Congressman Darren Soto called his first 100 days in office a whirlwind that included the passage of a law that supported NOAA's Hurricane Hunters and a trip to Kuwait and Iraq to see members of the Florida National Guard.

  • Rep. Darren Soto holds town hall in Winter Haven
  • Topics discussed: federal budget, health care and citrus greening
  • Soto called his first 100 days in office a whirlwind

Soto held a town hall meeting Saturday in Winter Haven.

The city’s commission chambers were packed, the majority senior citizens, wanting to know about the future of health care, the federal budget, citrus greening and the future of Puerto Rico.

Parker Baro, 18, said the town hall meeting was much-needed.

“Just some of the things that have concerned me over the past few weeks," said Baro. "The Trump administration and their proposed budget...I loved hearing the congressman thoughts on that."

Soto said he was concerned about the proposed $610 billion cut to Medicaid over the next ten years, and how it would impact seniors living in an assisted-living facilities.

“That’s one of the biggest expenses that we have for Medicaid is funding for assisted living for nursing homes and for caretakers to come in for seniors who don’t have money,” said Soto.  

Soto also told the crowd he believed the Affordable Health Care Act or Obamacare needed reform, but he didn’t support scrapping it.

He said fighting citrus greening was also a priority for him. He called it a crisis that has lowered citrus production 70 percent. He said he worked to get $166 million allocated in the federal budget to fund research.

“We don’t want to give up. This is our identity. We will fight until the end,” Soto said.

Many in the crowd were also concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, and its upcoming June 11 ​vote on whether to become a state.

“They’ve had elections before but they’ve been totally ignored by Congress but Congress has the last word. I’m trying to find out what you think about this,” said John Perez, of Poinciana.   

“I’m going to do what the people want me to do. I’m going to be looking to the results. If they pass statehood, I’ll be the first one to fight to make sure that we get a vote on it and I’m on the subcommittee that can do that,” said Soto.

Soto is of Puerto Rican descent but said he did not grow up on the island.

His District 9 includes eastern Polk County, Osceola County, and western Orange County.

He said he plans to open an office in Winter Haven on June 19.