A Quarter Century of Conservative Florida Governance Points to This Moment

By?J. Robert McClure III

November 18, 2021

Daniel Webster didn’t know Valentin Mendez when Webster was elected in 1996?as the first Republican Speaker?of?the?Florida?House?of?Representatives since reconstruction.

He couldn’t have known him – because Valentin hadn’t been born yet. But the designation of Speaker Webster, a result of Republicans taking the majority in the Florida House, would have long-lasting impacts for Valentin, and millions of other Florida students, for decades.

Buoyed by?a?mandate for?conservative?principles?to?be brought?to?the challenges?Florida?faced, the new majority began putting into motion?an?agenda that has stood for the past 25 years. That?agenda was what mattered for Valentin, when his mom was?able?to?leverage the school choice programs?offered in?Florida?to?get him into?a?school where he was not the daily subject?of?bullying, harassment,?and?assault. Had that shift in power not taken hold in 1996?and had the same power structure beholden?to?teachers’ unions continued?to?dictate policy, Valentin would have not been saved.

Speaker Webster wouldn’t have known Taylor?Ann Drew either. Taylor?Ann was just 12 years old when?conservatives?took the reins in 1996. But 23 years later,?a?different Speaker, Republican Jose Oliva, would usher in?a?conservative?health care?agenda that would matter greatly for her?and so many others.?As?a?result?of?Speaker Oliva’s vision, Taylor?Ann was?able?to?start her own independent direct health care practice?as?an?Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner.?Now,?Aquarian Clinic is serving hundreds?of?patients?and transforming the delivery?of?holistic medical care. Had 1996 not happened?and special interests continued?to?stifle competition through government regulations, Taylor?Ann would not be where she is?today.

The stories?of?Valentin, Taylor?Ann,?and millions?of?other Floridians have been shaped over?a?25-year period in which?conservative?policy has largely been the norm in the Sunshine State.

About that time, then newly elected Governor, Jeb Bush, was proposing one new idea?after?another that continued?to?advance?conservative?principles, most?of?which?are just?now?reaching full flower.?Florida?has seen the benefits?of?a?limited government, economic liberty?approach?to?governing.?As?a?result?of?conservative?policy,?Florida?has seen more than $200 billion in?annual income migrate in from other states over the past 20 years. That’s called voting with your feet.

The objective reality is impossible?to?ignore; we have seen how the long-term paths?of?individual states have resulted in very different realities for residents.?Conservative-led states that promote the values?of?free markets, economic liberty,?and limited government flourish. States charging forward in promoting big government regulations, socialist-light redistribution,?and nanny-state bureaucracy languish. Consider the contrast – in the early 1990s, the wealthiest state in the U.S. – Connecticut – implemented?a?“temporary” state income tax. That “temporary” tax didn’t solve the Nutmeg State’s budget woes?and resulted in tens?of?billions?of?dollars in?annual income?and people migrating out?of?the state. Where did they go? They came?to?Florida.?And Connecticut went from the wealthiest state?to?one?of?the poorest. It’s?a?textbook case study in how not?to?govern, especially considering that the “temporary” state income tax still exists 30 years later.

For the past?quarter?century, Floridians have seen the economic fruits?of?the policy?approaches they’ve taken,?as they consistently sent?conservative?policymakers?to?Tallahassee, more freedom, more income, more choice?and more prosperity. On the heels?of?a?transformational 2021 election night, in which?conservatives?across the country saw the reality?of?the?adage that good policy is great politics, we should be hopeful. We should look?to?the hope that while we may not be in the best?of?times?at present,?and that our challenges?are not small, citizens by the millions?are seeing that the way?ahead for?an?America that presents opportunity for?all is?a?renewed commitment?to?the principles that our Founders established 234 years?ago in the Constitution?and Bill?of?Rights.?Florida?is living proof.

Dr. J.?Robert McClure III?is president?and CEO?of?the James Madison Institute,?a?nonpartisan think tank based in Tallahassee devoted?to?research?and education on public policy issues.

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