January 4, 2011
Looking beyond the steps of the historic Capitol in Tallahassee, Rick Scott, Florida’s 45th governor, joined Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commissioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services Adam Putnam for the traditional swearing-in ceremony of Florida’s newly elected governor and Cabinet.
Following his inauguration, Governor Scott addressed the attending crowd with much appreciation and humility as he reiterated his number one priority from the campaign trail: creating jobs. The governor addressed the need to eliminate barriers to employment while ensuring accountability in state government. To what he referred to as the “axis of unemployment,” Scott emphasized the importance of reducing taxation, regulation, and litigation for stimulating job creation throughout the state of Florida.
Pledging to make Florida the premier location for enterprise and commerce, Governor Scott underlined the need to provide incentives for businesses to “set up shop” in the state. Under his plan, Governor Scott vowed to eliminate the business tax and reduce the property tax, citing that Florida “should focus on spending revenues smarter, setting better priorities and demanding more accountability.” During his remarks, Governor Scott announced his intent to sign an Executive Order creating a state Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform that will review all proposed and existing regulations and determine their impact on job creation. This action highlights Scott’s promise to freeze regulation and ensure that the cost of regulation does not outweigh the benefits.
Scott also identified tort reform as a top priority for his administration’s effort to help businesses flourish in the state. Joining the fight to prevent excessive lawsuits from strangling job creation, he emphasized his desire to prevent predatory lawyers from attacking the business community in search of “deep pockets.”
Driving his remarks home, the newly elected governor enthusiastically told the crowd “Let's tell the world - if you can dream it, it's easy to make it happen in Florida.”
As his first order of business, Governor Scott signed four executive orders relating to some of his top campaign priorities, including freezing regulation, establishing an accountability website, renewing the office of open government, and requiring state agencies to use the e-verify system when hiring state employees.
AIF on the Inauguration of Governor Rick Scott and Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll (Press Release)
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