Mitch Perry
Eliminate the corporate income tax and end all tax subsidies and exemptions. Do not expand Medicaid. And continue to offer up school choice. Oh, and examine and eliminate “burdensome regulations and licensing laws.”
If that’s a modest prescription for what the Florida Legislature should do when it convenes in March, then so be it. The fact of the matter is that the reason the Koch Brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity wish list for state lawmakers isn’t more ambitious is that with a far-right leaning legislature already in place, there’s not a whole lot for a conservative activist group to ask for.
AFP released its legislative agenda for Florida lawmakers this afternoon, and it’s hard to see too many people in power in Tallahassee disagreeing with much of it. The list reads as such:
- MAKE TAXES FAIR & END POLITICAL FAVORITISM
- DON’T MAKE FINANCIAL PROMISES TAXPAYERS CAN’T KEEP
- BE STEWARDS OF GOOD, TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT
- EMPOWER KIDS WITH THE BEST EDUCATION
- FREE ENTREPRENEURS TO PURSUE THE AMERICAN DREAM
During his initial run for governor in 2010, Rick Scott did run on a campaign pledge to eliminate the state’s corporate income tax over seven years, which he has yet to accomplish. PolitiFact Florida reported last year that though the Legislature once again failed to go along with that goal, they did pass several small-scale tax cuts and credits in 2014, including breaks for the telecommunications industry, research and development expenses, commercial electricity rates, unemployment compensation and equipment manufacturing. That’s not satisfying to AFP, which says that in addition to cutting the corporate income tax, the state should also “put an end to all special interest, business-specific tax subsidies and exemptions.”
State Director Chris Hudson says that there are 10 Americans for Prosperity offices throughout Florida, encompassing more than 200,000 members. One of AFP’s field directors in the Tampa Bay area is Karen Jaroch, a Tea Party activist who currently serves on the HART board.
AFP released its national agenda for Congress today as well. That list calls for repealing the Affordable Care Act, ending the medical device tax (which does have bipartisan support in Congress), restoring the 40-hour work week (approved by the House last week), repealing of the estate tax (which AFP labels “the death tax”), fighting against the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which is scheduled to kick-in later this year, refusing to raise the gas tax, approving the Keystone XL Pipeline (also passed by the Republican House), allowing for tax-free repatriation of U.S. profits and returning to a regular budget order.
