Andrew Gillum video promises opportunity; campaign pushes back at tax critics

Democratic candidate for Governor Andrew Gillum rolled out a new advertisement promoting his economic message as his campaign pushed back on suggestions his election would usher in higher taxes.

A campaign video released Sunday includes footage from a rally last weekend in Orlando.

The audio for the ad showcases lines from Gillum’s speech about restoring economic opportunity for “our teachers who need to get paid what they’re worth” and “our kids who need an opportunity that should not be defined by their ZIP code, where they live or what side of the track they grow up on.”

The clip comes as the Tallahassee mayor’s gubernatorial campaign responds to accusations the candidate’s “Fair Shake for Florida’s Future” would bring high taxes and dangerous socialism.

Indeed, Gillum in April unveiled the plan with a promise to increase corporate taxes in order to increase education spending by $1 billion.

A new statement from Gillum’s campaign echoed that sentiment while taking a fresh swipe at Republican opponent Ron DeSantis.

“Mayor Gillum is asking our state’s richest corporations to pay their fair share so our children can have the high-quality public education they deserve — while Ron DeSantis has no plan for public education, or any other critical issue facing Floridians,” the statement reads.

But the campaign also says “No Floridian would pay even $1 more in taxes.”

The campaign said the proposed tax would be a “2.25 percent (5.5 percent, adjusted to 7.75 percent) increase on corporate income taxes,” not a 40-percent increase “as misleadingly reported.”

That appears to be a reference to an analysis by the Americans for Tax Reform, which after the primary reported that Gillum’s proposal would give Florida the “highest corporate tax in the region.”

ATR did account for Gillum’s 7.75 percent adjusted figure and said that constituted a 40.9 percent increase from taxes now, which accounts for the $1 billion in new funding Gillum wants for education.

Florida, should it institute that rate, would charge a higher corporate tax than Alabama or Tennessee (6.5 percent) or than Georgia (6 percent), according to ATR.

DeSantis, in contrast, signed a pledge before the primary not to raise taxes on Floridians.

But Gillum’s campaign says 98 percent of businesses would still pay no corporate income tax, and that 2 to 3 percent of C-Corporations that would be subject to any new tax would still pay 83.9 percent less overall in corporate taxes than they were charged in the last eight years under Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

C-Corporations with less than $50,000 income annually would be exempt, as would all S-Corporations and limited liability corporations, according to the campaign.

Gillum insists the economic message will provide empowerment for more Floridians by bolstering educational resources. And in his new campaign video, he ends on a Barack Obama-esque message just as opponents try to paint him as a big government liberal.

“The politics of hope and aspiration and inspiration and opportunity still lives, and it lives right here in the state of Florida,” Gillum says at the rally, before signing off with the campaign motto “Let’s bring it home.”

This campaign is about hope, aspiration, and inspiration.

RT to help end the politics of division.
Together, we will #BringItHome. pic.twitter.com/Bqd4Pxf1AN

— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) September 16, 2018