Florida Gov. Rick Scott: Government Should 'Get Out Of The Way And Help Businesses Grow'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Dom Giordano talked to Florida Governor Rick Scott on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about his trip to Philadelphia, which is designed to lure businesses from Pennsylvania to the Sunshine State.
Scott shared the message he gives to business owners while attempting to lure them south to Florida.
"I want you to be successful. I want your employees to be successful. I want you to compete globally, and I'm trying my best to create an environment in Florida that American companies can compete better than anyplace in the world. You should come to Florida because your employees and their families are going to be better off in Florida than anyplace in the world."
He thinks actions he's taken as Governor are the reason for a healthy jobs recovery in Florida.
"We are very pro-business. I talk to businesses all around the country, but in my state every day, I listen to them...I ran for Governor on a jobs platform that said we could create 700,000 jobs in seven years and we created 728,000 private sector jobs in four years. Our unemployment rate dropped in half. We did it but cutting taxes 40 times, by reducing 3100 regulations, by streamlining the permitting process [and] by just saying we're going to make Florida businesses more successful anywhere in the absolute world."
Scott said his record should be a strong selling point to businesses that will consider relocating.
"I have now over a billion-dollar surplus for the second year in a row in my state budget. I walked in with a $4 billion budget deficit, and the reason is we have 728,000 more jobs, 300,000 are moving to our state a year, we're bigger than New York now. By the way, [in] our state budget, the average person pays about $1,800 in state taxes, which is the lowest in the country, and we have the lowest amount of state workers per capita. We have $10 billion for transportation. It's what you would expect your government to do: Be efficient, be effective. Get out of the way and help businesses grow."