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Gov. Crist To Keynote Pinellas GOP Dinner
ST. PETERSBURG – Gov. Charlie Crist, who successfully led a high-profile campaign to lower property insurance rates, will be the keynote speaker at the Pinellas County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner scheduled here for March 3.
Pinellas GOP Chair Tony DiMatteo, an early and vocal supporter of Crist’s bid for governor, told FrontPageFlorida.com that more than 600 people are expected at the annual fundraiser to “see our hometown governor who I know will fire-up the crowd.”
Recently re-elected to a second two-year term, DiMatteo said Crist is “off to a great start as governor –he tackled the number one issue. .. property insurance and accomplished something a lot of people said couldn’t be done.”
Crist last week topped off a special session of the Florida Legislature by signing insurance reform legislation. The bill, which includes expanding the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to lower reinsurance rates, offers “broad-based, meaningful reductions in property insurance rates and enhanced competition within Florida’s insurance market,” according to a statement issued by the governor’s office in Tallahassee.
Crist was first elected to public office as a state senator serving Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. The two Tampa Bay counties contributed more than 300, 000 votes to Crist's successful campaign for governor, defeating U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, a Tampa Democrat.
The party fundraiser, which will be held at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park hotel, 950 Lake Carillon Drive, is open to the public, DiMatteo said. Ticket information is available by calling party headquarters at 727-539-6009.
In Hillsborough County, party chairman David A. Storck recently said that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a presidential contender, will keynote the Hillsborough County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner fundraiser on March 10 in Tampa. See Romney To Keynote Hillsborough GOP Lincoln Day Dinner.
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Gov. Crist Greeted With Praise, Applause And Soaring Poll Numbers
ST. PETERSBURG – Gov. Charlie Crist returned home to a standing ovation from a packed ballroom of 675 business leaders attending the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner here Thursday evening while earlier in the day a new poll showed Crist with a 68-percent approval rating.
Introduced by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, an old friend, as the “first governor from St. Petersburg” and a “public servant (with) great character and great humility,” Crist’s informal remarks initially touched on the importance of family, friends, community and public service. “I’m glad to be home to a special place,” Crist said.
Crist also addressed the state’s property insurance crisis and drew applause when he said “both the House and Senate came out with plans to lower rates,” proposals to be “really optimistic about.” Meeting with reporters later, Crist said the Senate plan would reduce rates between 30 percent and 40 percent while the House plan would reduce rates by 25 percent. "Change is in the wind in Tallahassee," the state's 44th governor said.
Crist, who consistently called for lower property insurance rates during the gubernatorial campaign, said earlier in a statement released from his office in Tallahassee that "the House and Senate plans incorporate my priorities and will bring significant relief to the people."
“Lower the rates,” Crist told reporters in response to a question. “The people are hurting.”
The Insider Advantage Poll for the Florida Chamber of Commerce released Thursday afternoon of 500 Florida adults showed Crist with an approval rating of 68 percent, a disapproval rating of 5 percent, with 27 percent undecided. The telephone poll has an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points and was conducted Jan. 9-10, the chamber said.
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A ‘Very Stong’ Victim's Rights Law
 ST. PETERSBURG – Gov. Charlie Crist, right, congratulates state Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, left, and state Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, center, after signing a bill the legislators sponsored with state Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota, that requires drivers found guilty of driving under the influence (DUI) to maintain increased insurance coverage. “Thousands of Floridians are involved in alcohol related crashes each year, and we must hold those who drive under the influence more accountable for their actions,” the governor said before signing the bill. “Requiring those individuals to carry responsible insurance coverage will help those who need it most – the potential victims of any future crashes.” The Motor Vehicle Responsibility Bill (House Bill 359) says DUI offenders are required to carry the higher coverage for a minimum of three years. If there are no other DUI offenses or any other felony traffic offense, the individual will no longer be required to maintain this increased financial responsibility that includes $100,000 of bodily injury coverage for the first injured person, $300,000 of bodily injury coverage for two or more persons injured, and $50,000 in property damage liability coverage. Jeff Luhrsen, chairman of the Public Policy Council for Mothers Against Drunk Driving – Florida (MADD-FL), and Chris Prati, who was injured in 2003 by a drunk driver and sustained traumatic brain injuries, were among those who attended the bill signing at the St. Petersburg Police Department near downtown. “ I thank our legislators and the People’s Governor for enacting this very strong victim’s rights law,” Luhrsen said.
--FrontPageFlorida.com report / Photo by FrontPageFlorida.com
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Gov. Crist Signs Infant Mortality Bill
 TAMPA - Gov. Charlie Crist and state Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, left, after a bill signing ceremony at the College Hill Public Library. The governor Monday signed into law House Bill 1269, an initiative to improve infant health. The legislation includes funds to study the medical and social causes that contribute to higher death rates among African-American infants. “Every child deserves a long, healthy life, and this legislation will ensure that more of Florida’s children have that opportunity,” the governor said. Florida’s infant mortality rate is slightly higher than the national rate. The 2005 rate among non-whites was 12.1 per 1,000 live births, which is more than double the rate for whites. Joyner and state Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, were sponsors of the bill.
- FrontPageFlorida.com report/ Photo by FrontPageFlorida.com
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Portrait of a Governor
 ST. PETERSBURG -- Gov. Charlie Crist talks with friends and supporters after a portrait of Florida’s 44th governor was unveiled Saturday at the St. Petersburg Museum of History, located at 335 Second Ave. N.E. “If I keep going, I will get emotional,” the governor said during brief remarks to the more than 275 people who filled the museum’s main lobby where the portrait will be permanently displayed. “The boss is you, the people of Florida,” he said, as family members watched from the front row. The portrait is a large version of the photo on the governor’s official Web site http://www.flgov.com/. Crist, the first governor from St. Petersburg, was introduced by Rick Baker, the city’s mayor, who said the portrait recognizes the public service accomplishments of the governor. After the event, the museum hosted a “Barbeque on the Bayou” fundraiser at the Rutland/Farley Estate to benefit its education and operations activities.
-FrontPageFlorida.com report/ Photo by FrontPageFlorida.com
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Crist Kicks Off Fitness Council
 TAMPA -- Gov. Charlie Crist, center, and Derrick Brooks, left, named chairman of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness by Crist, visit with Rev. Dennis Donovan at the George M. Steinbrenner Boys and Girls Club in Tampa on Monday. Crist also traveled to Jacksonville and Miami to promote the council’s goals and to announce the http://www.healthyfloridians.com/ Web site.
The council, Crist said, will develop a state plan of action to increase Floridians’ level of physical fitness. “Promoting health and wellness is an important part of encouraging all Floridians to choose lifelong exercise and eating habits that combat obesity and reduce the risk of many chronic diseases,” the governor said.
Brooks, a linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and founder of Derrick Brooks Charities Inc., and council members will review the implementation of daily physical education courses for elementary school students and will determine if similar physical education courses for middle and high school students should be offered. The council is also charged with evaluating the “nutritional value of school lunches, availability of certified physical education teachers and the possibility of school districts maintaining independent fitness advisory panels,” a statement from the governor’s office said.
- FrontPageFlorida. com report / Photo by FrontPageFlorida.com
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Historic Property Tax Cuts Total $27 Billion
TAMPA -- Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday visiting the home of Stanley Fields, right, holding his 1-year-old son Rex, and Chantel Fields, left, holding Regina, the couple's twin daughter. Fields said his growing family would benefit from a proposed constitutional amendment that would cut property taxes by $12 billion.
Fields said he met Crist during last year's gubernatorial campaign. "I told him we felt trapped" in our two-bedroom, one bath house, Fields said. A provision in the amendment championed by Crist and passed by the Florida Legislature earlier this week would allow Floridians like Fields to take their accrued Save Our Homes benefit to a new home.
"As I talk to citizens around the state about property taxes, they share with me how these tax cuts will benefit their families and their businesses," Crist told reporters, elected officials and local residents who gathered in Fields' front yard. "I am grateful to the House and Senate leadership - and to both chambers as well - for giving Floridians the opportunity to approve the relief they so desperately need. "This is a historic tax cut for Florida."
If approved by voters on Jan. 29, the new tax cuts include doubling the current homestead exemption and providing relief for businesses and individuals who own more than one home. Homeowners also will be able to transfer up to $500,000 of accumulated Save Our Homes tax benefit to a different homestead. The property tax cuts would be effective January 1, 2008, total $12 billion and will apply to homeowners who moved in 2007, Crist said. Approval of the tax-cut amendment would be in addition to the $15 billion in property tax cuts Crist signed into law earlier this year.
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Gov. Crist Calls For Property Tax Cut
ST. PETERSBURG – Gov. Charlie Crist told some 580 business leaders and political activists attending the Pinellas County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner
here that he wants property taxes reduced "significantly."
While open minded about the various proposals now under discussion to cut taxes, Crist said if the Legislature passes a bill that “lowers your property taxes significantly, I will sign it.” Some proposals would require a constitutional amendment.
“The double whammy of property insurance bills and property taxes” has hurt the pocketbooks of Floridians, Crist said. “We are fighting for the people and we will not let up.” Crist called for lower property taxes and property insurance during his campaign for governor.
On Tuesday, legislators meet in Tallahassee to kick-off the new legislative session.
Crist, who said “the past 60 days as governor have been the busiest 60 days I’ve had in my life,” topped off a special session of the Legislature in January by signing property insurance reform legislation. The bill lowers insurance rates statewide, including reductions for Tampa Bay residents ranging from about 18 percent to about 34 percent.
Crist’s speech included praise for St. Petersburg area Congressman C. W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, and his wife, Beverly, who were seated to Crist’s left on the dais, for their active support of veterans.
The governor also called for more citizen involvement in community and civic affairs. “The highest office in this land is citizen,” Crist said, “and I encourage people to get involved.”
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Anti-Murder Act Now Law
TAMPA – The Anti- Murder Act was signed into law Monday by Gov. Charlie Crist in Tallahassee. The crime-fighting bill fulfills a key campaign pledge to “make our communities safer” by taking dangerous probation violators off the street.
At a ceremonial signing of the bill here before law enforcement members, elected officials and the public, Crist praised the Legislature for “swift action” to “give judges the authority they need to make our communities safer.”
The act requires violent felony offenders who violate probation to return to jail until a judge determines whether the individual poses a danger to the community. It also gives judges’ expanded authority to impose the maximum prison sentences for those violators considered dangerous.
“Florida has already lost too many people, too early in their lives,” Crist said in a statement released in Tampa. “The horrendous murders of children like Adam Walsh, Carlie Brucia, Jessica Lunsford and Sarah Lunde, and six young people in Deltona remind us that we cannot continue to permit violent felony offenders who have violated the terms of their probation to have the opportunity to prey upon our people and our children,” he said.
Bill sponsors Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, and Rep. Sandra “Sandy” Adams, R-Oviedo, joined the governor in Tampa Monday.
The governor’s budget includes $21.8 million to implement the law, and an estimated 1,352 offenders are projected to be sentenced to prison under the act over the next three years, the governor’s office said.
Others at the ceremonial signing at the sheriff’s operations center were Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee, Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober, Sen Victor Crist, R-Tampa; Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa; Rep. Ed Holman, R-Temple Terrace; and Rep. Richard “Rich” Glorioso, R-Plant City. Also in attendance were former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco, Chief Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Manuel Menendez, Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Jim McDonough and Tampa Police Chief Steve Hogue.
Ceremonial signings were also held by Crist in Ft. Lauderdale and Deltona while Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp discussed the bill at pubic events in Pensacola and Jacksonville, the Florida city with the highest murder rate.
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Governor Signs State Budget; Cuts Save Taxpayers $459 Million
Tampa – Gov. Charlie Crist told elected officials and area residents attending a presentation of the state’s 2007-08 budget Thursday that “we must live within our means, just as the people of Florida must live within theirs.”
“As I carefully considered each item proposed by the Legislature,” he said at Ballast Point Park, “I focused on the fact that we are spending the hard-earned money of the people of Florida, and we have a responsibility to spend it wisely.”
The new $71.5-billion budget, which is about 1.5 percent lower than last year, was signed into law by Crist earlier Thursday in Tallahassee. The governor saved taxpayers $459 million by cutting projects from the budget, many of which were identified by Florida TaxWatch as "budget turkeys."
From Tampa, the governor traveled to Ft. Lauderdale to discuss the budget while Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp presented budget highlights during stops at the Apopka Chamber of Commerce, the Jacksonville River Walk and Southwest Florida.
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Reports on Gov. Crist's approval ratings among Floridians in 2007.
Poll: Confidence In Gov. Crist Remains High
Homeowners are forced to sell their homes due to rising costs, the poll finds.
TAMPA – Charlie Crist receives a whopping 72 percent job approval rating from “registered voters” who have almost three times as much confidence in Florida’s governor as they do in the Florida Legislature, a new InsiderAdvantage public opinion poll released Monday reveals.
Crist's approval rating in the statewide poll, which was conducted June 6 and 7, is higher than the 70 percent approval rating he received in a Quinnipiac University poll of “Florida voters” released last week.
“From the perspective of political popularity and clout, Gov. Crist is in the catbird’s seat,” Florida Insider, an Internet news site, reported to its subscribers. “ Note that not only are his approval ratings way higher than the Legislature's, but his disapproval rating is only 12 percent to the Legislature's 46 percent.”
The poll also revealed the financial crunch many Floridians face due to the rising costs of home ownership such as property taxes, the topic of a special session of the Legislature which starts Tuesday in Tallahassee.
“An astonishing four out of 10 Florida voters say that either they or someone they know has been forced to sell their home because they can’t afford it anymore,” Florida Insider reported. “ And these startling numbers don’t even include all those homeowners who have the opposite problem – they want to move to a less expensive home, but can’t because they can’t afford to surrender their Save Our Homes tax caps on their current residence,” the article said.
The poll asked:
“Do you approve or disapprove of the job Charlie Crist is doing as governor of Florida?”
Approve (72%)
Disapprove (12%)
No opinion (16%)
“Do you approve or disapprove of the job the Florida Legislature is doing?”
Approve (25%)
Disapprove (46%)
No opinion (29%)
“Has the rising cost of owning/maintaining a home in Florida forced you or someone you know to sell their home?”
Yes (39%)
No (47%)
No opinion (14%)
The poll was conducted exclusively for Florida Insider http://www.flinsider.com/ and the InsiderAdvantage Southern political media network by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research. The survey was conducted June 6 and 7 among 500 registered voters in Florida. The data have been weighted for age, race, gender and party affiliation. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.
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Floridians: We Like Our Governor
TAMPA –Gov. Charlie Crist remains enormously popular among residents of Florida, according to a new statewide public opinion poll released Wednesday.
The Insider Advantage/Majority opinion poll has Crist with a job approval rating of 76.3 percent based on a sample of 455 people.
Republicans, Democrats and Independents give Crist, who took office in January, high marks. Republicans approve by 82 percent and Democrats approve by 83.2 percent, a difference within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Independents gave Crist a job approval rating of 66 percent.
In the poll, only 23.6 percent disapproved of the governor’s performance in office.
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Poll: Gov. Scores 79 Percent
TAMPA – Gov. Charlie Crist received a 79 percent approval rating in a public opinion poll of “likely” voters released on Thursday by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
The statewide poll by Insider Advantage/Majority Opinion Research confirms continuing high polling numbers for Crist who has been a vocal advocate for cutting both property taxes and property insurance rates.
"Property taxes have made a significant increase in voter consciousness from 33 percent of voters to 39 percent,” said Marian Johnson, political veteran and vice-president of political strategy for the Florida Chamber. "This sudden 6 percent increase underscores the recent increase in voter frustration with the property tax issue.”
Other findings, according to the Chamber:
- Crist continues to have a broad base of support across party lines, with 79 percent of voters responding favorably compared to 15 percent responding unfavorably.
- More than half of voters feel that Florida is heading in the wrong direction. When asked, 51 percent answered that the state is heading in the wrong direction, compared to 32 percent who view the future of Florida favorably. In February 2007, our statewide poll showed the opposite, with 56 percent of responding that Florida was headed in the right direction and 31 percent responding unfavorably.
- Hillary Clinton continues to hold a strong lead in the Democratic Presidential Primary, with 53 percent of Democratic voters indicating that she is the top choice compared to Barack Obama at 19 percent.
- In the Republican Presidential Primary, Rudy Giuliani holds a strong lead with 33 percent of respondents indicating that they would vote for him if the election was held today. Mitt Romney received 17 percent followed by Fred Thompson with 13 percent of responses.
The poll was conducted October 17 – 19 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, the Chamber said.
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Sky-High Rating: Gov. Crist Remains Enormously Popular
The poll also found that 22 percent of Florida voters cite taxes as the most important problem facing the state, followed by 11 percent who list property insurance, 9 percent who cite education and 8 percent who cite immigration.
TAMPA – Gov. Charlie Crist, who has battled special interests, signed the largest property tax cut bill in Florida history and fought for lower property insurance rates, remains enormously popular with Floridians, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.
The statewide poll of Florida voters gives Crist a sky-high 73 percent job approval rating, equal to his rating in March, the highest since he was sworn into office in January. It is the Republican governor's fourth approval score of 69 percent or higher.
Seventy-two percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Independents approve of the governor’s job performance compared to 77 percent of Republicans.
In an open-ended question, where voters can give any answer, 22 percent of Florida voters cite taxes as the most important problem facing the state, followed by 11 percent who list property insurance, 9 percent who cite education and 8 percent who cite immigration, the survey found.
“Florida voters support 57 (percent) to 17 percent a proposal to be voted on in January that would create a ‘Super Homestead Exemption,’ although most voters say they know little or nothing about the proposal. The plan needs a 60 percent majority to become law. Complaints from local governments that passage of the super exemption would require cuts in services are either 'not valid concerns' or 'not a reason to vote against the proposal,' a total of 68 percent of voters say,” Quinnipiac found in its survey from July 12 – 16 of 1,106 Florida voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
Crist championed and signed the largest property tax cuts in Florida history, but voters “think he and lawmakers didn’t go far enough in their initial tax cut,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. According to Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, local governments spent $24 million in taxpayer money lobbying against property tax cut legislation. Local governments also used what many called “scare tactics” as they spent tax dollars to hire public relations agents and utilized government-owned television stations to actively campaign against reductions in property taxes.
Fueling the tax crisis have been soaring property taxes over the past five or six years. In some areas, property taxes paid by citizens to local governments have gone up more than three times the combined rate of inflation and population growth. See Property Tax Slide Show.
The poll also found, Brown said, that voters haven’t seen the decrease in property insurance rates they “expected.” Among those who pay property insurance, 41 percent say “their bills are about what they expected, while 49 percent say they expected more of a decrease,” Brown said.
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New Poll Finds Gov. Crist ‘Widely Popular’
The poll also showed that 71 percent believe local governments “ have not done a good job balancing the need for services and keeping property taxes down.”
TAMPA – Gov. Charlie Crist remains “widely popular” with a 70 percent job approval rating, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll of “Florida voters” released Wednesday.
“What’s even more impressive is that Floridians think he is three times more a man of principle than the typical politician,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “ It’s hard for Crist to have better news than that.”
Voters in the poll said 60 percent to 25 percent that Crist, who just completed a successful trade mission to Israel, acts on principle, rather than on what’s popular; however, by a 69 percent to 19 percent margin, Florida voters say most public officials make decisions based on what they think is popular rather than based on principle and what they think is right.
With the special session of the Florida Legislature on property taxes set to start on June 12, voters said 71 percent to 22 percent that “local governments have not done a good job balancing the need for services and keeping property taxes down.”
According to the Quinnipiac, “A total of 53 percent of voters say it is ‘very likely’or ‘somewhat likely’ that the governor and the State Legislature will agree on a plan to ‘significantly cut property taxes,’ while 43 percent say it is ‘not too likely’ or ‘not likely at all.’
“In defining what would be a “significant” property tax cut:
10 percent of Florida voters say less than 10 percent;
33 percent see a tax cut of 10 – 20 percent;
27 percent say 21 – 40 percent is significant;
16 percent say more than 40 percent.”
On education, 61 percent polled agree that Crist did the right thing in vetoing a number of state university building projects approved by lawmakers. But voters disagreed with the governor's decision to award $5 million in public funds to the family of a youth who died at a state-run juvenile boot camp by a 50 percent to 38 percent margin.
From May 29 – June 4, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,174 Florida voters, with a margin of error of /- 2.9 percentage points.
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Two New Polls: Florida’s Governor Is Popular
TAMPA – Gov. Charlie Crist’s approval ratings continue to soar as two new statewide polls out Wednesday of “likely voters” show that the governor’s popularity transcends political party lines.
A poll for the Florida Chamber found that 75 percent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of Crist, with only 6 percent saying they have an unfavorable opinion. The latest poll is a double-digit improvement from a poll in February by the Chamber, which had an approval rating of 65 percent for the governor, a Republican.
Seventy-nine percent of Republicans, 74 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents had a favorable opinion of Crist, who took office on Jan. 2, the survey found.
The latest telephone poll was conducted for the Chamber by McLaughlin and Associates on April 29-30 and surveyed 1,000 likely general election voters. The margin of error was 3.1 percentage points, the Chamber said.
A public opinion poll by Strategic Vision LLC, also announced on Wednesday, showed 69 percent of respondents approving of the governor’s job performance, 20 percent disapproving, and 11 percent undecided.
“Gov. Crist is one of the most popular governors in the nation,” said David E. Johnson, CEO of the Atlanta-based firm. “His popularity appears to transcend party lines and is an asset for Republicans in Florida, and could lead to speculation of him being on the national ticket in 2008.”
Johnson said his poll results are based on telephone interviews with 1, 200 likely voters in Florida conducted May 11-13, 2007. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
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Moon Shot: Gov. Crist’s Approval Rating Hits 73 Percent
TAMPA – Charlie Crist, the people’s governor, “enjoys a stratospheric” 73 percent job approval rating, winning the approval of 71 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of independent voters, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday.
“Florida voters think he kept his word to lower their property insurance rates and are optimistic he will do the same to their property taxes,” said Peter Brown, Assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute.
Separately, a statewide public opinion poll by Public Opinion Strategies conducted this week showed Crist’s favorability rating at 82 percent. The poll was for a client of the polling firm which surveyed 500 Florida residents.
Other results from the poll, according to Quinnipiac:
- “The total tax burden in Florida is too high, 52 percent of voters say, and 51 percent say this tax burden is higher than in other states, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. But voters are split on how to bring taxes under control:
- Eliminating local property taxes and replacing them with a state tax is a "bad idea," voters say 51 - 34 percent;
- Voters support 69 - 23 percent reducing local government spending to 2001 levels;
- Voters oppose 48 - 44 percent eliminating the property tax on primary residences and replacing that revenue with a 2.5 percent sales tax hike;
- Voters are willing 49 - 40 percent to accept fewer government services to lower property taxes;
- Voters say 63 - 28 percent that the sales tax is more fair than the property tax.
"Not only is Gov. Crist's approval rating out of sight, he still has room to grow since almost one in five Floridians haven't made up their mind about him yet. Even Democrats give him thumbs up by a eight-to-one margin," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
In an open-ended question, allowing for any answer, 19 percent of Florida voters cite taxes as the biggest problem facing the state, followed by 15 percent who list property insurance, 10 percent who say education and 6 percent for immigration.
A total of 60 percent of Florida voters say it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that Gov. Crist and state lawmakers will agree on a plan to cut property taxes, with 32 percent of voters expecting tax cuts of up to 10 percent and 30 percent expecting cuts of 10 - 20 percent.
In general, there was little difference on these questions in the responses from homeowners, who make up almost 80 percent of the sample, and renters.
But on the question that found Florida voters willing 49 - 40 percent to accept fewer local government services in exchange for lower property taxes, renters said no 44 - 40 percent.
By a narrow 46 - 44 percent margin, Florida voters support repealing the constitutional amendment that gives long-time homeowners a property tax break. But voters support 62 - 28 percent an amendment that would allow those homeowners to take part of that savings with them if they move.
Voters say 70 - 24 percent that property tax relief should be extended to small businesses, but 63 percent oppose extending tax relief to renters and 54 percent oppose extending it to landlords.
From March 21 - 27, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,061 Florida voters, with a margin of error of /- 3.0 percentage points. “
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Floridians Like Their New Governor
Gov. Crist tops the charts in new pubic opinion poll.
TAMPA – For Floridians, there is a lot to like about their new Gov. Charlie Crist.
A new statewide poll by Quinnipiac University shows Crist with a “lofty” 69 percent job approval rating after his first month in office.
“It is very unusual to find a governor in a competitive state like Florida with a job approval rating as high as Gov. Crist, even as he deals with tough issues such as insurance and property taxes,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, said. “He has made a very impressive start in the eyes of Floridians.”
The Quinnipiac poll, which was conducted Jan. 29 through Feb. 4, is in line with a recent Insider Advantage Poll for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. The chamber poll of 500 “adults” showed Crist with an approval rating of 68 percent. The telephone poll has an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points and was conducted Jan. 9-10, the chamber said.
“Voters say 67-6 percent that Gov. Crist has kept his campaign promises so far and believe 60-23 percent that Gov. Crist will reduce property taxes,” according to the Quinnipic poll, which has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. In the poll, Democrats approve of the new Republican governor 65 percent to 7 percent compared to the 69 percent to 6 percent approval rating Crist received from the total sample of 1,003 “Florida voters.”
Crist topped off last month’s a special session of the Florida Legislature by signing insurance reform legislation. The bill, which includes expanding the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to lower reinsurance rates, offers “broad-based, meaningful reductions in property insurance rates and enhanced competition within Florida’s insurance market,” according to a statement issued by the governor’s office in Tallahassee.
The governor also has announced a comprehensive plan to ease the property tax burden on homeowners and businesses.
- FrontPageFlorida.com reports
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