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Ten Good Minutes With Florida Governor Ron DeSantis · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: If you are just joining us ruminators, good to have
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: you with us. Appreciate it very very much. Show fifty
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: five twenty four e's os. I'm Preston and it's been
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a minute since we've had Governor round to Sandus back
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  Speaker 1: with us on the program. Good morning, sir, how are you.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: I'm really cold this morning. I'll tell you we're going
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  Speaker 2: to have some some freeze over the next few days,
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  Speaker 2: not just in Tallassee. I think it's going to get
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: down all the way to Lake Okachobee in the center
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  Speaker 2: of the state. You know, you're going to have probably
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  Speaker 2: get below freezing. They say there may be some flurries.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: I don't know it's expected to be as bad as
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  Speaker 2: it was last year when we had the snowstorm up
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  Speaker 2: up in North Florida. But it's the temperatures have dropped,
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  Speaker 2: so you know, at the end of the day, I'm
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: a Florida born and raised. I don't handle that very well.
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  Speaker 1: How's the first family.
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  Speaker 2: We're doing really good, you know. We so my kids
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  Speaker 2: are die hard Florida State fans, you know, haven't grown
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  Speaker 2: up here everything like that, and it's like, but you know,
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  Speaker 2: my he's in the National championship, and my son, especially
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  Speaker 2: second grade, like he roots against anyone that is a
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  Speaker 2: rival of Florida State, and so you know, we're we're
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  Speaker 2: we went to the Texas A and M game, and
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  Speaker 2: he's rooting for Texas A and M against Miami in
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  Speaker 2: the first round of the playoffs. So I've been talking
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  Speaker 2: to him over the week. I was like, I was like, dude,
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  Speaker 2: I'm the governor of the state. I can't have you
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  Speaker 2: out there publicly rooting for Indiana. So I was shocked
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  Speaker 2: that yesterday I asked him, okay, man, who you rooting for?
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  Speaker 2: And he looked at me sheep Miami, and I could
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  Speaker 2: not believe it. And he's like, well, he's like, you
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  Speaker 2: know the state of Florida, and you know you've got
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  Speaker 2: to root for them, So I'm going to root for him.
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  Speaker 2: So I was really surprised that that. I know, there's
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  Speaker 2: probably not a maybe some other seminal fans in this
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  Speaker 2: area who are willing to go that far. But I
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  Speaker 2: think he realized there's some special circumstances and so so
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: he did. So we'll see what happens. You know, everyone
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  Speaker 2: seems to think that that Indiana is heavily favored I'm
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  Speaker 2: not so sure. I think Miami's playing really well. I
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  Speaker 2: think they're very fit and should be a good game.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Tell me this, what are you most proud of over
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  Speaker 1: your time in office? I know you're running through the tape,
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  Speaker 1: that's abundantly clear, But at this moment, what are you
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  Speaker 1: most proud of? I was talking with doctor Bob McClure
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  Speaker 1: of JMI James Madison Institute earlier this week and we
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  Speaker 1: were discussing, we think you're the most successful governor advancing
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  Speaker 1: conservative policy that benefits people more than any governor in
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  Speaker 1: this state's history, but any governor we can think of
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  Speaker 1: across the country.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, look, this is just the truth. Our
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  Speaker 2: tenure has been the most consequential tenure of any governor,
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  Speaker 2: not just in Florida modern history, but in the modern
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  Speaker 2: history of the Republican Party, because you know, pressed everyone
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  Speaker 2: the stuff I say, almost all these guys say when
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: they run right, then they get in there and it's like, okay, well,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: sometimes when you're leading there's going to be some turbulence,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: people gonna shoot air. Is that you're going to stand
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  Speaker 2: strong and deliver and that's he done. I think the
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  Speaker 2: most price that you know we are the free State
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  Speaker 2: of Florida. We have a brand. People are excited to
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  Speaker 2: be from Florida in ways that wasn't necessarily the case
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  Speaker 2: when I was growing up, and so I think all
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  Speaker 2: the successes kind of flow from from that, and whether
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  Speaker 2: it's the fiscal responsibility, paying down dead reducing tax what
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  Speaker 2: we did during COVID to keep people free, what we've
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  Speaker 2: done to have law and order safe communities, what we've
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  Speaker 2: done to enforce illegal immigration laws, working number one in
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  Speaker 2: the country on that, all on down the list. There's
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  Speaker 2: so many different things, but I think it's all under
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  Speaker 2: the mantra of you. We had an overarching vision, and
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  Speaker 2: we delivered on that vision. I think what it shows,
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  Speaker 2: you know, just other people who may one want to
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: run for office or anything like that. We were a
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  Speaker 2: swing state when I got elected. Nobody thought we were
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  Speaker 2: going to be a red state soon. Everyone thought it
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  Speaker 2: may go blue, but certainly that it was going to
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  Speaker 2: be tough. And we did all these things from a
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  Speaker 2: conservative perspective, delivered results that people saw. And so the
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  Speaker 2: if to a red state was not just because we
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  Speaker 2: had clever marketing or just happened on a whim. It
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  Speaker 2: was people saw who was fighting for them. And it
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  Speaker 2: shows that these foreign, these conservative policies work. And we're
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  Speaker 2: also in an era where people are very mobile. So
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  Speaker 2: we've seen people flee California, flee New York. I just
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  Speaker 2: had I was talking to some guys from Chicago. They
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  Speaker 2: were talking about what's happened to that city, and it's
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  Speaker 2: all a result of bad policies in those places, in
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  Speaker 2: bad leadership. And I think Florida has shown if you
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  Speaker 2: have good policies and good leadership, you can make a
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  Speaker 2: difference in people's lives. And so that's, you know, just
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  Speaker 2: what I'm proud of. I mean people that people come
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  Speaker 2: up to me, they always have something that they will say,
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: you know, thanks for doing this or that, or it
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  Speaker 2: could be anything, right. It could be you know, helping
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  Speaker 2: with traffic congestion on I four. It could be monoclonal
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  Speaker 2: antibodies to help them when they got COVID. It can
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  Speaker 2: be can be this or that. But but I think
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  Speaker 2: if you're able to impact people in a positive way,
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  Speaker 2: in a meaningful way, you know that, that's why you
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: get into this business.
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  Speaker 1: Talking with Florida, Governor round de Santus just gave the
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  Speaker 1: state of the state address as the legislature opened up
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  Speaker 1: its legislative session. Governor, you you threw this out last year,
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  Speaker 1: eliminating property tax. I was just I was stunned when
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  Speaker 1: you did it, because I've been talking about it since
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  Speaker 1: I started this show in two thousand and two, and
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  Speaker 1: we've never had anybody willing to do the heavy lift.
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  Speaker 1: Tell me what your thoughts are now on what it
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  Speaker 1: will take to get it done and what you think,
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  Speaker 1: maybe incrementally is most realistic between now and then.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's going to take the legislature to put on
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  Speaker 2: a ballot, and they need two thirds in each chamber
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  Speaker 2: a measure that would and you know, but my vision
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  Speaker 2: is your homesteaded personal residence you know, is exempt. Now
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  Speaker 2: most property tax is not homestead residential. It's other things
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: that they tax. And that's why I think this can
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  Speaker 2: be done. So they got to do that, and then
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  Speaker 2: the voters need to pass it with sixty percent of
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  Speaker 2: the vote. And so here's the problem. You know with
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  Speaker 2: prop one property tax, it's a tax on unrealized gains,
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  Speaker 2: it's a wealth tax. It's kind of the most inefficient
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  Speaker 2: form of tax or the hardest tax that you don't
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  Speaker 2: want to do you have to have people pay that
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  Speaker 2: if you can help it. But we had thirty two billion,
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  Speaker 2: and none of this goes to the state government, by
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  Speaker 2: the way, like we're surplus, paydown debt, maxed out, rainy
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  Speaker 2: day fund, all that. Not one dimes property tax. We
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  Speaker 2: don't do it. It's all local. That's why you got
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  Speaker 2: to go to the ballot. If you could do it
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  Speaker 2: through legislation, then we would just pass a bill. So
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: but in twenty nineteen, my first year's governor, local governments
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  Speaker 2: took in thirty two billion dollars in property tax revenue.
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  Speaker 2: Last year rose to fifty six billion dollars. That's like
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  Speaker 2: an eighty percent increase. And look, did we have population
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  Speaker 2: growth inflation? Yes, I don't think it's realistic that it
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  Speaker 2: would have stayed at thirty two, just like the Florida
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  Speaker 2: state budget, you know, has gone although we have one
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  Speaker 2: of the lowest per capita spends in the country, there's true,
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  Speaker 2: but you're not eighty for said better off with services
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  Speaker 2: and all that stuff. Nobody thinks that. And why did
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  Speaker 2: it happen, Well, because the valuations have gone up. You know,
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  Speaker 2: people drove the market higher by moving here. We had
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  Speaker 2: inflation anyways, and so they assess higher, and so there's
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  Speaker 2: more things. The reality is some people can't afford a
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  Speaker 2: home now because the property tax basis is so high.
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  Speaker 2: Others aren't willing to sell their home because if you
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  Speaker 2: have like an elderly who want to downsize, they've had
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  Speaker 2: their home for thirty years, but it's homesteaded, so the
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  Speaker 2: property tax assessment sitting go as hih as their neighbor
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  Speaker 2: who just bought it two years ago. The neighbor may
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  Speaker 2: be paying five to six times more tax than the
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  Speaker 2: but they don't want to sell because then they give
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  Speaker 2: up their home basis. So, you know, I think it
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  Speaker 2: would help, particularly younger people with kids, be able to
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  Speaker 2: afford homes. I think it would remove distortions from the market.
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  Speaker 2: So we're working with people in the let. You got
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  Speaker 2: to do it right, I mean, there's all these little intricacies.
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  Speaker 2: You know. It's one thing to say, oh, just put it.
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  Speaker 2: I don't want people to be able to just move
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  Speaker 2: from New York the day after it passes and then
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  Speaker 2: claim it. I don't think that that's right. I don't
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  Speaker 2: want to drive that. I want to help the people
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  Speaker 2: that are here now. So we don't want that incentive.
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  Speaker 2: We also have to say, okay, do you phase it
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  Speaker 2: in over a few years to be able to ramp
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  Speaker 2: up to that. Some people are going to insist on that.
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  Speaker 2: So there's all these different things, but we're working on you.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have an opportunity to vote on this until November.
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  Speaker 2: You know. The reality is somebody say, oh, you could
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: do a special election. Yeah, you need three quarters of
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: both legislature. We don't have that. So the earliest is November.
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  Speaker 2: You got to pass something by August first. I'm not
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: suggesting it'll take that long, but we're working on it
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  Speaker 2: a lot. You got to get the language right and
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  Speaker 2: you got to get the chambers lined up. But do it.
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  Speaker 2: But here's the thing. You can do this right. It
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  Speaker 2: can be done. When people say it can't, it can
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  Speaker 2: be done. You can look at the numbers. It can
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  Speaker 2: be done. But you just got to have the will
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: and you got to put forward on the vision. But
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  Speaker 2: I think of all the things that we deal with,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: like you know, people will talk about prices at the
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: grocery store. Yeah, they've gone up tremendously. The state government
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  Speaker 2: can't control that. You know, We've done reforms on insurance
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  Speaker 2: and I just announced, you know, Citizens is reducing eight
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: percent statewide on homeowners policies, which is great, But like
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: you know, there's a lot of other factors with insurance,
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  Speaker 2: it's not just the state government. You know, we have
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  Speaker 2: an impact, but not the total. But taxes is just government, right,
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  Speaker 2: there's no other factors on that, So we the people
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  Speaker 2: can decide. You know, do you have right to own
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  Speaker 2: your own home? Is there a way that you can
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: be free and clear of the government. Are we just
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: always going to have to pony up money for all
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: this stuff? And people say, well, why do you care
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: about it? You know, because people are telling me about it.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: I'm in public housing right now, as governor, I don't
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: pay property tax in public housing, so it's not not
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: affecting me personally. It's affecting the people I represent, and
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: that's why we want to do something about it.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Governor. I appreciate your time this morning. I know you
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: carved some out for us and and you got a
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: busy day ahead of you. Thank you very much. I
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: appreciate what you're doing for the state of Florida. I
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: look forward to having you back on the show.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Okay, godspeed