The two major Republican gubernatorial candidates are battling over the best way to spur the struggling state economy with almost a month to go before GOP voters decide who will be their nominee for governor.
Front-runner Rick Scott wants to cut state jobs, eliminate the business income tax, cut property taxes and lower workers' compensation costs, among other proposals.
As governor, Ill be Floridas job creator-in-chief, Scott said in a release Wednesday announcing his economic plan. Ill be focused on putting Floridians back to work, not securing my next political job, and Ill be accountable to taxpayers not beholden to special interests.
Attorney General Bill McCollum, who released his economic plan prior to Scott, says cutting state jobs is unrealistic, wants a 1 percent cut to the corporate income tax and proposes a two-year freeze on local millage rates.
Bill McCollum has been running on a comprehensive job creation and economic agenda for months, said McCollum campaign manager Matt Williams. Hes offered solutions to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, grow our economy, improve the states transportation network, provide more choice and affordability in our health care system, provide water solutions for our future growth needs and create a world-class education system for Floridas students.
In total, the two plans are similar. Both propose making it harder for businesses to be sued for big payouts and a moratorium on new business regulations. Both promote investments in higher education and new technology. But they have their differences, a major one being Scott's proposal to cut 5 percent of the state work force.
A large chunk of Scott's plan is dedicated to government spending. He has also proposed pension reform and suggested that the prisons could be operated for less money.
A spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents many state government employees, said if Scott did a little research he would discover that Florida already has the leanest state budget in the country and there really isn't room to cut, particularly from the work force.
I guess the question to that would be would he throw the sick out of their hospitals said AFSCME spokesman Doug Martin. Where does that 5 percent come from? Does he throw the mentally ill out on the street? Does he close a health department? Does he cut back on care for foster kids?
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the front-runner for the Democratic nod, released her economic plan in March. Her suggestions include creating a small-business ombudsman, deferring state corporate income taxes for startup businesses and giving tax credits to businesses that create more than 20 new jobs in Florida.
Unlike Rick Scott's and Bill McCollum's plans, which rely on tired, across-the-board cuts and mandates which have been shown not to work for our state, Alex Sink's business plan ties her incentives directly to job creation and attracting innovative industries, to make sure we get Floridians back to work, said Sink spokeswoman Kyra Jennings
