House budget chair tells the 'untold story' of Florida’s fiscal health | Opinion
Growing up, some of my best memories were of my dad and me going fishing in our lakes and rivers; I can still feel the water on my feet as we waited for a bite. Like many in our state, the beach has also been a favorite place for lots of family memories. We love Florida, and we love our outdoors.
Other states like California also have lakes, beaches and theme parks like Florida, but California is losing population while Florida is adding thousands of people every day. Over the last 10 years, Florida's population has grown by 15%, passing New York to become the nation's third-largest state.
Meanwhile, people continue to leave California and other states in record numbers. And while our climate, beaches and lakes are obvious draws, it’s really the untold story of Florida’s long-term financial strength that makes our state the best place in the world to live.
Florida is a state with low taxes, common-sense regulation, has a government that lives within its means, and balances its budget every year. That is part of why the U.S. News & World Report recently ranked us 8th for fiscal stability, ranked New York 20th and put California at 36. For years, Florida has also stood among the top 10 states in Mercatus’ report on states’ financial health; in 2017, we were No. 1.
As the Florida House Appropriations Chairman serving under Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls, one of the strongest conservative statehouse speakers in America, I feel it is my duty to safeguard your tax dollars like any family has to safeguard their personal budget and plan with an eye toward the future. And by doing that in a disciplined way, we have the financial strength to pay for those extras that California always talks about but can never do without raising or creating yet another burdensome tax.
For instance, in April, Speaker Sprowls called on lawmakers to dedicate millions of dollars each year to address the effects of flooding and beach erosion. The legislation encourages locals to beef up their community resilience plans and establishes the first statewide plan in the nation to address flooding. Responding to this long-term problem today means we can protect our quality of life and also help hold the line on rising property insurance rates.
We've also started thoroughly assessing all of the top risks to our state — something I’ve never seen any other government do — so that we can mitigate the risks facing Florida and aren't surprised by the next crisis. Planning and preparation are the best way to mitigate future crises.
Sprowls' forward-looking leadership has contributed to Florida’s positive outlook from credit rating agencies, whose job it is to assess risk. All three credit rating agencies know that Florida is better prepared for tomorrow than we have ever been, and they cited our risk assessment and flooding agenda as why they continue to give Florida its highest bond rating scores.
Our bond rating has an impact on how much it costs the State of Florida to build roads, build schools and invest for the future. The more money we save by being responsible, the more money we have for tax cuts or other priority investments. Unlike Joe Biden’s questionable infrastructure plan, our Florida infrastructure plan is based on science and paid for with healthy fiscal discipline.
It may not make flashy headlines or the evening news, but Florida’s untold story of financial strength is exactly why we will continue to prosper — and the people will continue to come.
Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, is Appropriations Committee Chairman for the Florida House of Representatives. He was first elected in 2014.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida House budget chair tells 'untold story' of state's fiscal health
