After Gov. Rick Scott gave his sixth State of the State address on Tuesday, groups across Florida reacted to his call for $1 billion in tax cuts and an additional $250 million for Enterprise Florida to recruit businesses to the state.
The business community cheered the governor after his speech. Former U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., the president and CEO of the Associated Industries of Florida (AIF), praised Scott and is proposals.
“AIF applauds Gov. Scott on his State of the State address, and congratulates him on all he has been able to accomplish for the great state of Florida in terms of fostering a business-friendly environment,” Feeney said on Tuesday. “Growing our job base, cutting taxes, decreasing red tape and diversifying our economy are just some of the accomplishments that have led to Florida being one of the best places in the nation to do business.
“We look forward to continuing to work together toward growing business in Florida in 2016,” Feeney added.
AIF wasn’t the only member of the business community to stand behind Scott. In the Orlando Sentinel, Mark Wilson, the president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, insisted Scott’s tax cuts would lead to more revenue and help boost the state’s economy.
Fiscal conservative group Americans for Prosperity's (AFP) Florida chapter gave Scott's proposals mixed marks. Chris Hudson, AFP’s director in Florida, cheered Scott’s call for more tax cuts but continued to oppose the governor’s proposal to increase funding to Enterprise Florida.
“While it was encouraging to hear calls for the legislature to focus on cutting taxes and improving the business climate, I was left wondering who that was as I was watching the dais,” Hudson said. “During last year’s State of the State address, Gov. Scott boldly announced his supposed belief that taxpayers are the best investors of their own dollars. Yet just one year later, he has introduced a plan that will pick winners and losers by investing a quarter of a billion dollars in various private businesses. Gov. Scott and the Legislature would do well to remember that government is not a bank, and that the hardworking taxpayers of this state do not approve of such wasteful spending practices. The governor and the Legislature have done yeoman’s work in enacting broad-based tax cuts, reexamining Florida’s regulatory environment, and keeping Florida at number one when it comes to education innovation. These efforts have done more to advance prosperity and entrepreneurship in our state than tax credits and loopholes ever could. Government doesn’t create jobs. It creates an atmosphere to empower the entrepreneurial spirit.”
Hudson had kind words for the leaders of the Legislature: Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island.
“I am encouraged by the announcements made in the Senate chamber,” Hudson said. “Floridians should be pleased to hear about President Gardiner’s commitment to continuing to find areas to cut taxes.
“Speaker Crisafulli’s call to legislators to leave a better Florida to our kids is spot on,” Hudson added. “We will work with the House to pursue an aggressive reform agenda that includes eliminating unnecessary regulations, cutting taxes, and pushing for innovative health care and education policy.”
On the other side of the aisle, Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant wasted no time in going after Scott and his proposals.
“Yesterday, during his testimony before the Senate Finance and Tax Committee, Rick Scott dismissed concerns over increased property taxes, insisting his billion-dollar corporate welfare plan took precedence,” Tant said. “We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
“Today, Rick Scott doubled down on his misguided priorities and further illustrated his complete disconnect with working Floridians,” Tant added. “His rudderless leadership has left state government gridlocked and dysfunctional. If his State of the State address is any indication, Floridians are in for more of the same.
“Democrats will continue to stand up and fight for Florida’s middle class families that this governor and the Republican leadership have left behind,” Tant concluded. “Democrats will continue to oppose radical Republican attempts to put guns on college campuses, restrict women’s rights, and legislate discrimination against Florida’s LGBT community. We remain the only party fully committed to protecting Florida’s environment and expanding access to affordable health care.”
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Florida President Monica Russo also piled on Scott for his proposals.
“It comes as no surprise that Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led Legislature have a jam-packed agenda that attacks hardworking Floridians rather than doing their sworn job to protect the interests of our most vulnerable,” Russo said. “The solutions are there, but Gov. Scott and Republican legislators are choosing to pass laws that harm working Floridians instead of protecting them, like proposing a $770 million tax-cut for big business while shifting the burden on the people.
“Enough is enough,” Russo added. “Instead of addressing the real issues that affect the lives of millions of hardworking Floridians, like increasing the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and expanding access to affordable health care to protect more families from falling into poverty, Scott and Republican legislators are giving priority to growing corporate welfare for big business at the expense of taxpayers, separating families and criminalizing immigrant workers who put food on our tables and shape our cities' skyline and denying state workers the ability to collectively bargain -- one of the simplest examples of democracy. Too many hardworking Floridians don’t earn enough to support their families because they are underpaid and underappreciated. It’s time for our politicians to rise to the occasion and raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. If Rick Scott and the Republican legislators choose the path of boosting corporate welfare, hardworking Floridians, of which 52 percent live in poverty or earn less than $15 an hour, have more incentive than ever to vote for candidates who will cut off the funnel of money that continues to subsidize some of the state’s largest corporations and invest that money on the real economic engine – working Floridians.
“More than 4 million Floridians would benefit from raising the minimum wage to $15, and a vast majority of underpaid Floridians are voters,” Russo closed. “It is time for Florida legislators to step up to the plate and support underpaid Floridians struggling to make ends meet, or get out of the way.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
