My response to Governor Crist’s State of the State speech. (Crist is quoted, I’m not).
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Good morning. Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice and members of the Court, members of the Cabinet, the Legislature, honored guests, and my fellow Floridians across our state. Good morning to you all.
It is a privilege to be here this morning for the first time as your new Governor. But in many ways, for me this is a homecoming.
It was in the role of a legislator that I began my public service, and I know the enthusiasm and excitement you feel today as you start your work.
Normal introductory stuff here, no big deal and nothing to say in response.
As I begin this morning, I would be remiss if I did not first say thank you. Thank you Ken Pruitt, thank you Marco Rubio, Ray Sansom, thank you Dan Webster, Marty Bowen, Steve Geller, Dan Gelber and Bill Posey, and thank you to every member of the legislature for passing meaningful property insurance reform for the people of our state.
The people of Florida cried out for help and you answered their call. We worked together in a bi-partisan way—the People’s Legislature and the People’s Governor working for the People’s Agenda. We set an example, and we are on the way to lowering rates for our people—and not a moment too soon.
Maybe a bit grandiose in language, but that’s a minor thing. I hope the new bill is successful, but it’s too soon to see and I really don’t know enough about it to say much. Is it me or is analysis of the new law hard to come by?
As I look around this chamber, Mr. Speaker, I would also be remiss if I did not welcome the 37 new members of the Florida House of Representatives.
One of your former colleagues is with us today in a new role. Please welcome my partner, my friend, and our Lieutenant Governor, Jeff Kottkamp.
No thanks. Kottkamp’s selection is definitely the worst choice Crist has made so far.
Also in the chamber today, Mr. President, are seven new senators who have been chosen by the voters to come to Tallahassee to get things done. I am highly confident that they will, and I want to congratulate and welcome our newest Senators.
I also want to recognize my family seated in the Gallery— my Mother and Father, my sisters and their families. Thank you for being there for me and always supporting me. I love you very much.
Finally, the introduction is over.
Among those not with us in the chamber, but certainly in our hearts, are the men and women of our armed forces and the Florida National Guard who are serving our country and our state overseas. We are all very proud of them and grateful to them for their sacrifice and the sacrifice of their families in defending our freedom.
Representing our men and women in uniform today is Command Sergeant Major Ronald Watson. He is a highly decorated Soldier who served as the Command Sergeant Major in charge of all enlisted personnel for Camp Virginia in Kuwait. Let us all rise and thank him for his dedication and the service and the sacrifice of all of our men and women in uniform.
I agree and it is good of Crist to honor them. Maybe as governor he can put some pressure on the national Republicans to stop screwing our soldiers and veterans.
A Governor’s first State of State is normally a time to set out an agenda for the year and beyond. And while we will do that today, we must also recognize that much has already been accomplished.
On my first day in office, just a little more than two months ago, I issued an executive order that holds my administration to higher standards of ethical conduct than ever before.
I hope so. Ethics have been in short supply in the Republican Party in recent years.
That order also created the Office of Open Government for the purpose of replacing the door, and installing a window into the workings of the People’s Government.
And the sun shines through that window.
More open government is always good for the people and for the government.
I also ordered a top-to-bottom review of our customer service operations and the implementation of my Plain Language Initiative. Changes are underway to provide the people with the most ethical, open, and customer-friendly government possible. It is their government after all, and it should serve them well.
Another idea I support completely. I don’t like Crist’s seeming "Third Grade Language Initiative," though. Plain language is one thing, but dumb language is another. Really, I man "Anti-Murder"? You can do better than that.
Before the New Year was three weeks old, you were already here in special session seeking solutions to runaway property insurance rates.
Thousands of Floridians reached out to tell us they were being forced to choose between paying outrageous insurance premiums or selling their homes. Thousands of Floridians told us soaring insurance premiums were ruining the promise of raising a family in a Florida home. Thousands of Floridians told us their dream of retiring in our beautiful state was vanishing. Floridians like Stan Whitney.
You may remember Stan. He wrote to me last November to tell me how sky rocketing insurance premiums were on the brink of forcing him to move back to his home state of Vermont.
In public service, it is always important to remember, we serve the people—our boss. Stan is our boss. And he is with us here today along with his wife, Joan. Stan, please rise and wave to your employees.
It was with the urging of Stan and thousands of Floridians like him that we were able to pass legislation less than two months ago that will bring much needed relief to our people.
Does Crist have the same speechwriters as the president did for the State of the Union? Is Dikembe Mutombo next?
To your great credit, you worked as a team. No one person or party claimed to have all of the answers. In the end we all worked together, and the people got what they have long demanded government to do. That is, focus on results—not politics nor process. We will continue to work together, to urge the federal government to create a national catastrophic fund. And I know that if we work together, we can succeed.
I like the national cat fund and I hope it goes forward quickly. And I love the idea of actual bipartisanship, but years of hearing Republicans whine about it dishonestly when they had no real interest in any real bipartisanship has made me cynical. Things do appear to be off to a pretty good start, though, so maybe we’re looking at a change in Tallahassee. See, it isn’t just the guv who can get grandiose.
Not two weeks after the special session, the people of Central Florida awoke in the pre-dawn hours of February 2nd, to devastation wrought by deadly tornadoes.
With winds topping 160 miles per hour, tornadoes, some a quarter of a mile wide, ripped through Lake Mack, Lady Lake, Deland and other Florida communities. All tolled, 21 lost their lives, victims as young as seven to as old as ninety-two.
Within minutes of the tornadoes, with no street lights, downed power lines, fuse boxes exploding, first responders were already moving in.
First responders, emergency managers, information officers, working together, not just from the four affected counties, but all over, responding as a region, and as a compassionate, caring state.
In the Villages, residents signed up, offering bedrooms, even couches to make sure everyone had shelter. The list of those offering help grew so large that there were more offers than people who needed help.
Lake County emergency shelters closed their doors just three days after the tornadoes because families, and friends, and strangers stood up, opened their arms and offered their homes. More than 6,500 people volunteering more than 180,000 hours of time in just the first week alone.
That Sunday after, beside the ruins of Lady Lake Church of God, next to a broken cross, and an American flag, more than a hundred of us, listened to Pastor Lynn, who told us "Life must go on, we must pull together," and we gave thanks to God singing Amazing Grace.
Pastor Lynn, thank you for your inspiration, know that we are here to help you, and know that our work will not be finished until every home, every office and every church is rebuilt.
Pastor Lynn please stand and be recognized today.
Nothing against this particular story, it is an important one, but does it seem like Crist is spending a lot of time not actually talking about the "state" of the state or about his agenda? Also, he didn’t say much about what the response to the tornadoes was from Tallahassee.
While I have been your Governor for just sixty four days, because of the work to make our government more ethical, more open, and more focused on serving the people; because of the service of our first responders, our emergency management team, and thousands of volunteers during this time of disaster; and because of your accomplishments in January working together to reduce the sky rocketing cost of property insurance, I can report to you today:
The state of our State is strong, and it is promising.
Does any governor or president ever say anything different? I imagine that the statement would be the same after we lost a nuclear war.
But our work is not done. As oppressive as the spiraling costs of property insurance, are out-of control property taxes.
Crist has an astute command of the obvious. Of course our work isn’t done. Florida is riddled with problems that were created by years of Republican control of the governor’s mansion and the capitol and there is only a slight prospect of much improvement.
Like the Raulersons, thousands of other Floridians are trapped in their homes, or worse still, cannot afford a home at all.
The American dream of home ownership is being crushed under the weight of property taxes. It will require bold and decisive leadership to reverse this trend and make the Florida dream more affordable. Leadership that must come from this room – from each and every one of us.
Our families cannot be secure if their homes are at risk.
Our people cannot be productive if they are consumed with worry. Our state cannot be a place of opportunity if we cannot fulfill the American promise of home ownership.
I have set forth a plan to reduce property taxes by doubling your homestead exemption, making the save our homes protection portable and extending that protection to business and rental properties as well.
And these budget losses will be offset with what? Is this simply a downward shift in problems? Save the middle class by screwing the lower class? I sure hope not. I’m in the middle class and it would be horribly un-American for me to favor my own interests by harming people who are worse off than me.
Whatever form of property tax relief you decide upon, it must be comprehensive, it must bring real relief to our people, and it must be put before the voters this year. Our people deserve real relief, and with your leadership—I know they will get it.
And the relief must come without a concurrent cut in government services and programs, otherwise it is not real relief.
Just as affordable home ownership should be an American birthright, so should the promise of an excellent public education. Education is not just an obligation, it is a civil right—it is the equal opportunity provider, and it ensures that all of our children have an equal opportunity to participate in the American dream.
So, there’s going to be a huge bump in education spending?
And let me say this—Civil rights is simply a matter of doing what is right. And we will always pursue what it right.
I sure hope so. I know your party won’t. They already want to ban gay marriage, something that’s already illegal. That is certainly not "what is right." Are you going to stand up to them, Charlie?
Central to the success of public education are Florida’s teachers. They are the bedrock upon which we build our children’s future. We all remember that special teacher that made a difference in our lives. For me, it was Ms. Bolling, my fifth grade teacher.
As a state, we owe more to these fine people of whom we have asked so much. But have we lived up to our responsibilities?
Stephen please stand and be recognized.
Because we are losing fine teachers like Stephen, this session I have proposed that we spend almost 300 million dollars to increase the pay for our teachers. Under our proposal, we would increase teacher pay by 10% for the top 25% of our teachers.
This represents a doubling of the current program and will go a long way toward keeping and retaining Florida’s best teachers. And it will not be based on a test alone.
That’s a pretty damned good idea. I’m behind this one 100%. Maybe it shouldn’t be based on a test at all, but on actual student success and learning?
But we should do more. I have proposed in my budget 3.8 billion dollars to meet the constitutional mandate of the class size amendment. This is a 19% increase over the current budget level and would bring state funding for the last five years to 10.7 billion dollars. Smaller classes provide a better environment for learning and we must fulfill our obligation to provide that funding to reduce class sizes.
Wow, it’s starting to sound like Crist has actually listened to actual educators and paid attention to actual research. Next thing you know, he’ll start to de-emphasize the FCAT.
We must do all that we can to help every child read at grade level. Florida currently employs more than 2,000 reading coaches to help students increase their reading and comprehension skills.
I ask the Legislature to approve another $26 million to recruit and employ an additional 400 reading coaches statewide. By bringing the number of coaches up to 2,400, we will be able to provide one reading coach for every 20 teachers. I am confident that the ability of our students to read will continue to rise as a result.
Another good idea. Here’s an even better one. Instead of nice round numbers and cool ratios, maybe we should figure out exactly how many reading coaches we need and fund that many. Just a thought.
Our budget proposal also includes $10 million to fund Pathways to Success – a virtual tutoring program. This tool will provide a way for every student to have access to teaching at a time that is convenient for them.
And how are we going to get computers to these students who need tutoring and can’t afford them, making this program useless for them?
I also propose an increase in funding for our state universities and community colleges—without raising tuition.
Great idea. Thinking long-term, though, the best thing you can do to help out the community colleges and state universities is better prepare high school students (and below) for success in the real world and not just on a standardized test. More than half of all students entering community colleges need remediation – despite graduating from high school. Something’s wrong with that.
We must raise the profile of all children’s issues, from education to health. As stewards of this state, our greatest obligation is to our children. But often it is their voice that goes unheard, or overlooked.
Our children need a voice. They need to be at the table because soon—it will be their table. That is why I will support the creation of a "Children’s Cabinet" to coordinate state services and oversee child welfare issues.
Excellent idea. Others have already said this, but I’ll repeat it. Crist is apparently trying to be the best governor he can be. The best Democratic governor he can be.
From a Children’s Cabinet, to increasing the emphasis on physical education in our schools, to providing financial incentives for adoption, our children must be our first priority.
How about requiring P.E. in every grade? And making sure that part of the curriculum is nutrition and fitness. That’d be a lot better than the square dancing we had to do for so many years. And let’s not just provide financial incentives for adoption, let’s make sure that all the good people who want to adopt – even the gay ones – have the chance to do so.
And in caring about our children, we must think of the Florida they will inherit. Florida’s beauty is the reason why so many of us are here. We have an obligation to protect the land, the water, and the air for generations to come.
To that end I am proposing that we continue the state’s commitment to restoring America’s Everglades by appropriating 100 million dollars for that purpose, as well as 40 million to clean up the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and 50 million for Lake Okeechobee.
Again, instead of focusing on dollar amounts that look great in speeches, let’s look at the amounts that are needed and, here’s a crazy idea, make the polluters help pay for the cost. No reason the taxpayers should foot the entire bill for bad private enterprise. Republicans love privatization so much, why don’t we privatize the cost of cleaning up pollution created be private sector groups.
It is worth noting that the dramatic rise in our insurance premiums did not occur without cause. It occurred in large part because of an equally dramatic rise in the number and intensity of hurricanes that battered our state in recent years.
This simple fact reflects a challenge that we ignore at our own peril. I am persuaded that global climate change is one of the most important issues that we will face this century.
With almost 1,200 miles of coastline and the majority of our citizens living near that coastline, Florida is more vulnerable to rising ocean levels and violent weather patterns than any other state. Yet, we have done little to understand and address the root causes of this problem, or frankly, even acknowledge that the problem exists.
No longer. Following this legislative session, I will bring together the brightest minds to begin working on a plan for Florida to explore groundbreaking technologies and strategies that will place our state at the forefront of a growing world-wide movement to reduce greenhouse gases. Florida will provide not only the policy and technological advances, but the moral leadership, to allow us to overcome this monumental challenge.
I really like this speech. We have a ways to go to achieve all of this, but there is a whole lot of really great stuff here that will – if actually implemented – make Florida better.
But during this session, we can take the first bold steps in moving toward alternative fuels and other alternative sources of energy. I have proposed almost 70 million dollars in my budget to foster the development and use of alternative energy sources and fuels in our state, including ethanol and biodiesel fuels for our cars and solar power for our homes.
How about requiring state vehicles and buildings to begin the transition to these types of energy. Can you imagine the impact such a move would have on both the environment and our nation’s energy use and what an example we’d set for the rest of the country? It would also sell a whole lot of products for industry and lead the way towards economic and job expansion.
There is no reason why, as Commissioner Bronson has pointed out, that the Sunshine state cannot be the national leader in the production of alternative energy. With these measured steps, we can begin to achieve three important goals: addressing global climate change, promoting Florida agriculture, and weaning our country from reliance on foreign oil.
How about tax breaks for companies that want to build solar panels in the Sunshine state? Pro-jobs, pro-environment, pro-business. Everybody wins.
We can improve schools, we can lower taxes and insurance premiums, and we can protect our environment, but if we fail to afford our most vulnerable citizens basic safety and security, we will not have discharged our duty to the people who elected us.
That is why I have proposed the Anti-Murder Act. I can tell you a thousand reasons why we must pass this legislation this year my friends, but it comes down to this: I have witnessed firsthand the unimaginable limits of human grief when a parent loses a child to violent crime. Until you have listened to a father or a mother who have seen the light of their lives extinguished by the monstrous assault of a violent felon, you cannot know the enormity of the threat we face.
We owe our parents the simple assurance that we have done everything within our power to prevent these atrocities from ever happening again. I have sent to the House and Senate our Anti-Murder Bill.
I would ask that you continue your good work by taking the bill up this first week, passing it, and sending it to my desk so that I may sign it as the first law of this session.
Let us send a clear message to violent criminals if they violate probation, they are going back to jail where they can do no further harm to our people and our children.
Let the lives of Sarah Lunde, Jessica Lunsford, Carlie Brucia and the Deltona Six be honored with the passage of this Act that will help prevent future children from becoming victims.
Maybe we can help this problem even more by increasing funding for education, job training, economic stimulus, rehabilitation and mental health? Seems to me the research shows that these things have a bigger effect on the reduction of violent crime than stiffer sentencing.
These are just some of the issues that are worthy of your talents and of your attention. I hope you will also consider our initiative to build upon the progress already made to restore confidence in our voting process by funding voting machines that provide a tangible record of every vote cast—a paper trail. Let’s end this controversy for once and for all.
Yes, let’s. One of the biggest steps we can take towards improving our electoral system and getting Florida out of the "national embarrassment on election day" category.
I also ask for your support of my proposal to establish 20 million dollars to make Florida a national leader in the research of adult, amniotic, and umbilical cord stem cells. Stem cell research holds the promise of unlocking the secrets to cure diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons and many others, and Florida should champion this research.
Add in embryonic stem cells and you might actually solve some real problems.
Finally, I ask that you give us the tools to spur economic development for the film and space industries. In my budget I have proposed 75 million dollars of tax credits to enhance Florida film making- a clean and vital industry which creates high paying jobs while spot lighting our beautiful state.
This one troubles me. Is this really the best way to spend our money right now? It may be, but I’m not convinced.
Florida is the place where America literally reaches for the stars, so we must also continue to incentivize the private space industry to retain our preeminence in this field.
My friends, our time in public service is truly a gift, and it is a precious gift, but it is a fleeting gift. It is a gift to bring real change now and help our people in profound ways for generations to come.
This one makes more sense to me, particularly since a whole lot of the east coast relies on this industry.
Will we take this gift of public service and use our time here together to bring meaningful reform to Florida? Or will we waste it through neglect or partisan divide?
You know I am an optimist. I believe we will not waste this gift, this trust. I believe we will work together with a sense of urgency and purpose, as we did on insurance reform.
We will work together not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Floridians to make our neighborhoods more safe, improve our children’s education, and protect the beauty that is Florida.
I hope that, in addition to being an optimist, you are also honest. If you are really behind this agenda, then you’ll get a lot of kind words from me. If not, I’ll be filling up the blogosphere with tales of your hypocrisy.
I am fond of a quote from Robert Kennedy that he gave in his run for the Presidency. We can tailor his words and think of them as this: "Some people see things as they are and say, Why? I dream of a better Florida and say, Why not?
The legislature? Gerrymandering?
Can Florida be the best state in America in educating its children? Why not?
Eventually, maybe, but not right away. We just have too far to go that it isn’t possible in four years to fix all the damage.
Can Florida lead the nation in job growth in high paying jobs? Why not?
This one is a lot more feasible. It might happen. As long as global-warming induced super-hurricanes and rising ocean levels don’t stop it.
Can we ensure that Florida remains affordable by cutting taxes and returning to the people more of their hard earned money? Why not?
Because we already are on the lower end of tax burdens nationally and lower taxes means even less is accomplished by the government, which means that many, if not all, of our problems get worse.
Can Florida be the safest place in America to live, raise a family and retire? Why not?
Unlikely. Until our education and economics jump ahead light years.
And can we keep our state beautiful, protect her natural resources and lead the nation in protecting our environment? Of course we can—We are Floridians.
I sure hope so. It would horrible to see our beautiful state marred by something like oil rigs close to the shoreline, for instance.
Who among us would say we cannot achieve these goals. Who here would say that we cannot make this Florida’s greatest century?
We can achieve these things, we just can’t do it through traditional (and recent) Republican policies and ideas. It will take something different and new. Without that, these things are beyond our ability to achieve.
As long as we remember that we serve the people, and we work together to do what is right, all of these goals can be achieved.
We are in this room only because of the people of Florida allow us to be here. It is they, and not we, who possess this power. It is we, and not they, who are the servants. So let us serve them well.
You can serve us well by making our state more democratic – and I don’t mean the party, I mean the form of government. Lets expand voting rights and level the playing field. Screw the incumbents, we need a level playing field for other candidates and other ideas.
And if we do, I believe that those who may gather in this room or stand in this place, ten or twenty or fifty years from now will be able to say that this was a special time when good men and good women came together for the common good and made Florida truly the brightest star in the American sky.
I look forward to working with each of you. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless our beautiful Florida.
I think this may be true, but if it is, it is likely to come from those of us outside that room.