Florida CSE Day at the Capitol

Over one hundred and fifty citizens will travel from all across the state this week (February 13, 14) to send a direct message to the state legislature “We Want Less!” The two days of meetings with legislative and executive branch officials will begin with a press conference to present Citizens for a Sound Economy’s top priorities for this legislative session:

CSE opposes the McKay tax hike. The citizens of Florida have been hit hard by the current recession. Many people have lost jobs as business struggle to make ends meet. The Florida legislature should not compound the problem by backing a broad-based tax increase at a time when our economy is sluggish. Senator John McKay has made a proposal that would do just that – raise taxes! Worse, it seeks to shift the tax burden from tourists to the engine of Florida’s economic growth – private enterprise. Florida Citizens for a Sound Economy stands for less government, lower taxes and more economic freedom. The McKay proposal fails all three tests and therefore should be defeated.

CSE supports the Wallace tax reform proposal: Wallace’s proposal would improve Article VII of the state’s constitution by limiting state spending to the previous year’s appropriation plus an adjustment for growth. The Wallace amendment would simply force elected officials to face the same pressures on the state budget that families and businesses feel on theirs.

CSE supports RAFTA legislation: FL CSE strongly supports FL State Representative Jim Kallinger’s (CSE Member) recently introduced bill HB 535, the Reasonable Attorney Fees for Taxpayers Act (RAFTA). RAFTA would create an open bidding system for attorneys who wish to be contracted out by the state. RAFTA would apply the same principles of fairness and accountability to state-contracted legal services.

This will be the fourth CSE Day at the Capitol. Over one thousand Floridians have participated in these educational and participatory events. FLCSE believes real citizens, when educated and involved are freedom’s best champions. As Thomas Jefferson said, “The people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”