Now that the 2011 Legislative Session has been completed, I wanted to reflect back on what we were able to accomplish this year. We faced historic challenges that required strong leadership and the willingness to make the tough choices in difficult times. Last November, you re-elected me to the Florida House of Representatives to serve as your voice in Tallahassee.
As part of my commitment to keep you informed, I've written down a few of my top priorities from this past session. # Producing a balanced budget. Coming into this year's meeting of the legislature, our state faced a huge $4.6 billion budget shortfall that had to be made up. The easy choice would have been to simply raise taxes to cover the gap – and many in Tallahassee were advocating exactly that. However, taking that course of action would have caused more economic pain at a time when Floridians are already feeling the pinch from rising prices at the grocery store and the gas pump. Personally, I once again refused to support new taxes and fees. The budget we finally passed rejects new taxes and balances the state's checkbook in a manner that we can be proud of. Now it is up to Governor Rick Scott to weigh in on our budget this week. # Supporting job creation and economic growth. We passed a number of economic reforms this year that will help support our economic recovery. The most important of these may be my own legislation which will create the SEED Trust Fund. The SEED Trust Fund is an economic development engine that aims to get our economy back on track by encouraging new businesses to move to Florida and current businesses to expand. The incentives offered by SEED will make it easier for businesses to offer high-quality jobs to our citizens. Florida's unemployment rate has started to fall in recent months, and I believe that SEED will provide a boost to this encouraging trend. # Reforming health care in Florida. The state's current Medicaid program provides medical care for millions of our citizens. It is so important to support this program, since it offers care to those vulnerable members of our society who might otherwise go without it. However, because of rising costs associated with the program, it has become the largest single cost driver in the state budget. This dangerous trend has threatened the long-term viability of the program. The historic Medicaid reforms we passed this year will reorganize the program to ensure that vulnerable Floridians will have access to quality medical care for years to come. I fully support these efforts. Without a doubt, the 2011 Session was difficult in many ways. Everyone has had to tighten their belts and accept cutbacks. However, the tough choices we made this year will put our state on a stronger footing to meet the challenges we face. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.