Space Coast Awake The State

Today, Florida’s economy works for the wealthy and powerful, not for the people. It’s time to stand up and fight back for a Florida that works for all Floridians. It’s time to Awake The State.

Join various organizations and community members as we rally to hold our elected officials and governor accountable as they kick off the 2018 legislative session.

After nearly eight years in power, Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leadership’s economic policies have failed to deliver for everyday Floridians. Instead of making smart investments in our communities that will create jobs and increase pay, Gov. Scott and the legislature have been irresponsibly squandering our tax dollars and undermining our economic potential as a result.

Their massive tax breaks for corporations cost our state billions in lost revenue, are unjust, and rig the game for big-money special interests. Meanwhile, critical needs in our economy, education, health care, the environment, and infrastructure remain urgent.

This is not about hard choices, but a question of priorities.
It’s time to Awake The State.

Budget​ ​and​ ​the​ ​Economy
● On January 9th, with events around the state, Awake The State
participants will call on Gov. Rick Scott and his allies in the Legislature to pass a budget that invests in hardworking Floridians, not more massive corporate giveaways. Doing so will help lay the foundation for a thriving, secure job market and high quality of life for all Floridians.
● Everyday Floridians are dealing with the consequences of “Rick’s
Recession.” Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leadership’s economic
policies of the previous eight years have failed to deliver for everyday Floridians.
● Rick’s Recession is leaving everyday Floridians behind: more than half of Florida’s counties have actually lost jobs since 2008.
● Rick’s Recession has resulted in a lack of jobs. Job growth since 2007 has been half the national average: 1.2% in Florida versus 3%
nationally. More than 580,000 new jobs still need to be created in
Florida in order to reach 2008 levels.
● Rick’s Recession has held Floridians back: median household income is 36th in the nation. The top 1% earns 43 times more than the bottom 99%, the 4th worst in the nation.
● Gov. Scott and the legislature have wasted billions of our tax dollars in corporate handouts at the expense of hardworking Floridians who can least afford it. The last thing we need are more corporate handouts.
● Florida’s unfair tax structure already forces working families to pay a higher tax rate than the rich and corporations.
● Everyday Floridians are fed up with politicians balancing the budget on the backs of hardworking Floridians. We won’t stand for any more tax giveaways to the rich or cuts to services each of us rely on – from our schools, to our health care, to our roads and bridges.
● Florida needs to invest in our future and fully fund public education, increase access to health care coverage, protect our land and water, and upgrade our infrastructure.
● By making smarter investments in our community, we can set Florida on a path toward economic prosperity, stability and opportunity for everyone.

Other issue areas include:
Education
● Gov. Scott and his legislative allies continue to underfund our public schools while diverting tax dollars to profit-driven, nontransparent private voucher schools and charter schools.
● Florida ranks 41st in the nation in spending per student according to Education Week.
● Florida ranks 49th in support for public services, including K-12
education and higher education according to the Tax Policy Center.
● Investing in public education will create jobs and ensure our workforce is well-equipped for a growing, diverse economy.
● It’s time to Awake The State and invest in quality public schools,
workforce development and higher education opportunities for every
Floridian.

Health​ ​Care
● Gov. Scott and his legislative allies continue to prevent any attempt to increase affordable, quality health care coverage for all Floridians. Instead, they work to undermine the pro-consumer, pro-patient provisions of the Affordable Care Act and block efforts to expand Medicaid to working Floridians that fall into the coverage gap.
● The need for action on health care is urgent. No state has signed up more people for health insurance coverage made possible by the
Affordable Care Act than Florida.
● Florida ranks 48th in the nation in health insurance coverage according to the Census Bureau. Two million Floridians are without any health coverage.
● Ensuring Floridians access to quality, affordable health care is a
prerequisite to a stable, productive workforce.
● It’s time to Awake The State and increase access to health care
coverage.

Environment
● Gov. Scott and his legislative allies continue to divert funding intended for land and water conservation, deny climate change, and stand in the way of a fracking ban.
● Ignoring the environment will negatively impact our economy and quality of life, including the water that comes out of our faucets, what our children swim in, and where our food is harvested.
● It’s time to Awake The State and invest in protecting our land and water, address the disastrous impacts of climate change, and ban fracking across the state.

Immigration
● Anti-immigrant legislators are promoting legislation that would escalate unjust, counterproductive immigration policies that tear families apart.
● Anti-immigrant legislators are trying to punish communities that protect immigrants and their families from unjust immigration policies.
● These measures would undermine public safety, our economy and the very principles – diversity, aspiration, inclusion – that define us as Americans.
● They disregard the fact that those who will be most impacted are
hundreds of thousands of people seeking a better life, something most of our ancestors did.
● It’s time to Awake The State and stand up to unjust, inhumane and
un-American immigration policies.

Reproductive​ ​Rights
● Gov. Scott and his legislative allies continue to try and defund Planned Parenthood clinics and further undermine reproductive rights.
● They’ve even introduced a bill that mandates the state of Florida
promote anti-abortion propaganda through “crisis pregnancy centers.” These are nothing more than unregulated fake clinics that seek to lie to Florida women.
● It’s time to Awake The State and recognize that a woman’s experience having an abortion should be supportive, affordable, available in her community, and without shame or stigma.

Together, we can invest in our communities and create an environment that attracts good jobs. When we get more money into Floridians’ pockets, residents will spend it in local communities across the state. Consumers spending their earnings at local shops, restaurants and other businesses will only lift our economy and create more good-paying jobs for our generation and the next.

Corporate special interests and the wealthy few are not job creators; when Florida’s economy is working well, consumers are.
We share a responsibility to make smarter, stronger investments to ensure all of our communities are cleaner, safer, healthier and more prosperous.
It’s time to Awake The State!