2007 Legislative Session

Dear Friend,

Thank you for the continued honor to serve you in the Florida Senate! For me, as Majority Whip and Chairman of the Senate Finance and Tax Committee, this session proved to be a whirlwind. I am pleased to report that government can go on a diet. Our state budget was $2 billion dollars less than last year’s budget, yet we still funded priorities. When deciding how to spend your hard earned money, government must act more like a family or a business. If I have learned nothing else, I have learned that government does NOT have a revenue problem—it has a spending problem!

While reducing spending by $2 billion, we also continued to spend on priorities like education, roads, and domestic security. We increased education spending by $455 per student without compromising standards. We placed needed dollars in transportation spending—providing money to widen I-95 and fund US-1 road projects—so you can spend less time on the road and more time with your family. Finally, we increased law enforcement spending to ensure that criminals behind bars will not get out early due to court decisions compelled by overcrowded prisons.

More work remains to be done. In June we will provide across-the-board tax relief for strapped property owners. Our plan will not only roll back taxes to earlier levels, but it will also give voters the choice to allow homestead portability, reductions in tangible personal property taxes, and incentives for first-time homebuyers. Our plan is a culmination of a series of town hall meetings where we listened to ideas of taxpayers from across our state. These reforms, coupled with a cap on future increases in local government revenue, will finally give taxpayers predictability and real tax relief.

We also finally moved toward full accountability. We have long had government in the sunshine, but too often we have settled for spending in the shade. Our new plan requires all government spending—state and local—to be listed online for all taxpayers to review how their tax dollars are being spent. This transparency will help us create an effective process to ensure that tax dollars are spent responsibly and without waste.

As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or your advice. Our office number is (321) 752-3131, or e-mail me directly at mike@senatormike.com. I thank you again for the honor to serve in the Florida Senate.

Sincerely,

Mike