WHY ISN’T TALLAHASSEE ADDRESSING FLORIDA’S REAL PROBLEMS?

As I’m writing this the Legislature is still in session, and has thus far discussed whether evolution should be taught in science class, and if women seeking abortions should be forced to view and pay for an ultrasound. They also passed legislation allowing workers to keep guns in their cars during working hours.

Are these the priorities of Floridians?

I realize that we’re not always going to agree or come to a consensus, especially in a state the size of Florida and with the diversity of population that we have. But I just don’t understand how our elected leaders can spend precious weeks out of the small amount of time they have in session focusing on wedge issues that only divide us.

When I move around District 92 talking to voters I hear about property taxes, windstorm insurance, foreclosures, and how the quality of life in South Florida is suffering.

Property taxes: The Legislature still hasn’t adequately dealt with following up on the property tax cut voters passed in January, which offered little in the way of real relief to homeowners who are suffering and just resulted in forcing municipalities to trim their budgets to match their reduced revenue.

Windstorm Insurance: Hurricane season is just around the corner, and officials are once again predicting an above-average year. We were spared the past two seasons, but recall the two years before that – record years for Florida. And as the old saying goes, “It only takes one hurricane for it to be a bad year.” The Legislature is discussing freezing rates for Citizens, the state-run insurer of last risk, until 2009. While this may be a politically popular move, Citizens doesn’t have enough money in its coffers to deal with the risk. Be prepared for a massive rate hike if Florida is hit by a storm in 2008.

Foreclosures: Florida ranked second nationwide in the first quarter of the year in the number of properties in foreclosure, according to Foreclsoures.com – 18,055 filings, a 65% increase over the first quarter in 2007. Broward County is the hardest hit region in South Florida, a sad fact that doesn’t seem likely to change in the short term, given how quickly we grew over the past few years. There are no easy answers here, and the stumbling national economy plays a huge part in our ability to climb out of this crisis. But local communities and the families left without homes are on the frontlines suffering most visibly, often without a support network to help them through.

So what’s the common thread tying all of these issues together? Money. There’s not enough of it, and what we have is being funneled into projects that don’t address the real needs of our people.

I often talk about being an accountant and financial professional, and that’s something that will inform my decisions in Tallahassee. It’s time someone with real world experience with the issues Floridians want addressed actually was in a position to do something about them.