Alex Sink on Florida Legislature

Florida CFO Alex Sink blasts the Florida legislature for refusing to vote on the constitutional ban on offshore drilling. Sink also wanted to legislature to take up action to give businesses relief. The legislature will not attempt business relief from industries hurt by the Deep Horizon spill until September.

Dear Floridian:

This week, I witnessed the failure of the Florida Legislature to be in tune with the needs of Floridians. They opted to play political games rather than provide much needed leadership in a historically short special session. Even more disappointing than not giving you a voice on near-beach oil drilling, is the legislative leadership’s claim that they need more time to come up with relief proposals for our Gulf Coast communities and small businesses.

I have been working with the people of Northwest Florida throughout the more than 90 days of this disaster and know that our small business owners don’t have any time to spare -- every day that passes is one day they are closer to going out of business. It isn’t fair to them, and it isn’t good for Florida’s economy, to postpone the relief they so desperately need. I have outlined suggestions that I believe would offer real relief for impacted Floridians and I will continue to aggressively fight on their behalf until they receive the assistance they deserve.

Sincerely,

Alex Sink
CFO
State of Florida