Charlie Crist's Promise to Florida's Hispanic Communities
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Charlie Crist’s Promise to
Florida’s Hispanic Communities
Our state needs and deserves a Governor who will wake up every day thinking about how to help
regular people and who will make this economy fairer for Florida’s families.
And we need a Governor who will refocus the state on things that are important to all Floridians:
high-paying jobs, excellent schools, affordable health care, and respect for our diversity.
That’s why Charlie Crist is running for Governor. He’ll put Florida families ahead of partisan politics
– by looking out for the middle class over the politics of extremism, and trying to work with willing
members of both parties to move Florida ahead.
Rick Scott is the wrong choice for Florida’s Hispanics
Rick Scott doesn’t share the priorities that are important to Hispanic families. He’s passed tax cuts
for corporations and special interests while letting taxes and
other costs increase for middle-class families. His policies
“Under Rick Scott, Hispanic
have benefitted the folks at the top and left the rest of Florida
families are bringing in less
hanging out to dry. In fact, Hispanics are struggling more
income, our costs are rising,
than most:
and our children are not
The median household income for Florida’s Hispanic getting the education they
families is $39,434, which is nearly $5,000 less than that need. Charlie Crist truly cares
of Florida’s non-Hispanic white families.1 about us and, as Governor, he
will work every day to help
Florida’s Hispanic families.”
Accounting for inflation, median income for Hispanic
families is $355 less now, under Rick Scott, than it was – Democratic Lt. Governor
when Charlie Crist was Governor, even in the midst of Nominee Annette Taddeo
the global recession.2
Under Rick Scott, a greater percentage of Hispanic families are living in poverty. 3
Since Rick Scott became governor, a greater percentage of Hispanic seniors and children are
living in poverty.4,5
Also since Rick Scott took office, the percentage of Hispanic families on food stamps/SNAP
benefits has surged to 26%.6
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 1And Rick Scott has a long history of disrespecting Hispanics that goes back decades.
As a businessman, Rick Scott reportedly opposed hiring a Hispanic man because of his accent –
he even said that “all our employees have to be mainstream,” according to a physician at his
company.7
Earlier this year, a Hispanic finance chairman for Rick Scott’s campaign abruptly resigned after
complaining about racist jokes that several campaign staff members made while driving to a
Mexican restaurant.8,9
Charlie Crist’s Promise to Florida’s Hispanic Communities
Here in Florida, your family should be able the pay the bills, put food on the table, and save a little
for the future. That’s why Charlie will focus on building an economy from the middle class out – not
the top down. Hispanic families are hurting more than most — and Charlie is ready to help.
After his inauguration, Governor Crist will focus on:
1) Developing Hispanic-owned Businesses
Charlie understands the value that diversity brings to our "We’ve had four years of Rick
business community. When Hispanic-owned businesses Scott catering to every whim of
are successful, they improve Florida’s entire economy. the corporate special interests.
Hispanic businesses need a
Giving minority businesses a fair shot at success is a Governor who understands
priority for Governor Crist, but currently the state has no their needs and will work to
coordinated strategy to maximize their potential. Charlie is help them be successful.
committed to fixing this problem. Charlie Crist will be that
Governor, and I urge you to
After his election, Governor Crist will create a new support him."
position, called the Women and Minority Business
Advocate, who will work within the Department of -- State Representative Victor
Economic Opportunity and report directly to the Manuel Torres, Jr.
Governor’s Office. This person will be responsible for
monitoring the state’s progress on diversity, assisting women- and minority-owned businesses with
utilizing state resources available to them, and identifying policies that will support their success.
In addition, Gov. Crist will direct the new minority business advocate to work with the Office of
Supplier Diversity to strengthen the state’s minority-owned business certification process.
Only true minority businesses should be designated as such. Charlie will also insist on more
accountability for state contractors who hire minority subcontractors. Governor Crist will work to
ensure that any company abusing the system – and not honoring its partnering commitment
to its minority subcontractors – will face stiff penalties.
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 22) Strengthening our workforce by raising Florida’s minimum wage to $10.10.
Charlie believes that Florida’s workers deserve a fair wage for their hard work, and he is not alone.
A recent poll showed that 73% of Floridians agree that we
should raise the minimum wage.10 While Rick Scott says the “When I hear a politician
thought of raising the minimum wage makes him “cringe”,11 say that we have to raise
Charlie knows that raising the pay of low-wage workers the minimum wage so
improves their productivity, their morale, and the quality of working families can make
their work, while at the same time reducing turnover and ends meet, I cringe…”
supervisory costs.
Gov. Rick Scott, as reported
Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 will provide an by the Tampa Bay Times,
economic boost to 536,000 Florida Hispanics, or nearly 1/8/2014
30% of all Hispanic workers in our state.12 The vast
majority of Florida’s minimum wage employees are not teenagers working in a part-time job after
school, but adults who are struggling from paycheck to paycheck. More than 90% of minimum
wage earners are 20 years old or older, 58% are working full-time, 500,000 of them are parents,
and 55% are women.13
3) Helping our children and young adults live up to their full potential
As Governor, Charlie made record investments in
education. He saved the jobs of more than 20,000 "Rick Scott’s drastic $1.3 billion
teachers and promoted job training because he cut to education has hurt Hispanic
understands that a good education system starts with children. Young Hispanics will
quality teachers. need world-class skills to
complete in the 21st Century
Rick Scott has failed to take care of our kids. He cut economy, and we need a Governor
education funding by more than one billion dollars in his who is committed to helping them.
first year in office — leading to the loss of thousands of Education has always been a top
teaching positions and higher college tuition costs. And priority for Charlie Crist, and as
per-student spending under Gov. Scott is still almost Governor he’ll reverse Rick Scott’s
$200 less than it was under Charlie’s leadership. education cuts."
– Susan Valdes, Hillsborough
Charlie Crist will help our children live up to their full
County School Board, Vice Chair
potential by:
District 1
a) Reversing Rick Scott’s cuts to Education
Once elected in November, Governor Crist will set to work undoing the damage Rick Scott has
done. He will reverse Scott’s education cuts by returning per-child funding to more than $7,100, a
total increase of $515 million to the K-12 budget.14 That’s a big number, but it will take deep
investment to undo Rick Scott’s damage to education.
Governor Crist will also restore the cuts that Scott has made to pre-kindergarten. He’ll raise the
per-child funding level to at least $2,562, the level it reached when he was Governor.15 This will
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 3cost at least $20 million, but Charlie knows that Pre-K is one of the best long-term investments we
can make for our children.
b) Making College More Affordable
Rick Scott has made it more difficult for students and their
families to afford college. As Governor, he slashed $300 Rick Scott’s cuts to Bright
million from Florida’s universities and he has cut Bright Futures scholarships have
Futures scholarships in half. This year under Rick Scott, hurt minority students the
50,000 fewer students will receive a Bright Futures most.
scholarship than when Charlie Crist was Governor. And
the cuts to Bright Futures hurt minority students most. As noted by the Miami Herald, “Nearly half
of Hispanic freshmen …who would have qualified in past years did not receive an award last
year…”16
To make college more affordable, Charlie Crist will restore Bright Futures to the record
levels it reached when he was Governor. To do so, Charlie will push the legislature to expand
eligibility so that 180,000 students will receive Bright Futures scholarships – 50,000 more than what
Rick Scott funded for this year.17
Charlie also believes that higher education is a transformational opportunity for American families.
When that first member of a family gets a college degree – whether a parent or child – higher
education often becomes the rule rather than the exception for everyone who follows. College
education opens the doors of opportunity for lower income families. It also elevates Florida’s entire
workforce, making us more attractive to higher-wage industries.
Some of Florida’s higher education institutions have developed innovative need-based
scholarship programs – like the American Dream scholarships at Miami-Dade College – which
help more low-income students and “first-in-the-family” students to attend college.18,19 Charlie
believes that every young Floridian should have a chance to succeed, and he’ll work to expand
these models so that more Floridians have the opportunity to realize the American Dream.
As Governor, Charlie will also create the Florida Student Loan Refinancing Authority to help
qualified borrowers refinance their loans at lower rates. His administration will issue bonds to
refinance the loans -- and the bonds will be paid back by borrowers – so no taxpayer dollars will be
used for refinancing. In addition, the loan authority will help prospective borrowers make informed
decisions by providing them with detailed information and counseling about their financing options,
before they commit to loan agreements.
c) Providing Opportunities for High-Paying Jobs to Young Floridians
Students drop out of high school or college for a number of reasons, such as the stress of financial
challenges or the difficulty of balancing school with commitments to family and jobs. But a primary
reason is that many Florida students cannot see a clear, real connection between their academic
studies and opportunities in our state’s labor market.
With this in mind, we need to do a better job of preparing our students for their next steps after
graduating high school. Once elected in November, Charlie will work with our school districts, our
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 4local business communities, regional workforce boards, community colleges and universities to
develop an “Opportunity Pipeline” -- a comprehensive strategy that promotes a stronger
connection between education and business at the regional and local levels.
To achieve this, Charlie will help form Regional Opportunity
Gov. Crist’s Opportunity
Planning Councils with representatives from the business
community, educational institutions, workforce boards – as well
Pipeline will promote a
as other stakeholders. These partnerships will develop stronger, more vibrant
strategies to give students more exposure to the real business connection between
world by greatly expanding internships and apprenticeships in education and business
Florida’s high-demand industries. at the regional and local
levels.
Governor Crist will also work to increase the number of
internships available at Florida’s business incubators, so that young people can work alongside the
entrepreneurs who are building start-up companies and creating new innovations.
Charlie is committed to providing young Hispanics with real opportunities that can inspire
them for the rest of their lives. By taking part in the Opportunity Pipeline, minority students will
see first-hand the exciting work taking place in Florida businesses, and they’ll be more likely to do
well in school and become our next generation of innovators. With hard work and determination,
these interns and apprentices might just create the next Apple, Google, or Microsoft – right here in
Florida.
4) Helping minority families stay healthy
Charlie believes in bringing Democrats and Republicans together to expand health care for all
Floridians. Unlike Rick Scott, he knows we can’t go back to the days when insurers could charge
people higher premiums for preexisting conditions or drive them into bankruptcy just for being sick.
Thirty-six percent of Florida’s Hispanics under the age of 65 do not have health insurance.20
As such, expanding access to high-quality, affordable coverage is a key priority for Hispanic
families in this state. According to the National Council of La Raza, the “lack of insurance and
access to preventive care exacerbates health disparities for Hispanics, who are more likely to be
confronted with diseases that require routine health management such as diabetes and kidney
disease…”21
As Governor, Charlie will bring back $51 billion of our own taxpayer dollars to extend
access to quality healthcare.22 Doing so will help one million Floridians -- including 200,000
Hispanics -- obtain the coverage they need to stay healthy.23 It will also create 120,000 jobs, and
save $800 million in healthcare costs over the next ten years.24,25 Rick Scott’s fear of the Tea
Party prevents him from taking action, but Charlie will fight to expand access to affordable
healthcare for Florida’s families. It’s the right thing to do – for our people and for our economy.
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 55) Fighting back against voter suppression
In America, voting is one of our most cherished rights, but Governor Rick Scott has repeatedly tried
to prevent people from exercising that right. In 2011 he directed the legislature to pass laws that
made it harder to vote. He put unnecessary restrictions on voter registration and reduced the
number of places where Floridians could vote early.
"Rick Scott has not been a friend
Rick Scott also ordered purges of Florida voter lists that
to Hispanic voters. In his
were badly flawed. At his direction, Florida’s Division of
misguided attempts to purge
Elections used a state database that was out-of-date
Florida voters from the rolls, as
and rife with errors to identify about 180,000 ‘potential
many as 60% of these voters were
noncitizens’.26
Hispanic. As Governor, Charlie
According to an analysis performed by the Miami Crist defended our right to vote,
Herald, “Hispanic, Democratic and independent-minded expanding voting hours to ensure
voters are the most likely to be targeted in a state hunt that every vote was counted. He
to remove thousands of noncitizens from Florida's stood up for us then, and he'll do
voting rolls.”27 In fact, nearly 60% percent of the it again."
people on Rick Scott’s voter purge list were -- State Senator Darren Soto
Hispanics. 28
A Miami Herald editorial stated that “Mr. Scott and Florida's Republican leadership attempted
to suppress the votes of Democrat-leaning voters like college students, blacks and
Hispanics.”29
Since then, a court has ruled that Rick Scott’s voter purge was illegal for violating “the National
Voter Registration Act, which bars the systematic removal of voters from the rolls within 90 days of
an election.”30
Charlie Crist believes that voting is a fundamental right and as Governor he stood up to defend that
right for thousands of Floridians. In 2008, when voters were stuck waiting in line and unable to cast
their ballots, Gov. Crist extended voting hours so that every voter who wanted to cast his or her
ballot could do so.31 Leaders within the Republican Party were stunned – but Charlie knew it was
the right thing to do for Floridians.
Charlie is committed to creating a simpler and more secure method of voting. He stood up for
voters’ rights in 2008, and he’ll do it again once he’s elected in November.
6) Ensuring that Governor’s Appointees Reflect Florida’s Diversity
Florida’s governor makes thousands of appointments to leadership positions throughout the state:
judicial posts; water management districts; housing, hospital, transportation, airport, and port
authorities; Boards of Trustees for Florida’s public universities and colleges; professional boards;
and many more.
Rick Scott’s dismal record in appointing minorities has been well-documented. "He has no interest
in diversity…," said State Senator Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa and the incoming Senate Democratic
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 6leader.32 "He wants to stack the courts with people who think like him. It's that corporate mentality that he brought to the governor's office."33 Charlie knows that one of Florida’s greatest strengths is its rich and vibrant diversity. This understanding drives his commitment to appoint individuals who reflect the diverse backgrounds and talents of our state’s people. 7) Supporting a common sense driver’s license policy for undocumented immigrants Governor Crist supports the recently passed legislation that provides in-state tuition to undocumented students. Our country is becoming more and more diverse --- and so is Florida. Allowing DREAMers -- children who came here through no fault of their own – to pay in-state tuition is fair because many of them have been residents of this state longer than others who qualify for in- state tuition as state residents. By providing them the opportunity to attain a reasonably priced education, more DREAMers will contribute to our economy by attending college and paying tuition. And once they graduate, their skills will increase the quality of Florida’s entire workforce. We’d also be doing an incomplete job if we did not allow these students to apply for a driver’s license. Last year the legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill that would have permitted the children of undocumented immigrants to obtain temporary Florida drivers’ licenses.34 The bill would have made it easier for young immigrants to find a job, attend school, or go to work. Though the State Senate passed it unanimously and the House passed it 115-2, Rick Scott vetoed the legislation.35 It was a mean spirited move from Scott, because it demonstrated how far he would go to score cheap political points. It also shows how he has tried to pander to the Tea Party extremists. One Hispanic legislator called Rick Scott’s veto "simply unconscionable" and “a political anti-Hispanic move.”36 Months after Rick Scott vetoed the driver’s license bill, he passed the legislation for in-state tuition for DREAMers – essentially opening one door and closing another. He made it affordable for DREAMers to attend college, yet they do not have the means of getting there. As Governor, Charlie Crist will work with Republicans and Democrats in the legislature to reintroduce this near-unanimous bill and undo Rick Scott’s veto to make it law. Providing undocumented workers with the ability to apply for driver’s licenses is important because it not only allows our state to track who is driving on our roads, but it also requires undocumented workers to obtain car insurance and pay a license fee when applying for a drivers license. Gov. Crist believes this will drive down the cost of auto insurance and improve the safety of our roads by reducing the number of uninsured drivers. And once undocumented workers are able to sustain and transport themselves, they will provide a greater economic benefit for the entire economy. Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 7
8) Fighting to stop Rick Scott’s Arizona-style immigration reform
During his Republican primary campaign in 2010, Rick Scott
ran political ads expressing his support for an Arizona-style "Here's something useful
immigration reform that would bring state-sanctioned racial our legislators could do:
profiling to Florida.37,38 Even his Republican opponent at that Bring the Arizona
time, Bill McCollum, said the Arizona law was too extreme: "I immigration law here to
don't think Florida should enact laws like this -- quite that far Florida. Now. Pass it in
out.”39 the special session."
Charlie Crist is opposed to Rick Scott’s Arizona-style -- Rick Scott campaign radio
immigration reform. Charlie has long supported the idea that ad, July 2010
providing a reasonable, common sense pathway to
citizenship for undocumented immigrants is the best approach. Immigration reform is not just the
right thing to do because our current system is broken, but also because it will help our economy.
With a pathway to citizenship, undocumented immigrants could pay into our Social Security
system, increasing the worker-to-retiree ratio and extending its financial viability.
1
http://www.wesh.com/news/rick-scott-charlie-crist-dont-have-plans-to-handle-hispanic-wage-
gap/28090346#ixzz3EIEyYf7B
2
Comparison of Hispanic median family income in 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates and 2010 American
Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t $43,470
(2013 estimate, adjusted by ACS to 2012 dollars) - $43,825.39 (2010 estimate of $41,623, adjusted using BLS inflation calculator to
2012 dollars) = -$355.39. Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator: http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl.
3
Comparison of Hispanic poverty percentages in 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates and 2010 American
Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t
4
Comparison of Hispanic poverty percentages in 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates and 2010 American
Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t
5
Comparison of Hispanic poverty percentages in 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates and 2010 American
Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t
6
Comparison of percentage of Hispanic families on Food Stamp / SNAP benefits in 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year
Estimates. According to the 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, the percentage was 22.1%.
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t
7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcSNW141JGk
8
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article1961822.html
9
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/03/24/3417977/rick-scott-hispanic-fundraiser/
10
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-01-30/business/os-minimum-wage-poll-florida-20140130_1_minimum-
wage-florida-voters-florida-poll
11
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/democrats-push-for-increase-of-floridas-minimum-
wage/2160194
12
http://s2.epi.org/files/2013/minimum-wage-state-tables.pdf
13
http://s2.epi.org/files/2013/minimum-wage-state-tables.pdf
14
The $515 million needed to restore Rick Scott’s cuts to education is calculated by: Charlie Crist’s record per student
funding amount of $7,126 – Rick’s Scott’s 2014-15 per student amount of $6,937 = $189, then multiplying that by the
number of expected students for the 2014-15 year (2,724,520.69) = $514,934,409.69.
15
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/jul/24/republican-party-florida/rick-scott-increased-preschool-
funding-republican/
16
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article2145926.html#storylink=cpy
17
Per student funding level of $2,533 (2008-09 funding level) x 180,000 (approximate number of Bright Futures
recipients during 2010-11) = $455.9 million. $455.9 million - $266.2 million (Politifact’s estimate of BF dispersals
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 8during 2014-15) = $189.7 million needed to reverse Rick Scott’s cuts. NOTE: These calculations do not adjust for inflation, so the cost to restore Rick Scott’s cuts to Bright Futures is even greater in 2014 dollars. 18 http://www.mdc.edu/main/americandream/ 19 http://fos.ufsa.ufl.edu/about/ 20 http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/84321.pdf 21 http://www.nclr.org/images/uploads/publications/ib26_medicaidexpansioninflorida.pdf 22 http://www.fha.org/showDocument.aspx?f=EconomicImpactsofExtendingHealthCareCoverageinFlorida-March2013- FINAL.pdf. The net federal cost of $51 billion is the estimated cumulative amount for Florida for the state fiscal years of 2013-14 through 2022-23, and is based on the most recent 10-year projections, provided by the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research at its Social Service Estimating Conference on March 7, 2013. 23 http://kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/the-impact-of-the-coverage-gap-in-states-not-expanding-medicaid-by- race-and-ethnicity/ 24 http://www.fha.org/showDocument.aspx?f=EconomicImpactsofExtendingHealthCareCoverageinFlorida-March2013- FINAL.pdf 25 http://health.wusf.usf.edu/post/look-hidden-savings-medicaid-expansion-hospitals-plead 26 http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/hispanics-democrats-biggest-groups-on-floridas-list-of- potential/1229860 27 http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/hispanics-democrats-biggest-groups-on-floridas-list-of- potential/1229860 28 http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/hispanics-democrats-biggest-groups-on-floridas-list-of- potential/1229860 29 Miami Herald, Editorial, 12/30/12 30 http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/florida-voter-purge-illegal-court 31 http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081028/BREAKING/810280253 32 http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/florida-gov-rick-scott-seldom-appoints-black- judges/2197473 33 http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/florida-gov-rick-scott-seldom-appoints-black- judges/2197473 34 http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/06/gov-rick-scott-vetoes-immigrant-driver-license- bill.html#storylink=cpy 35 http://fcir.org/2014/03/27/rick-scotts-campaign-faces-another-round-of-problems-with-hispanic-community/ 36 http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/rick-scott-vetoes-immigrant-driver-license-bill/2124859 37 http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/after-urgently-calling-immigration-bill-gov-scott- now-wait-and-see-mode 38 http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2010/05/rick-scott-highlights-support-of-az-immigration-law.html 39 http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2010/05/rick-scott-highlights-support-of-az-immigration- law.html#storylink=cpy Political advertisement paid for and approved by Charlie Crist, Democrat, for Governor Page 9
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