Florida is 46th in education spending and has a shortfall of 3,500 teachers, and the state board of education just voted when you factor in inflation to cut funding and that's just one of our problems. If I was the parent of one of thousands of disabled children waiting for a Medicaid waiver I would be furious to. But instead of addressing either of those issues or so many more, Florida is giving a 500 million dollar rebate to some of the states wealthiest corporations.
From the Sun Sentinel,
Once upon a time, big corporations and their trade groups each got by with no more than one or two hired guns in Tallahassee. That’s why Gov. Reubin Askew was able to take them all on and create Florida’s corporate income tax in 1971.
Ever since, the lobbyists and their allies in the Legislature have wasted no opportunity to whittle away at that tax. Last year, with no clue and almost no concern for what it would cost, lawmakers enacted a scheme that’s about to give an estimated $540 million in refunds to the roughly one percent of Florida corporations that earn enough to even pay the tax.
By comparison, that’s more than the $330 million the politicians are wailing about losing from the Seminole Tribe because of a stalemate over rival gambling at race tracks. It’s more money than the $125 million the Legislature raided from the state’s affordable housing trust fund to spend on its priorities. It’s money that should have been put into Florida’s lagging schools or into controlling the algae blooms that hazard public health and tourism, rather than engorging corporate profits.
We printed an extensive report on that grand giveaway in Monday’s Sun Sentinel. If you missed the article, here’s a link to it: https://bit.ly/2MjELKk
Worse, it’s money that will likely be squandered again next year. The Legislature had an opportunity this spring to rectify last year’s mistake. Instead, it extended the givebacks for another two years, along with other technical tax changes that strongly favor big businesses.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-edit-corporate-tax-giveaway-20190820-52225cvy2fembif4bslpm36nva-story.html
Friends, Tallahassee doesn't care about it's citizens, not unless you can make big campaign contributions, next election can we please vote for our interests instead of theirs?
Ugh
From the Sun Sentinel,
Once upon a time, big corporations and their trade groups each got by with no more than one or two hired guns in Tallahassee. That’s why Gov. Reubin Askew was able to take them all on and create Florida’s corporate income tax in 1971.
Ever since, the lobbyists and their allies in the Legislature have wasted no opportunity to whittle away at that tax. Last year, with no clue and almost no concern for what it would cost, lawmakers enacted a scheme that’s about to give an estimated $540 million in refunds to the roughly one percent of Florida corporations that earn enough to even pay the tax.
By comparison, that’s more than the $330 million the politicians are wailing about losing from the Seminole Tribe because of a stalemate over rival gambling at race tracks. It’s more money than the $125 million the Legislature raided from the state’s affordable housing trust fund to spend on its priorities. It’s money that should have been put into Florida’s lagging schools or into controlling the algae blooms that hazard public health and tourism, rather than engorging corporate profits.
We printed an extensive report on that grand giveaway in Monday’s Sun Sentinel. If you missed the article, here’s a link to it: https://bit.ly/2MjELKk
Worse, it’s money that will likely be squandered again next year. The Legislature had an opportunity this spring to rectify last year’s mistake. Instead, it extended the givebacks for another two years, along with other technical tax changes that strongly favor big businesses.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-edit-corporate-tax-giveaway-20190820-52225cvy2fembif4bslpm36nva-story.html
Friends, Tallahassee doesn't care about it's citizens, not unless you can make big campaign contributions, next election can we please vote for our interests instead of theirs?
Ugh
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