Former Republican congressman David Jolly announced his run for governor as a Democrat last week.
The Dunedin native grew up in Plant City, and represented Florida's 13th congressional district in Pinellas County from 2014 to 2017. He split from the Republican Party in 2018.
ALSO READ: Jolly sets his sights on the governor's mansion as a Democrat
On "The Florida Roundup," he spoke to host Tom Hudson about various topics, from immigration to the affordability crisis in Florida.
Here’s where he stands on some key issues:
Overall affordability
Jolly said the affordability crisis revolves largely around housing, and that it’s true across the board for homeowners, condo owners, retirees and renters.
“It is driven largely by a property insurance market that has failed, that Republicans have failed to adequately address. Property taxes obviously contribute to that as well, and property tax reform would be helpful.”
He also acknowledged that Floridians are struggling with auto insurance prices and utility bills, among others costs, “but it starts with housing, and I think it starts with the
property insurance crisis.”
Property insurance
Jolly said that his first step to address property insurance costs would include introducing a state catastrophic fund, similar to the one he introduced to Congress.
“What that does is it allows us to remove hurricanes and natural disaster perils from the private market. It can drive down property insurance costs by 60% for residential, for commercial, for industrial sites. We move that into a public catastrophic fund. We have to fund that.”
But how would that be funded?
“One is we have allowed insurance companies and other corporations to move their profits out of state and keep their losses,” Jolly said. “In Florida, combined reporting would generate $2.5 billion dollars or more in year one. That's available to Republicans in Tallahassee to do today. They won't because they're in bed with industry.”
Secondly, he said he’d look at stamp taxes, doc taxes on real estate transactions.
“That is a normal way to fund something like this.”
He said state lawmakers can also look at hotel and tourist taxes, which he said have been used just to build major convention centers.
“I think we can use them to provide property insurance relief, or we could use it to invest in workforce housing for employees who work at the convention centers,” Jolly said.
Property taxes
There have been recent efforts to reduce or eliminate property taxes to help ease housing costs, and Jolly supports dramatic property tax reform, but he considers recent state efforts to be irresponsible.
“I think it's populism, and it could ultimately lead to an economic crisis in our state,” Jolly said.
He said that in past years the crisis was centered around keeping families and seniors in their homes. Now, he said, younger families and first-time homebuyers can’t enter the market because of the jump in property taxes.
“That does not mean we repeal ‘Save Our Homes,’ but it means we have to address today's crisis just like we addressed 25 years ago,” he said.
He said, ultimately, the question of how to handle property taxes should be put in front of voters, who can decide how to balance taxing with the need for revenue.
Eliminating taxes without a solution for revenue, Jolly said, is a fear of his.
“The math never works out for Republicans … and so my fear is Republicans put in front of voters a very popular amendment to repeal property taxes without an answer for the needed revenue, and that then creates a great crisis in the state.”
He said housing and affordability need to be addressed, but not in place of money for public education, expanding access to health care, fighting crime, fixing transportation and keeping communities safe.
Immigration
“I think we need to be a state that values our immigrant community, that recognizes their contribution to our economy and to our culture,” Jolly told Hudson. “And if you are here and not breaking laws, you're to be celebrated and invested in and lifted up.”
Jolly said the Republican Party, conservative media and Gov. Ron DeSantis have wrongly conflated immigration with crime.
“It's gross, it's immoral, it's wrong. Statistically, it's not true either.”
He said he does not consider crossing the border without legal status a crime if you’re seeking asylum or economic opportunities.
“My spirit of immigration is true at the federal level and at the state level. If you're coming here because you want to contribute to our economy, we should have wide gates.”
Jolly said he’s in favor of a more streamlined process to become a documented immigrant, but reiterated that he believes Republicans won’t do that.
“Instead of fighting crime, they're fighting communities,” he said.
Other issues
Jolly also told Hudson he supports marriage equality, climate change, gun control, campaign finance reform and investing in public education.
Earlier in the week, he told "Florida Matters" host Matthew Peddie that while he used to be pro-life, his views on abortion have shifted in recent years.
He said a 2024 ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution (Amendment 4) should have been implemented. It was supported by more than half of voters but fell short of the required 60% threshold to pass.
This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Tom Hudson for "The Florida Roundup."
