Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s plan to lower costs for Floridians

As Floridians struggle to make ends meet, Mucarsel-Powell has unveiled a plan to make Florida affordable for all if she unseats Senator Rick Scott in November. 

Florida is facing the highest rate of inflation in the country, with Floridians struggling to cover everything from the cost of groceries and gas to soaring rent and property insurance prices. 

Take the city of Orlando, for example. The fourth-largest metropolitan area for Puerto Ricans in the US has become prohibitively expensive for many of its residents. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage in Orlando is about $39,020 for an individual, with a median household income of around $65,000. But a recent study on the “Salary Needed to Live Comfortably” in each American city revealed that due to the escalating cost of living, an individual needs roughly $100,298 a year to live comfortably in Orlando.

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former Democratic congresswoman now running for the Senate, says she knows exactly when the state’s troubles originated. 

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“Florida’s affordability crisis began while Rick Scott was governor,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “And as senator, Scott continues to do nothing to lower costs for working families in the Sunshine State.” 

A specific plan to lower costs

As she runs to unseat Scott in November, Mucarsel-Powell has unveiled a plan that she says will make Florida affordable for working families by lowering everyday costs. If elected, Mucarsel-Powel says she would seek to:

• Lower food prices by fighting against the corporate consolidation of big grocery chains who drive up prices, and back legislation like the Robinson-Patman Act to promote fair competition in the food industry. 
• Crack down on Big Oil price gouging through the Gas Price Gouging Prevention Act to keep prices low at the gas pump. 
• Support the Lower Drug Costs for Families Act to stop drug companies from raising prices faster than inflation.
• Back legislation like the Bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act for seniors that has already helped over 1.7 million Floridian households save $52.5 million total in monthly internet bills. 
• Support policies that increase housing supply and renter protections, to prevent displacement in Florida neighborhoods.
• Back legislation like the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act to stop hedge funds from driving up the prices of homes and edging out Florida homebuyers. 
• Support proposals to cut the cost of property insurance by 25%.
• Push to expand solar panel power in Florida and lower the cost of Floridians’ electricity bills. 
• Support legislation like the bipartisan REBATE Act to allow local governments to receive federal grants to carry out high-efficiency electric home rebate programs that put money back into Floridians pockets.
• Champion legislation to promote buying American. 
• Protect American jobs from being shipped overseas. 
• Increase solar panel production in Florida to produce good paying jobs and lower the cost of energy in the state. 

In contrast, Mucarsel-Powell points out that Scott wrote a plan to raise taxes on middle class families and sunset Social Security and Medicare, proposals that Scott had to walk back due to criticism from both parties. 

“Scott has increased his fortune by hundreds of millions of dollars since taking office, and all while Floridians continue to struggle,” she said. “Unlike Rick Scott, I am committed to looking at every single way that we can actually fix the crisis, working on a bipartisan manner, reaching across the aisle to whoever’s in the White House, so that we can actually make it better for families here in our state.”  

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