treadback.com\/about-matt<\/a><\/p>\nCandidate Q&A:\u202fCandidate did not respond to survey; information obtained from candidate web site:<\/p>\n
If elected, what are the most pressing problems you want to address, and what do you suggest to solve them?<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s growing fast, but not in the right ways. We\u2019re losing farmland, clean water, and the small-town way of life that built this state. I\u2019m running for Commissioner of Agriculture to stand up for the people who work the land, not the ones paving it over.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m against overdevelopment. Too much of our farmland is being turned into subdivisions and solar fields, and once it\u2019s gone, it\u2019s gone for good.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll fight to:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Expand programs to help farmers who want to keep their land in agriculture instead of selling to developers.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Stop industrial and solar projects from taking over productive farmland.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Give tax relief to family farms and timber owners who protect their property.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Make sure state funding supports smart growth and local voices, not unchecked sprawl.<\/p>\n
Farming should be profitable, not a fight to survive.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll work to:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Launch a Florida Grown First program that directs state agencies, schools, and public institutions to buy Florida-grown food whenever possible.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Get disaster relief and crop insurance to small farms faster.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Cut pointless regulations and fees that drive up costs.<\/p>\n
Our kids deserve real, healthy food and our farmers deserve steady markets.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll push to:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Provide school meals made with Florida-grown produce and whole milk.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Connect schools directly with local farms through stronger farm-to-school programs.<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s land and water are being stretched thin by overdevelopment, neglect, and the over-spraying of dangerous chemicals.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what I\u2019ll do:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Use the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program to help landowners get paid for keeping their land in agriculture instead of selling to developers.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Expand voluntary conservation programs that help farmers protect soil and water without adding more red tape.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Push the Cabinet to prioritize conservation easements and block bad land deals that destroy working land or water resources.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Hold corporate polluters and irresponsible developers accountable when they abuse land or water, and make sure the state isn\u2019t rewarding bad behavior with tax breaks.<\/p>\n
Consumer Protection<\/p>\n
Everyday Floridians should get what they pay for.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Modernize inspections at gas pumps and grocery stores.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Crack down on price gouging.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Keep the Department transparent and accountable\u201d<\/p>\n
This Voters Guide was produced by the\u00a0News Collaborative of Central Florida,\u00a0a collective of independent local news outlets and aligned partners working toward a more informed and engaged Central Florida.<\/p>\n
Back to the Voters Guide<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Party: Republican Age: 36 Occupation: A welder and mechanic by trade, his work experience includes long-haul trucker, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2811,114,266,115,139,141,140,99,109,146022],"class_list":["post-359981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-election","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-politics","tag-social","tag-voters-guide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}