One criticism that even some of his Democratic supporters have (privately) acknowledged about Charlie Crist is his lack of digging into the details of public policy, so at a news conference in St. Petersburg on Tuesday the once and possibly future governor of Florida released his  First Day of Fairness plan, detailing the executive actions he will take on his first day on the job next January if elected in November.

“Middle-class families across Florida deserve a fair shot at success — but under Rick Scott, it’s the special interests that get all the breaks,” Crist said. “The First Day of Fairness is about giving middle-class families and small businesses the same opportunities and protections the big corporations have enjoyed under Rick Scott.”

Crist says his very first executive order would be to reverse Rick Scott's "closed records policy" by requiring all communications about official business within his purview to be retained as the law requires; directing his executive agencies to produce public records at the lowest cost possible; and directing the Governor’s Office of Open Government to advocate on behalf of the public’s right to know.

Other actions would include raising the minimum wage from the current $7.91 an hour to $10.10 for contractors doing business with the state agencies that report to him. And signing an executive order "to help end wage discrimination for companies doing business" with the agencies he oversees.

He says he'd also sign an executive order directing agencies to, whenever possible and legal, keep business in-state, and instructing contractors to make every attempt to hire Florida workers.

And in a bid to reach out to the LGBT community, Crist would sign an order to prohibit any form of discrimination within his state agencies or their contractors on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, something like the equivalent of what Hillsborough County voted to do earlier this month when they voted to include lesbian, gay and transgendered people on their list of groups against whom discrimination would be illegal.

That announcement was applauded by Nadine Smith, executive director with Equality Florida.

"Florida is at a critical moment in our struggle to end discrimination, and the next Governor can make a tremendous impact on the everyday lives of thousands of LGBT people in our state," she said in a press release. "It is also clear that policies of nondiscrimination will make Florida more economically competitive in the global marketplace.”

But while the gay community was celebrating Crist's statement, Republican legislative leaders most definitely were not. 

A statement released this afternoon and signed by Senate President Don Gaetz, Senate President-Designate Andy Gardiner, House Speaker Will Weatherford, House Speaker-Designate Steve Crisafulli and state Senator John Thrasher denounced the announcement, writing:

“Charlie Crist says he is a ‘man of the people’ but his actions don’t match his rhetoric. Crist is lifting a dangerous page from President Obama’s playbook, saying he will do an end-run around the people’s elected representatives and single-handedly mandate policies through executive order. Such declarations should give Floridians great concern.

“Charlie Crist is not above the constitution and the law. Florida needs a Governor who will work with the Legislature and not force his personal agenda on Floridians with the stroke of a pen.”

This article appears in Jul 24-30, 2014.