Governor Crist Ranked Most Fiscally Conservative Governor

Governor Crist Ranked Most Fiscally Conservative Governor
Tallahassee–Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer today congratulated Governor Charlie Crist on earning an A rating by the Cato Institute for his conservative taxing and spending principles.

“Congratulations Governor Crist on being named the most fiscally conservative governor in the United States.” said Chairman Greer. “Once again, Governor Crist has demonstrated that when you put the people first and partisan politics aside, great things can be accomplished. Less taxing, less government and less spending is what the people want.”

The Cato Institute ranked Governor Crist the most fiscally conservative governor in the United States. The Governor was one of three state executives to earn an A rating, and scored more than 15 points higher than the next Governor in the A category.

The Cato Institute noted Governor Crist’s advocacy for major property tax cuts, including signing a measure that requires local governments to roll back a portion of recent property tax increases, while capping future tax increases for some types of property. The Institute also commented on Governor Crist’s support for Amendment 1, which expanded homestead exemptions and established other property tax breaks including portability, saving Florida taxpayers billions of dollars. Finally, CATO mentions that the State Budgets signed by Governor Crist demonstrate restrained spending including use of the line item veto to eliminate many pork barrel projects.

The Cato Institute is a libertarian non-profit public policy research foundation focused on increasing understanding of public policy.