Maybe Congressman Joe Garcia (D-Miami) can’t come up with anything else on his own. Maybe this is a way to engage his 
constituency in the usually droll work of drafting legislation.
Maybe he really thinks someone in District 26 is a genius with the answer.
Maybe it’s just a social media gimmick two months before what could be a stormy re-election against GOP nominee Carlos Curbelo, a Miami-Dade School Board member with zero track record but a lot of money, who won the primary Tuesday and heads into the general with some wind.
Whatever the reason, Garcia wants us to come up with a piece of hurricane preparedness and/or response legislation that he can introduce in Washington. He’s actually come up with an online “Send a Bill to Capitol Hill!” competition.
“With hurricane season upon us, it is critical that we are proactive in implementing commonsense, meaningful policies that ensure all Americans are kept as aware, prepared, and protected as possible. I want to hear from you, the people of the southernmost district in the United States, on what more could be done to better emergency management, pre-disaster mitigation, and storm prediction capabilities,” Garcia writes on his website.
“Submit your ideas for hurricane-related legislation below. After the top five ideas have been chosen, the public will be able to vote on their favorite. The most popular will be introduced by Congressman Joe Garcia in the 113th Congress. That bill could be your bill – enter our contest and submit an idea today.”
Actually, you have until Sept. 15.
What is hurricane legislation? An example: In January, Garcia introduced the HOME Act – which seeks to address gaping holes in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by incentivizing pre-disaster mitigation and strengthening critical relief efforts. Aimed at what he says are the harmful effects of Biggert-Waters, the bill would delay rate increases across the board, said Garcia, who added that some of his constituents have seen premiums skyrocket from $2,000 to $49,000.
The bill also demands that FEMA conduct an affordability study and rewards mitigation, which Garcia said is the long term solution.
“I am introducing this bill because there needs to be a way to protect our hardworking families, communities and local industries from carrying the burden of these outrageous rate increases,” he said in January.
Now, Garcia wants “to hear from people on the ground regarding policy lapses they would like to see addressed or changes they’d like to see implemented.”
To see if we can come up with something better than that.
And by we, Ladra means you. And I know there are some smarty pants out there who will think of something brilliant.
Because I’m all tapped out of weather-related legislative ideas. I thought that’s why we elected people and why they have staffers who get paid six figures to come up with this stuff.
Send a storm bill to Capitol Hill via Congressman Joe Garcia added by Ladra on
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