Florida’s State of the State address: Breaking down the DeSantis agenda - Part 2
Bottom Line: Something I quickly picked up from Governor Ron DeSantis’s Inaugural speech – was that if he said he’d do something – he meant it. Go back through the governor’s speech and you’ll not find one specific issue he highlighted that he hasn’t already acted on within his first two months on the job. With that in mind it makes sense to me to pull out what Ron’s agenda for the 2019 state session is from his State of the State address. These are the specific issues and the order with which he prioritized them. I counted fourteen separate agenda items outlined in his address. In part two I’ll cover the 6th through 10th agenda items the governor spoke to.
- Higher Education – Governor DeSantis stated that he’s proud Florida has the top ranked university system in the country & he’s begun to tell the story outside of the state. He emphasized the need for a focus on financial, technology and health-care education improvements – in that order. He emphasized the need for skills/trade related education emphasis. He also advocated workplace education and grant programs for internships.
- Grade School Education – Ending Common Core. Streamlined testing. Emphasis on American Civics. Those were cited in that order. Next up teachers. He advocated for his proposed program boosting teacher pay by $423 million and replacing the existing bonus plans with more rewarding and broad-based bonus opportunity.Last but not least, based on the amount of time he spent making the case, was the expansion of the current voucher system – the Tax Credit Scholarship program
- Abortion – In the most memorable quote of his speech to me – he stated this:I wholeheartedly reject the callous disregard for human life displayed by the Governors of Virginia and New York. We won’t allow that to happen in Florida.
- Healthcare – Stated that any national effort to eliminate personal health insurance plans for Floridians will be rejected. Stated his plan to work with the federal government to import prescription drugs from Canada to help make prescriptions more affordable. Emphasized the need to improve consumer/price transparency. He called on state government to create incentives for Floridians who seek more affordable healthcare options to further encourage competition on pricing and service
- School Safety – Called on the state legislature to pass recommended reforms of the MSD Commission. Said he intends to follow guidance provided by the recently created Grand Jury which led to accountability. He defended his decision to replace Broward Sheriff Scott Israel and stated that Sheriff Gregory Tony is doing a great job thus far.
In part three I’ll address the final four issues outlined by the governor... Here's a link to that story: https://ihr.fm/2TCIkhE