When a friend sent me fiscal responsibility ratings assembled prior to last November's elections by the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, I immediately turned to my state, Florida, to see how our legislators fared on a scale from 0 to 100.  Ratings for the entire Congress are available here. 

Single-digit ratings were termed "Hostile."  All were Democrats.  Representatives Lois Frankel, Ted Deutch, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz were the three rated zero.  Senator Bill Nelson, ousted last November, got a 7.  Charlie Crist, who represents my district and was a Republican at one time, got a 5.  Another Florida congressman in the news, Alcee Hastings, barely managed to escape the zero rating.  He got a 2.

What about Republicans?  At the top of the class is our current governor and former representative, Ron DeSantis, elected last November after a hard fought campaign.  DeSantis got a perfect score of 100, the only Florida legislator to earn "Taxpayer Super Hero" status.  Senator Marco Rubio's 86 rating earned him "Taxpayer Hero" status, as did the ratings of Representatives Bill Posey (95), Matt Gaetz (94), Daniel Webster (93), Ted Yoho (89), Tom Rooney (89), Gus Billirakis (85), Neal Dunn (84), and Dennis Ross (82).

DeSantis is about to earn "Super Hero" status on immigration as well. Elina Shirazi reports:

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing for a ban on sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.  Several bills making their way through the state legislature would effectively make it against the law for police departments to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.  If a law enforcement official refuses, they could be fined or fired. ... It's all an effort by the Republican-led state lawmakers, buoyed by DeSantis, to toughen the rules on illegal immigration.  The sanctuary city ban, which passed the Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee, will be voted on by both chambers before May 3.

Nine states have already passed laws requiring law enforcement compliance with ICE: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas.  If DeSantis succeeds — and we hope he does — Florida will be number ten.  The state reportedly is home to 775,000 illegal aliens out of 10.7 million nationwide, third among all states.

Donald Trump carried Florida in 2016 and must do so again next year.  Voter fraud will almost certainly affect that outcome.  Governor DeSantis recognizes the threat and is taking decisive action, earning the profound gratitude of all of us who voted for him.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.