Rep. Byron Donalds at the Congress, Cognac and Cigars event in Philadelphia, Pa., on June 4. (Photo: Monica Herndon/Philadelphia Inquirer)
Nov. 1, 2024 by David Silverberg
A red tide drifting toward Charlotte, Lee and Collier county beaches highlights the failure of Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.) to advance legislation that would aid Southwest Floridians in the event the algal bloom becomes a major disaster.
Red tide is a naturally occurring toxic microscopic algae that kills marine life and causes respiratory distress in humans. The current tide is drifting southward from the Tampa area following hurricanes Helene and Milton.
During his time in Congress, Donalds has done nothing to promote the Combat Harmful Algal Blooms Act (House Resolution (HR) 1008), which he introduced on Feb. 14, 2023. The bill would allow the federal government to declare harmful algal blooms (HABs) major disasters eligible for federal aid.
Since he has done nothing to advance the legislation, if the current red tide arrives at local beaches and persists, Southwest Floridians and businesses will not be able to receive any federal assistance if homes become unlivable or their businesses are hurt.
With a three-word addition, HR 1008 amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the law that defines and determines what officially constitutes a disaster. It also sets out the authorities and responsibilities of different federal agencies in responding to disasters. HR 1008 would make a slight change to the existing law, striking the words “or drought” and inserting “drought, or algal blooms.”
The Big Bloom and aftermath
The need to include HABs as major disasters grew out of the “Big Bloom” of 2018. This red tide went on for roughly a year, first appearing in October 2017 and then intensifying and peaking in the summer of 2018, finally breaking up in the late fall.
The Big Bloom significantly damaged the area’s economy. Based on surveys filled out by area businesses, 152 or 92 percent of surveyed business owners stated they had lost business due to the red tide in the Gulf. Of them, 126 or 76 percent stated they had lost $500,000 or more. Others estimated losses between $20,000 and $2,000. It also resulted in adverse national publicity for Southwest Florida, dampening tourism.
In response, in 2019 then-Rep. Francis Rooney, who represented the 19th Congressional District, the coastal area stretching from Cape Coral to Marco Island, introduced the Combat Harmful Algal Blooms Act and a second piece of legislation, the Harmful Algal Bloom Essential Forecasting Act, which would ensure that HAB monitoring by federal agencies continued despite any government shutdowns.
Rooney’s legislation advanced to the point of committee consideration but went no further. He declined to run for another term in 2019 and his seat was won by Donalds.
Among his first actions in Congress, Donalds introduced the Combat Harmful Algal Blooms Act and the Harmful Algal Bloom Essential Forecasting Act upon taking office in 2021.
However, he never advanced either piece of legislation during his first two years in office and they died when the 117th Congress adjourned.
In 2022 Donalds was re-elected. Once again, he reintroduced both pieces of legislation. Again, he made no effort to advance the bills, which were referred to committees where they were not considered.
As a result, this year Southwestern Floridians and businesses will not be eligible for federal assistance if a red tide bloom damages lives and businesses.
Analysis: Donalds’ ineffectiveness and incompetence
Donalds has been hyperactive in introducing legislation during the current session of Congress. According to the official record of Congress, he introduced 81 bills and five amendments. None of the bills he introduced advanced beyond the introductory phase.
However, in the four years he has been in office Donalds has proven unable or unwilling to focus and do the hard work it takes to get legislation through Congress.
Donalds’ failure stands in stark contrast to the success of his neighbor to the north, Rep. Greg Steube (R-17-Fla.), who represents parts of Charlotte and Sarasota counties.
A hard-core Republican conservative and Trumper like Donalds, Steube nonetheless recognized the needs of constituents—and all victims—for tax breaks in the wake of disasters like hurricanes and wildfires. In October 2023 he introduced the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023 (HR 5863) to provide these tax breaks and also extend them to victims of the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment and chemical release.
When HR 5863 didn’t move in the House, in large part because of the neglect of House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-4-La.), Steube chose to employ a rarely used tool called a “discharge petition.” This meant getting a majority of House members, 218, to sign a petition demanding the bill be brought to the House floor for a vote, no matter what the Speaker preferred.
It took a long effort to round up the members from both parties to sign the petition but Steube persisted. On May 15 he got the last signature needed, forced his bill to the floor and on May 21 it passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 382 to 7. (Donalds did not vote on the bill.)
The kind of persistence, focus and effort that Steube made is the kind it takes to get legislation through Congress—but it is also the kind of effort Donalds has never made and seems incapable of or uninterested in making.
Instead, Donalds has concentrated on advancing himself in Republican ranks, unsuccessfully pursuing Republican Conference Chair, Speaker of the House and vice presidential running mate to Donald Trump.
Indeed, the past year Donalds almost entirely spent his time promoting Trump and bashing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He has traveled around the country in the service of Trump, smoking cigars and drinking cognac in Atlanta and Philadelphia and making stump speeches and appearing on far right media outlets to regurgitate an unoriginal mix of accusations, insults and falsehoods when he wasn’t praising Jim Crow discrimination for its family values. At best he’s walked the beach for photo ops and signed a few letters with other members of Congress.
What he most emphatically has not done is attend to the needs of his district, which was hit by hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton and now seems destined to suffer a red tide—and even another possible very late season storm.
The Southwest Florida coast is vulnerable, suffering and its people are in pain. They are getting no succor, sustenance or support from their current representative in Congress.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Previous coverage of harmful algal blooms can be read here.
Previous coverage of Rep. Byron Donalds can be read here.
Liberty lives in light
© 2024 by David Silverberg