Session Wrap Up

The 2010 Legislature concluded Friday April 30th as required by the Florida constitution, by passing a balanced, responsible budget.

Our budget this year focused on the economy, jobs, and cost control. We tried to ensure that ensures Florida is well-poised for job creation and the return to a more prosperous economy. The Legislature avoided new taxes and protected public school funding, increased higher education funding, and prioritized Health Care funding for the most vulnerable of our citizens.

One of the House’s top priority this Session was recharging Florida’s economy and putting Floridians back to work. No job this year has been more important to Florida’s families and economic future. The House has passed a $203 million jobs package designed to make our state more economically competitive and encourage companies to invest in our state and hire Floridians.

o Tax credits for companies hiring unemployed workers.
o Package favors Florida companies hiring Florida workers.
o Millions to help attract private aerospace contractors and to help transition NASA workers in the wake of the shuttle program’s discontinuance by the Obama Administration.
o Attractive incentive package to bring the film and entertainment industry to Florida (the companion bill to HB 697 which I filed).

The House put forward a meaningful amendment to “Right Size the Class Size” amendment. Principals, Superintendents, and teachers should have flexibility in how they meet the class size requirements so they can focus on student achievement rather than how to restructure their classrooms. It’s now up to the voters to decide on the November ballot.

The House passed meaningful standards for our students to help them be better able to compete in the global marketplace for the high-paying careers of the future. The global economy is changing and we owe it to our students to make sure they are prepared to be successful. That starts with more focus on math and sciences and greater emphasis on making sure our children are learning to read and reading to learn. In the past, Florida’s students could earn a high school diploma and still not meet the minimum college admissions requirements for any state university. For those who do enter college, a lack of rigor in high school adds up: 55-percent of students entering Florida’s colleges and universities require remediation in reading, writing and math, costing $130 million in 2005-2006. Governor Crist already signed this legislation into law.

I also sponsored innovative legislation to create Property Assessed Clean Energy financing (PACE), making lower cost and more readily available financing for Floridians, for improvements to their home and businesses. This can also help create jobs in the renewable energy industry and make it easier for Floridians to adopt renewable energy technology and make wind hardening safety improvements.

PACE is a no-subsidy, no-mandate, no-cost to taxpayers, consumer opt-in approach that can bring clean energy technology and windstorm hardening improvements to homeowners and businesses while creating jobs for Floridians. Many families in Florida are struggling to pay their utility bills or ever-increasing homeowners’ insurance costs because they lack the ability to mitigate those costs through energy efficiency or the hardening of their homes against storms. By helping consumers finance the upfront costs for energy improvements, local governments that choose to participate can help remove the largest obstacle to homeowners who want to make their homes more energy efficient and save money.