrastructure behemoth of a bill. Brian is continuing his urgency for “robust funding” in a recent op-ed, outlining why they must resume a stalled environment repair project on the everglades that would restore the natural flow of water in the glades, thus rejuvenating it’s fragile ecosystem—oh and create jobs. It’s not everyday you see Republicans so gung-ho about speedy environment projects, but perhaps this marks a shift in younger Republicans surrounding this issue?

Last year, various restoration projects were authorized to protect the Everglades. Now, Brian and fellow PP leader Darren Soto (D-FL) led a delegation of Florida representatives in asking the Biden administration to fully fund these projects as part of the administration’s infrastructure proposal. He stressed that funding the projects would “create more than 65,000 jobs, protect the environment, and improve public health”. The letter sent to Biden also noted that one of the programs was meant to be a 50/50 funding split between the state of Florida and the federal government, though the federal government has only spent about one-quarter thus far compared to the state. With this new focus on infrastructure, the gators are waiting.

For many Republicans, environmental issues don’t make it to the list, but over the last few years Brian has introduced many environmental bills. First, he introduced the Local Water Protection Act, a bipartisan bill to reduce water pollution in communities across the United States. The act is an effort to reduce harmful water pollution and increases grant funding for state and local governments to decrease water pollutants. The second were three bills to protect the Treasure Coast in Florida which would protect communities that are susceptible to harmful water discharges. Perhaps Green is Brian’ favorite color?

Brain is a longstanding advocate for clean water projects in his region. Now he, along with a large delegation of other Florida politicians, has requested that Biden include $725 million for Everglades restoration in his upcoming budget request to help complete several water projects. Interestingly, though the group includes several Republicans like Brian who have supported Trump in many respects, the coalition of officials is also asking for action against a lengthy list of environmental policy rollbacks by Trump that left fragile ecosystems like the Everglades vulnerable. Just goes to show you, politics isn’t always black and white or left and right.

Brian has long fought for the waters in and around his home state, sponsoring legislation that promotes and protects fragile ecosystems and this week has joined nearly all Congressional Floridians in calling for a decommissioned battleship to be sunk off its coast. After the USS Bonhomme Richard suffered a major fire, the Navy intended to scrap it, to the tune of $30 million. But this bipartisan letter offers a better, and cheaper idea: let’s sink it off the Florida coast and use it as an artificial reef! They point to precedence, having done this several times with other ships before, all of which boosted ecosystems and now make the case that this would bring a welcomed environmental and economic benefit to the state. In that case, let’s sink this thing!

Brian has been a big advocate for protecting Florida waters. The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing a “discharge schedule” for the next decade which flows from Lake Okeechobee and into the St. Lucie estuary. Brian has been vocal about taking bold action, and wants to eliminate all discharge. He also re-introduced the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act which would amend existing federal law aimed at combating harmful algal blooms to require the first-ever specific federal assessment and action plan to reduce harmful algal blooms in the Greater Everglades region. This would also include the St Lucie estuary. Fellow PP Leader, Darren Soto (D-FL), cosponsored this bill with Brian. While young members from either party may differ on many environmental issues, this one regarding clean waters seems to be uniting Florida representatives.