Issues and Ideas

David on the Issues South Florida is facing major challenges. Small businesses and working families are hurting financially, and the only leadership we seem to be getting is the kind that makes government bigger.

As your next representative, I will use proactive, not reactive approaches to jump starting our faltering economy and to spark commerce and industry.

Right now, I am on a residents listening tour, and I look forward to delving even deeper into the needs of our district and reshaping the solutions below based upon your feedback.

Our Economy

We need to start by reducing the size of government and eliminating new spending until we have a comprehensive statewide economic plan.
Government must act as a conduit for attracting new jobs and new talent to our state. We need an influx of intellectual capital to attract growth in industries like healthcare, bio-sciences and renewable and green energy.
Intellectual capital will be followed by monetary capital and investments in our great state.
We need to create a legislative conference specifically on job growth strategies and ways to attract skilled workers to Florida.

Property Tax and Property Insurance

Property taxes are too high for many of our residents to either sustain home ownership or to buy for the first time. We must examine all options and determine a cost effective and creative approach to reduce property taxes while maintaining revenue streams for our local governments.
Property Insurance, like property taxes, are also cost prohibitive to home ownership. We need to allow private competition and the free market to lower Florida’s property insurance premiums.

Education

It is crucial for our children’s future to be predicated upon an educational system that is not only merit-based for the student, but the teacher as well, where excellence will be rewarded.
Parents should be provided more educational choices for their children.

Healthcare

Without government intervention, we need to join forces between healthcare providers, insurance companies and patient advocacy groups to find solutions that improve upon existing policies and access to healthcare and ensure that every man, woman and child in our state has access to quality healthcare.
Not just the federal government, but state, county and local law enforcement agencies need to join forces on cracking down on fraud that is pervasive across the healthcare industry. The amount of money wasted each year on fraud is staggering.

Condominium Related Issues

I intend to wage a fight to pass legislation that would allow condominiums to postpone installation of fire-sprinkler systems from 2014 to 2025. The governor recently vetoed a similar bill citing public safety concerns.