Issues
Tim debating an issue on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives.
Floridians deserve the opportunity to live in a community where housing is affordable, their children can attend good schools, neighborhoods are safe, traffic is manageable, affordable health care is available and there is a chance for good paying jobs. Floridians don't ask much from Government, but they want leaders to honor the values of work, responsibility and the chance to go as far as their talent and effort will take them.
For more about Tim's leadership, you can read a detailed account of his legislative record as a State Representative. Below, Tim lays out his priorities in this campaign for State Senate.
Affordable Living
The promise of home ownership has long been the foundation of our community, and a goal that our public policy must always encourage. As Senator, I will fight to preserve and enhance opportunities for Floridians to fulfill the American dream of home ownership. Property taxes and the insurance crisis demand real solutions. As Senator, I will continue the fight to protect the "save our homes" and find ways to make windstorm insurance available and affordable.
Insurance Relief
Over the years as a legislator, I have challenged private insurers windstorm insurance rates, demanded accountability and called for greater competition in the insurance market. I was an early proponent for a national catastrophic insurance fund, and I will continue to demand tougher building code standards, incentives for storm related repairs and state reinsurance to lower windstorm insurance rates. The insurance industry can be held accountable and rates can be lowered for residential and commercial policies.
Investment in Education
Our public school system represents the foundation for our state's future and our greatest economic engine. The professional quality of teachers – not the results of a single multiple-choice test – is the single most important factor in the success of our students and our schools. Schools must be held to a high standard, but if we demand performance in our classrooms, we must give teachers, students, and parents the resources they need to succeed. Our teachers must have a manageable number of students in their classrooms so that our children receive the individual attention they need. And we need to use the FCAT as a diagnostic tool to show where extra help is needed, not a weapon to punish schools mainly in economically disadvantaged areas.
Health Care Solutions
It is time to develop a statewide health care policy aimed at helping all Floridians, not just the healthy and wealthy. An ever-increasing number of Floridians now lack health insurance while the cost of health care insurance has sky-rocketed. With so many seniors, our state must take the lead in demanding that Washington allow the re-importation of safer, more affordable drugs, and allow Florida to use its purchasing power to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs for seniors and working families. As small businesses struggle to provide health insurance for their employees, our state must begin providing tax credits and find ways to enable small businesses to pool their purchasing power to find health insurance solutions for their workers. It is also time to bring down the barriers in Kid Care that prevent families from obtaining health insurance for children of low- and moderate-income parents.
Protecting our Environment
Our future depends upon a responsible environmental policy that is committed to restoring the Everglades and preserving wetlands, prohibiting any oil drilling off the Florida coast, encouraging the use of alternative fuels and reducing our reliance on oil and coal. At the same time, we must ensure that our state's growth does not outpace its natural resources. To preserve our quality of life for our children and grandchildren, we must take bold efforts to conserve water, reduce carbon emissions, promote efficient and convenient public transit and maintain the pristine beaches and wetlands that are so crucial to our state's economy.
These are the policies I believe in and that I will work for as your State Senator.