In 2011, as the new governor of Florida, I rejected federal funds for Barack Obama’s high-speed rail.
Unlike too many politicians who simply embrace the status quo and rubber-stamp spending, I read the fine print. I knew from my years of building businesses that this was a bad deal for Florida.
The backlash was immediate. I was attacked by Democrats, Republicans, the media, you name it.
A few months later, a reporter came up to me at an event. “Someday,” he said, “I’m going to write a book about you and the governor of California since he took all your high-speed rail money.”
In the end, what I feared would happen to Florida came true in California. Sacramento bought the feds’ high-speed rail snake-oil pitch hook, line, and sinker.
Fifteen years later, California’s high-speed rail is still not finished. Instead, the project is billions over budget, and California taxpayers are on the hook for a project that may never be completed.
I can’t remember the name of that reporter I talked to 15 years ago, but I hope he’s writing his book. The fact is he has plenty of material for comparing California’s failure with Florida’s wins, and the high-speed rail debacle our friends out west embraced was just the start.
What is heartbreaking about California’s failures is that they are all unforced errors made by radical Democrats in Sacramento who think more government is the solution to every problem.
California should be more like Florida. Our states have so much in common.
But while Florida chose more freedom, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and more opportunity, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California can’t shake its addiction to big government, socialist policies, high taxes, and a never-ending appetite for “free” federal money that never seems to deliver anything except more debt with no results.
Yet California can still be saved. For those in California who think it’s too far gone, let me tell you my Florida turnaround story.
When I was first elected governor, Florida’s economy was in free fall. The state had lost more than 800,000 jobs; taxes had increased by more than $2 billion; and businesses and families were fleeing because opportunity had dried up.
I was watching Florida slide toward the failures of California, and I ran for governor to prevent that. When I campaigned across Florida, I promised voters we would create 700,000 jobs in seven years.
We didn’t just meet that goal — we crushed it.
During my eight years as governor, Florida added 1.7 million jobs, many of which came from companies relocating from high-tax states like California.
While Florida cut taxes 100 times and saved families and businesses $10 billion, California forced significant tax increases through hikes in sales tax and income tax.
While Florida slashed 5,000 burdensome regulations to lift the weight of big government off the backs of working families and small businesses while I was governor, California’s regulatory regime exploded, causing the Mercatus Center to rate Newsom’s California as the most regulated state in the nation in 2023.
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As Florida flourished from the success of conservative leadership, California faltered under the weight of big government. And big government punished job creators with taxes and regulation, vilified law enforcement, and attacked the rights of parents in education and the proven success of school choice.
California Democrats are now fighting among themselves over whether they can go back to giving taxpayer-funded health care to illegal aliens.
Florida has proven that when you shrink government, good things happen.
Here’s the deal: What we did in Florida was hard work, but it isn’t some one-time miracle.
The Florida playbook for economic success would work in California, but it won’t be possible until Sacramento focuses on putting California families first instead of illegal aliens — and stops spending all its time fighting President Trump, chasing media attention, and appeasing George Soros and the radical left.
Like Florida, California is a beautiful and diverse state filled with hard-working, freedom-loving Americans. Californians deserve leaders who are brave enough to enact policies that make it easier, not harder, to get a well-paying job and live their American Dream.
Californians deserve the Florida model.
Republican Rick Scott represents Florida in the United States Senate. He is the former governor of Florida.
The post Newsom has destroyed California — but following Florida could save it appeared first on New York Post.
