FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The candidates running to be Florida’s next governor were in South Florida on Wednesday.

Democratic nominee David Jolly and Republican nominee Byron Donalds both spoke at the WLRN Sunshine Economy Summit in Fort Lauderdale.

It comes as Donalds has made headlines after it was noticed that he removed several references to President Trump, who previously endorsed Donalds, from his campaign website.

Prior to the changes, the phrase “Trump endorsed” was featured prominently in several locations, followed by a quote from Trump.

Further down the page in a section marked “On the Issues” was a portion about Donalds’ commitment to implementing Trump’s agenda.

The changes come as the president faces low approval ratings in the face of persistent inflation, an unpopular conflict in the Middle East, and upward pressure on the cost of living, from groceries to housing to prices at the pump.

“This is kind of the weirdest story I have ever seen this political cycle,” Donalds said when asked about the website changes. “We were planning on making website updates since really two months ago, coming out of the primary.”

Donalds said the campaign site changes were designed to give more focus to his policy ideas on a range of issues.

“The website is focused to that end, so we made that change,” he said. “Considering all the hubbub about the change, I think it has probably driven a lot of traffic to the website. We are happy about that, because we want the people of Florida to see our policies in detail.”

During an interview with WLRN CEO and journalist Tom Hudson, Donalds was asked about the same issue.

“Your website did say enact the Trump agenda until yesterday so, will you no longer enact the trump agenda? Does it change your interest of enacting the Trump agenda if elected as governor of Florida?” asked Hudson.

“Well, no, I think that is a separate question,” replied Donalds, who expressed support for some of Trump’s policies while later hitting back on a press room question on whether he thinks the president has become a drag on Republicans ahead of the midterms.

“Nah, I don’t buy into that narrative,” he said.

You can read through the full transcripts from Jolly and Donalds’ comments at the WLRN Sunshine Economy Summit below:

David Jolly

WLRN CEO Tom Hudson: Congress serving the 13th District in the Tampa area. He’s back home. He grew up here in South Florida as the son of a Baptist pastor. David, welcome to the Sunshine Economy. Thank you for spending some time with us here today.

David, welcome. Thank you.

Florida gubernatorial candidate David Jolly: Thank you for your time. Thank you for the walk-up music.

Hudson: We appreciate, yes.

Jolly: You know, I was listening to the sound bed when you were talking earlier. In my very first race, I was endorsed by Bob Barker. Bob Barker.

Hudson: Of all people, yes. Is that right? There you go. We actually used the music bed on election night when we won that race. Well, I’m sure Ed Kahlehoff probably got the royalty check for that. You know, that’s the way that works. So, uh, you served in Congress. Uh, you have been a presence on cable TV-

Jolly: Sure ...

Hudson: uh, since then.

Why do you want this job, to be governor of Florida?

Jolly: It’s a great question, and my answer is I’m willing to be governor No, think about it. This is different You think

Hudson: a lot of people are not willing to be governor?

Jolly: No, this is different. Look, I didn’t get into politics, um, simply to hold the office or frankly, to return into politics.

I’ve been out of politics 10 years, long enough to tell the truth. Um, the reality is I think we’re a nation that’s broken. I think we’re a state that’s broken. You can see it, sure, in a culture that’s more divided than ever before. Our politicians tell us if we hate each other just enough, our lives will get better, and I think it’s wrong.

But we also know the economy’s slipping away from too many people. My wife and I have two young kids, seven and five, and I think this is a moment when history is watching, saying, “What are you doing?” Look, I want the economy to continue to grow in the state of Florida. I think economic growth is fantastic.

We should let the private sector lead. But we’ve got a K-shaped economy that’s calcifying and leaving too many people behind. And so whether it is an economy that’s breaking or whether it is a culture that is now more divided than ever before, look, I do think we all are called to do what’s within reach to try to fix the problems in front of us.

You don’t take on running for governor lightly, and frankly, you don’t take it on if, if kind of the pathway doesn’t open for you, right? A lot of people consider running for office, and that pathway just doesn’t open. Somewhere between your convictions and, I believe, in the hand of Providence, uh, the moment arrived about a year and a half ago to consider running, and the doors just kind of kept opening.

And I believe for our family, for my wife and I, for our kids, we’re doing what’s within reach right now to try to make a difference in a state and a nation that, a- again, I just... I think we’re broken. This is bigger than politics right now.

Hudson: There’s some familiar economic themes that you talk about in your campaign that have driven you to make this decision to run for governor- Sure

that we hear from the Republican candidate as well: affordability- Sure ... inflation, insurance, expanding economic opportunities. Yeah. What makes your plans different?

Jolly: That I’m willing to use governor, government as a partner with the private sector to actually improve people’s lives. Look, I, I was a former Republican.

I was a Republican in Congress. I was a Republican most of my life. I became an independent for five or six years. Today, I’m a proud Florida Democrat, not a reluctant one. But there are kind of three values that I’ve always held in my politics. First, the economy should work for everyone. Economic growth is good, but if it’s not working for everybody, it’s not working.

Second, we’ll let the private sector lead, but government fills in the gaps. There are things the private sector’s not going to do. Workforce and affordable housing, fixing an insurance market in a natural disaster state, access to healthcare for those who can’t pay, investing in public education, investments in clean water, clean air, quality of life, safe communities.

There are things that since World War II particularly, we’ve decided to make responsible social investments that have created the greatest amount of opportunity for the most number of people. The party I signed up for was the party of less government. I was kind of a Bush 41 Republican. I fought the Tea Party and the Freedom Caucus as it became the party of no government.

Now, under this president, and I believe this governor, government’s now the enemy. And, and as you defund and dismantle these social investments in housing, healthcare, and education, ultimately you’re ripping away economic platforms that improve life for the most number of people. So sure, everybody can say affordability crisis, but what does that really mean?

The three pillars of people’s personal economy are housing, healthcare, and education. They shift during the generations from your youth into, uh, to, you know, your 20s into retirement. Can you afford your house? Can you afford your insurance? Can you afford your rent? Where do you get healthcare, and where do you send your kids to school?

That’s it. And folks, if we abandon responsible government investments as partners in that, we’re ultimately dismantling the economic investments that have made us strong.

Hudson: So let’s dig into the insurance part of that, particularly the property insurance piece. When we first spoke a year ago when you announced your candidacy, I asked you about, uh, diagnosing the affordability challenge, and you diagnosed it as primarily a property insurance cost, uh, in Florida.

You have championed a state catastrophe insurance fund. The state has a catastrophe insurance fund. How is your plan different?

Jolly: It’s very different, and let me hit something right on the head. Despite the commercials, I don’t support $1,000 hurricane tax, and it’s an absolute lie And in fact, I will tell you that tax is part of current Florida law that my opponent supports, and that has been on the books for a long time.

My plan would actually repeal the $1,000 hurricane tax, but truth isn’t a convenient currency in politics these days. What I have proposed and understand in Congress, I introduced a national catastrophic fund. They called it socialism then. I’ve introduced a state catastrophic fund. It’s called the same thing, and let me tell you what we currently have.

Folks, we currently have a state hurricane fund with about $12 billion in it, and it’s used to reinsure and bail out insurance companies. We already have a hurricane fund. What I’m proposing is actually a hurricane fund that absorbs the risk of hurricanes and natural disasters, takes wind coverage out of the private market, cuts insurance by 60 to 70%.

Hudson: You want that fund to be the primary insurer of windstorm insurance in Florida- The full in- ... as opposed to the reinsurance ...

Jolly: the full insurer. And, and let’s start with where we are The insurance market has collapsed. It is not capable of covering natural disasters. So- That’s why we prop it up right now, okay?

Hudson: So, uh, th- there was a report out just yesterday from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation finding that S&P has found that Florida has the lowest, uh, premium increase, lowest rate increase in the nation this year.

Jolly: Increase, but we have the highest insurance in the country. I mean, choose the sta- statistic that’s most convenient for us.

We’re paying three times what we were paying 10 years ago. We’re paying the highest insurance in the country. Natural disaster states, whether it’s hurricanes in Florida, wildfires in California, tornadoes in Tornado Alley, there is not... There, there, listen, there is a market-based way to cover it. It’s just not affordable.

Mm-hmm. And just like in the 2000s when, or even earlier, when we saw the run-up in property taxes, property taxes became a challenge that were push- placing people out of their homes. We decided to use public policy, let’s be honest, to artificially manipulate taxable values. Public policy stepped in. I think- We’ll

Hudson: get to property taxes a little bit later- I, I know,

Jolly: but-

Hudson: David, I promise ...

Jolly: but my, my point is, my point is there is not an affordable way for the market, the private market to cover natural disasters. So the bottom line, a state sovereign wealth fund that fully absorbs hurricane and wind from the private market, buys reinsurance on the world stage, cuts insurance by 60 to 70%.

Now, here’s something novel. I’m a politician that talks about how we fund it and where the revenue comes from. We shouldn’t run from that. We shouldn’t accept politicians that give us false promises. Let’s start with the $12 billion we use for reinsurance to bail out insurance company. That gives us an initial capitalization.

If we move to combined reporting, something we learned this week that I’ve been talking about for a year and a half, we, we allow insurance companies and other corporations to ship their profits- Yeah ... out of state, keep their losses here. That’s $3 billion a year in lost revenue right now.

Hudson: Well, I’ll ask about that in a second, but you talk about a bailout.

The, the current catastrophe fund is a bailout. Some would call it a backstop-

Jolly: Sure ...

Hudson: for insurance.

Jolly: So let’s call my insurance fund the same thing.

Hudson: All

Jolly: right. Ma- uh, look, math is math here, folks. We are not going to solve this without government taking on a larger role in backing this. Otherwise, people are gonna be priced out of their homes.

I wish there was a private sector solution to this. There is not a full private sector solution to this, as proven by the current fund that the state uses.

Hudson: The sovereign wealth fund, AKA the catastrophe fund, that you would like to be the primary insurer for windstorm for- That’s right ... Florida homeowners, uh, would be funded on profits from insurance companies.

Is that accurate?

Jolly: There are a couple ways to do it. Let’s start with the 12. We can move to combined reporting and identify almost $3 billion in revenue each year. I-

Hudson: So the combined reporting means taking those affiliate companies that now where the funds are pushed from the insurance carrier out to the affiliate companies to ca- recapture those at the what?

The five and a half percent- Yeah ... corporate tax rate in Florida? Yeah.

Jolly: So in lay terms, we let corporations and insurance companies ship their profits out of state. Last year, insurance companies shipped about 1.4 billion out of state. They declared about $140 million in losses here. It’s part of how we stand up a failing industry.

We let under-capitalized firms come in, we provide them reinsurance, they deny 50% of the claims, and they ship their profits out of state. That’s the

Hudson: cur- So you would ban that practice?

Jolly: I don’t know if it’s banning, it’s just requiring combined- How do you... Yeah. You c- you require combined reporting. There’s legislation that’s sitting in the legislature now.

Our governor and, and Republicans just haven’t moved it. But there are other revenue streams as well. Look, you could look at, at tourist development tax dollars.

Hudson: So you’ve talked about TDTs. You’ve talked about- We- ... the, the doc stamp for real estate transactions And,

Jolly: and a doc tax. So th- imagine if the average real estate transaction is every five to seven years in someone’s life, and there’s a $250 or $500 doc tax or stamp tax, but your annual insurance goes down by 60% to 70%.

That’s a pretty good deal. And you know, I had this conversation with Defede. Listen- But

Hudson: some may hear that, though, as a tax increase on the doc stamp where-

Jolly: And it’ll probably save you $10,000 over the course of six or seven years. Sure. Uh, folks, there are any number of ways to frame this. Math is maths.

Math- Yeah ... statistics are statistics, but truth is truth Truth is truth. I’m actually talking about fixing a broken system and saving homeowners money. I could cherry pick just about anything else. I could tell you right now Byron Donalds supports a thousand dollar hurricane tax because he said he wants to keep doing what we’re doing.

The thousand dollar hurricane tax is on the books. I don’t go on TV to say that because I have more integrity than to do that. The reality is math is math. We’ve gotta fix a broken insurance market.

Hudson: How would removing insurance coverage from the private market, which is where it is now, while also taxing insurance profits impact the appetite for private insurers to provide standard HO3 home insurance?

Jolly: They would, they would all rush in because now you’re covering traditional perils, uh, tree falling, uh, broken pipe, uh, slip and fall. Think about who’s not in the market right now. They’re not in the market because there’s not an actuarially sound way to cover natural disasters and storms. If the market became a stable market where you’re covering traditional perils, all of a sudden you open up the market to carriers that would never o- otherwise consider being in Florida.

Hudson: Why does that $30 billion mark, that’s what you’re looking for before you would release this out to cover, why is that the mark that you want in this sovereign wealth fund, this catastrophe fund? Why is that a number that you would aim for to provide the coverage to Florida homeowners?

Jolly: Because it’s actuarially sound.

It’s the only model that Wall Street will really back and, and underwrite. Um, i- it’s somewhere estimated north of $32 billion. Now, you could start to provide initial coverage earlier. You know, you would scale this up. This is the conversation I had with Defede. You know, in politics it’s easy to re-

Hudson: Jim Defede, a journalist here in Miami.

Jolly: That’s right. It’s, it’s easy to reach for the extreme and say, “Oh, but this. Oh, but this. Oh, but this.” Folks, math is math. No responsible governor is going to put forward a p- a program that is not actuarially sound. You just follow the math to get to the capitalization rate before you begin to absorb the risk, and you can initially choose, we could choose as a state what properties are eligible in the first phase.

Is it the most vulnerable? Is it the most hardened? Is it the, the oldest properties? That’s just a question of, of policy.

Hudson: How would you protect this fund from turning into what has happened to the National Flood Insurance Program, which is operating at tens of billions of dollars in deficit- Sure ... each year and needs special appropriations by Congress just to stay solvent enough to protect Florida homeowners who happen to live and have mortgage properties in flood zones?

Jolly: The Flood Insurance Program was stood up with the anticipation that Congress would always bail out the big expenses. I’m talking about a sovereign wealth fund that would buy reinsurance on the world stage and protect against its own losses. Let’s also be honest here, folks. Congress bails out the biggest storms we have.

That always happens. I worked in the Congress for 20 or 25 years. I worked on the Appropriations Committee. When I introduced the National Catastrophic Fund, it was to actually pre-fund the expenses of natural disasters instead of- FEMA

Hudson: has been very clear in this administration that it is not an insurance program.

Jolly: Yes, but Congress always steps in, always steps in and bails out the big storms. We, we always do it, folks. We always do. Mm-hmm. What I’m suggesting is pre-fund against those losses, pre-fund against those expenses.

Hudson: All right, let’s talk about property taxes, from insurance to property taxes. Do you support Amendment 3 as it exists?

Jolly: I anticipate voting against Amendment 3.

Hudson: Anticipate.

Jolly: I do. So

Hudson: you’re,

Jolly: you’re undecided right now. Per- personally, from my vote, let me, let me finish my answer here. Okay. Yes, sir. I respect what voters will decide on this because I think people are begging for property tax relief. I don’t think the math works, and I think we know that because even Ron DeSantis now won’t, uh, campaign for Amendment 3, and our sheriffs have come out and said, “Please don’t do this.

It’s gonna defund services." I think Miami-Dade will lose maybe $480 million, close to $500 million, uh, by year two. That’s gonna defund critical services. Even Ron DeSantis, when he introduced this idea, said, “We’re gonna need a backfill revenue provision,” and the legislature didn’t put it forward. I will respect whatever voters decide.

It will create a crisis, and the question is, who do you trust to manage that crisis when it happens? Here’s what I would like to consider. Um, two things, you know, very briefly. Before Amendment 3, I was proposing, and I still support, it’s just been sidelined in this race by Amendment 3. I think we need a first time home buyer homestead exemption.

Because understand, 25 years into Save Our Homes, we’ve so artificially imbalanced the tax rates between the longtime homeowner and the first time home buyer. That new home buyer has a tax bill that jumps by 400 or 500%. Between that and insurance, there’s a reason first time home buying age is now 40 years old compared to about 28.

But here’s the second area I would like to lead the state into a conversation. It’s gonna sound a little wild here. What if we considered local control of homestead exemptions? Hear me out here. Keep the baseline at the state. Don’t repeal the, the current state homestead exemption, but understand what a $250,000 homestead exemption does to Miami-Dade wreaks havoc, but can a large county survive?

Sure, you’re gonna feel the pain, but it survives. But Levy, Lafayette, Putnam, our rural counties are bankrupted, bankrupted within the next few years. So if we currently trust counties to consider millage and taxes on the front end, spending on the back end, what if we actually return to local control of exemptions and give the counties greater discretion to determine where to scale up exemptions, which properties qu- to qualify it for- Hmm

what occupations, what homesteads, whether it’s business, commercial, rent? Uh, look, I think it’s worth having that conversation.

Hudson: Are you pitting local governments against one another, then, in that case?

Jolly: I’m saving local government. Uh, look, I, I, I was a Republican who still believes something I’ve always believed, that government closest to the people knows best.

What we’ve seen out of Tallahassee is, is the ultimate preemption in the last 10 years, what I call big government conservatism. Um, Amendment 3 is the ultimate preemption, the ultimate preemption. And as a Democrat, I’m gonna be a governor that returns to local control. That’s why I’m entertaining the idea of local control of homestead exemption, to empower communities to make decisions that are best for them, give local voters the greatest amount accoun- uh, accountability of their local officials.

Hudson: David, as you’re running for governor here, w- do you support the state government regulating any level of property taxes than it does today?

Jolly: For property taxes, I don’t think that’s necessary. For exemptions, yes, let’s keep the baseline. Un- understand what’s happened. If you go back about 100 years, this gets a little wonky, but the average disparity between our highest valued counties and our lowest was maybe two to one, even a little less than two to one, about 1.8 to one.

So take a Palm Beach to a Levy, the greatest disparity, say two to one. So a uniform exemption of 25, $50,000, you know, it made sense. It was relief, and it applied across all 67 counties. Folks, during periods of economic growth right now, if you consider Miami-Dade versus Levy or Palm Beach or Collier versus Putnam, those numbers can be six to one, seven to one.

And so I actually think in terms of just smart economic policy, we’re entering an era where we need to consider what role does the state have in, in county taxation and homestead exemptions.

Hudson: So as you mentioned, you will, uh, i- if elected governor and if, uh, Amendment 3 passes, you will, you know, respond accordingly and recognize the voters have made this decision.

Will you support any additional revenue sources for local governments to be able to pay for services for residents if Amendment 3 passes?

Jolly: This is the crisis being created without an answer. I would look first to general revenue. I mean, I think we can make it through the first year or two for- State

Hudson: general revenue.

Jolly: State general revenue. I think we can make it through the first year or two looking at general revenue, right? The first year would be $100,000 tax exemption. Where do you have to rush in resources, whether it’s our rural communities- I think it’s 150

Hudson: and then 250. Or

Jolly: 150. Yeah. Um, and so I would look first to general revenue.

Hudson: Uh, would you support any other revenue sources, though, looking ahead as those, as it takes a bite to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars by year two, year three?

Jolly: Let’s see what, let’s see what year two and year three look like. I mean, I, I think we have to have a broad conversation. There’s a budget commission that opens up, uh, next summer.

I think we have to have a broad conversation about what the macroeconomic conditions of Florida look like in the next 10 years, where does our revenue come from, and where does spending. That’s why I often do talk about tourist development taxes. Because look, I, I represented Pinellas County in Congress.

I got all the beach and hospitality awards. No governor’s going to cramp our tourist industry. It’s one of our, our top three, right? Tourist, ag, and construction. But if we are going to continue to limit revenue everywhere we go, tourist development taxes, 91% of which are paid for from out of state, are currently only used for more tourism.

Folks, we don’t have a crisis of convention centers in the state of Florida. We got a crisis in insurance. We got a crisis in teacher pay. We got a crisis in healthcare. We got a crisis in education. I think we gotta have a statewide conversation about this.

Hudson: What else might be on the table? Because the state economists have estimated in year two of the property tax amendment, South Florida local governments will lose about a billion dollars- Yeah

combined. Uh, that’s 20% of their operating budget. And so to your point, right, uh, if voters approve of that, the next governor and the next legislature are going to have to have a plan in place pretty soon. Yeah. What other revenue sources other than tourist development taxes might you be considering as governor to help backfill some of those dollars to help pay for local services?

Jolly: Let’s start with tourist tax dollars, ‘cause I think that’s logical. Beyond that, I think it’s, it’s not prudent to speculate. And listen, I’m gonna need a Republican legislature to play ball on this, let’s be honest. This is going to create a crisis and possibly bankrupt some of our rural counties. This is going to defund law enforcement in some critical areas.

This is, this is bigger than party and politics now. Math is math. If this is something that voters choose, we need to respect the will of the voters. But Republicans in, in the legislature don’t just get to put their head in the sand and say, “Okay, we’ll bankrupt some counties.” I actually think there’s enough of a caucus that would prefer to consolidate some of our counties, go to, from 67 counties to 63 counties.

I’m not gonna let that happen, but we’re gonna have to figure out how to play ball in Tallahassee.

Hudson: About 40% of South Floridian residents rent their homes. How do you balance the impact of Amendment 3 between owners and renters in South Florida as you try to tackle - ... the number one reason-

Jolly: You, you

Hudson: know why I love this conversation?

that you’ve said, which is affordability.

Jolly: I love this conversation because I’m being asked to defend a proposal I don’t support and didn’t introduce. Uh, this is the, this is the- But you

Hudson: may

Jolly: inherit. But this is the problem for Florida’s voters. But you may inherit. This is the problem for Florida’s voters.

There’s no answers to these questions. This was the imprudence of this entire experiment. The math fails. The math doesn’t work. And so yes, what it likely does in some counties is it shifts the burden onto our renters. And folks, whatever burden we are feeling as homeowners, for homeowners in the room, the greatest crisis in housing right now is among our renters.

The greatest crisis is among our renters. And this arguably is going to push the burden onto the people who are bearing the, the crisis now more than anybody. The math just doesn’t work here. People are desperate for tax relief, and so let’s figure out a smarter way to do it. We’re gonna have to figure this out.

Hudson: So the state budget reality that you also may inherit if elected as governor, uh, doesn’t look great as we sit here today. And granted- You’re

Jolly: making this sound like a wonderful idea. I had to run for governor.

Hudson: Well, you said it was, it w- you know. You said the timing made it j- possible here, David. Uh, you know, uh, what is said about the difficulty about, uh, the future is that - Yeah

it’s a prediction here, right? So by the third year, right now the way the state, uh, economists look at it, by the third year of the next governor’s term, the state budget forecast is to run a billion dollars in the red, a billion dollar deficit. Spending cuts have helped improve the state budget and the state fiscal forecast - Right

over the past several years. How will you address the forecast for deficits?

Jolly: Look, I, I do think the budget commission becomes very critical if it can operate in good faith. Understand this only happens every decade or so. This is, this is an, an important moment. This is not just something that the governor is proposing next summer.

We will have a very important budget commission where we evaluate what is the out year plan for Florida’s revenue and for our spending. I, I will tell you initially, and it, it’s not to really dodge the question to the big ticket items, but there is enough fat even in a budget that has continued to top line be lean.

Look- Tallahassee’s the most corrupt capital of any state in the country. We have the most corrupt campaign finance system in the entire country. If we wanna drain the swamp, it starts in Tallahassee, not Washington, DC. The amount of money that is currently spent on special projects and on dead giveaways because of corporate interests that have controlled the town for 30 years is very real.

I talked about this as a Republican. I’m the r- I’m the crazy Republican who actually introduced legislation that said no member of Congress should be able to ask you for a dollar. It landed me on 60 Minutes because I’m this big campaign finance reform advocate. I think we need public financing of, uh, refor- uh, public financing of campaigns.

I think we need a broad-based lobbying and transparency reform package in Tallahassee. I think we should ban the unlimited political committees that allow us to launder money through our elected officials, and in the case of Hope Florida, we saw what it could be used for if you really have malintent about it.

So let’s start with where the fat is because I think that gets us... We could be looking at saving, uh, the first billion dollars right there.

Hudson: Let’s talk about, uh, AI data center development, an issue throughout the state of Florida and also, uh, here in South Florida with some AI data centers already up and operating in, uh, Dade County, and of course, a big debate that it has had recently in Palm Beach County, which passed a moratorium.

You have talked about a statewide moratorium- That’s right ... on AI centers for year one. You would talk about doing that on day one. That’s right. What would happen in that year with that moratorium? What are you looking for to make a decision about what happens in year two for AI data center development in the state of Florida, which is a commercial development opportunity, uh, honestly?

Jolly: Sure. Sure. Very rarely is there a time in politics where leaders can both lead and follow. What do I mean by that? You lead on smart, prudent public policy, but you follow when public opinion is just so overwhelming. So let’s start with the last part. 75% of the state is saying, “Please don’t do this right now.

Give us more time. Let’s study it. We don’t want data centers." 75% of the state says, “Don’t do it.” The job of elected officials is to listen to voters. I mean, I’ve said on our, some of our constitutional ballot initiatives that fell short of 60%, “If it went over 50, I’ll introduce it legislatively because that’s what Florida’s voters are asking for,” reproductive freedom, open primaries, recreational marijuana.

So 75% of the state says, “Don’t do data centers.” That should be enough, folks. Sorry, that should just be enough right now to hit pause. But what I will tell you is this: I think there are policy reasons to lead with a moratorium We know the environmental impact is something that is still relying on emerging technology that’s not fully there.

Closed loop versus open loop, some of the other questions around environmental degradation. The destabilization of communities, the devaluation of real estate, there remain open public health questions about this, the displacement of labor, but also I’m not convinced the long-term economic impact justifies these data centers.

There’s the initial upfront economic impact of construction jobs, most of which, by the way, are shipped in from out of your community and then are gone once this data center is built, and it doesn’t have the long-term tail of economic impact to justify the size of a structure that lar- likely will face, uh, functional obsolescence sometime in the next five to 10 years as the technology improves and these things would otherwise scale down.

So voters are saying, “Don’t do it in my backyard.” And, and I agree with that. So what would we do in a moratorium? I, I do think the jurisdiction for a statewide moratorium, uh, relies on environmental degradation and impact, and then also on still remaining public health questions. Returning to local control, what I would suggest, is a very, you know, deeply funded, deep research study on the long-term economic impact of data centers in communities, particularly our rural communities.

We could, we could entrust one of our state universities to do that. We can eventually hand that over to local communities who would benefit from a third-party economic impact study.

Hudson: We’ve seen local governments already put moratoriums in place. That’s right. Why do you think that’s not enough as local control?

Why do you think the state has to come in to put a moratorium in place?

Jolly: I simply think a state one is appropriate. Let the other 49 states build them right now. It’s the bottom line. I, uh, the environmental impact, the public health questions are enough for me, but also the long-term economic impact. I, I just think it’s appropriate to say let’s hit the pause button right now.

Hudson: Give us a sense of what your, uh, 100-day plan is if you are sworn in in Tallahassee in January of 2027. What’s the priorities?

Jolly: So we have a broad economic package focused on housing, healthcare, and education. Some of these would have to move to a ballot initiative, right? A state catastrophic fund for insurance.

I’ve committed to a 10-year renaissance in public education. Um, but I think when you look at scaling up workforce and affordable housing investments, there’s $2 billion right now sitting in a fund that could be deployed, but DeSantis doesn’t even have an agency head right now to do it. Um, but the appointment process takes over immediately.

Folks, I’m gonna fire the surgeon general on my first day in office and appoint someone that believes in evidence-based science and public health. I’m going to appoint a education commissioner that’s gonna get the backs, yes, of students, but also of teachers. Let teachers teach all of our history, not just the favorite parts.

I’m gonna begin to look at public service commissioners that believe in clean and renewable energies and get the backs of ratepayers and not just our utilities. We love them. We’re partners, but folks, this is out of balance right now with our PSC. The state university system needs to be refashioned to focus on Florida’s economy, not our ideology.

We’ve gotta get the governor’s ideology out of our state university systems and just move to institutional autonomy, advancement, and excellence, and yes, the impact of diversity on higher education. That’s the appointment process that starts on day one.

Hudson: Would you consider, would you consider continuing the state of emergency that Governor DeSantis declared regarding immigration in the state of Florida?

Jolly: No.

Hudson: What is your appetite to use executive orders over the legislative process, given that as a Democrat governor you would have a super majority Republican legislature?

Jolly: I think our current governor showed us it is fair to use executive authorities very aggressively. I am not going to exceed the bounds of the Constitution, but I might test some of them.

Look, a, a day one moratorium on data centers is sure to bring a lawsuit. Okay, let’s do that. I intend to address some of the DEI stuff that has become so controversial I think is impacting communities. Like, I was in, in Overtown yesterday where, where youth centers and, and centers that are housing people aging out of, out of the foster care program are now facing being defunding because they serve communities because they’re being targeted for DEI.

I think I can issue executive guidance that’s saying if there’s a social, socioeconomic justification for specific services, that there’s a safe harbor for some of our agencies to continue to serve these communities. I’ll get sued for that, I realize that, but we are going to test the bounds in a lot of places.

I also intend to use the governor’s office to litigate. Look, I support Jose Javier Rodriguez for attorney general. I do hope he gets elected. But if we have an attorney general that I believe is not representing the interests of the people of Florida like our current one, I intend to use the governor’s office to litigate.

Mm. A good example, this case is likely now moot, but a good example would have been on the open carry ruling, moving Florida to an open carry state. I would enter the governor’s office into that matter, into that case, and take the appeal up to try to prevent open carry- Mm ... in the state of Florida when our own attorney general won’t do it.

Hudson: David, we promised you 30 minutes. We got about a minute left. I gotta ask one question about politics because we know it’s in the air. Debates.

Jolly: Sure.

Hudson: You had a series of debates that you said you agreed to. Your candidate, uh, your, your opponent has set, uh, three debates that he said he agreed to. Will you debate?

Jolly: Yeah. No. We, I am not going to debate and that’s my final decision and here’s why. I think there is an immense amount of bad faith and dishonesty in our politics today writ large. I’ll give, I’ll give Byron Grace and not lay this at his feet. The amount of bad faith and vitriol is real. Our politics are broken.

We’re more divided than ever before. Our politicians just seem to tell us every day if we hate each other enough, that somehow our life will get better. That doesn’t help the state. I’m asking to be the leader of the state and I wanna lead with my actions what I’m saying with my words. I don’t want to further devolve our conversation now that has led to this point of bad faith and toxicity, and to even further bad faith and toxicity.

I’ve run a Lawton Chiles campaign for 18 months. Every community from Milton and Molino to Key West and everywhere in between, going into towns red, blue and purple, and we’re gonna keep doing that, and I think that’s the way we should do it. I’m not gonna do debates this general election.

Hudson: David Jolly, thank you for being here at the Sunshine Economy Summit.

Jolly: Thank you. Much appreciated. Thank you all very much. I appreciate it. Thank you very much, David.

Thank you.

Byron Donalds

WLRN CEO Tom Hudson: Appreciate you making time in your schedule. So you just heard, uh, David Jolly say that he was not going to debate you. Any response?

Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds: I think it’s silly Uh, literally we were here. We could have set up a third s- chair and done it, but it is what it is. Look, I, at this point, I, I think what’s important for the people of Florida is that they just hear the contrast between both of us.

Uh, I think also with social media being what it is today, voters have an opportunity to hear very clearly from, from just about any candidate they wanna hear from. Um, on our campaign, we post all of our events live in real time. You can see them, you can hear the contrast. We pass around microphones in every room I’m in now, and we let voters just ask whatever question they choose to.

I think that’s important for them to hear directly, not just on, you know, maybe the top three or four you’re gonna ask today. Mm-hmm. But even some of the issues that might impact a voter in Pensacola, in Jacksonville, in, in Tampa, in Orlando, in Miami-Dade, in Broward County, um, or even in Palatka or in Okeechobee County or in Levy County.

I think it’s important for a candidate to be there and, and, and get-- take that incoming from all voters about the issues they care about. I think specific to the debates, he should stop running. We can do it anytime, anyplace, anywhere. I’ve agreed to three. Let’s do it.

Hudson: Byron, uh, let me ask you, you, um, spent some time in Tallahassee as a state legislator.

You spent time in Washington as a federal legislator. Why do you wanna move back to Tallahassee? Why do you wanna be governor of the state of Florida?

Donalds: Great question. One, I think Florida, we are in a, a position of being the best state in America. I truly believe that. I think if you look at the movement of feet, uh, Milton Friedman always said that you can judge public policy by the movement of feet.

People go to a jurisdiction where public policy is at its best. Conversely, people leave a jurisdiction where public policy is at its worst. This is why you’ve seen more Americans move to Florida than any other state in the country. Conversely, they’re leaving California, leaving Minnesota, leaving New York, leaving New Jersey.

There’s a reason for that. Uh, we, we’ve had consistent common sense leadership in our state, uh, for really going on thirty years now, and that’s actually also led the transformation into why Americans are choosing to relocate not just their families, but their companies. Why young kids like myself are choosing to come to college in this state to get educated, because it’s widely viewed as the best one state.

My mission is to make sure that Florida remains number one while addressing some of the key issues impacting everybody. Insurance, housing costs, uh, making sure young people can get into the game, not just of home ownership, but having a high-paying job where they can put food on the table and a roof over their head.

And, and that just doesn’t happen by accident. It takes consistent leadership over time to see those things become a reality. I love this state. I’ve lived here now for thirty years. I want to continue to, to-- I want it to continue to be the best state in America, and that’s my mission in running for governor.

Hudson: On the issues, Byron, your campaign website had read the number one issue that you had was to enact the Trump agenda. That’s changed now. Today it reads accountable, achievable, affordable. Why the change from enact the Trump agenda to accountable, achievable, affordable?

Donalds: Well, we have been working on website changes for, like, two months now.

It just unleashed yesterday. Um, I think the key thing is, if you’ve watched any of my events really the last six months, we talk about accountable Florida to the voters, an achievable Florida for our children, and an affordable Florida for Floridians se- who are living their golden years, small business owners, and young families.

That’s been town hall events I’ve been having for months. It’s all on my social media. You can go to my YouTube page, go back months. These are the issues we talk about every day on the campaign trail. I think in light of, obviously, for the general election, the voters of Florida wanna know the policies you’re going to implement to make their lives better.

And so we wanted to make sure that the website fully reflected the vision and the policies for the future of Florida.

Hudson: Does it change your interest of enacting the Trump agenda if elected as governor of Florida?

Donalds: Well, no, I think that’s a separate question. If you’re gonna talk about the president, we’re talking about-

Hudson: Well, your, your website did say enact the Trump agenda until yesterday.

So have you- It did ... no longer enact the Trump agenda? It did.

Donalds: Uh, the Trump agenda, the president’s agenda, I think a common sense agenda is centered around law and order, sound markets, making sure that we secure our nation’s borders, making sure that we continue to work with the federal government when it comes to immigration policy, um, having a standard there of law and order.

It’s also about, on the state level, making sure that your ju- your justice system is consistent in application, that we back law enforcement, that we have the economic growth framework for young people to be able to not just have a job, but have a career, and be able to build a continuity of life that allows their standard of living to continue to be second to none, not just between us and the other forty-nine states, but between America and the entire world.

Hudson: Let me ask about some of the economic policies from the president that are under that Trump agenda, just to get a sense of, of where you’re at today. Uh, the tariff situation, do you support the president’s action on tariffs, particularly as it relates to Canada?

Donalds: Uh, look, my view on tariffs has been anything that we need to do to reset global, uh, trade agreements is in the best interest of America, not just over the short term, but definitely over the long term.

If you look at our trade policy in the United States, most of the deals have not actually been in the interest of American manufacturing, American small, small business, or American workers. And so it’s important that the United States actively is always looking at all of these trade policies. I do think that’s important, specific to tariffs.

The only way you’re gonna be able to get some of these re- renegotiations done is with tariff policy. If you think that a European country or Canada or some... or Mexico or another country is just gonna say, “You know what? Yeah, this trade deal doesn’t really work for you, America. Out of the goodness of our heart, we’re gonna come and renegotiate with you.”

That’s just not how this works. You do have to apply some economic pressure if you’re gonna have a new negotiation about trade policy into the future. We also have had a major issue in the United States for a long time on trade enforcement. Whether you thought the deal was good or bad for the United States is one thing.

We would have presidential administrations on both parties, mind you, that would not go through the process of enforcing these trade deals to actually make sure they were in the best interest of the American worker, of American businesses, both small and large. So I think if you’re gonna talk about the president’s tariff policies, the entire goal has always been about resetting some of these trade agreements so that America is on a fair standard with other countries.

And considering the fact that with globalization, with technological advancement, that these other countries in the world have now caught up to the United States, it is in our interest as a nation to make sure we have trade policies that put us on par with other nations to protect our workforce and to protect our industries, not just today, but going forward into the future for our country.

Hudson: The National Taxpayers Union Foundation, which is a conservative leaning, uh, think tank, has, has said that the president’s tariffs have cost the average Floridian household about $1,300. What do you think that the tariffs are accompy-- accomplishing economically today for Floridians as you’re running for governor under affordability, accountability, and achievability?

Donalds: Well, I think if you’re just gonna take tariff policy in of itself, yes, you can go by that measure. The way I look at it is the work we did on Capitol Hill as well. Yes, tariff policy is a tool to be used for resetting global trade. What is also happening in, in the United States and in Florida is increases in economic growth.

We have seen that. Look at the GDP statistics. That’ll tell you that very clearly. What we did on Capitol Hill through the president’s agenda last year was we cut taxes for small business owners. We actually kept the Section 199A small business tax deduction in place. It is now permanent for every small business owner in Florida and in the United States of America.

We supported that as a Republican. The Democrats and every Democrat commentator and elected official opposed that. So do we think it was in the best interest to let small business taxes rise in the United States? I would say no. We also had the largest tax cut in American history for Social Security recipients.

No-- We also had, um, eliminating of taxes on overtime for workers all through Florida, all through the United States. We also eliminated taxes on tip share for people who are using tip share here in Florida, all through the United States. We have already seen that, um, uh, tax refunds are at the highest level they’ve ever been in the history of the United States.

So when you take the tariff number of thirteen hundred dollars, I will take your number, but I will cede you the thirty-two hundred dollars that the average Floridian has paid less in taxes, meaning thirty-two hundred dollars more in their pocket today. And that does help a Floridian be able to afford their life, even though we still have headwinds in insurance and some other items that we do need to fix.

And

Hudson: of course, as Florida governor, there are no income taxes, so there’s not an income tax policy that you’re proposing, for instance, as governor, just to be clear here, right? You’re talking about federal income

Donalds: taxes there. No, we’re talking-- We’re-- Come on. Don’t be cute.

Hudson: I--

Donalds: No, I just wanna be clear. We’re talking federal, we’re talking federal income taxes.

Right. Yeah. But if you’re gonna talk tariff policy- Yeah ... that is a national federal system. Yeah. Fair enough. So we have the obvious, the obvious retort- Right ... is what every Floridian has to deal with when it comes to income taxes. Right. Because as somebody who waited tables-

Hudson: Yeah

Donalds: When I waited tables and had to put in my tip share- Yep

it didn’t matter if I was waiting tables in Tallahassee, they still withheld that from my, from my paycheck. Sure, on the federal stuff. When I was working hourly wages and I was moving furniture in on the weekend on Sanibel Island to make ends meet, FICA still came for me. Mm-hmm. Even though I was living in Florida.

Mm-hmm. So the comment about how the state doesn’t have an income tax, I think that’s fine. I think that’s fair. It’s accurate. Florida will never have an income tax, but the United States of America does. Yeah. So anything that we can do at the federal level to help working families keep more money in their pocket, help small business owners keep more money in their pocket, is a good thing, and that’s the work that we’ve been doing on Capitol Hill.

Hudson: Let me ask you about immigration and economic policy here, because there’s been research from the National Bureau of Economic Research finding that male employment in construction, in manufacturing, health and hospitality, fell by 3%, uh, as the immigration enforcement policies of the Trump administration came into play.

Those are important industries here in South Florida and Florida overall. Uh, would you continue supporting the existing immigration policy at the state level of Florida if elected as governor? The laws that were passed by the governor and the ex- and the legislature? Mm-hmm.

Donalds: Yes. Listen, let’s be very clear on this Number one, fact point number one, America has to decide once and for all what type of immigration system we’re going to have.

I believe our immigration system has to be one based upon legal immigration with assimilation, period, full stop. There has to be strong enforcement. There has to be consistent enforcement. What we have seen politically over the last couple decades now, and to be honest, it’s frustrating, I think, for Americans just trying to figure out what’s gonna happen, is we’ve seen this pendulum swing.

One, one year, like this year, we’re gonna close our borders and have zero intrusion into the United States on the southern border. Other years, the previous administration, we’re just gonna let the borders be wide open. We’re gonna allow for catch and release. We’re gonna let asylum privileges go wild.

There has to be a consistent standard. So to the core of your question, is the state of Florida gonna continue to work with the federal government? Yes, it will. The second point of that, every state in the country has a constitutional obligation to s- work with the federal government to enforce federal law.

The Constitution on this matter is clear. Article one, Section eight gives immigration, naturalization, and deportation powers expressly to the federal government. So if you have a state that now comes along and says, “Well, you know what? I’m not gonna work with you to enforce that policy,” in my view, you are now working to nullify the Constitution of the United States.

Every state signed on to the general compact under our Constitution. So for Florida, we are going to be consistent in application of the law. Our law enforcement agencies will continue to be consistent in that application. And, and I truly do believe that what our country needs is consistency of application over time, so everybody knows the standards.

That protects the American people. That protects small business owners. It protects the immigrant- Mm-hmm. -because then the immigrant knows the standard as well. What doesn’t get talked about in, in this debate much is what I’ve seen in my time in Congress. I went to the southern border five times I’ve watched young girls be trafficked over our borders by the drug cartels, and under the previous administration, there was no ability to arrest the coyotes.

Mm. It was just basically people came across the border, you had to process them in. We know that young girls were sold into sex slavery by the drug cartels. We know that young girls were raped by the cartels and by the coyotes in that journey. So having a standard of legal immigration, strong borders, and consistency in enforcement protects the immigrant and it protects the American people.

Hudson: You mentioned enforcement. You also talked about assimilation. How do you regulate assimilation as an immigration policy?

Donalds: I think assimilation happens when you have a consistent, um, manageable flow of legal immigration through legal channels. It’s like, it’s what happens when you invite people into your home.

It’s what happens when you have, uh, hire a new employee. If you’re running a small business and you just open up a, a job fair and everybody that walks in the door you hire automatically, there’s no ability for you to breed that cultural assimilation into your workforce. Like, that’s just common sense. If anybody in this room was gonna throw a party, and we all-- some people have thrown parties in this room.

It’s okay. When the guest list gets super large and you have no idea who’s coming through your house, it gets a little rowdy. Mm. When the guest list is curated and you know who’s coming in, everybody comes in with the expectation of how to treat your home. So how you deal with assimilation is you have a standard of controlled legal immigration.

It helps everybody understand the rules very clearly, and that’s how they come in. And anybody who’s coming in to immigrate into the United States, they come in understanding the pathway and the requirements if they’re gonna maintain themselves being in the United States.

Hudson: One of your Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill from South Florida, uh, Congresswoman-

Donalds: Side note, quick question.

Hudson: Yeah.

Donalds: This is a great dialogue, but when are we gonna get to Florida?

Hudson: Well, I, I’m, immigration is not a Florida issue? I

Donalds: just wanna make sure we get to the issues that are, that are on the minds- See, I mean- ... of all Floridians. But go ahead. What’s your next question?

Hudson: Well, no, no. I mean, do you not think immigration is on the minds of Floridians in South Florida?

Donalds: No, I think it is, but, uh, we’ve talked, um, f-federal tariff policy, federal tax policy- Well,

Hudson: Congressman- ... overall economic analysis- ... to be fair, you, you had said- ... and now we’re on immigration ... your number one issue was to enact the Trump agenda on your website- All right ... until yesterday. So all I’m- So I’m just asking you about that agenda

Donalds: I know, but all I’m asking you is when are we going to talk about insurance, housing?

Hudson: We’ve got 15 minutes left. We could waste time talking about what we wanna talk about. I’m just asking a question. We’ll get there. That’s all. So I’m asking you about Congressman Salazar’s comments-

Donalds: Okay ...

Hudson: about immigration.

She said, “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far.” What’s your reaction to her comment?

Donalds: I disagree with Maria I think what went too far in this country is when there was no enforcement at all. That went too far. I think what went far and it went too far in this country is, like I said in a previous statement, there were young girls who were given Plan B, who were given the pill by the drug cartels because they knew those girls were gonna be raped.

I think that went too far. We had young girls in our country, Jocelyn Longari, Rachel Morin, countless others, raped, murdered in the United States. That went too far. We have to have a standard of enforcement, and we have to have a standard of legal immigration, and that protects the American people

Hudson: All right, onto insurance.

It’s on the list here, Congressman. Sure. Told you guys we ta- get to talk about it. You have talked about your insurance plans, that you want to, quote, “Reduce an unnecessary surcharge on policyholders when the fund, the catastrophic fund, is financially strong.” What does that mean?

Donalds: Uh, right after Hurricane Wilma about 20 years ago, uh, this, the legislature put in a 25%, uh, surcharge on top of the premiums that are paid into Florida’s CAT Fund.

Uh, we put it in, in place during that time because the CAT Fund was almost empty, and Tallahassee moved quickly to make sure that the CAT Fund was shored up. Today, getting past... If we... Once we get through this hurricane season, and we’ll see what happens, you know, over the next six weeks or so-

Hudson: Everybody

Donalds: knock

Hudson: on

Donalds: wood

everybody, please. Uh, but we get through this hurricane season, the CAT Fund is estimated to have somewhere between 13 and $13.5 billion. So why do we have a 25% kicker on top to keep filling a CAT Fund whose statutory limit is $17 billion? My view is get rid of the kicker. That would lower premiums for every policyholder in the state.

And then along-

Hudson: Sorry, just to- Oh, go ahead ... clarify, would you require the insurance companies to pay, to pass along that reduction surcharge to policyholders?

Donalds: Yeah, of course, because they’re not having to pay it into the CAT Fund, so we wanna see that be borne out in people’s premiums. By the way, that’s what would happen anyway, because the additional kicker is paid for by policyholders.

So we wanna make sure that we pass those savings on to the people of Florida. Get rid of that kicker. You don’t really need that. If you’re thinking about what happens if the CAT Fund ever got depleted again, we can come up with some other solutions, uh, to deal with that. That’s one of the many solutions we’re gonna bring to reforming insurance in Florida.

Hudson: One of the other solutions that you’ve talked about is to cut construction costs by reforming the permitting process. How would the state reform local permitting?

Donalds: Uh, the state, what we wanna do is actually, um, do a procurement request for information of new technological, uh, tools that would help local governments, and by the way, state agencies as well, modernize that process.

I think it’s in the state’s interest to do everything we can to lower construction costs, so we would incentivize local governments to be a part of that. Like, we’ll pay the subscription fee. Like, we’ll pay the up, the uploading fee for people to transition their current operational departments to that system.

We also wanna have a place where if a county goes down or if a city goes down for whatever the reasons are, but let’s use hurricane. Let’s say they go down. We want those systems to be interoperable. That way You can easily have an ability to have another county come in to support. Let’s say Miami-Dade has to come in and support Broward County.

Okay, well, let’s do that on a temporary basis. If those systems are interoperable, it’s almost seamless. If Broward County goes down, people here trying to get a building permit, it would be a disaster. So we wanna build in that back end to make sure that happens. The state would come out with a list of approved vendors, and we would tell local governments and work with them and say, “Listen, we think this is in the best interest of Florida.

The state will pick up the tab for you to be on these systems, but we have got to shrink the timetable from buying land to constructing the facility." Because the longer every project takes, the more expensive it is. And if you wanna talk about affordability, but don’t talk about permitting, then you’re just running your mouth, and you’re not talking about the real ideas that can lower cost of construction, especially for the people who work hard every single day.

Hudson: Do you see that consolidated back office permitting system as still, uh, recognizing local permitting decisions, right? Building in Palm Beach County may be different, uh, uh, kind of permitting necessary than building in Putnam County.

Donalds: Oh, no, of course. I think at the end of it all, what you wanna make sure is that local governments have a systems that can help them be efficient.

But what they choose to approve or not approve is still for the county commission. The state is not gonna take away that.

Hudson: What do you make of the affiliate company process that’s involved with insurance companies now? We just heard from your opponent about ideas that he would, uh, want to tax those affiliate profits that are now sent out of state at the five and a half percent corporate rate.

Is that a process that you would support?

Donalds: Uh, no, I don’t think taxing it is the, is the way to go about it. I think there has to be strict regulations and, and not just strict regulations, but Office of Insurance Regulation has to really be empowered to engage directly with these carriers. Um, I read the Orlando Sentinel report.

I came out very quickly and said, “This is why we wanna have a very transparent process when it comes to insurance in the state of Florida.” The pe-

Hudson: Would you restrict that f- flow of funds

Donalds: to

Hudson: affiliate companies?

Donalds: No, no, I’m, I’m not in a restricting mode. I said that we have to make sure that we work very diligently with these carriers to make sure that the premiums that they charge are actually going towards the, the different claims that have to be put out there in the event of damage or storm.

I think that’s the way to do it. Um, I think what my opponent is saying is that he wants to tax it, but then he also wants to get rid of all private wind coverage. So if you get rid of private wind coverage, which is 70% of property and casualty insurance in the state, if the state takes that policy, takes all that business from insurance companies, then what are you gonna tax?

‘Cause then there’s no profit that they make off of that, so there’s nothing to tax to fund the plan that he says he can fund.

Hudson: Let’s move on to property taxes. Do you support Amendment 3?

Donalds: I do. I think voters need relief. I think the property owners need relief. Listen, property taxes six years ago or seven years ago now was $32 billion, it’s now $53 billion.

The truth ... Look, her eyes just fluttered. She was just like, “Oh my goodness, that is true. It’s the truth.” But

Hudson: some of that is recognized by there’s more property that is now being taxed at a higher value.

Donalds: Yeah, but what you said is the key issue. Local governments had an opportunity over the last six years to go to a rollback rate, to actually smooth out the increases.

Most municipalities and counties did not do that. What they said was, “We didn’t raise your taxes.” While property values were going up. So while your budgets did not adjust, or quite frankly, especially over the last, uh, four years or so, inflation was almost double digits through most products that people were buying every single day, county government and city government said, “We’re just gonna keep taxes the same even though values rose on everybody,” and they collected more tax revenue.

The people of Florida do need relief.

Hudson: And there is some additional service that some counties have had to realize as the populations have grown as well.

Donalds: Yeah, I agre- I recognize that, and, uh, this is why I’m saying that number one, the amendment causes for a raise from, from fifty thousand to a hundred fifty thousand.

Some areas a hundred thousand. The t- the

Hudson: homestead exemption.

Donalds: The homestead exemption. Yeah. Yes. And so if you look at the last time the homestead exemption was raised meaningfully in our state, the same arguments were coming from local government. “This is gonna be disastrous. Local governments will cease to be able to provide services.”

I don’t know if anybody’s looked around. When they raised the homestead exemption, I think it was, like, twenty-five years ago or longer now, local s- government services did not go away. I do, I do acknowledge, but this is one of the things that we are gonna have to make sure we wreckl- we, uh, wrestle with. I do acknowledge that Fiscally constrained counties is our problem.

Mm-hmm. And so I know the governor said that he was, he would backfill those out of state GR because, I mean, I think the number’s around $300 million or so for the fiscally constrained counties in the state. I, I, I didn’t wanna set up a grant program. I think what we can do in Tallahassee is a funding formula specific to those fiscally constrained counties so that they know they can rely on a consistent flow of revenue, and that they can still fill their budgets and operate the way they need to.

Hudson: So if elected governor, and the amendment passes, you will inherit this. Uh, are there additional revenue sources that you would support as governor for local governments to be able to continue to fund the services that residents and citizens have come to expect?

Donalds: Well, actually, local governments have a lot of revenue streams right now.

The, one of the revenue streams that very quietly county managers and city managers are talking, now let me just give you a, a preview. What they’re talking about right now, and especially in the larger counties like Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County, Orange, Hillsborough, uh, Duval, um, they’re already talking about non ad valorem assessments.

They have that ability to do that under state law today. They just have never really done that because ad valorem has just given them the money that they’ve needed, so they haven’t really worried about doing that. So if Amendment Three passes, um, I would assume that, um, a lot of these counties are gonna go into a special hearing, and there’s going to be some non ad valorem assessments that are gonna be passed.

So they already have the ability to do that- Mm-hmm ... under state law today.

Hudson: Mm-hmm. And is that anything that you would focus on as governor?

Donalds: Yeah, we would focus in on it because I don’t think that it’s, it’s okay just to say, “Well, we can’t get our money this way, so now we’re gonna get our money that way.”

What we need to be thinking about is budgetary restraint while making sure that key services are provided. This is why in Amendment Three, the language is clear that the first, that the first, uh, portion of local government that has to be funded is public safety. So for all the money that is collected, and there’s still gonna be billions of dollars collected, the first thing that local governments have to fund is public safety.

That’s in Amendment 3. There’s a reason why it’s there, is to make sure that it’s not just administrators or other programs, it’s that public safety, law enforcement, our, our firefighters, they, they get what they need.

Hudson: Do you support, if elected governor, the state government regulating property taxes at the local level?

Donalds: If Amendment 3 passes, the legislature would actually be the one regulating it. What I, what I think-

Hudson: Is that something you support as a former Florida legislator and possibly current or possibly future governor?

Donalds: Well, if that’s the will of the voters, then we’ll go ahead and execute that mission. But I think the way you do it is not just heavy-handed, top down from Tallahassee.

I think the better way to do it is if Amendment 3 passes, we’d have to maybe ... Really the legislature and local governments would have to set up, uh, some sort of, of vetting system about the, what the next wave of property taxes is. Um, but my commitment to the voters has always been whether it passes or fails, what needs to occur is, um, the Tax and Budget Reform Commission next year needs to have, be laser focused on this issue.

The property tax system in Florida is something that does need to be modernized. Assuming that the system is working right now is just not true. Uh, two big things that are going on in our property tax system which are becoming problematic, um, one is portability issues. If you have a s- if you have a senior or if you have somebody who, you know, like myself, I have three, I have three sons.

The older two are now out of the house. The oldest has his own apartment. Like, this is cool. Like, he’s off to college. Wow, congratulations. Yeah, I know, right? Yeah. I’m doing something right. You can judge a man by his fruit, and my oldest son has a job. He has his own apartment. He’s doing well. Uh, but that being said- Are you

Hudson: still paying his cellphone bill?

Donalds: No, I am not.

Hudson: Oh, that, uh, that’s the sign.

Donalds: That has been, that has now been passed on. I am not paying that. Uh, but, but, but the point is, if my wife or if any family where their children are now leaving, if they decided to downsize from the home that they raised their kids in, their property tax bill is gonna jump If seniors in our state, one of the reasons they’re not selling their property is because they know their tax bill will jump if they sell.

Well, that’s actually keeping inventory off the open market, which is having upward pressure on pricing. So we do need to fix portability issues in our state. And I’ll give you another one- Mm-hmm. For business owners. The, uh, the, the tangible personal property tax has to be fixed. Right now, every county and every, every municipa- every county has their own, uh, uh, depreciation schedule that they use for small business owners, very different than even the federal depreciation schedule.

All that has to be modernized and h- have one consistent standard so small business owners aren’t having to think, “Oh man, now I gotta go pay my, my personal property tax. How do I value it here?” If they have multiple locations, how are they valuing that between Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach County?

That stuff just p- p- uh, puts more burden on the back of small business owners. So those are some of the things that also need to be fixed. Well, real quick, I, I don’t

Hudson: wanna- I got one more question for you. We’re coming up against our 30 minutes, but go ahead.

Donalds: Okay. Real quick. The last thing in, in the property tax system that has to also be looked at is there are major differences between Broward County and, and, uh, and Dixie County and Citrus County.

Major economic differences. I actually think what we need to do is have a multi-tiered system Where Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach have one system, but the fiscally constrained counties have one, and it’s tied more to property value writ large and economic growth writ large than just one uniform system across the state of Florida.

Let me sneak this- I

Hudson: think that respects both pro- both priorities. Let me sneak this in. Your, your opponent talked about possibly having local governments have some homesteaded, um, um, uh, regulation. Is that something you’re talking about here?

Donalds: Uh, not necessarily. What I’m talking about doing is letting the Tax and Budget Reform Commission study all these options, and then working with local governments to really figure out what the meaningful modernized way is for local governments to raise revenue.

Hudson: Um, finally, you mentioned the, uh, the generational, uh, long run in the rep- in the, um, governor’s office here in Florida by the Republican Party. Uh, if you’re elected, how would a Donald’s administration be the same, be different from a DeSantis administration in the past eight years for Floridians?

Donalds: I think we’re, you know, where it’s the same is definitely gonna be around constitutional philosophy, uh, commitment to law and order, um, just bedrock conservative common sense principles.

That’s how I came up in politics. Um, I think where we’re gonna be focusing going forward is, how do we make housing more affordable for people? Um, how do we develop the real workforce training systems for juniors and seniors in high school? We have a launch patch, Launchpad Initiative on our new website, by the way.

And so what that does, we wanna see juniors and seniors, um, get internships and apprenticeships with businesses in their communities who have training programs. We wanna incentivize that. If a child is not going to the university system, help that child have the skill set they need before they graduate high school, so they can hit the ground running and really build out a, a skill set that can help them be, um, economically viable.

When you talk to business owners in our state, a lot of them actually did not go to college, or some of them dropped out of college. They had a skill, worked at it, built a business, and then before you knew it, they really accomplished a Florida dream for themselves. So we’re gonna be much more focused on, how do we have economic growth?

How do we make sure young people can get their start in life, while also doing the heavy work that Governor DeSantis has already started around Everglades restoration and protecting our environment? We wanna finish Everglades restoration in my time as governor. Florida’s environment is critical to Florida’s future economic prospects.

They are not mutually exclusive. They work together in concert. So protecting our environment while we plan for the future and build for the future is my goal as governor, and I think you have to have consistent policy over, over time in order to accomplish that.

Hudson: Byron, thank you for joining us here at the Sunshine Economy Summit.

Much appreciated. Byron Donalds, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you very much, sir.

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