Gov. Rick Scott stood at the podium, looking out onto the hundreds of lawmakers listening to his every word. The room was crowded, with people who had traveled from all over the state to hear him speak. A sense of excitement -- and tension -- filled the air.
For lawmakers, and for Florida, Scott had a message: The Sunshine State is ready to fight.
"If there is one thing you remember from this speech today, I hope it is this: Florida is a state full of fighters, and I personally will never stop fighting for our families," said Scott. “Floridians are strong, Floridians are selfless. Floridians are fighters.”
Scott recalled the state’s collective heartbreaks over the past year, touching on the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting, the spread of the Zika virus, two hurricanes which rocked the state and a shooting in the Fort Lauderdale Airport which left five dead and 36 injured.
“The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as governor is to find the words to console a parent who has lost a child,” Scott said.
But in spite of the tragedies, Scott vowed Florida would move forward, rise up and become stronger than ever before.
The future, Scott said, is still bright.
“The future of our great state is even greater than our past accomplishments,” the governor said.
Scott’s annual “State of the State” address hit on familiar themes, like cutting taxes and putting Floridians back to work.
Scott harped on slashing tax rates for Florida businesses, a narrative throughout his gubernatorial career. The governor is currently proposing cutting sales tax on business leases by $454 million a year, a cut of 25 percent.
Scott’s address also focused on his larger tax package, which would cost Florida $618 million annually.
"Our Fighting for Florida's Future tax cut package will boost our economy and encourage businesses of all sizes to create jobs and build opportunities for generations of Floridians," Scott said. "Let's remember, when jobs are created, it helps the poorest, most disadvantaged families who need a job the most: families just like mine when I was growing up."
The governor pledged to protect veterans, pushing a $102 million to support veterans and their families. Scott is also proposing a three-day tax holiday for veterans in this year’s budget.
Scott also came to the defense of his twin pride and joy, Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida, which are both on the chopping block during this year’s legislative session.
"Both Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida have made mistakes along with their many successes over the years.. and I do not fault anyone for pointing out those mistakes,” Scott told lawmakers. “Any time we can eliminate government waste we should do it. But, just like we would do in the business world, we have made changes at both agencies so the organizations can be more efficient and transparent.”
The governor said it wasn’t smart for legislators to call it quits on the agencies just yet, hinting at the desire to pare down wasteful funding as long as the agencies were not eliminated entirely.
“You don’t just give up and shut down, and take your ball and go home,” he said. “You figure out what the problem is and fix it.”
Scott pushed for a sweeping increase in education funding, especially for state colleges and universities, a priority in line with Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart.
Scott proposed $24 billion for the Florida Department of Education. Around $14 billion of that money would be set aside for Florida’s public school system. Under Scott’s new budget, per-pupil spending would increase slightly to $7,421, an uptick of about $216 from last year’s $7,205.
Scott will an ally in Joe Negron over increasing funding for Florida colleges and universities. Negron has already suggested pumping $1 billion over two years to the state university system.
In closing, Scott said it was up to lawmakers to make Florida to continue working hard to make Florida the best place to work and to live.
“We’ve made a lot of progress here in Florida, but we cannot be happy just staying put,” he said. “Let’s paint the picture of what we want Florida to look like in the future, and let’s make that future happen.”
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
