Governor Rick Scott's Weekly Radio Address 5/13/2011

Statement

In connection with National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Day on Sunday, communities throughout Florida and our nation are recognizing law enforcement officers for their service and honoring those killed in the line of duty.

In their honor, this week I signed the Officer Andrew Widman Act at a candlelight vigil in Fort Myers. This new law empowers judges to hold probation violators in custody while they wait for a hearing if it is in the
best interest of public safety.

This bill is the first of many I will sign in the coming weeks. I will carefully consider each bill passed by the Legislature, including the budget for our state. As I promised, I will use accountability budgeting and look at every line of the budget to make sure your taxpayer dollars are spent the best way possible. About every item, I'll ask, "Will it help create jobs for the more than 1 million Floridians who are out of work, or will it kill jobs in our state?"

I campaigned on my 7-7-7 Plan to streamline government, improve education and lower your taxes. In the coming weeks, I look forward to signing bills that put my plan to work.

The bills I sign will reduce wasteful spending, eliminate red tape, and modernize our pension system.

We put our children first with the Student Success Act I signed earlier this year, and we will give families more choices by expanding charter and virtual schools.

Property owners will save more than $200 million on their property taxes. And most importantly, we will begin phasing out the business tax by eliminating it entirely for roughly half the companies that paid it.

These first pieces of my 7-7-7 Plan are putting Florida on the road to creating 700,000 private sector jobs and turning our economy around.

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