Florida’s leading gubernatorial candidates, Democrat David Jolly and Republican Byron Donalds, both joined WLRN’s Sunshine Economy Summit on Wednesday.
The candidates appeared in separate 30 minute one-on-one conversations at the event in Fort Lauderdale. It came just days after negotiations fell apart for debates between the candidates, according to several media outlets.
Each candidate was interviewed by WLRN CEO Tom Hudson, who previously hosted WLRN’s Florida Roundup.
Here is what Jolly said in response to three key policy issues in Florida.
Affordability
Jolly said he thinks that the private sector should lead the effort to make Floridians’ lives more affordable, but that the government plays a key role in “filling in the gaps.”
“ The three pillars of people's personal economy are housing, healthcare, and education. They shift during the generations from your youth into your 20s into retirement. Can you afford your house? Can you afford your insurance? Can you afford your rent? Where do you get healthcare, and where do you send your kids to school? That's it. If we abandon responsible government investments as partners in that, we're ultimately dismantling the economic investments that have made us strong,” he said.
READ MORE: WLRN Economy Summit: Byron Donalds on making Florida more affordable, Amendment 3 support
Property insurance
Jolly has touted the creation of a state-backed catastrophe insurance fund that differs from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.
“ We currently have a state hurricane fund with about $12 billion in it, and it's used to reinsure and bail out insurance companies. What I'm proposing is actually a hurricane fund that absorbs the risk of hurricanes and natural disasters, takes wind coverage out of the private market, cuts insurance by 60 to 70%,” he said.
The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, he says, bails out insurance companies.
“In lay terms, we let corporations and insurance companies ship their profits out of state. Last year, insurance companies shipped about $1.4 billion out of state. They declared about $140 million in losses here. It's part of how we stand up to in a failing industry. We let under-capitalized firms come in, we provide them reinsurance, they deny 50% of the claims, and they ship their profits out of state,” he said.
To combat that he proposed a 5.5% tax on insurance companies to fund his state-backed catastrophe insurance fund that would become the primary windstorm insurer in the state.
Amendment 3
Amendment 3 would increase the homestead property tax exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027, and it would rise to $250,000 in 2028. The 10 percent cap on annual assessment increases for non-homestead properties would be lowered to 5 percent. It needs 60 percent support from voters to become law.
Many local government officials, fearing massive cuts to their budgets if the measure passes, have campaigned against the proposal.
Jolly said he does not support Amendment 3 but understands that “people are begging for property tax relief” and he would support whatever voters decide. Should it pass, it would be a “crisis being created without an answer,” he said.
“ I'm gonna need a Republican legislature to play ball on this, let's be honest. This is going to create a crisis and possibly bankrupt some of our rural counties. This is going to defund law enforcement in some critical areas. This is, this is bigger than party and politics now,” he said.
Instead of Amendment 3, Jolly proposed a first-time homebuyers exemption. Should voters approve Amendment 3, he would use the state’s general fund dollars and re-examine how Tourism Development Tax dollars could be used to backfill the loss of local services.
