Tomorrow, March 14, Governor Rick Scott will join tourism leaders, business owners, and community members from around the state to rally support for fully funding VISIT FLORIDA.
WHAT: Fighting for Florida Jobs Tourism Rally
WHEN: 2:30 PM
WHERE: The Florida Capitol
Capitol Rotunda
400 South Monroe
Tallahassee, FL
Gov. Rick Scott
Gov. Scott: Businesses Created Nearly 51,000 Jobs in January
More than 1.34 Million Jobs Created Since December 2010
Governor Rick Scott announced today that Florida businesses created 50,700 private-sector jobs in January, bringing the total number of new jobs added since December 2010 to 1,343,100. Governor Scott made the announcement at Herc Rentals Inc. which, thanks to the hard work of Enterprise Florida (EFI), is expanding its Lee County-based corporate headquarters, creating 122 new jobs.
Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce that Florida’s private-sector businesses created nearly 51,000 new jobs in January. In the last six years, our state has added more than 1.34 million new jobs with help from our economic development organizations like Enterprise Florida that fight for new investment all across our state. Today’s announcement of Herc Rentals adding more than 120 new jobs would not have been possible without the hard work and collaboration of EFI. Unfortunately, politicians in the Florida House last week voted to kill our jobs program– threatening great jobs wins like Herc’s expansion in Bonita Springs. We will continue to fight for jobs and ensure Florida remains competitive for major jobs wins that provide opportunities for Florida families.”
For the 58th consecutive month, Florida’s annual job growth rate of 3.6 percent is exceeding the nation’s rate of 1.8 percent. In the last year alone, 260,600 new jobs were created by businesses across the state. Florida’s unemployment rate remained low at five percent in January.
Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “After a very strong year of job creation in 2016, Florida businesses are doubling down on their investment in new jobs. In January, more than 50,000 new jobs empowered Florida families to achieve financial security. Florida must build on the momentum of the last six years by continuing to support economic diversification and job creation opportunities for all Floridians.”
Other positive economic indicators include:
- Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs in January were:
- Professional and business services with 11,800 new jobs;
- Construction with 10,700 new jobs, and
- Trade, transportation and utilities with 6,700 new jobs.
- Florida job postings showed 255,690 openings in January 2017.
- In January, Florida’s 24 regional workforce boards reported more than 31,898 Floridians, including 1,352 veterans, were placed in jobs.
- Labor force increased by 251,000 over the year in January 2017, rising by 2.6 percent.
To view the January 2017 employment data, click here.
Gov. Scott to Host Fighting for Florida Jobs Roundtables in Tallahassee and Sarasota
Next week, Governor Rick Scott will host Fighting for Florida Jobs Roundtables in Tallahassee and Sarasota with business owners, economic development leaders, tourism leaders, and community members to discuss the local economic impact of VISIT FLORIDA and Enterprise Florida.
WHAT: Fighting for Florida Jobs Roundtables
WHERE: Tallahassee, Florida & Sarasota, Florida
NOTE: More information on times and locations will be released in the coming days.
Gov. Scott Tours Impacts of Collier County Wildfire
Governor Rick Scott today surveyed damage caused by the wildfire in Collier County with Commissioner Adam Putnam and members of the Florida Forest Service.
ICYMI: Editorial: Heroin epidemic needs Gov. Rick Scott, Pam Bondi fix
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi should show leadership on heroin crisis.
In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott declared a statewide public health emergency to combat the pill-mill crisis that was killing seven people a day.
Six years later, Florida faces an even deadlier killer. This time it’s heroin, which is killing 10 people a day.
As he did with Zika last summer, we urge the governor to recognize the heroin epidemic for what it is — a public health emergency in urgent need of greater funding, increased awareness and wider distribution of naloxone, a drug used to treat overdoses.
“There is no family, no race, no ethnicity, no income level this epidemic cannot touch — and no effective state bulwark in place to stop it,” Senate Democratic Leader Oscar Braynon of Miami Gardens wrote in a letter to the governor.
Indeed, Marion County Commissioner Kathy Bryant — this year’s president of the Florida Association of Counties — lost her brother, Daniel, to an overdose last July. She’s not the only county commissioner who’s lost someone to heroin, either. The association made addressing the opioid epidemic one of its top five priorities this year.
“People don’t think it’s people like you and me, and that’s just not the case,” says Bryant, of Ocala. “It’s everywhere. It’s one of those drugs that’s extremely hard to get away from once you start it.”
The association is seeking more money for mental health care and substance abuse, knowing addicts don’t generally have insurance for treatment and families can afford only so much. They also want to ensure ambulances are stocked with naloxone, noting some South Florida fire departments can’t afford it. And they seek tougher penalties for people who sell heroin, a good goal, though it’s hard to believe tougher penalties will stop sales. Sure, longer sentences could keep dealers off the streets longer, but the painful truth is that addicts will find another supplier.
In other states that have declared public health emergencies, like Virginia, anyone can now obtain naloxone at pharmacies without a prescription, which lets families and friends be prepared to help people in the throes of an overdose. And Massachusetts released $20 million two years ago to get more addicts into treatment.
Sadly, the rise in heroin abuse is associated with the closure of the pain-pill clinics. Plus, heroin is increasingly compounded with fentanyl, a synthetic drug that can be lethal at low doses. Bad batches and uncertainty about potency are part of what’s causing so many deaths.
Between 2013 and 2014, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission says deaths from heroin increased 124 percent. The next year, heroin deaths rose 80 percent. The trend shows no sign of ebbing.
Beyond the human toll, the costs are staggering.
The Palm Beach Post investigated the crisis and reports some stunning numbers:
- In the first nine months of 2015, Florida hospitals charged $1.1 billion for heroin-related visits, with many of those bills going unpaid.
- From 2010 to 2015, Florida hospitals charged $5.7 billion for heroin-related visits, including $2.1 billion to the state Medicaidprogram.
- In those same five years, hospitals charged $967 million for babies born addicted to heroin. Medicaid was the primary payer in almost all of those cases — $826 million.
Scott spokeswoman Lauren Schenone said in a statement that the administration is listening. Surgeon General Celeste Philip and Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Mike Carroll are scheduled to meet with legislators “to hear their input on the subject.” In Florida, the surgeon general is the person who formally calls a public health emergency.
State health officials should listen hard and make the obvious call. For not only is the heroin epidemic killing people, it’s destroying families and leaving children without parents.
Schenone noted that Scott’s proposed budget includes $4 million for the Florida Violent Crime and Drug Control Council, of which $2 million will “be provided for financial assistance to local law enforcement to conduct investigations related to heroin abuse.”
That’s not nearly enough money. It’s expensive to treat addiction, wage public education campaigns and stock ambulances with emergency drugs.
These last few months, the governor has been waging the fight of his political life to secure $85 million in economic incentives to lure businesses to Florida.
Let us see equal tenacity in fighting for Florida families facing the consequences of addiction.
Let us see Attorney General Pam Bondi show the same muscle she used in fighting pill mills to fight the heroin epidemic.
Let the governor call the heroin epidemic what it is: a public health emergency.
And let Daniel’s family — his sister and brothers, his three children, his parents, everyone — be the last to face the despair of this epidemic on their own.
Governor Rick Scott to Host Media Availability in D.C.
MEDIA ADVISORY
Governor Scott is meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan and members of Congress today and tomorrow in Washington, D.C. on healthcare. Tomorrow morning, March 9th, he will be available to media to discuss his trip to D.C.
WHEN: 9:00 am
WHERE: Russell Senate Office Building Rotunda – 3rd floor
Washington, D.C.
Advocates Respond to Governor’s State of the State
“We need a Florida that works for all Floridians”
Advocates gathered at the State Capitol and in cities throughout Florida to “Awake The State” on the opening day of the 2017 legislative session. Labor leaders and legislators joined advocates for access to health care, quality public schools, reproductive and immigration rights to provide a counterpoint to Gov. Rick Scott and his legislative allies’ agenda that rewards their corporate backers while ignoring the needs of everyday Floridians. The event at the Capitol was part of a series of statewide actions and events promoting a different agenda: “a Florida that works for all Floridians.”
“We’re focused on promoting a state budget that works for every Floridian, not just the wealthy and well-connected,” said Rich Templin, Ph.D., Legislative and Political Director of the Florida AFL-CIO. “Instead of making smart investments in our communities that will create jobs, this legislature is actually considering preempting local governments from having the ability to do anything to advance workers’ well-being.”
For years Gov. Scott and the legislature have wasted billions of tax dollars in corporate handouts at the direct expense of hardworking Floridians who can least afford it. Instead of more unnecessary tax giveaways to corporations that serve to boost the bottom line of the very wealthy, Florida must create opportunities for all Floridians to get ahead.
“Everyday people are fed up with politicians balancing the budget on the backs of hardworking Floridians and our most vulnerable residents – children, the disabled, and frail elders,” said Karen Woodall, Executive Director of the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy. “We simply can’t afford any more tax giveaways to corporations or cuts to services each of us rely on – from our schools to our health care to our highways and bridges. In fact, we need more investment in our human infrastructure.”
Instead of more corporate tax giveaways, Awake The State advocates are calling on Gov. Scott and lawmakers to invest in Florida’s future and fully fund public education, increase access to health care coverage, protect our land and water, and upgrade our infrastructure.
“This is not about hard choices, but a question of priorities,” said Rep. Shevrin Jones. “It’s time to Awake The State.”
FSU graduate student Haley Gentile spoke out against recent and pending legislation designed to undermine safe and legal abortion care. “It’s time to Awake The State and recognize that a woman’s experience having an abortion should be supportive, affordable, available in her community, and without shame or stigma,” she said.
“In Florida, our quality of life depends on a healthy environment. Millions choose to live here and even more visit because of our rivers, springs, beaches, and access to nature,” said Aliki Moncrief, Executive Director of Florida Conservation Voters. “And yet every year, Gov. Scott and legislative leaders misappropriate funds intended for conservation, stand in the way of renewable energy options, and push policies that damage natural treasures like our springs and the Everglades. It is time to Awake the State and invest in protecting our water and the natural places that make Florida special.”
“Anti-immigrant and anti-family politics and policies are not a winning strategy in a state like Florida where a growing majority of Latino, Immigrant and African-American voters are key to municipal and the 2018 elections,” said Francesca Menes, Director of Policy and Advocacy for Florida Immigrant Coalition. “These measures would undermine the authority of local governments to protect its residents, public safety and trust, our economy and the very principles – diversity, opportunity, inclusion – that define us as Americans.”
In addition to the event at The Capitol, Awake the State activists have shared or will be sharing later this afternoon their progressive platform at events in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Stuart, Cocoa and Ocala.
Awake The State started as a Facebook page that quickly grew to thousands strong, resulting in events in cities across the state in March of 2011. Every year since, Floridians have organized Awake The State events in their communities at the beginning of the legislative session to engage their neighbors on important issues affecting our state. The Awake The State movement provides a platform for everyday Floridians to make their voices heard and fight for a Florida that works for all Floridians while pushing back against Rick Scott and the legislature’s wrongheaded priorities that reward the wealthy and well-connected.
Gov. Scott Designates Major General Michael Calhoun as Rep. on Florida Defense Support Task Force
Governor Rick Scott announced Major General Michael Calhoun as his Designee on the Florida Defense Support Task Force.
Major General Calhoun currently serves as the Adjutant General of Florida. He succeeds Senator Dana Young and is appointed for a term beginning March 6, 2017, and ending at the pleasure of the Governor.
Governor Scott said “I want to thank Senator Young for her service on the Defense Support Task Force. She has done a great job serving the people of Florida, and I am confident Major General Calhoun will continue to do all he can to ensure Florida remains the most military friendly state in the nation.”
Gov. Rick Scott to Deliver State of the State Address Tomorrow
Speech Excerpts as Prepared for Delivery
Governor Rick Scott will deliver his annual State of the State Address tomorrow. Below are excerpts from his speech as prepared for delivery:
…
Over the coming weeks, we will have many debates over bills and policies, but what unites us will always be stronger than what divides us – and what unites us is the resiliency of our great state. After every challenge, every heartbreak and every tragedy, Florida comes back stronger and better any time we are knocked down.
Since I last stood here to address you, Florida has endured many heartbreaks. I have prayed for families around our state who have been impacted by tragedy, and my own heart has been broken for their losses. Our state has been rocked by the gruesome terrorist attack at the Pulse Nightclub, in Orlando. We endured two hurricanes, fought against the rapid spread of the Zika Virus, and were devastated by the deadly Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooting.
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And, if there is one thing you remember from this speech today, I hope it is this: Florida is a state full of fighters, and I will never stop fighting for our families.
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Nothing could have prepared me for the horror we saw on June 12, 2016 when a terrorist inspired by ISIS stormed into Pulse and senselessly killed 49 innocent people.
This was a terrorist attack and 49 brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends and spouses were murdered.
The days I spent in Orlando following the shooting will always be with me.
…
This year, I am fighting to cut taxes by $618 million to cut costs for small businesses, students, veterans, teachers and families.
Our Fighting for Florida’s Future tax cut package will boost our economy and encourage businesses of all sizes to create jobs and build opportunities for generations of Floridians. Let’s remember, when jobs are created, it helps the poorest, most disadvantaged families who need a job the most…families just like mine when I was growing up.
One of the taxes we are fighting to cut is the commercial lease tax, which unfairly targets small businesses.
…
Even more important than continuing to cut taxes in our state is that we prevent against unfair tax increases in the future so our progress is not undone. My goal before I leave office is that we work together on a solution to make it harder for any future legislature – even one not as conservative as we have here today – to raise taxes.
…
Gov. Scott announces Gartner, Inc. to create 600 new jobs in Lee County
Governor Rick Scott announced today that Gartner, Inc., a global information technology research and advisory company, will expand in Lee County and create 600 new jobs. The company will also invest more than $21 million in the local community. Gartner currently employs more than 1,250 Floridians. The new jobs will include positions in sales, client service, research, finance, and more.
Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce today that Gartner will be expanding in Lee County to create 600 new jobs. Thanks to the hard work of Enterprise Florida and local economic development agencies, hundreds of Floridians in Southwest Florida will have the opportunities they need to find great jobs and provide for their families. This incredible news shows how important it is to continue to make Florida more competitive for job creation wins, and we will continue to fight to make sure our state has all the resources we need to become the job creation capital of the world.”
Gartner began its Fort Myers operation nearly two decades ago. Since then, it has grown to become the company’s second-largest office worldwide. Gartner’s latest commitment to the State of Florida follows the successful construction of two successive 120,000 square foot buildings in Fort Myers in 2012 and 2014, and the development of a new world class training facility in 2016 which totaled more than $46 million in capital investment. The company has also increased its workforce by more than 800 new jobs since 2012, now employing over 1,100 Floridians in Fort Myers. Gartner also employs almost 9,000 associates worldwide, including 1,900 research analysts and consultants, serving clients in more than 10,000 enterprises.
Gene Hall, chief executive officer of Gartner, said, “We appreciate the hard work of Enterprise Florida and the incentives approved by the State of Florida and Lee County. These efforts will help us continue to invest in the local community and support our long-term growth. We look forward to adding new talent to our existing workforce in Southwest Florida.”
This project was made possible through the close partnerships between Enterprise Florida, the Lee County Economic Development Office, CareerSource Florida and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “I’m proud that Gartner, one of Southwest Florida’s top employers, has chosen to expand its operations in Fort Myers. While Gartner has offices all across the globe, Florida’s skilled workforce has the talent the company needs to succeed.”
CareerSource Florida has offered Gartner performance-based partial reimbursement grants for employee training through the Quick Response Training (QRT) program. QRT grants are structured to be flexible and responsive to the training needs of new or expanding businesses.
CareerSource Florida President and CEO Michelle Dennard said, “CareerSource Florida is pleased to have assisted Gartner, Inc., with employee skills training through a Quick Response Training grant. The CareerSource Florida network stands ready to help Gartner and Florida businesses of all sizes meet recruiting, hiring and training needs to support their continued success and growth.”
Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman, who is the Economic Development Office liaison for the Lee Board of County Commissioners, said, “These new jobs along with Gartner’s continued investment in Lee County will provide opportunities for generations. Lee County has worked very hard to position itself as one of the most attractive places to live, work and raise a family in the United States.”
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. We deliver the technology-related insight necessary for our clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior information technology (IT) leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to supply chain professionals, digital marketing professionals and technology investors, we are the valuable partner to clients in more than 10,000 distinct enterprises. We work with clients to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual roles. Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has almost 9,000 associates, including 1,900 research analysts and consultants, operating in more than 90 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) is a partnership between Florida’s businesses and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for Florida. EFI facilitates job growth through recruitment and retention, international trade and exporting, promotion of sporting events, and capital funding programs to assist small and minority businesses. EFI launched “Florida – The Future is Here” to promote the state as the nation’s premier business destination.
