Governor Rick Scott's Inaugural Address

First and foremost, thank you to the people of Florida. Without your confidence and support, we would not be here today. I certainly would never have made it here, or made it through any of the exciting adventures in my life without the love and support of my beautiful wife, Ann. Who would have thought when we got married 42 years ago we would be here today? You are the best, I love you.

I have been very blessed in my life; and our daughters, Allison and Jordan, are no doubt the sweetest blessings of all. Allison, Jordan – I love you and I am very proud of you and the incredible mothers you are. I also want to thank my son-in-laws, Pierre and Jeremy, for being here today and for giving Ann and me the gift of three wonderful grandsons – Auguste, Quinton and Sebastian. Being a grandpa is probably the only job in the world better than being your Governor.

Thanks to Governor Rick Perry for being here today and Governor Chris Christie. I would also like to recognize Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Attorney General Pam Bondi, CFO Jeff Atwater, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Senate President Andy Gardiner, Speaker of the House Steve Crisafulli, and members of the Florida Senate and the Florida House; our honorable law enforcement, military members and our Supreme Court justices. Looking out at the audience, there are many of you I would like thank for your support and counsel.

Let me start today by reiterating something I said on election night – the campaign is over. Of course you all know that already. But my point is this - it was a hard fought campaign, but now we must all turn our focus toward governing, and toward serving the people of Florida. And that means all the people. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, all of Florida’s nearly 20 million citizens.

Sure, there will be differences of opinion. There will be robust debates on the best direction for Florida. That’s not a weakness in our system. That is our strength. But there are many things that we can come together on, and we should not let partisan politics, or any politics for that matter, get in our way. Today, we embark on an incredible mission together, for the benefit of Florida families.

700,000 JOBS

Four years ago, I stood here and we set our sights on the ambitious goal of helping Florida create 700,000 jobs in seven years. Today, it is just four years later and I am proud to say that Florida businesses have in fact created more than 700,000 jobs! That is incredible! When we set this goal in 2010, Florida’s economy was losing jobs, housing prices were dropping and many predicted it would take far more than seven years to pull out of the downward spiral of job loss and increased debt.

But, we proved them wrong, and when I say that “we” proved them wrong, I mean the hard working people of Florida proved them wrong. Over the last four years – Florida’s businesses and the hardworking people of our state have created more than 700,000 new jobs! This may simply be a number to many– but every job, every one of the 700,000 jobs we are talking about, represents a family. Families like those of Danny Reyna, Paul Bumiller and Sunday Delgado – who you heard from today. One new job doesn’t just help one person. Every job transforms a family.

A lot of people ask me why I ran for Governor. My friends from business don’t understand. They don’t know why I am not in retirement…off fishing somewhere. But, I ran for Governor to change lives by giving people better opportunities. I can tell you from watching my parents struggle for work that if you want to change a life –get someone a job!

If I can make Florida the worldwide location where families who have struggled to make ends meet can get a job, then I have fulfilled my goal as Governor because a job is the number one way to change a life. A job helps families put food on the table, pay the rent and buy a car. A job gives families hope for the future. The importance of continual job creation is something that we can all agree on. Jobs and opportunities are good for all of us.

You have heard me constantly talk about jobs since I ran in 2010. I want to promise you I will never stop. I will be working to make Florida number one in job opportunities and growth right up to the last day I serve as your Governor. Jobs for Florida families have been my focus every single day for the last four years… and jobs will continue to be my mission for the next four years.

TOP DESTINATION FOR JOBS

While we are focused on growing jobs in Florida- we must realize that positions our state as a fighter in a great movement against the silent growth of government. Many States, like Florida, are fighting to limit the growth of government and grow opportunity instead. If you don’t believe Florida is right in the middle of this national battle - I want to share some facts with you…

Over the last 20 years, millions of people have escaped from states with climbing tax rates to move to states with lower taxes. Why does this matter? For starters, estimates say individuals who escaped these high tax states have taken with them around $2 trillion in adjusted gross income. They are voting with their feet…

They are leaving states like New York, which lost $71 billion in adjusted gross income from 1992 to 2011. And, they are leaving Illinois, which lost $31 billion in adjusted gross income over that same period. The people that left New York and Illinois had one thing in common – their number one destination was Florida. Florida has inherited over $26 billion in adjusted gross income from New York and Illinois during that time. In total, Florida has inherited over $100 billion in adjusted gross income. To put that in perspective, that is more than 1/8th of our entire GDP last year. And, we’ve inherited 1.7 million residents during that time.