In his third State of the State address Tuesday morning, Gov. Rick Scott offered a ringing update on the progress of his administration's top priorities -- creating jobs, improving education, lowering taxes and paying down the debt -- "It's working," he said.
In fact, "It's working" was the theme of the governor's performance update.
Speaking in the Florida House of Representatives before members of the House and Senate and invited guests, Scott complimented the Legislature for its part in Florida's two-year-plus gains.
"Today, because of the tireless work of the men and women in this room, our businesses are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and our unemployment rate is nearly down to the national average; and we arent stopping there. Its working."
Scott said, because he and the Legislature had made the hard choices over the last two years, they are able to make the smart choices to keep Florida's economy growing this year.
"Two years ago, we knew we had been called here to make the difficult choices to help Florida families get back to work. ...
"We cut taxes We eliminated thousands of regulations on job creators We paid down state debt for two years in a row We invested in priorities like education And, now our economy is on the rebound.
"Its working."
These successes gave him an opportunity during his address to explain why he's slowed down the austerity attack that defined so much of his first two years in office.
"We have a projected budget surplus for the first time in six years. Our challenges are different in this budget, but our goal is absolutely the same. That goal is economic growth and job creation."
He said his top two priorities for 2013 are removing the sales tax on manufacturing equipment and investing in teachers by giving them a pay raise.
Scott made it plain that he always supported the best education system for Florida, even when he cut education in his first budget. He didn't want a war on teachers, he said, he wanted a war on failure.
"When I first stood before you in 2011, I said, 'The single most important factor in student learning is the quality of teaching.'
"Since that time, we eliminated teacher tenure. We signed performance pay into law, and it will take effect in 2014.
"Floridas education system is making tremendous progress, due in large part to our great teachers and the work begun by Governor Bush and many in this Legislature."
Accountabiliy, he said, is working.
Scott was perhaps at his most forceful when he explained why he stays laser-focused on job creation.And in so doing, he took a back-door swipe at former Gov. Charlie Crist, who may be his Democratic opponent in 2014:
"In the four years before I took office, Florida lost more than 825,000 jobs," he said. "Unemployment more than tripled from 3.5 percent to 11.1 percent over those four years. State debt increased by $5.2 billion. Our housing market had collapsed. Our economy was off track and our families were hurting.
"The shortsighted policies of borrowing on our future had led to disaster.
"Together we fought to cut spending, cut taxes and pay down debt.
"Our unemployment rate has now dropped by more than 3 percentage points from two years ago the second biggest drop in the country. We are now at 7.9 percent unemployment a 4-year low. And, we arent stopping there.
"We have cut state debt by $2 billion. Housing starts are up again, and consumer confidence is rebounding," Scott said.
The following links were provided by the governor's office:
2013 State of the State address is available HERE
Biographies of 2013 Guests of Governor Scott are available HERE
Creating Jobs for Florida Families Information is available HERE
Building Up Florida Manufacturing Information is available HERE
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
