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Your next governor? What an Alex Sink victory would mean for Florida

By Mitch Perry on Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 9:50 am

Sink’s education plan would eventually increase the state's share of education funding by relying on sources of revenue other than property taxes. Unfortunately, she hasn’t said how she’ll accomplish that, other than to say she’ll wait for the economy to improve.

4. No offshore drilling in state waters

Alex Sink has stated throughout the campaign her opposition to near-shore drilling. She enthusiastically supported legislation proposed this spring by House Democrats Keith Fitzgerald in Sarasota and Rick Kriseman in St. Petersburg that would have allowed Floridians to vote on a constitutional amendment banning offshore drilling.

Dean Cannon and Mike Haridopolos, the incoming Speaker of the House and Senate President, were both huge supporters of drilling off state waters before the BP oil spill in April. Though they have since said that such a plan is off the table, a change in Floridians' opinions on drilling could persuade them to make another push in the future.

5. Tax cuts for selected businesses

While Rick Scott has called for wholesale changes to our tax structure in Florida, Alex Sink doesn’t go nearly so far. Her far more modest proposals include providing tax breaks to companies that create jobs or conduct new research and development activities.

Sink has given an example of a small technology company that has $200,000 in net income and spends $70,000 on R&D efforts. She says her plans would reduce the state corporate income taxes by more than 50 percent.

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If Alex Sink pulls ahead in the very close race for governor, what would her victory mean for Florida?

1. No Arizona-style crackdown on undocumented immigrants

Alex Sink has said that she would penalize businesses who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. But she has been adamant about not supporting an Arizona-style illegal immigration bill, which means that she would likely veto legislation already announced by State Representative William Snyder. Proponents say Snyder's measure would not lead to racial profiling, but it has concerned Latino groups because of provisions saying that Canadians and Western Europeans should be presumed to be legally in the U.S., even though all other non-U.S. citizens must carry papers.

2. Status quo on abortion rights

Sink has said she agreed with Governor Crist’s veto earlier this year of HB 1143, that would have required a woman to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion.

GOP leaders in the Legislature said they intend to bring back the measure next year.

Sink doesn’t intend to do anything else on the issue, which means she doesn’t support legislation proposed by Republican Representative Charles Van Zant that would make abortion illegal in Florida in nearly all instances, including rape and incest.

3. Increased spending for education