Below is the text from the Governor's State of the State Address
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Good morning President Gardiner,
Speaker Crisafulli and distinguished members of the Florida Legislature.
Welcome Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief
Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, Chief
Justice Labarga and members of the Florida Supreme Court. And I would like to
recognize my wonderful wife Ann. We have been married for almost 43 years. I
love you Ann. We have been blessed.
So now it’s
time for another state of the state speech, or as I like to call it – a chance
for me to show off my world renowned oratorical skills. It’s ok, you can laugh,
it was meant to be a joke.
I want to
start off today by talking about what unites us: a love for our great state.
Like me, I know all of you don’t have to be in these offices. No one forced you
to take these jobs. You signed up for service, and you worked hard to get here.
And, like me, you wanted to work for the people of Florida because you know we
are the best state in the country. Certainly, we all have our own ideas, and we
debate with vigor. But I do believe it is important to acknowledge that we all
have common goals for the families that live in our great state. We want every
person in Florida to have the opportunity to live the dream of America. I believe
we are the best place in the country and the world to make dreams come true. I
call this Florida exceptionalism.
Let me take
just a minute to brag about our great state, which I know you love just as much
as I do. These are some of the successes created by the great people in our
state…
In the last
four years, the unemployment rate in Florida has dropped in half – from 11.1
percent to 5.6 percent – the second biggest drop in unemployment in the United
States. We have added over 728,000 new private-sector jobs. We have 279K job
openings right now in our state. In the last year, around 250k people moved to
our state and we are now the third biggest state in the nation- bigger than New
York. From 1992-2011, Florida inherited $100 billion in adjusted gross income
from other states. This is more than 1/8 of our annual GDP. Last year, we had
our fourth record year of tourism- 97.3 million people visited our state.
Clearly our investment in Visit Florida is working, and every 85 tourists
create another Florida job.
We have 15
seaports. Our investments in ports are working, with over 150,000 trade jobs
added in the last four years. We have also made significant investments in our
airports, which has helped bring record numbers of tourists to Florida.
Enterprise Florida has won over 400 competitive projects for new jobs, projects
like Hertz and Navy Federal Credit Union. We are a right to work state. We are
the gateway to Latin America. We are the number two state for trade
infrastructure. We are also number two for aerospace and aviation
establishments in the U.S. We are the second best state for business by CEO
Magazine, and we will soon be number one.
We are home
to over 250 languages. We are at a 43-year-low in our crime rate. We are
clearly the best melting pot in the world. Housing prices are up. Taxes are
down. We have cut taxes more than 40 times in four years. We have no personal
income tax. The average person pays about $1,800 in state taxes in Florida –
the lowest in the nation. Lowest number of state workers per capita in the
country – and we are going to continue to look for productivity gains. Our
LLC’s and Subchapter S corporations don't pay a business tax. Over 80% of our C
corporations don’t pay the business tax. We have reduced taxes for our small businesses.
For the
first time since Governor Martinez was in office, we have reduced state debt.
We have paid down $7.5 billion in debt. Our fourth graders are number two in
the world in reading. The National Council on Teacher Quality says we have the
best equipped teachers in the nation for two surveys in a row. Our state
colleges offer $10,000 degrees in areas where our students can get a job. When
we held the line on tuition last year, the price of a Florida Prepaid Plan
dropped in half.
Florida is
an exceptional place. As far back as the 1800’s, people were moving to Florida
to make their dreams come true. In 1851, a doctor and researcher in North
Florida received a patent for a refrigeration invention he developed after
experimenting with ways to cool a room to make his patients more comfortable.
Today, we know this man as the “father of air conditioning” and without John
Gorrie’s invention, the beauty of Florida wouldn’t be home to almost 20 million
people today!
In 1878,
Henry Flagler moved to Florida and began dreaming big. He saw beautiful beaches
that were warm year-round and when people told him there wasn’t any way people
up north would come down here, he was bold enough to build a railway to get
them here and hotels for them to stay in. We now have the vibrant cities of
Miami and Palm Beach thanks to the dreams of Henry Flagler over 100 years ago.
In the
middle of the Great Depression, George Jenkins, Jr. left his job at a grocery
store and decided he would open up his own store. I am sure many people thought
Mr. Jenkins was crazy, but he had a dream. Today, his chain of stores employs
127,000 Floridians and is the largest employee-owned company in the country. We
know it as Publix.
Of course,
we all know about the dreams of Walt Disney. He never lived in Florida, but
dreamed up Disney World, which opened in 1971 and put Florida on the map to be
the worldwide tourist destination we are today.
Florida has
long been a place where dreams come true. But, this is not just our past – it
is our future. We have to ask ourselves who has the next big dream for Florida?
Who are the inventors? The builders? The trailblazers? We want more people to
chase their dreams in Florida.
In fact,
some of the people whose dreams are changing the world are here with us today.
Please help me welcome: Richard Gonzmart, the fourth-generation President of
the Columbia Restaurant Group in Tampa – Florida’s oldest restaurant.
Mary Ann
Carroll – a world renowned artist from Florida – unfortunately could not be
with us this morning. Mary Ann began selling her paintings in the 1950’s along
Fort Pierce’s roadsides. As an African American, she said she was not allowed
into any galleries at the time. But, with her 60-year career of hard work and
many struggles, Mary Ann now promotes the beauty of our state through her
artwork hanging in museums and galleries all across the world.
Please help
me welcome theme park designer Bill Coan - president of ITEC Entertainment
Corporation in Orlando. Bill has designed theme parks and attractions around
the world, like Daytona USA.
And finally,
let’s welcome meteorologist and storm chaser Gladys Rubio. Gladys and her
husband, Jose, moved to Miami from Cuba in the early 1990’s for a better life.
Today, Gladys tracks giant storms across the world at the National Hurricane
Center for Spanish-language audiences in the United States and the Caribbean.
Florida is
an exceptional place. Every one of you have dreamed big and helped make our
state great. I am now a proud grandfather, and I think a lot about how we can
make Florida the place where our children’s and grandchildren’s dreams come
true. In order to be a land where dreams come true, I believe we have to
out-compete the rest of the world.
There are
five ways we can do that. First: Let’s keep cutting taxes! Floridians can spend
their money better than government can. I want to say that again: Floridians
can spend their money better than government can. I have recommended cutting
the tax on cell phones and TVs for every Florida family so they can save around
$43 a year for spending as little as $100 a month on cell phone and TV bills
combined. I have also recommended that we permanently end the tax on
manufacturing equipment so more companies will make major capital investments
in Florida. Businesses can spend their money and create jobs better than
government can. I have recommended that we get rid of the state sales tax on
college textbooks because getting a higher education degree must become more
affordable. Students can spend their money better than government can. It
should not require a federal loan and decades of debt for students to get a
college degree. Price limits access – plain and simple.
If we are
going to out-compete the world, the second thing we must do is make higher
education more affordable. I want to work with you this year to pass a college
affordability bill that will hold the line on graduate school tuition and bring
transparency to university costs. Just like any business, we should expect
education to become more affordable each year, not more expensive. Let us never
again say that, “we have to raise tuition because tuition in other states is
higher than ours.” We don’t raise taxes when other states have taxes higher
than ours, and we shouldn’t raise tuition when other states have higher
tuition.
Third, to
out-compete the world, we must invest in workforce development. Our recommended
investments this year include: $30 million for high-skill workforce training;
$20 million for advanced workforce training at our tech centers; $5 million to
incentivize $10,000 STEM degrees at our state colleges; and $1 million to
create a paid summer program for STEM teachers.
Fourth, if
we are going to out-compete the world, we must invest in K-12 education. This
year, we are recommending an increase in K-12 funding to $50 above the historic
level to $7,176 per student. Four years ago, I stood before you and said we
would have to make some hard decisions. And, we did. We made reductions that
dipped into education, knowing that when the economy improved we could invest
again. Many of these decisions were unpopular, but by living within our means
it created an environment for success. Few thought we could add 728,000 jobs,
have the highest funding for education, and invest in our environment just four
years later. But, we did it together – and we have more work to do. Now that
our economy is thriving, it is time to make major investments in education.
Let’s not squander our budget surplus on special interests. Our budget should
reflect the principles we campaigned on or in other words, we should do exactly
what we told voters we would do.
The final
thing we must do to out-compete the world is keep Florida beautiful. Florida is
an exceptional place – we have the economy and the opportunity to keep it that
way. Our recommended budget includes more than $3 billion for environmental and
agriculture programs which includes a total of $150 million in funding to
protect the Everglades and another $150 million that will help protect land for
the Florida panther. It is important to point out that our recommended
environmental investments in land and water programs will be $82 million above
what is required by Amendment One.
The goals I
just outlined to out-compete the world are bold. I have met with many of you
over the last few months and I know we share the exact same vision. We want
Florida to be the best place in the world for our children and grandchildren to
live their dreams. We agree on more than we disagree on. We want to give
families back more of the money they earn, and reduce the burden of government.
In the weeks
ahead, I expect some people will try to divide us. They will try to distract
us. But, Mr. President, Mr. Speaker - I believe we can come together with our
shared desire to improve this great state. Many of our shared goals are already
outlined in your “Work Plan 2015.” Members of the Senate, Members of the House
- I commit to all of you that I will be a tireless partner in your fight to
make Florida the best place in the world for all of our children and
grandchildren to get a great job and live their dreams.
I believe
that our rich history is only a glimpse of what we can do in the future.
Everything is possible in Florida. We are now in the lead; and it’s ours to
lose. We have to avoid any temptation to stand down or rest on our laurels. And
of course, even with our tremendous progress, there are still some Floridians
who have not yet found their opportunity. Having grown up in a family that was
at times down on our luck, I know the importance of each and every family
having an opportunity. Remembering those tough times drives me every day to do
all I can to give each and every one of our citizens the chance to realize
their dreams. Government cannot guarantee outcomes for everyone, but we should
all be united in our desire to guarantee opportunities for everyone who is
willing to work hard.
I am looking
forward to working side-by-side with you during session to achieve our shared
goals, inspire future generations to dream, and keep Florida working.
God bless
America and God bless the exceptional state of Florida. Thank You.
