Today, Florida’s economy is rebounding at a pace that has other states looking to us for leadership. Our state is growing by more than 1,000 net new people a day, we are the third most populous state in the nation welcoming more than 105 million visitors each year, nearly one in 10 U.S. jobs in 2015 were created in Florida, education reforms continue to help close achievement gaps, and our unemployment rate — once at historic heights of more than 11 percent — has continued to remain below the national average.
And while many would have you believe our state’s successes come from only our sunshine and beaches, at the Florida Chamber we know firsthand that our state continues to move forward thanks, in part, to a united business community that believes in free enterprise, believes in private-sector job creation and fights for a stronger Florida.
In fact, our efforts to make Florida a global leader continue to be challenged by groups who stand in the way of American competitiveness, free enterprise and economic opportunity for all Floridians.
Environmental extremists continue to deploy regulation after regulation to hurt our efforts to plan for smarter growth and protect our environment as we move toward solving our water challenges. Unions that unabashedly put the interests of their members before the interests of Florida’s students continue to try to take options away from students and their parents and, in turn, limit a child’s opportunity.
Incredibly, some politicians are following the trial lawyer playbook and continue to side with special interests who put themselves ahead of what’s right for Florida. In fact, some politicians have proved their loyalty to billboard trial lawyers who exploit Florida’s legal system by refusing to act on Florida’s worsening lawsuit abuse problem. Insurance abuse, fueled by trial lawyers looking for a payout, continues to cost Florida’s families and businesses hard-earned dollars — an average of $3,400 per family of four.
Yet despite the unlimited resources of special interest groups, their policies of less freedom and less competitiveness have never worked — and they never will. We continue to push back against special interest groups who...