Scott's "7-step plan" creates 700,000 jobs in 7 years

Governor Elect Rick Scott's plan for getting Floridian's back to work

1. Implement Accountability Budgeting

• Transparent, outcome-based budgets
• Biennial budgets that will allow an adequate review of the budget’s goals and give the public time to participate in the budget process
• Spending limits that ensure affordable government expenditures levels AND focus on economic growth not government spending
• Return Florida’s state and local government expenditure burden to at least the 2004 level
• Refuse temporary funding from the federal government that creates permanent spending

2. Reduce Government Spending
Balance the budget – without one-time revenues, borrowed funds, temporary funds, or tax increases.
Implement outcome-based budgeting to create budgeting efficiency throughout government, including:

• Align pension reform with state employee pension contributions in other states to save almost $1.4 billion. Currently Florida workers do not contribute towards their retirement.
• Pay competitive market-based salaries for corrections’ staff, use inmate labor to grow prison food, and competitively bid health care contracts to reduce prisoner costs by $1 billion.
• Impose more stringent standards on non-compliance with work requirements and require drug screening for welfare recipients. This could save Florida $77 million.
• Use common sense business solutions to reduce the cost of government through operational efficiency saving upwards of $500 million (per Florida Taxwatch). Reduce state workforce by 5 percent to save almost $300 million.
• Reform health care for Medicaid recipients (through a waiver) and state employees (consumer directed care) to save taxpayers’ $1.8 billion.
• Veto Pork Barrel Spending and unnecessary pork barrel projects.

3. Enact Regulatory Reform

• More affordable unemployment benefits
• Implement tort reform to limit frivolous lawsuits
• Impose a regulatory freeze and implement a comprehensive review of existing and proposed regulations
• Review state development regulations and expedite permits for job-creating businesses, such as Enterprise Florida’s targeted industries
• Reform Pubic Service Commission (PSC) processes to allow reasonable energy production and expansion
• Lower workers’ compensation costs - a 35% reduction in costs would save businesses about $2.46 billion
• Bring health insurance costs and mandates in line with the U.S. average
• Address Florida’s relatively expensive electricity costs to save businesses approximately $3.25 billion

4. Focus on Job Growth and Retention

• Ensure local economic development offices have the right resources and trained specialists to assist their local businesses with obtaining state and federal grants and complying with state and local regulatory processes
• Eliminate overlapping economic development agencies, and have one group serve as the statewide recruitment agency to assist local economic development agencies.
• As governor serve as the state’s chief economic development officer, working with existing as well as potential businesses every day to create jobs
• Make economic development programs more flexible to allow existing businesses to expand in their own unique ways and invest in the state Innovation Fund that brought Scripps and Burnham research labs to Florida.
• Nurture cutting-edge technology clusters – such as the biotechnology cluster in Orlando that creates over $7 in economic returns from every $1 invested.

5. Invest in World Class State Universities

• Invest in university research, laboratories, business incubators, and technology transfer
• Connecting the research conducted by each of Florida’s university to the state’s economic development process
• Leverage the research strengths of the state’s universities to invest in new and emerging technologies
• State economic development grants will always include partnerships with universities to develop research strengths into unique clusters, such as biotechnology

6. Reduce Property Taxes

• Reduce the statewide property tax (RLE) by $1.4 billion (from 5.29 mills to 4.29 mills, a 19% reduction in RLE).

7. Phase out the Business Income Tax

• Total state tax revenues will benefit from the dynamic economic growth created from the corporate income tax phase-out

More details about the 7-7-7 plan can be found at http://www.rickscottforflorida.com/home/turn-florida-around/

St. Pete Time PolitiFact.com says Scott's job plan promises are mostly true.
The Ledger.com says Scott's Plan may not pan out.