People's Governor, People's Legislature, People's Agenda

I want to take the opportunity to thank the members of the Florida House and Senate for their hard work and dedication. Under the leadership of Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio, this group of men and women has served as the People's Legislature - listening to, and responding to, the needs of Floridians.

We have accomplished many great things for the people of Florida - our bosses - but we still have much work to do. The Legislature will return to Tallahassee soon to finish the business of lowering property taxes. I remain optimistic that this tax reduction will happen this year - and that Floridians will get relief.

Accomplishments achieved during the 2007 legislative session include the following:

Public Safety - Florida's communities will be safer because of Senate Bill 146, the Anti-Murder Act, which Governor Crist signed as the first law of the 2007 legislative session. The legislation will require brutal felony offenders who violate probation to return to jail until the court determines whether the individual poses a danger to the community.

Expanding the number of child predator fighters by 50 in the Attorney General's Child Predator/CyberCrime Unit will help stop predators and sex offenders before they prey on our children. The unit was established by then-Attorney General Crist in August 2005 as a pilot project in response to several tragic murders of children in Florida.
Election Reform - Legislation will preserve the integrity of Florida's elections by replacing touch-screen voting machines with optical scan machines statewide for Election Day voting and early voting sites. Moving Florida's presidential primary to an earlier date - the last Tuesday in January - will increase Florida's influence in national elections.
Education - Senate Bill 1226, signed into law by Governor Crist earlier this session, will create the Merit Award Program for public school teachers, providing five-percent to 10-percent performance bonuses to the state's best educators. The legislation recognizes the important contributions that principals, librarians, reading and math coaches, guidance counselors, psychologists, and social workers make to school-wide student achievement by also rewarding them with performance bonuses.

An additional 80 reading coaches will guide more teachers to help students develop strong reading skills. Reading coaches help teachers more effectively improve the reading skills of struggling students.

Virtual tutors will give parents the tools they need to help their own children do better in school. The Virtual Tutors program will provide parents, teachers and administrators with clear, concise information regarding student skill levels. Virtual tutoring enables parents and teachers to track children's progress and identify skill areas where a child needs additional help.
Economic Development - Florida's economy will be stronger because of Florida's enhanced business friendly environment. Legislation will allow Florida to attract more high-wage businesses, such as film and entertainment. For the first time, the fast-growing digital media industry, the commercial and music video industry and Florida's own filmmakers will be able to participate in the incentive program.

The expansion of the Innovation Incentive Program to $250 million will increase Florida's ability to attract clean, vital industry and high-wage, high-skill jobs to Florida. The goal of the program is to draw cutting-edge, world-class research centers and high-impact business projects to Florida. Innovation industries generate private investment and spin-off businesses.

A $45-million Quick Action Closing Fund will allow Florida to respond quickly to economic opportunities for business expansion, recruitment and retention. The fund will empower the state to succeed in the fiercely competitive global economy.
Healthier Florida - Several measures will ensure a comprehensive approach to keeping Floridians healthy. Senate Bill 2260 will refocus the Florida Department of Health to be headed by the State Surgeon General. Secretary of Health Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros will act as the leading advocate for wellness and disease prevention.

Elementary school students grades K-5 in Florida public schools will be required to have 150 minutes of physical education each week. Additionally, the Governor established the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness to ensure the swift implementation of the bill as well as to develop a state plan of action to promote physical fitness and nutrition for all Floridians.
Environment - Governor Crist has made improving the health of the Florida Everglades, Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries an environmental priority. Florida's economy and quality of life are connected to the health of Lake Okeechobee, the coastal estuaries and the long-term protection for the northern Everglades.

Governor Crist praised the Legislature for appropriating $100 million for Everglades restoration; $54 million - double current funding levels - to expand Lake Okeechobee's water-storage areas and treatment marshes; and $40 million to improve the environmental health of the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, which are important estuaries that affect the quality of life and economy of nearby communities. Additionally, $16.5 million will go toward restoring the St. Johns River.
Leadership - Governor Crist also thanked the members of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee for approving all pending appointments of agency heads, including his recent appointments of consumer advocates former Senator Nancy Argenziano and Nathan Skop to the Public Service Commission.

House Bill 1309 will create the Office of Adoption and Child Protection within the Executive Office of the Governor to encourage adoption so that every child will have an opportunity to live in a loving, safe and permanent home. The office will coordinate and streamline Florida's adoption efforts and will develop a statewide public awareness campaign to provide Floridians information about adoption options and services. Additionally, subsidies will help families who adopt children through the state's foster care system.

Governor Crist applauded the leadership of House and Senate members for passing Senate Bill 2968 that will allow the Martin Lee Anderson claims bill to be paid promptly. The legislation will justly compensate Martin Lee Anderson's family $5 million for the loss of their young son.

Governor Crist also thanked the members of the Legislature for supporting his efforts to change the Rules of Executive Clemency so that the civil rights for certain ex-offenders can be restored. While the rule change did not require legislative action, Governor Crist credited the support of legislators in helping achieve this historical change. Under the new rule, ex-offenders who have committed less severe crimes and meet certain requirements qualify for approval for restoration of civil rights without a hearing.
Property Insurance - Governor Crist praised the Legislature for continuing the work of lowering property insurance rates by ensuring affordability and consumer choice within Florida's insurance market. Rates for homeowners insured by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation will not be increased until January 1, 2009, and consumers can qualify to purchase insurance from Citizens when comparable coverage from private insurers is more than 15 percent higher than Citizens rates. Private insurers will also be required to report their national profits when filing for rate increases, and no new Florida-only subsidiaries, or “pup” companies, will be permitted to insure property in Florida.

Recent News…

Act now on climate change lawsThe Florida Times-Union
One of the most important things Gov. Charlie Crist has done in office is put Florida at the forefront of the global warming fight.

His bold call for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 will be a challenge to achieve.
Crist pitches health insurance plan at hospitalSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel
West Palm Beach -- At the neonatal intensive care unit in St. Mary's Medical Center on Monday, Gov. Charlie Crist hesitatingly peeked inside a clear, lighted incubator.

Inside the isolette lay a day-old, 1.9-ounce baby, with limbs the size of fingers, who was born four months premature.

The unit can treat 70 babies at a time, said Joey Bulfin, the hospital's chief nursing officer. And most days, she told the governor, a majority of the patients are born to parents who either don't have insurance or lack coverage that would cover their treatment.
Crist aims to ease health costsDaytona Beach News-Journal
TALLAHASSEE -- With families and businesses struggling to afford health care, Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida lawmakers are moving forward with proposals that would allow people to buy cheaper, stripped-down insurance.

The proposals would reduce or eliminate required types of coverage that insurers and business groups have long argued drive up the costs of health policies.
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