During the last election, Florida Governor Rick Scott promised bold action to get our struggling economy back on track. Scott said he would run the state more like a business, by increasing accountability in government, streamlining public programs, and shifting some government functions to the private sector.
Last week, we finally got a look at the specifics of his plans, as Scott revealed his much-awaited proposed state budget for the upcoming year. His proposals, which he says would cut the state budget by $4.6 billion, have been the talk of Tallahassee since then, and many of his ideas are considered to be very controversial.
We're still going over the details, so we don't have all the information yet, but I wanted to take this opportunity to give you some of my initial reactions to his budget plans.
1. By placing an emphasis on attracting new businesses to Florida and encouraging existing businesses to expand, Governor Scott seems to have the right idea.
If you watched any television during the last election, you'll remember this from Scott's campaign commercials. He always talked about making Florida more friendly for businesses, and I couldn't agree more. Florida has many natural advantages that other states just can't match, so we should be doing everything we can to convince more companies to start doing their business here.
Every new headquarters opening means more jobs for our citizens. Governor Scott's budget seems to recognize these facts. The Governor wants $800 million for economic development, presumably to spend on incentives to attract companies to either start doing business here or expand their current operations within our state – and this sort of spending has the potential to really jump-start our economy.
2. Raising taxes would hurt our fragile economy. Even though Florida faces a $3.6 billion budget shortfall for the upcoming year, raising taxes on Florida's families would only make the situation worse, not better.
That's why I welcome the Governor's proposal to repeal the driver license and tag fee increases passed by the state legislature in 2009. I went against my entire party on this issue, becoming the only Republican legislator in Tallahassee to actually vote against these unfair increases – and by repealing them now, we could save taxpayers almost $500 million.
3. Governor Scott should clarify certain parts of his proposed budget.
Many concerned Floridians are asking questions about other parts of the Governor's budget, and Governor Scott should provide more information about his ideas. We're now learning that the Governor's office may have overstated the amount of money he would cut from the budget, by using some questionable accounting practices to craft his proposals.
We can't move forward on analyzing his budget ideas before we understand what the real numbers are. Also, how will Florida's schools continue the impressive academic gains they've made in the last few years, in light of the Governor's plans to cut about $3.3 billion from education budgets?
What effect will cuts to public safety and transportation budgets have on our quality of life? And what is the Governor's rationale for increasing funding for his own office, while making cuts to so many other state agencies and programs?
We need more information from the Governor on these issues before we can honestly evaluate his proposals and incorporate them into the final state budget later this spring. It's always a difficult process to craft the state budget, especially when so many Floridians are hurting or out of work.
However, I'm hopeful that by working together we will develop a fair budget that reflects the priorities of all Floridians and moves us towards a healthier economy.