beware the storms of new …
Sitting on the other side of my desk, the legendary Lawton Chiles wisely suggested that Florida handle one issue and one constituent at a time.
My desk was consumed by thousands of letters to the Senator from Floridians fighting various issues with what they perceived to be their failing federal or state government. Admittedly, I felt pretty overwhelmed by my job as the Senator’s staff assistant on these pending matters.
The fatherly and experienced statesman that he was just smiled at me knowingly.
“When I get overwhelmed, and the number of political problems confronting me seems impossible to deal with, I prioritize my opportunities and tackle them one at a time,” the then-powerful United States Senate Budget Committee chairman said.
“Florida is a big state. We have a lot of people to serve. But if you take Florida one person at a time, one issue at a time, even though there are more than 13 million of us, eventually you will whittle your plate of problems down to a more manageable level,” he said.
“The trick is to tackle something and get going. If you confront your most pressing issues, eventually, you will make progress. The government will no longer look so ineffective, and people will seem to be a little more satisfied that they are being duly respected for their citizenship.”
It was startling to me that Lawton (he always asked us to call him that) saw these crushing matters as “opportunities” and not simply as “problems.” It struck me that his philosophy in conducting public service was brilliant and sage without being complicated and coarse.
I have admired Lawton’s approach for the 38 years since he first eased my anxiety about the political issues confronting my attention. Even though Lawton Chiles is no longer with us physically, his recommendation is timeless nonetheless.
Today, four decades later, Florida has a population of 21.5 million people. The fiscal year budget for the Sunshine State is $90.98 billion. The per capita state tax burden for our citizens is $1,822, the second lowest in the nation.
Florida’s constitution prohibits a personal income tax, and it probably always will because the average citizen does not want to take on that financial liability. Only seven states in the nation do not have a personal income tax.
Not surprisingly, property taxes in the state are among the nation’s highest, partly to compensate for the revenue missed by not having a personal income tax. The state’s reserve budget is $5.4 billion, about six percent of the annual budget.
Florida's single largest revenue source is general revenue, 83.8 percent. Transaction taxes, such as sales tax, are higher than in most other states. Florida also relies more heavily on local revenue to fund state government than any other state in the union.
Florida’s total state and local revenue is 54.9 percent. Ad valorem taxes generated $46 billion in the most recent budget, followed by social insurance taxes, which generated $21 billion, and business and other taxes, which generated another $10 billion. Fees and other charges generated $9 billion, and corporate income taxes generated $3 billion in annual revenue.
Over 330,000 people are moving to Florida every year now, which is about 900 people per day, or as many people as currently live in Orlando, Florida, proper.
The average salary in Florida is $57,000, and the hourly average wage is $16.50 per hour.
Florida does have some bright spots to report.
The Florida Retirement System is one of the country's better retirement systems, funded at about 84 percent of its $186 billion actuarial liability.
More than 100 million people visited the Sunshine State in the immediate past year.
Florida’s international airports are among the best in the nation, as are some of our key seaports.
Florida is home to many military bases and personnel, who are paid by the federal government. This helps to greatly diversify the state’s population and employment sources.
However, Florida faces several significant challenges in the decade or decades ahead. Without proper and timely planning, challenges will make Florida a very unpopular place to live.
the top 10 challenges
These top ten challenging - perhaps even in some cases catastrophic - issues include, for example, the following, which are outlined by the degree of severity in Thomas’ opinion:
1. Pandemic Health Crisis. As of this article’s publication date today, Florida just logged a staggering 15,300 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day. No other state in the nation has done so since the pandemic began to spread in the United States in early 2020. Forty-three of the state’s Intensive Care Unit beds are at capacity, and the largest hospitals in the state are pleading for help in managing the rapidly escalating hospitalizations, which were reported two days ago to be at least 7,000. Florida, in other words, has become a leading epicenter for coronavirus outbreaks around the world. Florida does not have control over the spread. However, the Governor insists on opening public schools in August, hosting tens of thousands of Republicans at the GOP National Convention events in Jacksonville, and entertaining abbreviated seasons for professional sports like the National Basketball Association and Major League Soccer. Florida will lose visitors and customers quickly without properly reducing the virus and its spread. Coming to Florida or doing business with Florida will equate to risking death.
2. Acute Unemployment. Today, Florida has had some 1.6 million citizens receive unemployment benefits related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another 700,000 plus applied but were denied benefits. Unfortunately, Florida also has one of the worst “reemployment” payment rates in the nation at a maximum weekly benefit of $275. Florida, by the way, has one of the highest cost-of-living rates in the United States today. Moreover, these weekly benefits expire after 12 weeks. The miserly rate was intentionally established when now junior United States Senator Rick Scott was Governor at the urging of corporate lobbyists who wanted to limit their unemployment tax contributions. The website where unemployed Floridians go to apply for their paid-into assistance fund is broken and highly unresponsive, even though the state of Florida paid a reported $77 million to Deloitte Consulting for the website. Many Floridians have reported vastly delayed or missing payments since registering for benefits weeks and months ago. The state government has not improved the system in the intervening months since COVID-19 started spreading. Floridians, put, cannot afford to live with their meager unemployment benefits or their unresponsive and unsupportive “reemployment” benefit system.
3. Financial instability. Florida’s reliance on local revenue to fund government, and more troubling than that, Florida’s overwhelming dependency on ad valorem taxes, such as sales taxes, is frightening. If the American economy stalls, and it has this year with the novel coronavirus, revenue collections for the state will tank. They already have fallen, and Florida does not know how badly they have tanked yet. That nightmare news is yet to reveal itself. Property taxes cannot keep going up to generate more income for the state, especially when those taxes also propping up local government revenues. Florida must diversify its funding base now, and a personal income tax will not be an option.
4. Challenging Job Quality. The number one job creator in the state of Florida is tourism. Although over 100 million were visiting the state before COVID-19, jobs associated with this dominant industry are lower-paying service jobs. The agriculture industry, which used to be a staple of the Florida economy, has been in rapid decline for several decades now, as have more traditional manufacturing jobs. Florida has become a haven for banks and financial services, law and accounting firms, and other support industries that are only as prosperous as their client base. Although Florida has a significant health marketplace because of our aging and sizeable population, many of these healthcare centers are anchored by non-profit hospitals, which typically have much smaller net operating margins. Better-paying jobs will be necessary for Florida’s future sustainability as a quality place to work and live.
5. Compromised Education Achievements. Florida consistently ranks near the bottom of almost every primary educational standard polling regarding the quality, or lack thereof, of a Florida education. Florida has one major university ranked in the top ten public universities nationally. Why not four universities instead of one? ACT and SAT score averages are extremely low in Florida, even though our K-12 students are tested, re-tested, and tested again ad nauseam galore. K-12, workforce training, and higher education all need more attention. While our teachers have received better pay over recent years, they should earn far more to be competitive, regardless of where a school is or is not located in the state. Tuition costs are still too high for many desiring students, but at least they have held stable recently. Early learning and voluntary pre-kindergarten programs are popping up all over the state, but charter school proliferation is siphoning off valuable public educational resources that must be decreased.
6. Escalating Inaccessible Healthcare. Florida, despite its more elderly population and low-paying service industry jobs, did not expand Medicaid coverage under Obamacare when it had the opportunity to do so. Consequently, more than 1.25 million Floridians did not receive the access they might otherwise have benefited from during the Obama presidential years. Healthcare costs have been skyrocketing in Florida, especially concerning drug prices. The state has also joined the Trump Department of Justice, which is seeking a decision this Autumn from the United States Supreme Court that all of Obamacare is unconstitutional, which includes protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. The Republicans in the state and federally say they will protect such people from the ravages of their diseases with access to affordable healthcare. Still, no viable alternative plan has been implemented since Donald Trump was elected president almost four years ago.
7. Dwindling Affordable Housing. Access to affordable housing for Florida’s working population, especially among hourly workers, has declined precipitously over the past two decades. Real estate values have been growing significantly, as have rental rates, making access to affordable living much harder for the average Florida family to find. Governor DeSantis, citing the financial impact of COVID-19 on the state this year, just eliminated $250 million that was budgeted by the state legislature to help establish more affordable healthcare in our communities. As mentioned earlier, because Florida does not have access to a personal income tax source of revenue, property taxes are the next best bet for generating state money. They are already among the highest in the nation, thus not offering much of a politically rational option for replacing lost income to the state due to COVID-19.
8. Crushing Environmental Damage. Because of the substantial daily growth in the state’s exploding population and a lack of sufficient state resources to combat-related problems, Florida’s environment has been plagued by diminishing water availability, water quality from overuse of pesticides and nutrients, red tide and blue-green algae, beach, and coastal erosion, especially from storms and hurricanes, coral reef damage from liter and pollution, and much more. As the damage to Florida’s pristine environment continues to mount, its impact on those who live in Florida, want to move to Florida or want to visit Florida will be measurable and often valuable.
9. Crumbling Infrastructure & Traffic Gridlock. Florida’s bridges and roads are disintegrating before the state’s very eyes. More bridges on interstate and local roads need to be replaced than the state can afford to address today. Traffic congestion due to extraordinary population growth is significant and frustrating. Commuter rail service is working valiantly to come online, but the resources to positively impact the state are woefully insufficient. Forget any idea of implementing a high-speed rail system anytime soon. Local bus systems are deeply challenged, and it takes far too long for any citizen to get from point A to point B. As mentioned earlier, Florida’s international airports and key seaports will require maintenance and improvements shortly. In other words, Florida’s trip to somewhere is greatly hampered these days.
10. Glaring Social Disparities. This is a big problem for Florida, as it is for the nation. Discrimination is tormenting public and private sector enterprises alike. Criminal justice challenges are imbalanced but avoidable where public will and determination are applied. Community safety, no matter the neighborhood’s status, is threatened frequently. Social services delivery for the infirmed, the developmentally challenged, the addicted, and the mentally compromised are laughable. The courts are heavily burdened and overwhelmed. Police departments are disparaged and denigrated even though they have nothing to do with the problems seen in other national departments. Veterans are thanked for their service but forgotten on their earned safety nets. Voting irregularities and ballot access are infringed beyond measure. Cyber crimes and attacks are on the rise. The state government has noticed and talked about these problems but has kicked the can over to the federal government for answers. Florida must learn about these social challenges to take care of Florida herself.
the time to act
All these acute problems promise to become more pronounced in the immediate future, rendering Florida a potentially lethal blow to its reputation as a great state to work, live, and play.
Without action, Florida will become the late, great state of Florida in no time.
So, what does Thomas believe can be done about these challenges? Don’t just criticize, you say?
I’m glad you asked!
We start here. Thomas is advocating for the following initiatives to help Florida overcome its pitfalls:
To provide for a safer place to live, work, and play:
Attack the COVID-19 outbreak by immediately imposing a mandatory face mask requirement in any public setting where a minimum six-foot social distance area cannot be assured.
Re-set the state ban on groups of ten or more gathering together for at least one month until the contamination exposure can be better mitigated. Impose fines, if necessary, to encourage greater compliance this time around.
Continue ramping up testing, tracking, and tracing exposed or confirmed patients so that the spread of the virus in Florida can be better contained.
Permit school districts, universities, and colleges to use a hybrid class schedule depending upon their unique local COVID-19 outbreak conditions.
Give first responders an immediate pay raise to make them more competitive with first responder salaries nationwide. Include teachers and professors in this category.
Assure that all healthcare and treatment centers around the state have the materials they need to safely treat exposed or confirmed COVID-19 patients and protect themselves from unnecessary exposure.
Withdraw large group invitations to meet in Florida until Florida meets the CDC guidelines for safe state re-openings after consistently declining new cases statistics. This would include the Republican National Convention meetings scheduled for Jacksonville next month.
Extend Florida’s “reemployment” benefits program through December 31, 2020, for those job-impacted by COVID-19 whose benefits have already expired or are about to expire.
Release true and accurate data on the number of patients who have tested positive, are hospitalized, or have passed related to COVID-19, including their geographic location by affected county.
Demand greater participation and timely assistance from the federal government, especially the White House, which is both consistent and politically neutral.
thomas invites you to read: Pandemical
To improve job quality and raise incomes for all Florida citizens:
Recruit more corporate relocations and start-ups in Florida with favorable state tax incentives, marketing support, and simplified regulatory assistance, including USA subsidiaries from global companies and public-private partnerships.
Invest significant state resources into creating more manufacturing and research centers nationwide with highly defined collaborative partnerships with nearby universities, colleges, and technical training operations.
Immediately fix the state “re-employment” website so that applicants and currently approved beneficiaries can access their benefits. Raise Florida’s maximum weekly benefit to the top 20% level in the nation and restore those benefits from the current 12-week period to the previous 26-week time frame.
thomas invites you to Read more on these recommended initiatives:
Medical Innovation Zones
American Transformational Innovation Trust
To provide more significant funding to meet these challenges:
Have the Governor and their office seek from Florida wealth and wealth advisors donations and philanthropic investments that can help supplement state funding to meet challenges in education, healthcare affordability and access, housing, environmental impact, and protection, infrastructure improvement and expansion, and social disparity mitigation. Based on experience in ultra-high net worth fundraising, I think it would be reasonable to create at least a $10 billion Florida Fund utilizing one of Ben Franklin’s favorite philanthropy tools, Program Related Investments, and broader Social Impact Funds, all offset by principal gift investments.
Insist that the state of Florida immediately withdraws from the Trump Administration-supported lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act before the United States Supreme Court.
thomas invites you to Read more on these recommended initiatives:
Franklin Can Save Us Again
Protecting Preexisting
When Governor Ron DeSantis submitted his 2019-2020 budget proposal to the Florida Legislature and the public, he called for “bold investments” for the state in a document titled Bold Vision for a Brighter Future.
DeSantis outlined six areas where he thought bolder works: 1) protecting environmental resources; 2) higher quality education; 3) hurricane recovery; 4) infrastructure and workforce; 5) health and human services; and 6) safe communities.
In our opinion, Florida should do far more to be a great state – and it can. If Governor DeSantis wants to be bold in these areas that he has also highlighted in some of the cases presented here, then Thomas would like to challenge him to be even more daring by:
Florida is one of the undisputed top five states in the nation for the quality of its education, from K-12 to workforce and technical trade training to higher education at the college and university levels. We believe that Floridians who want to attend a state or community college (as opposed to a significant four-year public or private university) should be able to do so on scholarship, provided they have been a Florida resident for at least five years.
Adopting our Medical Innovation Zone and American Transformational Innovation Trust concepts that would enable Florida hospitals and medical practices to develop and declare niche research specialties and where investments can be made in transformational industry initiatives that might and should generate much higher paying jobs in Florida and corresponding tax revenues.
If the average state salary in Florida is $57,000 and the average hourly salary is $16.38, then we would like to see both of these numbers increase by 20 percent over the next seven years. We would also like to see first responder salaries raised by a similar 20 percent, which could be paid in part by restructuring state and county education administration operations, for example.
Funding a high-speed rail network in Florida that fully integrates with our state’s international airports, key seaports, community transportation hubs, and university and college core centers.
Creating a safety net for unemployed Floridians that provides at least 26 weeks of benefits at a rate at least equal to the top ten percent of other states. The application and approval process should take no more than one week (seven days), and the waiting week currently required should be rescinded.
We can embrace and advocate for many other initiatives, but you get the idea. We can and should do better, Florida. Our state is worthy, our people are deserving, and our legacy is empowering.
Sunshine is a powerful tool in the political world!