The Issues

Our community possesses some of the finest beaches in Florida that are world destinations. Florida coastal charm with quaint historical areas and pristine waters of beauty are perfect for relaxing, boating, fishing and nature sports in the state ties us to our past while propelling us into the future. We must safeguard our shared natural heritage for future generations.

While mother nature has blessed us with the beauty and benefits of the waterfronts, she has also challenged us through her fury of weather. As a result, our community and state are challenged in protecting ourselves. Our state needs to remain steadfast in lowering insurance premium rates. While tort reform with homeowners’ insurance, benefits for retrofitting or hardening our home and tax relief have been produced to draw nine new insurers to the state and provide a path for three insurers to request a reduction in their premium costs, we still have work to achieve. We must remain steadfast in our position on tort reform, continue to address issues which Pinellas’s residents are being ejected from Citizen’s Insurance Company. Additionally, it is imperative to preserve attainable housing in our community.

To sustain our community’s old Florida charm and growth we must fight to ensure we do not experience the reduction tourism dollars received to rejuvenate our hallmark economy.

Florida’s family unit is consistently under attack whether it be our ethics system, inflation, or our educational system. Enabling young people to embrace their family heritage, traditions and beliefs without repercussions must occur with an environment of preservation at the state level.

Our young people need to be able to learn the basics to compete on a world stage. Our children and youth should be able to read at their grade level and the government should not stand between their parents and their child. Permitting families to identify and pursue education for their children in the best environment for each child will enable our community and state’s students to accel.

Our logistical system continues to have greater demands placed on it as we evolve as a community. This system is not just for daily transportation, but for the moving of personal goods, orders placed, growth of businesses and ________________. Florida must strategically create a better logistical system to accept, distribute and transport supplies to further develop a demand industry before neighboring states claim it. Proactively securing this type of supply chain by leveraging all our resources (roadways, ports, airports, railways and our waterways) we will protect our citizens against shortages while identifying a stronger revenue source to stabilize our economy.

Lower taxes and responsible government spending are critical to ensure our economy thrives. Identifying tax incentives will permit our small businesses to hire more people, as well as empowering citizens to experience a more prosperous life.

Our state continues to meet economic challenges ranging from the days of the COVID-19 outbreak to the aftermath of mother nature. Our beaches and small businesses have had a real impact during these challenging times. Eliminating taxes like the tax businesses pay on rent for commercial property, from 4.5% to 2.0%, is progress we need to continue making for them to flourish.

We and our families are just as impacted by the challenges as our business community, which supports our quality of life. The government needs to stop taking money out of our pockets – we hardworking Floridians – to pay for more government. Whether that reduction is realized through eliminating taxes on items like diapers or suspending the gasoline tax; providing tax breaks for disaster preparedness, back to school, tools for skilled works or on your homeowner’s insurance, each dollar is essential for families today.