Rep. Steve Crisafulli Week 4 Legislative Report
By Steve Crisafulli // March 30, 2014
HOUSE PASSES SEVERAL KEY PIECES OF LEGISLATION
THE CAPITOL, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — The 2014 Legislative Session is continuing at a breakneck pace in Tallahassee and the House advanced two critical pieces of legislation that will be sent to the House floor for a vote next week.
The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance HB 5001, the House’s 2014-2015 Fiscal Year budget proposal, for a vote by the full House next week. Our responsibly balanced $75.3 billion budget proposal prioritizes funding in the best interests of all Floridians and provides $500 million in meaningful tax and fee relief to our hardworking families.
Unlike Washington, we have shown that a commitment to fiscal discipline allows us to fund the critical needs of our state – including education, healthcare, and public safety – lower taxes, and still hold funds in reserve to guard against any future economic uncertainty.
500 MILLION IN TAX AND FEE RELIEF FOR HARDWORKING FAMILIES
Our budget proposal supports hardworking families by providing $500 million in tax and fee relief, including reductions in vehicle tag and title fees and multiple sales tax holidays. The budget is responsibly balanced and includes $2.9 billion in reserves so that our children are not saddled with higher debt.
We have intensified our support of efforts to create jobs in this budget by allocating more resources to Visit Florida and Space Florida to promote our tourism and aerospace industries and by increasing funding to improve our transportation infrastructure. And, our budget protects Florida’s environmental resources and natural beauty by funding water restoration efforts across the state, including the Everglades, the Indian River Lagoon, and our springs.
Our budget provides opportunity through education by allocating the highest amount of state funding to education in our state’s history. Our proposed education budget includes a 3% increase in per-student funds and increases funding to Brevard schools by $17 million.
Our budget protects Florida’s most vulnerable residents by fully funding the Agency for Persons with Disabilities’ intensive needs waitlist, increases funding to protect children in the state’s juvenile welfare system, and provides funds to construct a new State Veterans’ Nursing Home.
We have intensified our support of efforts to create jobs in this budget by allocating more resources to Visit Florida and Space Florida to promote our tourism and aerospace industries and by increasing funding to improve our transportation infrastructure.
And, our budget protects Florida’s environmental resources and natural beauty by funding water restoration efforts across the state, including the Everglades, the Indian River Lagoon, and our springs.
HB 5601 – Economic Development
HB 5601 will help spur job creation in several other ways, as well. First, the bill provides additional corporate income tax relief to Florida businesses so that they can invest more capital into hiring employees. Second, the bill offers incentives for companies to produce television programs in our state. Additionally, the bill increases the tax credits available under the New Markets Development Program, which encourages job creation in low-income communities.
HB 5601 will provide over $100 million in tax relief to Florida families and businesses and help create jobs in our state.
The bill creates multiple sales tax holidays in 2014, including a back-to-school sales tax holiday, a hurricane preparedness holiday, and an energy efficient appliance holiday. The bill also creates a permanent sales tax exemption on child safety seats. These tax holidays are a boon for families and our economy, as they put money directly into the hands of Floridians, who in turn put the money back into the economy and help create jobs.
HB 5601 will help spur job creation in several other ways, as well. First, the bill provides additional corporate income tax relief to Florida businesses so that they can invest more capital into hiring employees. Second, the bill offers incentives for companies to produce television programs in our state. Additionally, the bill increases the tax credits available under the New Markets Development Program, which encourages job creation in low-income communities.
FLORIDA’S ECONOMY CONTINUES ADDING JOBS
In February, we added 33,400 jobs to our economy, the highest monthly job gain in over three years! Since this time last year, Florida has added a total of 211,500 jobs. This is an annual job growth rate of 2.8 percent, one of the best in the nation. Over 540,000 jobs have been added to our economy since December 2010.
The growth of our economy is incredibly encouraging, and we will continue to support policies that facilitate job creation and provide Florida families with the opportunity to succeed.
I will be sure to keep you posted each week about the issues facing us in Tallahassee as we begin the final half of the 2014 Legislative Session.
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Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. My door is always open.
