After first winning election as Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis was recently sworn in for a second term as Governor.
But before that happened, Governor DeSantis gave a his final State of the State of his first term in front of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on January 11, 2023.
Here is an excerpt from the speech:
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the Legislature and fellow citizens:
Together we have made Florida the freest state in these United States.
While so many around the country have consigned the people’s rights to the graveyard, Florida has stood as freedom’s vanguard.
In Florida, we have protected the right of our citizens to earn a living, provided our businesses with the ability to prosper, fought back against unconstitutional federal mandates and ensured our kids have the opportunity to thrive.
Florida has become the escape hatch for those chafing under authoritarian, arbitrary and seemingly never-ending mandates and restrictions.
Even today, across the nation we see students denied an education due to reckless, politically-motivated school closures, workers denied employment due to heavy-handed mandates and Americans denied freedoms due to a coercive biomedical apparatus.
These unprecedented policies have been as ineffective as they have been destructive. They are grounded more in blind adherence to Faucian declarations than they are in the constitutional traditions that are the foundation of free nations.
Florida is a free state. We reject the biomedical security state that curtails liberty, ruins livelihoods and divides society. And we will protect the rights of individuals to live their lives free from the yolk of restrictions and mandates.
Florida has stood strong as the rock of freedom. And upon this rock we must build Florida’s future.
We will, fortunately, be able to confront our challenges with an incredibly favorable budget outlook and strong economic performance that has withstood unfavorable national headwinds:
My recommended budget of $99.7 billion has more than $15 billion in reserve — one of the largest surpluses in state history.
Florida’s revenues have exceeded estimates by billions of dollars over the past year. December’s revenues came in at more than $500 million over the latest monthly estimate.
And this is all being done with no income tax and the lowest per capita tax burden in America.
Job creation in Florida is far exceeding the national average. And our labor force has increased six times faster than the nation’s.
Read the rest of Governor DeSantis’ State of the State speech here.
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