Governor Rick Scott Unveils 2014-2015 "It's Your Money Tax Cut Budget"

Statement

Governor Rick Scott today unveiled his "It's Your Money Tax Cut Budget" for fiscal year 2014-2015. Governor Scott's "It's Your Money Tax Cut Budget" includes over $500 million in tax cuts for Florida families and continues to push for responsible measures, such as reducing taxes, reducing state debt, and eliminating government waste.

Governor Scott said, "My 2014-2015 "It's Your Money Tax Cut Budget' reflects our commitment to give $500 million back to Florida families through tax and fee cuts, eliminate government waste and pay down debt. These are the three steps in our formula to create jobs for generations to come. This budget will continue to drive the economic turnaround our state has made over the last three years as we build on policies to keep Florida working. This budget recognizes that taxpayer money belongs to the people who earn it. Not government.

"In the years before I took office, Florida had shed more than 800,000 jobs. Taxes and debt increased while Florida's unemployment rate rose to 11.1 percent.

"Over the past three years we have laid a foundation of reforms to cut taxes, pay down debt and reduce spending. These pro-growth policies supported the creation of more than 462,000 private sector jobs in our state, and our vibrant economy led to a major drop in our unemployment rate -- now below the national average at 6.2 percent. Nearly 3,000 state regulations on families and job creators have been repealed and we have paid down $3.6 billion in state debt.

"This budget eliminates the 2009 annual automobile tax and fee increases to save Floridians around $400 million. We will undo that tax hike and give financial relief to the millions of Floridians who paid fees on over 13 million annual registrations.

"This budget also cuts around $100 million in taxes on commercial leases to give small businesses more money to invest in their own future. Florida is the only state that imposes this tax, and we must keep gaining ground to keep Florida the best place to start and grow a business.

"We also include a $21.6 million cut to the business tax to exempt another 2,000 taxpayers. This means 81 percent of Florida businesses will no longer pay this tax and can continue to create jobs. Additionally, this budget lowers business filing fees by more than $33 million.

"Our tax cut record in these four budgets represents a sharp contrast to the four budgets before we took office. We have cut taxes dozens of times, but the previous four budgets raised taxes by more than $2 billion.

"This budget also includes measures to cut wasteful government spending by $287 million and keep $5.1 billion in reserves.

"During the four years before I took office, state debt increased by $5.2 billion. But, over the last three years, we have reduced state debt by $3.6 billion and this budget goes even further by paying down another $170 million in state debt.

"In addition, my "It's Your Money Tax Cut Budget" makes a record investment of $18.84 billion in K-12 education. This is the highest total funding level for K-12 education in Florida history.

"Florida's economy is growing. We are on the rebound. More revenue does not mean we should grow government. Instead, we should grow our businesses. We should grow the hopes and dreams of Florida families. Three years ago, we got to work to turn our state around, and with another $500 million in tax cuts we will keep working to make Florida the number one destination for opportunity in the world."

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