Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announces funding for infrastructure and workforce development initiatives.
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00:00Fort Pierce, we've got wonderful announcements and some awards to make today, which will be
00:05really exciting to not just folks in this community, but actually in different parts of Florida
00:10who are going to be able to benefit from what we're doing today. We are very proud of what
00:15we've been able to accomplish, particularly with respect to economic growth and infrastructure
00:21investment in the state of Florida. Our economy here has been ranked number one in the nation
00:28two years in a row by CNBC. Last year, we were ranked number one for economy by U.S. News
00:34and World Report. Our GDP is about $1.6 trillion. If we were it's our own country, we'd be anywhere
00:42from 13th to 16th in the world if we were a separate country. Since 2019, we are just barely,
00:51almost first, but barely second for GDP growth. And the state ahead of us is Idaho, which is
00:57a lot smaller than us. And so they have more, more ability to grow at a higher percentage.
01:03So we're really leading the way on that. Number one in new business formation since 2019. We've
01:10secured AAA credit ratings from all the major rating agencies. We're number one in domestic
01:17net in migration since 2019. We also have added jobs. Well, the private sector's added jobs in
01:2456 of the last 59 months since May of 2020. And for the 53rd month in a row, our unemployment rate in
01:32Florida is lower than the unemployment rate of the nation as a whole. And our over the year private
01:38sector job growth rate has exceeded the nation's for 46 of the past 48 months. And these are positive
01:46examples of what can be done. Now, we've also achieved this while managing the finances of the state and
01:54our budget in a very responsible way. Since I became governor, if you take all the the debt that
02:01the state of Florida has accumulated, it's 180 year history, we've retired 41% of it just in this time
02:08period, we are now the lowest per capita debt of any state that has state debt in the entire United States
02:15of America, your share as a Floridian for debt would be about $600 per Floridian, your share of the federal
02:22debt that 37 trillion would be over $100,000 per US citizen. So that's a couldn't be more different
02:30than what they're doing there. And what we're doing here. We have also been able to run budget
02:39surpluses, we've quadrupled the state's rainy day fund almost quadrupled it since I became governor in
02:452019. I mean, I know there's a lot of economic uncertainty, you see the market fluctuating, people
02:51are predicting this and that. Look, if I knew what was going to happen, I'd be running a hedge fund,
02:56right? And I'd be making a lot more money than I make now. But the reality is, is we got to prepare
03:01for all kinds of contingencies. And so because we've put so much money away in our rainy day fund,
03:07Florida is going to be well positioned to handle whatever comes our way in the ensuing weeks, months
03:13and years. We've also been able to cut taxes by a record amount since I've become governor. And I've
03:21been leading the charge now saying as good as that's been, the best way to provide relief to taxpayers in
03:27Florida is to do property tax relief. I think it's very important that people recognize as Florida has
03:34boomed, property values have increased. And there's some benefit to that. Obviously, if your home increases
03:40in value, your wealth is increased, makes it harder for first time home buyers to afford. I do think
03:46you'll see that correct. These things go up and down. That's just the way it is. But you know, you have
03:51people who bought a house many years ago, now having the assessed value higher and higher. And even though
03:57you have homestead protection still goes up, and people are paying more and more for property taxes,
04:02even when they've paid off their mortgage and everything. And it's almost like you don't even own
04:07your property. Because if you don't pay rent to the government, they can come in and kick you off
04:11your own out of your own house. And so we've said this is something that's really important to people.
04:16And we want to do certainly an amendment on the ballot in 2026, to be able to provide Floridians
04:23with with really meaningful protections against what we've seen happen with property taxes. And I know
04:29that there's a lot of people that want to see that. I don't know how much we're seeing interest in
04:35that and say our Florida House of Representatives, their their view is rather than just because I want
04:40to do property taxes, they don't want to do anything I want to do. And so they're basically
04:44trying to roll back what we've done for the last six years. But their view is they want to do a tax
04:50cut. That is three quarters of a penny of the sales tax, which is going to disproportionately benefit
04:56tourists and non residents. Why would you be cutting taxes on Canadian tourists? I want to cut taxes on
05:03Florida homeowners. I'd let the tourists pay more for all I care. It doesn't make any sense. Nobody's
05:09asking for this. But I think this is just part and parcel of what the Florida House of Representatives
05:15is doing this legislative session. They are the least productive Florida House of Representatives
05:21that we have seen in modern Florida history. And I can tell you they're the least productive since
05:27I've been governor by a country mile. I mean, it is not even close in terms of what they're doing.
05:33One of the things I think it's important to know they've done this, they've done this budget and
05:37they're negotiating with the Senate and the Senate's done a better job on all this stuff. But but but it
05:40is what it is. They submitted a budget that is going to take about a half a billion dollars that's
05:47earmarked through doc stamps to major infrastructure projects. And the thing is, these are all over the
05:53state, they're in St. Lucie County, Indian River, they're in Miami Dade, they're in all these places,
05:59that money is important because people have been planning on these projects, these projects are
06:03underway, it also allows us to draw more funding for the project. So it's not just you know, you may
06:09have $5 million for some road project, it's that 5 million triggers even more money. And they're looking
06:16to do away with that revenue that has gone to these projects and just dump it into general revenue. Well, that's
06:23going to throw those projects into turmoil. Did they campaign on doing that? We've done a lot to advance
06:30infrastructure priorities, we're a growing state, we have no choice but to do it. And that has been an important
06:36part of how we've been able to accelerate road projects, how we've been able to do improvements at airports and
06:43seaports. And nobody has ever talked about diverting those funds to general revenue. No one campaigned on
06:50that. But that's what their budgets doing that will short circuit projects in almost every community,
06:56major community throughout the state of Florida, there's a I got a massive spreadsheet, I'm like,
07:00you've got to be kidding me. I'm not sure that they realize that that's what they're doing. But that's
07:04what they're doing. Their budget also seeks to defund key elements of our Florida Highway Patrol,
07:11they defund body armor, they defund 90 positions, they defunded the pay raises that we had to do be in
07:18look, I think they deserve it, I think it's the right thing to do. But it's also, we have to do it
07:23if we want to keep good people, because they can make more money doing other things. So they've done
07:28that. And I have we were down in Southwest Florida last week, you have these, you have one was a widow,
07:34the others, spouse of a trooper that got shot and survived. And they're just beside themselves
07:42that this is going on. But that's what they did. I'm in their budget. I was down in Naples yesterday
07:47highlighting, if you look over the last six plus years, one of the things that we've done probably
07:54better than has ever been done in Florida is not just talk about but deliver on a commitment to
08:00Everglades restoration and water quality improvements. We've had historic funding,
08:06we've either completed or broken ground on over 70 projects, just since 2019. We have record amount
08:13of water now flowing to the Florida Everglades down to Florida Bay, the salinity levels are the best
08:19they've been in recent times. We've obviated the need to do the types of discharges that you remember
08:25in 2016 and 2018 at a Lake Okeechobee that hit the east and west coast of Florida respectively.
08:32During those two years, we're about to bring on the C43 reservoir, which is west of Lake Okeechobee.
08:38We did the C44 reservoir and completed that which is on the St. Lucie side of Lake Okeechobee.
08:45So all these things have been really, really important. And our economy is really based on
08:51on water. Our economy is based on making sure that the plumbing of the state is working as God intended
08:58it. And we've had huge support for many, many years in both houses of the legislature. Well,
09:05the budget for the Florida House of Representatives slashes support for Everglades and water quality
09:11by almost half a billion dollars. I mean, that's a massive evisceration. And the question is,
09:17is that what they campaigned on? Did they tell you that? No, a lot of these guys campaign taking credit
09:23for what they had been a part of and deservedly so to produce this historic level of support and
09:29to make all this progress that has been done. So that's what's going on. I think it's really
09:36disappointing to see when you're doing this with me, like, you know, we're going to be a law and order
09:43state, we're going to do Everglades water quality, we're going to make sure we were cutting taxes,
09:48that we're paying down debt, we're going to make sure we're doing infrastructure, we're going to
09:52make sure we're doing education, school choice, we've raised teacher pay, we're doing higher education,
09:59getting the getting the woke out of higher education, all these different things. Like,
10:03like, that's what I told you I do. That's what I've done. And many other things. I think you get into
10:07problems when you run on one banner and then get in and do different. And not only that even sabotage
10:15the good works that's been done. They just did this education bill in the Florida House of
10:18Representatives to try to roll back the reforms that we have instituted over these last six years.
10:26They basically want to allow the universities to be captured to allow institutional capture by the
10:32political left. That's what happens in other parts of the country when you don't have strong
10:36policies making sure that especially our universities are staying on track. And so they do this bill,
10:42I call it the Make Universities Woke Again Act, because that's basically what will end up happening.
10:47And they got a higher percentage of Democrats voting for it than Republicans voting for it.
10:53This is a super majority Republican, almost three to one majorities, and yet they're losing more of their
11:00own members than the Democrats are losing. That's not what people voted for. That's not what they campaigned on.
11:06So we see all this and they're trying to do a lot of undoing litigation and legal reform and tort reform
11:14that's been done. And if that agenda were to pass, you know, you would see doctors leaving the state
11:19because they want to go after medical. You would see auto insurance rates. You know, we actually have
11:24so far in 2025 average of 5% decrease in auto insurance premiums amongst the major carriers. That's not
11:31happening, I think, anywhere else in the country. The only reason it's happening is because of the
11:35litigation reform, because the cost of a lot of the lawsuits where you sue first, ask questions later,
11:42that is not no longer being incentivized in Florida. And so it has made this, you know,
11:47it's given consumers a break. But they want to overturn that. They want to overturn all this stuff.
11:52And I'm just thinking to myself, like, who is asking for this? It's obviously more of a special
11:57interest play. So that's just unfortunately what's going on there. I know they're discussing the
12:04budget and hopefully they're able to get to a place that makes sense for the people of Florida.
12:11But we're not turning back on the progress that we've made. We are not going to turn our back on
12:16law enforcement. We are not going to turn our back on Everglades restoration. We're not going to short
12:21circuit needed infrastructure programs. We're not going to let up on demanding property tax relief.
12:27We're not going to let up on demanding that the House of Representatives address the condo crisis
12:32that has been created through legislation that had been passed several years ago by the Florida
12:38legislature. You know, you have people that are getting hit with these crushing assessments.
12:44They're on fixed income. They, a lot of them own their condos outright. They can't afford
12:48to fork over a hundred thousand dollars. And this is being put forward basically because
12:55of policies that were implemented by the, by the Florida legislature. So you have a responsibility
13:01to look at that, recognize those unintended consequence and help people stay in their homes.
13:07That's what you should be doing, but they haven't been willing to do that yet either.
13:10So, which brings us to today. So we have different tools in our toolbox where we're able to promote
13:18infrastructure development, economic growth, and workforce training called the Job Growth Grant Fund.
13:24It's been very effective. It's been something that, you know, we're able to receive a lot of applications
13:31for, and then make appropriate determinations about what can advance the ball forward. And so,
13:37I'm proud to be here, uh, to, uh, announce a number of awards that we're going to be doing.
13:42So I'm going to do the awards. We'll have some folks speak. Then we'll do the check presentations
13:47after that. So I'm pleased to announce we're awarding $4 million to Indian River State College
13:53to support the development of the Institute for Industrial Manufacturing and Production Training.
13:58This, yeah. This new institute will offer accelerated hands-on training in high demand fields, including
14:10quality control and assurance, metrology and inspection, system maintenance and process automation.
14:16These programs will directly support the growing needs of manufacturers in the region
14:21and prepare students for careers in advanced manufacturing. So I think this is exactly what
14:27we're talking about. Since I've been governor, we've added, uh, more than a hundred thousand
14:32manufacturing jobs in the state of Florida. We've increased manufacturing businesses by over 30%.
14:38And, uh, these are jobs that I think are really meaningful. You know, some people talk about making
14:43things like, you know, there are certain things that are made, uh, you know, like t-shirts in Vietnam.
14:49You know, I'm not sure that you'd have a lot of people in Florida that would be lining up to do that.
14:54But when you start talking about advanced manufacturing, uh, you're talking about jobs where
14:59one person can, can support a family, this is something that's really, really significant.
15:03So I'm glad that we've really become a growing center for manufacturing and we want to continue
15:08to do that as we go forward. Uh, number two, we're awarding $4.9 million to Miami-Dade College
15:15to launch new aircraft mechanic training programs. These programs will provide students with a direct
15:21pipeline into maintenance repair and operations requiring minimal additional training after
15:27graduation. Classes are expected to begin in 2025 with more than 450 students projected to complete
15:34the program in the coming years. Now aircraft maintenance, it's a huge, huge demand in the
15:41state of Florida. I mean, we're probably, I mean, we're definitely the, the aviation capital
15:47of the United States, certainly when you talk about private aviation and all this stuff.
15:51So there are a lot of opportunities, but then it also bleeds into thing like things like what's going
15:56on in the space coast. There's people that go through even high school programs for things like
16:01aviation mechanics, and they can get hired by Elon Musk company, SpaceX right out of high school. I mean,
16:07that's happened. So this is something I think that's really, really meaningful. I'm proud of Miami-Dade for
16:11stepping up and offering students this really important opportunity. In addition to the workforce
16:18development grants, we're also going to make two targeted infrastructure investments. First,
16:242.1 million to the Sebring Airport Authority to reconstruct and resurface nearly three quarters of a
16:30mile of Webster Turn Drive, a key roadway serving the industrial area of the multimodal logistics center.
16:37This will help with logistics efficiency and better connect local businesses to the airport.
16:43The anticipated jobs are a hundred new jobs, fiscal impact of 3.4 million once this project is complete.
16:51And finally, we're awarding $3.5 million to Wacala County for the development and construction
16:57of two new county owned buildings at opportunity park. These facilities measuring a hundred thousand and
17:03150,000 square feet will attract high-skill high-wage jobs in targeted industries and to further support
17:11economic growth in the region. This builds on the 4.5 million awarded to Wacala County in December of last
17:17year through our rural infrastructure fund. Today's investments in infrastructure are projected to have
17:23an economic impact of more than 13 million and our investments in workforce development will provide
17:29up to $64 million in wages for participants of these new programs. So our commitment to economic
17:37opportunity, economic growth, strong infrastructure, which serves as a foundation of both of those,
17:42remains very steadfast. And today is a great day to deliver these awards. And I want to bring up our
17:49Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly. He'll say a little bit more about that. And then we'll hear from Dr. Moore from
17:54right here. Thanks. Well, Governor, thank you so much. It's great to be back here at Indian River
18:04State College. Governor, thank you for your unwavering focus on investments that drive our workforce,
18:10job creation, and business formation. Truly, really very, very hardline results, results that have been
18:16delivering. And thank you, Governor, for really leaning in to, I think, what also makes Florida so unique.
18:21And you said it both at the macro level, you know, we're now the 16th largest economy in the world.
18:27And at the same time, at the micro level, these unique sectors of our economy here in Florida that
18:32I think are really part of the special part of the Florida story, military and defense, aerospace and
18:36aviation, transportation, shipping and logistics, and really also manufacturing. Governor, you've made the
18:40state a manufacturing state. As you mentioned, we now have more than 434,000 manufacturing jobs
18:47in the state. We've about 8,000 past our neighbors to the north in Georgia. Not that we're competitive,
18:52but we're a little competitive. And we have now more than 27,000 manufacturing establishments
18:58throughout the state. Both of those numbers, as you mentioned, are the fastest growing
19:02in the United States. And a lot of those jobs, sir, as you pointed out, are in precision and advanced
19:08manufacturing, including right here at Indian River State College. That was just something simply not
19:13true 10 years ago. That's a dynamic change in the state, because it's not just manufacturing. It's
19:17the kind of manufacturing industry 4.0 that pay great salaries, great opportunities for young people
19:24and for those who are looking to elevate their careers. And I think, Governor, these investments,
19:29you know, as you know, these investments today really do symbolize the kind of investments that
19:33you've been making, that Florida's been making these last six years to elevate key sectors throughout the
19:37state. You know, as you mentioned, uh, regarding what color county, um, that, that those manufacturing
19:42investments there, um, you know, they're going to, they're going to support military defense, law enforcement
19:47and other key sectors, uh, that are really, you know, true, true to heart here in the state of Florida,
19:52in the river state college, the investments here, likewise, they're going to support military defense,
19:56law enforcement related manufacturing needs. Uh, you know, the, the award to Miami day college,
20:01Miami day college has worked very closely with AAR corp, a company that hires many veterans into
20:06his workforce and, and both here at any river and at Miami day, these young people going into these,
20:11into these programs, you know, these programs were designed with industry partnering. These young
20:16people are going straight into 60, 70, $80,000 a year jobs with, with great, uh, with career
20:22opportunities after that. Um, and frankly speaking, the Miami day investment too, in airframe and power
20:27plant mechanics is absolutely critical. Um, governor, as you mentioned, the state is just booming with
20:32its growth in aerospace and aviation, the kind of sophisticated, uh, work that we need that workforce
20:37to do, uh, whether it's, it's on the body of aircraft and aerospace, uh, vehicles or whether it's,
20:43or whether it's the unique and challenging and evolving systems within the aircraft.
20:47Uh, we absolutely need that airframe and power plant mechanic workforce and the Sebring,
20:51the Sebring airport authority, Sebring airport. Um, you know, I, I had a chance to, to go to the Sebring
20:56airport about a year ago. And you know, while we're talking about airport, we're actually talking about also one of the
21:00really most impressive manufacturing hubs, uh, that I've seen, uh, in, in, in central,
21:05southern central Florida. Um, and, and really that investment is going to help build out,
21:10I think an inland port concept there that's going to end up serving and supporting a lot of our ports
21:14around the state as product can move off those ports to that inland port, uh, and then be distributed
21:19from there. And of course, to support the manufacturing that's there. Um, and you know,
21:23say you just, you know, governor, we just really want to thank you again for your intentional leader,
21:27your intentional focus and your leadership, uh, on these key drivers, you know, not just infrastructure
21:31and workforce, but infrastructure and workforce in a way that's going to absolutely accelerate job
21:35creation, uh, accelerate what communities can do to achieve their own vision, uh, for themselves
21:40and really give, and really give, uh, Floridians young and old alike a chance at great careers.
21:44I had an opportunity to visit each one of these partners, uh, uh, Dr. Moore, you and your team and
21:50the team at Miami Dade College quite frequently. Um, and I can say this about all, about all four
21:55partners in McCullough and highlands here in the treasure coast and in Miami Dade.
21:59Um, these are four partners who absolutely, I'm going to paraphrase you, sir. Um, they,
22:03they move with velocity and purpose to create opportunity to secure our state and secure our
22:08nation. So again, thank you governor for your leadership and thank you everyone.
22:18You know, I'm going to talk to him to schedule this because you never want to be the guy before dessert
22:22or the guy before the check gets handed out. That's the bad place to be. Governor,
22:26thank you for your leadership. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Timothy Moore, president of Indian
22:29River State College. My honor to have you here today. Uh, governor, thank you for taking your time
22:33on a very busy schedule. There's a lot of places you could be, but you chose to be here with us
22:37in the treasure coast and Okeechobee to, to talk about economic investments and leadership, uh, from your
22:42office. Uh, I want to take a few months to serve with privilege, uh, to introduce my board of trustees
22:46that are present here today. Uh, these people, uh, volunteer their time with us. Uh, the governor appoints them,
22:51uh, the Senate confirms them and they dedicate a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of leadership
22:56to making sure this college is resourced and properly aligned with the governor's vision of
23:00how we're going to drive workforce in the future of this state for many decades to come. So, uh,
23:05Krista Luna is our chair. Krista, thank you so much, ma'am, for your leadership out of Okeechobee County.
23:09Thank you. Ms. Susie Caron here from St. Lucie County. Susie, thank you, ma'am.
23:14Um, Trustee George, thank you, sir, for your leadership out of Martin County.
23:21And lastly today, we're joined by, um, uh, Milo Thornton. And we'll just hold applause for just
23:25a second. Sir, you have dual roles here. Uh, you, you've come from this community. You are a, uh,
23:30shining example of what can happen when education and intent and faith all join together.
23:35You wear the badge. We thank you for what you do in our service to our college, to our community,
23:39to ensure that you are the difference between sanity and insanity in this great economy of ours,
23:43great country. Thank you, sir, for your service.
23:50I'm going to put a little shine on the boss here for just a second. Sir,
23:53your leadership has been transformative. I came here in 2020. We're in the middle of a pandemic.
23:57You were unwavering. You are a fact-based leader that made decisions, not with emotion,
24:01but based on the fact predicate of what was the right thing to do for citizens and their liberty.
24:05That's remarkable. Hurricanes. Governor Bates says, hold my beer. I'll put that bridge up in three
24:10days. Here we go. And he's gone. It's a great thing, sir. Your leadership has been transformative.
24:14And you're doing the same thing with workforce. Workforce is remarkable because it is transformative.
24:20We in this college take people at their God-given level and produce, produce skills to get them into
24:25the workforce and change their lives. Sir, they become productive citizens because of your leadership.
24:30I also want to point out the governor is a military service member, one of only six governors in the
24:34nation. Well, not the one in Minnesota, but nonetheless. Sir, thank you for your service.
24:40Might not have been the branch service. I would prefer Army is better than Navy, but nonetheless.
24:45Hang on now. We're not going to get into an argument here right now. Also, sir,
24:48with your permission, I'd like to give a shout-out to Lieutenant General Frank Labuti,
24:51a U.S. Marine Corps retiree. Frank's got some health challenges. We give him a shout-out in Godspeed
24:56because he is an essential part of our foundation leadership as well. Sir, we're honored to receive this
25:01award from you and your office, Secretary Kelly. Thank you for your leadership, sir. It's awesome.
25:05We're here to increase the workers that are prepared to enter this workforce, make money,
25:08do things. We're also proud to support the Marine and Aviation and the Second Amendment-based
25:13industries in our state because that's the foundation of our Constitution. And, sir,
25:17we wouldn't be able to do this without your leadership. You sit there and deliberately drive
25:23equation to make sure that opportunities occur for all of us in the state of Florida,
25:27and I cannot commend you highly enough for that. The session is a little chippy this year. The
25:33governor alluded to that. That's part of a beautiful dynamic called democracy. But it's
25:38also time to get the people's work done. When the House is trying to zero out workforce and
25:42drop growth grants, that's not a starter for this state. We've got to, as citizens, advise our
25:47elected leaders to do the right thing, to give the governor the ability to do the things that we're
25:51doing today, which is invest and grow and make Americans have the ability to achieve their full
25:55God-given potential. And lastly, sir, if you're not busy next Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday,
26:00I invite you to come to graduation, shake hands with the Americans whose lives you change,
26:03because let me tell you something, I got 1,700 kids walking next week, and it's because of your
26:07leadership, your support. Buildings like this and this kind of grant, sir, make the difference.
26:11Thank you, sir. God bless you.
26:13All right, here we go.
26:28Thank you, sir.
26:30Jimmy Slimming lands, please.
26:37All right, good job.
26:38Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you.
26:39Thank you. All right, Miami-Dade.
26:45Congrats. Yeah, of course, congrats.
26:56Good deal. All right.
27:00Wakulla.
27:06Yeah, of course.
27:09All right, good deal.
27:23All right, good deal.
27:27All right, good deal.
27:31Well, thanks. I think that this is really meaningful. I'm excited about the impact that
27:44this is going to have, and we've shown that this type of stuff can make a big impact when you've got
27:50institutions like Indian River and Miami-Dade that really want to go get them and equip their students
27:56with really meaningful skills that are going to lead to them and be able to expand their horizons and
28:02not only do well for themselves, but contribute to our state and our economy in a really meaningful way.
28:08So hats off to you guys. I appreciate everything that you're doing.
28:10You know, I also just wanted to say, you know, you see this stuff that, you know, gets spewn out in
28:17different things, and that's just kind of the politics that things are doing. But, you know,
28:22yesterday there was this fabricated report by some of these partisan outlets about the agency for
28:30healthcare administration, one of our state agencies, doing a settlement with this company, Centene,
28:37who's one of the Medicaid providers, and they were told, hey, the agency's going to be releasing a
28:42letter with the documentation that kind of is going to explain this. And they went ahead and they published
28:47and they tried to, you know, create and manufacture a narrative. Well, then what happens a few hours later?
28:53The agency puts out a document. It goes through the different agreement. The agreement they reached
29:00with the company was for about $56 million to recoup for this PBM Medicaid thing. It's there. It's
29:07documented. And then they got a $10 million private donation on top of that, which is what the agency
29:13said from the beginning. And so this is an attempt to try to manufacture a narrative where there's really
29:19nothing there. Why are they doing it? It's all because they want to try to impugn our Hope Florida
29:26program. That's why they're doing it. It's all political. And Hope Florida actually doesn't cost
29:32any money. It has been, and our first lady led the charge on this. This was her, her kind of ingenuity
29:40that led to this and said, okay, we've had for 60 years, welfare programs that have had the effect
29:46of keeping people on programs where a bureaucrat that's working in these agencies job is to find
29:53as many programs as someone may qualify for and then sign them up. The problem with that is oftentimes
29:59that doesn't serve to be a true hand up that leads people on a pathway to self-sufficiency.
30:04At the same time, she recognized, and I think we all kind of get, that there's a lot of great resources
30:10in the state of Florida and throughout our country. But in the state of Florida are churches, charities,
30:17businesses in the community that want to be impactful, even individual volunteers who will
30:23jump at the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of somebody who's in need. And so the Hope
30:29Florida insight is, let's transform the bureaucrats from trying to cut checks and put people on programs
30:36to being navigators, hope navigators, that will navigate the people in need to all the resources
30:42that will be available in the community. And so if you have a single mom who may have fallen on hard
30:47times, maybe needs a place to stay, those needs go into the Hope portal. And then the Hope partners,
30:55many of them which are religious institutions, but certainly not all, they then get it. And a lot
30:59of times you'll have a church come and help, or you'll have a charity come and help, or you'll have
31:03all these things. And so the net result of that is you've had 30,000 people which have gotten off
31:10means-tested welfare and it saved the taxpayers $100 million and likely to save over a billion dollars
31:17over a 10-year period. That is a great success for the state of Florida. It's a success that other
31:23states are trying to emulate and we have people make pilgrimages from other states to try to learn
31:28about it. But it didn't cost you anything as taxpayers. All it did was reimagine the proper
31:35role of government. Government, we know government can't be all things to all people. That's failed.
31:40They did a war on poverty in the 1960s. If that had succeeded, we wouldn't have poverty. And yet it
31:45ended up entrenching a lot of this. So this is a better way. This is a better way for people in need.
31:51Their horizons will be expanded. They will do better. But it's also a better way for taxpayers.
31:56And so you look at some of the problems you see with the budget in Washington. This type of model
32:02would be better for people as well as save a lot of money. So that's what this is motivating. It's a
32:08political attack against the successful program and against the First Lady because I think a lot of
32:12people are threatened by the success of the program. It upends some of their ideological commitments.
32:19It shows that she's actually made a difference. I know there's people that are threatened by that.
32:24So I think the Hope Florida program has been something that's been a tremendous success for
32:28the state. We want to continue to build off that and we are going to be making announcements to do just
32:34that. So when you're over the target, people come at you. But this program has been successful and I'm
32:41proud of all the good that it's done. Okay. Have any questions out there? Yes.
32:45Richard Perls at TC Palm. Thank you for coming to Trader Coast and taking questions from local media.
32:51You talked about trying to reduce home property taxes. And when I talk to local officials, there's
32:59concern that that might impact their budgets. So how do you balance that need from local governments to fund
33:05their programs with lowering the tax burden for residents? That's a great question. So one, I would just
33:10point out that if you look over the last five or six years, local governments have had a gusher of
33:16property tax revenue coming in because new home sales are assessed at higher values. They're constantly
33:23assessing your property higher. And even if you have homestead, it doesn't mean you don't get any property
33:28increase like you will pay more. And over a five or six year period, even with that homestead cap, you're
33:34definitely paying a significant amount more. So that's what's happening. And you've had counties
33:40that have had virtually no population increase on net like Broward have a massive increase in their
33:46budget. And the question is, is why? What are they doing with that money? So one of the things that
33:52we're working with the legislature on, I think the Senate is receptive to it. Obviously, the House, you
33:57know, is not doesn't want to be productive on any of this stuff. But we want to do so we're doing voluntary
34:02dozing of local governments, because we want taxpayers to be able to see, you know, what is
34:07truly necessary. I mean, obviously, public safety is necessary. There's things that are necessary.
34:12Nobody is disputing that. But I can tell you when you look at the growth of these budgets, I mean,
34:17it has been significant. And there's some counties that have population growth. So you have to definitely
34:21account for that. We have had inflation, you got to account for that. But I think if we're able to go
34:26through that exercise this summer, I think we'll be able to show folks that actually, you know, if you
34:32just return budgets to what they were a few years ago, you wouldn't be able to miss a beat on the core
34:38services, but you'd be able to give people an enormous amount of relief. So we're going to be
34:42working over the next however many months, we're gonna be listening to a lot of people to craft a
34:48proposal. And here's the thing, property taxes are a local issue, by and large, there's a little bit
34:54that the state does for education. And I wanted to cut that this year, because we have enough money
34:59to fund the education. So we could fully fund the education and give you a property tax cut. And the
35:05House of Representatives has not been receptive to that. But but I think though, it's mostly local. So you
35:11got to go to the ballot and you need constitutional protection. So we're going to look to see
35:17what is the most likely to pass and what will have the maximum impact on property owners and
35:23particularly like, look, I want to cut property taxes and give protection to Florida residents,
35:28right? If someone's here, and they have their fifth house, you know, the houses around the country,
35:35and the ones in Florida, I don't lose as much sleep over that being taxed, right? But I do lose sleep
35:41over hardworking Floridians retirees, who are constantly having to cut a check to the government
35:47just to be able to live on their home. So I think it's something that people want to see action on,
35:52we're gonna be very thoughtful about it, I want to be as bold as possible. But I also want something
35:57that's going to pass that will pass the legislature and eventually be ratified for the voters. So
36:03that's going to be an ongoing thing. But to say we're not going to do any relief on property taxes,
36:07to me, that does not that is not acceptable. And I also think it's just unfair. You buy a house,
36:15you pay so like maybe you bought a house 10 years ago for 350 grand.
36:20Now someone's coming and telling you it's worth 900,000. Well, you didn't do a market transaction
36:25for nine who's to tell you what it's worth. In a given instance, you only know what it's worth when
36:30there's a transaction, where someone's willing to a willing buyer and a willing seller come together.
36:35And it's just it's basically an unrealized gain that they're talking that they're taxing you on,
36:40which I don't think is appropriate. So these are I think this is a great conversation.
36:45I can tell you if you ask Florida residents, would you rather see property tax relief,
36:51or this sales tax that's going to benefit a lot of tourists and non residents. I mean,
36:56it's like 95% say they want the property tax relief. It's not even close that that's the case.
37:02So I think we've got to do it. I think it remains to be seen exactly how that's going to look how that
37:09will appear on your ballot. But but we need to do that in 2026. Now we in the intermediate time,
37:15I've called for the state to roll back local property tax as best we can, given the authority
37:21that we have. And I think that would be a good first step. But ultimately, the solution is going
37:25to be to go on the ballot and provide protections to all of our Florida residents. All right, thanks,
37:31everybody. Appreciate it.