Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Davis says he'll get Tallahassee back to listening

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 14, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - Rep. Jim Davis is seeking to replace Gov. Jeb Bush with the same message Bush used when he won the office in 1998: Government is not addressing the state's problems and should listen to Floridians for solutions.

Whether it's solving traffic problems, keeping housing affordable, improving schools or keeping prescription drugs affordable, Bush and the Republican-led Legislature are out of touch with reality, Davis said Thursday in an interview with the Associated Press.

"I don't think that people believe that issues that are important to them are being addressed up here in Tallahassee," Davis said. "The agenda up here has been privatization and tax cuts."

When Bush ran for governor eight years ago, he called the capital "Mount Tallahassee" and said "the answers are out in our communities."

Davis says he also wants to bring ideas to the Capitol based on what people tell him. He said as he's campaigned, people emphasize the need for affordable housing, better transportation and improved education.

"Orlando stands to be as congested as Los Angeles in the next 10 years if we don't change course," Davis said. "Here in Tallahassee, they were taking money out of the transportation trust fund."

Affordable housing is now a statewide problem and not just something that affects large cities, he said. "I just think it's critical that the governor and the Legislature reverse course and start treating this problem with the seriousness that it deserves."

On education, he said he will soon propose how to change the way schools are graded based on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. He has already said he wants to the speed up the grading of the FCAT to make it more of a tool to identify where students need the most help.

Davis acknowledged that he doesn't have a solution for one of the state's biggest problems, the affordability and availability of homeowners insurance. He said he is talking with people about how to solve it.

And while he criticized Republicans for passing tax cuts that don't benefit most Floridians, he wouldn't discuss which of the Republican's $14.5-billion in cuts over the last seven years he is against. He said that's something he'll talk about later.

Among other ideas he discussed were joining with other states to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs.

And while Republicans have complained about "activist judges," Davis expressed respect for the role of courts in government. The next governor will appoint two state Supreme Court judges in his first term.

"People feel like this governor and this Legislature have gone way too far on many issues and one of the few things that has provided balance in our state government has been the court, and the court's willingness to enforce the Constitution," Davis said.

One example would be the Terri Schiavo case. Davis said he has never been more ashamed of his government than when it tried to keep the brain-damaged woman alive despite court orders allowing her feeding tube to be removed.

"It was the worst abuse of power I've seen in my 17 years as a public servant and nothing has made me angrier," he said.

"To me it was just the latest example of a state government that has gone too far in intruding into people's personal lives."

[Last modified April 14, 2006, 01:55:46]