FDP: Dana Young Shifting Excuses About Not Doing Her Job

Embattled State Senator Dana Young continues to mislead her Hillsborough County constituents about why she refused to do her job during the assault weapons vote on March 3, 2018. It was widely reported that during the Florida Senate vote on an assault weapons ban, despite multiple quorum calls, Senator Young ducked out of the Chamber and didn’t vote at all.

At the time, it was reported she had a “personal matter” to attend.

This was communicated to multiple reporters at the time — then the subsequent outrage forced her to change her story about why, even after the quorum calls, she walked out of the chamber.

Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times reported she now says she had “urgent legislative business” off the floor of the Senate. This directly contradicts all published reports at the time and the reports from her own staff.

All this creates new, urgent, and critical questions about this mysterious newly urgent legislative business.

• Is there any specific record of what “legislative business” she was called off the floor for?
• Who, exactly, called Senator Young off the floor?
• Was there a committee meeting or another meeting of legislators? If so, can Senator Young provide the name(s) of any of these legislators?
• Were there any staffers with Senator Young during this “urgent legislative business”? If so, can she provide the name(s) of any of these staffers?
• Were there any citizens with Senator Young during this “urgent legislative business”? If so, can she provide the name(s) of any of these citizens?
• Were there other legislators called away as well for the same “business”? If not, how was it “urgent legislative business”?
• If it was “urgent legislative business”, was the public notified or given access to the work during the time she was engaged in this “urgent legislative business”?
• What specific legislative issue was she working on? Is that issue more important than the gun safety/school safety issues she missed votes on?
• Can Senator Young or her staff provide any emails, texts, written correspondence that relate directly to this “urgent legislative business”

FDP Spokesperson Caroline Rowland released the following statement after Young’s latest excuse:

“Failure to provide any proof of this newly discovered “urgent legislative business” will prove that Senator Young is trying to cover up her failure to do her job during one of the most important moments in Florida legislative history, when the eyes of students, parents, and the entire country were on Florida.”