Governor Rick Scott’s 2018 State of the State Address
TALLAHASSEE – Good morning. I am honored to deliver my final state of the state today. I would first like to recognize: Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran. Speaker, I appreciate your commitment to cutting taxes and for fighting to make sure every Florida student can get a great education. Senate President Joe Negron. President, your focus on Lake Okeechobee and Florida’s environment will benefit countless Floridians and visitors for generations.
Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Thank you for all you do for our great state and for joining me in the fight for freedom and democracy in Cuba and Venezuela. Attorney General Pam Bondi. You have been a true advocate for crime victims and have been a leading voice in our fight against the opioid epidemic. There’s no doubt that your efforts have saved lives. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. I was proud to appoint you as CFO and in a very short time, you have done so much to help Florida families. Thank you for all you are doing to support our brave firefighters. Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam. Thank you for always fighting for Florida’s critical agriculture community and for all you have done to help Florida’s citrus industry after Hurricane Irma. Chief Justice Labarga and members of the Florida Supreme Court. Thank you for your service to our state.
I would like to thank my wife, Ann. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not thankful for your unwavering support. As first lady, you have done so much to help Florida families. From visiting schools, to promoting literacy and helping find forever homes for kids in foster care, I am so proud of all you have done. You took a chance on me 45 years ago, a skinny kid without a penny in his pocket, who talked too fast, with only a dream. You have believed in me every day since then, including the day I told you I wanted to run for Governor. When no one else thought I had a shot, you stood by me. I love you. I would like to also recognize my son-law-law Pierre and my oldest grandson, Auguste. Auguste wants to either be a paratrooper like his great-grandfather or a police officer when he grows up. I know how disappointed you all must be that you won’t get to hear me give another great speech like this, try to hold back the tears. Putting jokes aside, I stand here today, at the beginning of my last year as Governor, thankful for the opportunity that we have all had to help our beloved state of Florida. I am thankful that in 2010, with the amazing support of my family, the people of Florida gave me the chance to turn our state around. This has been the most rewarding job.
There were the naysayers who told us there was no way that a businessman with no experience in politics or government could possibly be successful at helping to turn Florida’s economy around. Fortunately for all of us, the naysayers were wrong.
John Morgan recently revealed that he’s left the Democratic Party and won’t run as a Democrat for governor.
Rep. Charbonier of San Juan talks about Puerto Rico at a press conference in Tallahassee on the first day of the session, Jan. 9,2018. (Video by Gray Rohrer/Orlando Sentinel)
When I was in business, I would see politicians come and go and always make promises that they would be business-friendly, cut taxes and reduce regulations. And usually, it was all just talk. Nothing much ever happened. I have done business in almost every state, and when I brought an issue about permits or licensing to government leaders, they would often just repeat their same promises and reassure me that they would get back with me. Of course, they rarely ever did.
In 2010, when I ran for Governor, I promised to change the status quo and create an environment where businesses can succeed and create jobs for Florida families. And the results speak for themselves: Working together, we’ve created an environment where our private sector has added nearly 1.5 million jobs; our GDP has grown 26 percent; home values have skyrocketed; we’ve decreased state debt by $9 billion; and our unemployment rate has dropped from over 10 percent when I took office to a more than 10-year low of 3.6 percent – even lower than the national rate. Those are some great statistics, but this is not about statistics. It’s about real people. Like many people, I grew up in poverty and I can tell you firsthand having a job is not something we should ever take for granted. Florida has experienced this incredible economic revival because we have worked hard to cut taxes over 80 times, which has saved Florida families more than $7.5 billion. Working together, we have taken billions of dollars out of the government’s hands and given it back to Floridians.
Like many of you here, this is my last year in this position. This is my last session to cut taxes. And, we must acknowledge that, unfortunately, at some point, there will be politicians sitting in this chamber who are not as fiscally responsible as we are today. I am sure there will be people who hold our jobs down the road who will want to increase taxes, otherwise known as taking more money from hard working Floridians. Decades ago, Florida voters approved an amendment to the constitution that prohibited a state income tax. The skeptics warned that bad things would happen – the skeptics were wrong.
I want 2018 to be the year that Florida voters pass a constitutional amendment that makes it harder for politicians to raise taxes. My proposal would require 2/3rds of the legislature to vote on a tax increase for it to become law. Some have asked if this proposal would be in effect during a financial emergency or another national recession, and my answer is clear – ABSOLUTELY.
It is during times of economic downturn where this proposal is needed the most. It will force leaders to contemplate living within their means rather than taking the easy way out and just sticking it to the public by raising taxes on families and job creators. I ask all of you to join me in this fight and ensure we do all we can to not let future politicians undo the hard work we have done to grow Florida’s economy and create jobs. We need to secure a strong economy for our children and grandchildren.
I also have put forward a tax cut package this year that will truly benefit every single Floridian. Before I took office, everyone who had a driver’s license faced a massive fee increase. This year, I want to reduce those fees back to pre-2009 levels by cutting the fee for the renewal of a regular driver’s license by more than 58 percent from $48 to $20; I want to cut the fee on an original regular driver’s license by more than 43 percent from $48 to $27; and I want to cut the fee on an original Commercial Driver’s License by more than 10 percent. My dad was a truck driver and if he had extra money back in his pocket, that would have been a big deal.
My tax cut proposal also includes sales tax holidays to help families prepare for the school year and hurricane season. After the storms we experienced last year, we need to have a longer sales tax holiday so people have time to buy the supplies they need like generators, batteries and flashlights. My proposal extends the current one-week sales tax holiday to three weeks over a three-month period to ensure people have ample time to get the goods they need before the start of hurricane season.
I don’t think anyone in this room could have predicted the mammoth storm Hurricane Irma would become. There wasn’t a portion of our state that was safe from Irma. We saw it shift, turn, and literally cover our entire state. It was like a scene from a movie. But, Floridians came together and faced Hurricane Irma head on. As I traveled around the state, I heard story after story of families helping one another and communities standing together. The response and solidarity that was shown by our state was one of the proudest moments that I have had as Governor. And when I was urging people to get prepared for the storm and to evacuate, so many of you were there to help raise awareness in your communities. Thank you. And after the storm, we showed up. From handing out water, to working at food banks, so many Floridians and many of you in this room helped your neighbors in need. And I believe Florida has come back even stronger.
Florida demonstrated to the entire world how to prepare and respond to a natural disaster, and two heroes who helped Florida prepare and respond to Hurricane Irma are with us today. I would like to introduce you to Lauren and Michael Davis from Jacksonville. Lauren and Michael both serve in the Florida National Guard, and were deployed along with thousands of our brave National Guard members during the storm. However, their deployment was at a very inconvenient time for the young couple. Their wedding was set in Jacksonville Beach the same week as the Hurricane was impacting Florida.
So, instead of postponing getting married, Lauren and Michael decided to exchange vows in full uniform in front of their fellow guardsmen at the Orange County Convention Center as they prepared for post-storm response. Lauren and Michael chose to put “service before self,” a trait we should all strive to have. Lauren and Michael, thank you for your sacrifice to protect your fellow Floridians. And please be sure to give all these legislators the details on your wedding registry.
Just when we thought we got through Irma, Maria was quickly approaching Puerto Rico. While we are so blessed Florida was spared, sadly our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico were devastated. Like many of you in this room, I have been focused on helping Puerto Rico recover and rebuild. I have visited Puerto Rico twice following the storm. I saw firsthand the devastation on the Island and I have tried to help the people of Puerto Rico any way I could. We have had hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans come to Florida since Maria and my goal is that Florida be the most welcoming place for people displaced by the storm. We have set up centers to help Puerto Ricans get connected to services and resources, made it easier for students to get enrolled in our schools and removed barriers for professional licenses so people can quickly get to work in our state.
But, there is still more we can do together to help Puerto Ricans displaced by the storm. This year, I am proposing $12 million in funding to establish the English Language Learners Academy. This program will focus on reading improvements and making sure students displaced by Hurricane Maria have access to important learning programs. And, I ask that you join me in supporting this important program this year. As we saw throughout this entire hurricane season, our first responders came to the rescue of so many. Not only did our first responders and National Guard do an outstanding job during Hurricanes Irma and Nate here in Florida, but they came to the rescue of our friends outside of Florida. Following Maria, 50 Florida Highway Patrol members deployed to Puerto Rico to help with security and traffic control in San Juan. And following Hurricane Harvey in Texas, more than two dozen Florida Fish and Wildlife officers helped rescue more than 500 people trapped in flooded areas. While they are not here with us today, please join me in a round of applause to thank these brave men and women.
