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Poverty In Florida · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: All right, kiddos, welcome to the third and final hour,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: at least for today, The Morning Show with Preston, Scott
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and Preston. He's ose great to be with you. It
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  Speaker 1: is Tuesday, and it's April seventh, Show fifty five seventy seven.
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  Speaker 1: Good to have with us this morning. The President of
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  Speaker 1: the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Mark Wilson. Morning, Mark, how
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  Speaker 1: are you?
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  Speaker 2: Hey, Good morning, Preston. It's great to be back with
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  Speaker 2: you again.
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  Speaker 1: Tell us before we kind of roll into the topic here,
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  Speaker 1: what is the Florida Prosperity Initiative? What gave birth to that?
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  Speaker 1: What is it? What is it all about?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, hey, thanks again for having me back. So when
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  Speaker 2: we think about Florida right like last hour, you were
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  Speaker 2: talking about Jim Lovell and this incredible mission to the moon,
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  Speaker 2: the other side of the moon and back, and the
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  Speaker 2: world's talking about Florida right now. And so when we
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  Speaker 2: think of prosperity, we think of free enterprise, and when
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  Speaker 2: we think of job creation, Preston, Florida creates about one
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  Speaker 2: out of every fifteen new jobs in the country. However,
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  Speaker 2: to your question, we discovered a decade or so ago
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  Speaker 2: that Florida back then had over a million kids in poverty.
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  Speaker 2: And so on one hand, we have this wealth moving
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  Speaker 2: to our state, but on the other hand, we have
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  Speaker 2: pockets of poverty throughout our state. And what better than
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  Speaker 2: free enterprise, not government? Right, we have too much government
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  Speaker 2: dependency in our country. But who better than the business
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  Speaker 2: community championing free enterprise to go into these zip codes,
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  Speaker 2: into these schools and work to break the cycle of
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  Speaker 2: generational poverty. So we've been at it about a decade
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  Speaker 2: raising awareness and over the last year we've actually doubled
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  Speaker 2: down and our goal now is to cut childhood poverty
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  Speaker 2: in half in Florida by twenty thirty. And this is
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  Speaker 2: all about breaking the cycle of generational poverty. These are
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  Speaker 2: our future workers. It's very clear at the federal levels
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  Speaker 2: not going to do this. Poverty is a neighborhood, zip
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  Speaker 2: code level issue. And so that's why we're investing so
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  Speaker 2: much and raising so much awareness and have a new
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  Speaker 2: report out on the topic.
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  Speaker 1: I suppose and correct me if I'm wrong that before
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  Speaker 1: you can define how to best solve these issues, you
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  Speaker 1: have to define poverty. So what is the working definition
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  Speaker 1: we're using here?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's multiple definitions Preston. And obviously you've you've studied
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  Speaker 2: this issue before. So the federal government for as long
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  Speaker 2: back as we can remember, has had a federal definition
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  Speaker 2: of poverty for a single person, it's extreme poverty. It's
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  Speaker 2: about twelve thousand dollars a year. And by the way,
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  Speaker 2: that is whether you're in Alaska or Hawaii, or Miami
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  Speaker 2: or Gadsden County where I live. The federal government thinks
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  Speaker 2: that the poverty levels the same no matter where you are,
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  Speaker 2: and of course one Congress thinks that that's the case.
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  Speaker 2: And our partners that United Way nationally and Melissa Nelson
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  Speaker 2: here in Florida, have come up with a much better approach.
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  Speaker 2: It's called ALICE. It stands for Asset limited, income, Constrained
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  Speaker 2: and Employed. And you know, we see in some communities
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  Speaker 2: a third to half of people who work are choosing
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  Speaker 2: between childcare and rent and the power bill or the
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  Speaker 2: car bill. And so we have again somewhere around half
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  Speaker 2: of the people in Florida are in this category of
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  Speaker 2: either poverty, which is better termed as extreme poverty, or
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  Speaker 2: in the ALICE population. And so both matter, and our
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  Speaker 2: Prosperity initiative again is zip code by zip code, looking
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  Speaker 2: at ten root causes so that we can literally change
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  Speaker 2: the path that some of these kids were born into
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  Speaker 2: based on the zip code that they were born in.
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  Speaker 1: And it's not an overnight fix. And I suppose that's
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  Speaker 1: one of the challenges in frustrations of trying to get
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  Speaker 1: your arms around the problem. You can't just make it
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  Speaker 1: go away.
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  Speaker 2: Preston, That's exactly the challenge. This is a forever issue.
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  Speaker 2: As our statewide Prosperity Initiative Director Heather Kogar always reminds us,
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  Speaker 2: she grew up in foster care and in poverty and
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  Speaker 2: she went on to break the cycle. And as she
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  Speaker 2: always says, we're always going to have poverty. But if
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  Speaker 2: we can get about putting goals in place, and we
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  Speaker 2: can raise awareness to the business community throughout Florida that
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  Speaker 2: we actually have poverty right here in our community, then
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  Speaker 2: business leaders can start to redirect their philanthropy, their volunteer hours,
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  Speaker 2: and we can start to work with Senator Simon and
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  Speaker 2: Representatives Hant and others to say, hey, this is you know,
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  Speaker 2: kindergarten readiness matters, third grade reading matters. You know, if
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  Speaker 2: a third of our kids don't know where their meals
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  Speaker 2: are coming from. That's something we can do. Churches play
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  Speaker 2: a huge role in this, Preston, and we're trying to
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  Speaker 2: get the faith community back at the center of this,
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  Speaker 2: together with businesses so that we can literally break the
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  Speaker 2: cycle and change this for the future. We think Florida
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  Speaker 2: could be the first state in America. We know we're
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  Speaker 2: the free state, but we think we can be the
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  Speaker 2: first state to cut childhood poverty in half. And we're
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  Speaker 2: actually on that trajectory over the next several years.
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  Speaker 1: Mark, Let's tackle the obstacles here. What are the biggest,
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  Speaker 1: maybe two or three obstacles for breaking this cycle that
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  Speaker 1: you're trying to address.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Preston, I would put them in a couple categories.
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  Speaker 2: One is awareness raising, and I think it's the single
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  Speaker 2: biggest obstacle that we have. I meet with politicians, I
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  Speaker 2: meet with business leaders, parents, and they don't know that
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  Speaker 2: we have poverty right here in our community. So just
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  Speaker 2: just big picture when we put our report out, Preston,
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  Speaker 2: and this is the best way I can answer your question.
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  Speaker 2: In Florida, we have over seven hundred and eleven thousand
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  Speaker 2: kids in poverty statewide. Florida has nine hundred and eighty
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  Speaker 2: three zip codes, And the first thing I would say is,
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  Speaker 2: you know, that's a big number, but when it's not
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  Speaker 2: ubiquitous all over the state. Over half of our kids
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  Speaker 2: in poverty live in only fifteen percent of our zip codes.
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  Speaker 2: So one hundred and fifty two zip codes out of
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  Speaker 2: nine hundred and eighty three's where half our kids in
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  Speaker 2: poverty live. And if we just look right here in
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  Speaker 2: the Big Bend area, if we just look at Leon
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  Speaker 2: County alone as an example, we have over nine thousand
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  Speaker 2: kids in poverty, nine thousand, three hundred and ninety four.
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  Speaker 2: Leon County has ten zip codes, and half of our
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  Speaker 2: kids in poverty live in only three zip codes. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: I have to give a shout out to our Tallahasse
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  Speaker 2: State College President Jim Murdau and Karen Moore from the
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  Speaker 2: More Agency. They've both worked together three two three hoo
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  Speaker 2: has more people in poverty than any other zip code
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  Speaker 2: in the entire state. And what they're doing to wrap
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  Speaker 2: around the ten root causes to provide meals to go
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  Speaker 2: into the schools. If you look at Sable Palm and
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  Speaker 2: that's a community health school or a community impact school.
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  Speaker 2: You know from an f school to an A school.
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  Speaker 2: So raising awareness of what's going on and where the
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  Speaker 2: next issue is. We worked with the Federal Reserve early
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  Speaker 2: on in the United Way and our research, said Preston,
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  Speaker 2: there's actually ten root causes that can send any one
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  Speaker 2: of us into poverty. For example, we could lose our
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  Speaker 2: health and we can end up in poverty. The same
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  Speaker 2: ten root causes that can send you into poverty make
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  Speaker 2: it very difficult to get out of poverty. So you know,
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  Speaker 2: food and security, unaffordability, housing, think of safer homes and communities,
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  Speaker 2: which is why we have a statewide partnership with the
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  Speaker 2: Florida Sheriff's Association. Matt Done again and the team over
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  Speaker 2: there are second to none, and they understand that we
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  Speaker 2: can't get kids and families out of poverty if the
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  Speaker 2: kids aren't safe in the first place. Lack of a
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  Speaker 2: good job, right, So think about how many people are
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  Speaker 2: trying to work their way out of poverty. Yeah, they
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  Speaker 2: need skills, they need those opportunities. Transportation. Maybe I'm a
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  Speaker 2: nurse and I live fifteen miles from the hospital, but
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  Speaker 2: my transmission went out, So what can we do? Are
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  Speaker 2: there church services available? Can businesses jump in? So I
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  Speaker 2: think the biggest issue Preston is you know, when we're
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  Speaker 2: in a state that is the fifteenth largest economy in
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  Speaker 2: the world. Our economy is bigger than Spain, and the
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  Speaker 2: rest of the country wants to be like Florida. We're
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  Speaker 2: trying to raise awareness that we need to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that we're bringing economic opportunity and better education to every
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  Speaker 2: single zip code of Florida. That's what we're trying to
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  Speaker 2: work on.
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  Speaker 1: In the break, I was sharing a story of a
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  Speaker 1: young lady who called this program many years ago named Courtney,
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  Speaker 1: and Steve Sutherland was in Congress at the time, and
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  Speaker 1: she pointed out, as someone who was receiving government benefits
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  Speaker 1: that the program is set up in such a way
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  Speaker 1: that if you earn one dollar too much, you hit
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  Speaker 1: this point where all of the help goes away. And
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  Speaker 1: she said it encourages cheating, it encourages people to be dishonest,
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  Speaker 1: and it also discourages success and achievement because if I
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  Speaker 1: do better, I have this gap in my assistance until
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  Speaker 1: I can get fully off it. In tackling this issue
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  Speaker 1: of poverty inside Florida, Mark, I have to believe that
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  Speaker 1: has been an issue that you've been confronted with.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Preston. I'm so glad you brought this up because
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  Speaker 2: when I testified in Congress when we originally excuse me,
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  Speaker 2: when we originally started this, that was my message to
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  Speaker 2: Congress that at the time, I asked the question, if
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  Speaker 2: you're a single mom with two kids under five, would
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  Speaker 2: you rather make nine dollars an hour or twenty five
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  Speaker 2: dollars an hour? And only in America would it make
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  Speaker 2: more sense for you to make nine dollars an hour?
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  Speaker 2: And the reason we pick nine and twenty five questen
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  Speaker 2: Those are called fiscal cliffs. And we actually wrote a
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  Speaker 2: paper on that. The Federal Reserves now talking about it,
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  Speaker 2: and it's real. We have some of the dumbest policy
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  Speaker 2: on the planet when it relates to economic opportunity. What
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  Speaker 2: we tell people is, hey, if you're making nine or
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  Speaker 2: ten dollars an hour and you make an extra dollar,
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  Speaker 2: don't worry. You'll lose your childcare assistant. If you make
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  Speaker 2: a little more, you'll lose your food stamps. If you
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  Speaker 2: make a little more, you'll lose you know, and you
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  Speaker 2: get the point. What I told Congress is America should
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  Speaker 2: be the best place in the world for people who
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  Speaker 2: want to work, and we should honor people working their
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  Speaker 2: way out of poverty, and we should let people keep
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  Speaker 2: as a bridge to opportunity and prosperity. The way to
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  Speaker 2: break government dependency and poverty is to encourage people to
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  Speaker 2: get those job skills. Make an extra dollar, an extra five,
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  Speaker 2: and extra ten, become a manager, work your way up,
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  Speaker 2: live that American dream, and once you get beyond twenty
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  Speaker 2: five dollars an hour, the smart policy would be to
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  Speaker 2: start working your way off of government assistance. But we're
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  Speaker 2: literally keeping people in poverty by having these backwards policies
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  Speaker 2: that say, if you better yourself and you get an education,
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  Speaker 2: and you work harder and you get a promotion, you're
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  Speaker 2: actually going to lose these benefits. So Preston, you've nailed it.
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  Speaker 2: Courtney nailed it. They're called fiscal cliffs. It's a huge
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  Speaker 2: problem in our country, and we're working at the state level.
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  Speaker 2: The state of Florida has been a national leader in
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  Speaker 2: getting rid of these fiscal cliffs that the state can control.
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  Speaker 2: Now we're onto the federal bureaucracy and the federal handcuffs,
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  Speaker 2: if you will, and getting Congress to move on. This
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  Speaker 2: is a wholly different deal, which is why we're not
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  Speaker 2: only working on Congress, but we're working with the private sector,
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  Speaker 2: one zip code at a time. To go in and say,
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  Speaker 2: while we're on Congress to act, what can we do
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  Speaker 2: locally to get these kids out of poverty and to
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  Speaker 2: get these parents the job training and the job opportunities
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  Speaker 2: that they need.
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  Speaker 1: Is it overly simplified knowing the ridiculous dysfunction of Congress?
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  Speaker 1: Is it overly simplified mark to say, okay, well, Florida
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  Speaker 1: then needs to be that bridge when they hit that
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  Speaker 1: mark of losing their federal benefits completely. Florida needs to
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  Speaker 1: step up and provide that glide.
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  Speaker 2: Slope, and not only I don't think that's oversimplified. I
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  Speaker 2: think Florida literally needs to be the national leader in
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  Speaker 2: this regard and some of the challenge with that. Preston
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  Speaker 2: Florida has done an amazing job. Well, Governor de Santis
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  Speaker 2: has done, and Rick Scott before him, we really started
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  Speaker 2: the pathway of what can Florida do to eliminate these barriers,
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  Speaker 2: these cliffs if you will, now the federal government, you
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  Speaker 2: know these are these are expensive, right, It's billions and
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  Speaker 2: billions of dollars of entitlements and for Florida to step
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  Speaker 2: in the gap there. We need to do it one
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  Speaker 2: step at a time. I have to tell you, I'm
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  Speaker 2: like I'm in the Milton Friedman camp. You know, government
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  Speaker 2: can't always be the first solution. We have to what
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  Speaker 2: can the private sector do? What can businesses do by
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  Speaker 2: redirecting their philanthropy, their volunteer hours. What can nonprofits do?
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  Speaker 2: You know, Think of the United Way locally, they do
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  Speaker 2: a great job. Think of what happens with financial literacy.
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  Speaker 2: Think of our food banks, Think of chs and the
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: community partnership schools. There's a lot of private sector focus
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  Speaker 2: that can move the needle here while we're waiting on
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  Speaker 2: government to do the right thing.
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  Speaker 1: Mark is always I appreciate the intel that the Florida
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  Speaker 1: Chamber pushes out if you get get a handle of
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  Speaker 1: what's going on in our state. Ed Her, and thanks
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  Speaker 1: for making time for us.
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  Speaker 2: Preston, as always, thanks for having me, Thanks for helping
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  Speaker 2: us raise awareness to such an important issue.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, Mark Wilson, President of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
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  Speaker 1: My guests twenty seven passed the hour