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Hey, Joel Malkin for WJNO.com. My election spotlight is on
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the race for the Florida State House of Representatives, District 87. Now,
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this is the one voters may remember. In March, there
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was a special election to fill this vacant district, and
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it featured Democrat Emily Gregory and Republican John Maples. The
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Democrat Gregory ended up— it was a very close win for
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her over Maples. got some national attention, partially because it
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flipped from a pretty secure red seat to a blue
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when Gregory won this. Also because, of course, Mar-a-Lago is
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in this district as well, President Trump's home in Palm Beach.
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So we have Republican Maples on the line with us.
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Thank you for joining me.
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You're welcome, Joe. You're welcome. All right.
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So let's go back to the beginning. First of all,
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give us a little background on you for folks that
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aren't familiar. Maybe, you know, you've mentioned to me before
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that special elections really don't have huge turnouts, at least
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not the kind of turnouts that we're hoping for during
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a general election. So there are folks that, you know,
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maybe are first learning your name. Give us some background
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on you. And then I'd love to know what made
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you decide to run in the first place.
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Yeah. Okay.
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Well, I appreciate that.
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Well, my name is John Maples, and I'm a Republican
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candidate for Florida House District 87. And really, I'm really
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going to bring a common sense approach to the issues
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affecting Palm Beach County families every day. I am a
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20-year resident of Palm Beach County, 25 years now, financial planner,
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and spent the better part of 17 years helping families,
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individuals prepare for their future and navigate important financial decisions.
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And My, you know, I have a lot of clients
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and a lot of friends and a lot of people
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and families in Palm Beach County that I know that
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trust me that have asked me to step up and lead.
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You know, I have a 20-year-old.
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Daughter, 16-year-old daughter, married 20 years to my wife. And
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so it's us three and my daughter's going to be
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going off to school soon. And so I have the
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time and the capacity to serve in a greater way.
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For this great state of Florida.
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So that's what we're doing, Joel, and honored to have
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the opportunity to serve the folks in this community and
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bring my expertise from.
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My everyday career, my family life.
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My daughter's 16, so we got to buy her a car.
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We got to start paying car insurance. We've got some
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of the challenges that everyday families have. And so just
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jumping in for the next generation, fighting for our kids,
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our grandkids, make sure they have a common sense solution
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that's not anti-America that loves this country, that's against the
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democratic socialist movement that's happening, socialism that's happening around this country,
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where Democrats pretend to be Democrats of old when they're not,
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and they're socialists and they're communists, and they vote that
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way as well. But they tell the people that they're
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not like that, but that's genuinely what we're fighting against.
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We're fighting for our kids and their kids. Just take
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a look at France and some of these other countries
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around the world.
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Now, for the record, I did ask your opponent, point blank.
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Are you a socialist? Are you backed by the DSA?
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And she said no. And I know that when she
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campaigned for the special election and she campaigns now, she
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tries to campaign as a moderate. Do you feel that's
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not the case?
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It's definitely not the case.
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I mean, you can't be endorsed by Nancy Nixon and
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have her kind of leading the charge and directing where
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you go and learning from her and not be influenced
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by the Democratic socialist agenda. And also, you can't go
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to Tallahassee and
Load full transcript
vote no on Amendment 3 and give
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people the option to decide if they want to ultimately,
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you know, have Florida tighten their belt a little bit
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or if the American people deserve that money back.
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You know, so your votes dictate how.
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Really what's your agenda here, not kind of what you say,
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but how you vote while you're in office. And so
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that's been the telltale for us.
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Is her voting system.
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The previous, and I just mentioned this again, but the
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previous seat holder here prior to Gregory, the Republican, I
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believe won in 2024 by like 24%, if I'm correct.
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President Trump won by over 10 and a half. You
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narrowly lost. I think it was under 800 votes. You
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could correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sure you will.
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After this, Special election, that special election, you had talked
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about a top-to-bottom campaign review. What kind of adjustments, if any,
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did you make that you're willing to share?
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Well, we made some small but very significant adjustments. that
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I am, I mean, extraordinarily proud of. And one being
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that we started to, instead of, you know, we started listening, Joe.
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We started listening to people more and showing up more.
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And with time.
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Now I can show up at these dining room tables
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and in these living rooms and sit down with families
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and listen and hear what's going on with their family,
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what are they having to pay for, show up at
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their door and just listen and spend the time listening.
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And then from there, take that back to the team
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and say, hey, this is, This is what is affecting
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the families in this church and the folks in our community,
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and this is a message that needs to go out
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to them.
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And so it's not.
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Been one of political folks managing everything, but now it's
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been more of the people that I listen to and
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the everyday person and families are the ones who are
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dictating our campaign and our messaging. We just recently did
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a little shoot where we had individual people in this
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community that aren't paid by me saying, hey, this is
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why I'm voting for John and this is why we
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support him.
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They aren't political people.
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They're just normal, everyday people going about their lives, trying
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to take care of their families and work hard. So
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that's what I'm.
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Very proud of.
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How do you feel your professional background can set you
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up for success as a legislator?
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Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of things.
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First, I got my degree in computer science.
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And so with AI being a big.
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Issue now, having someone who understands AI, at least how
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it works, is important. And then, you know, as I said,
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the last 17 years, I've spent that time helping individuals
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and family prepare for their future and make very important financial.
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Decisions for their family.
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I think if we look at that with affordability being
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an issue, having someone who does this for.
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A living and has the expertise needed to.
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Navigate this, to be able to make Florida more affordable,
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not just as a talking slogan, but actually be able
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to provide value and really do something.
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I think this really is a.
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Benefit add to our community and to this district. And
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I'm looking forward to, uh, if the people decide to
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send me to Tallahassee to be able to use those
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skills to make things better.
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Amendment three is a, it's a big issue. Um, we
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could call it the elephant in the room across the
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state and, and, and throughout the election. Um, season. I
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know that you have talked about being a strong advocate
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for the complete elimination of property taxes. Obviously, that's not
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even on the table with Amendment 3, although ultimately it
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could lead to that. But the first $ 150 and then
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$ 250 increase of the homestead exemption. Your opponent, we talked
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about Amendment 3, and she said it's a tax shift
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rather than a tax cut worries about reduction in funding
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for public safety, other essential services, talks about no fiscal
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impact study being done, calling that atypical and saying it
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was an irresponsible proposal. Those are her words and would
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have a catastrophic impact on our municipalities and our economy.
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I'm guessing you feel different. So share your thoughts.
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Well, let me start with this.
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I'm a Floridian, born and raised, Joel.
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And so oftentimes when people move to our state and
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they run for office.
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They don't have any sense of the history of the
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state of Florida. And so let me just quickly, 30.
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Seconds, give you a quick rundown. In 1980, well, let's
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say 1934, voters approved the first homestead property exemption. In 1980,
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they raised that exemption from $ 5, 000 to $ 25, 000.
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In 1992, we did Save Our Homes.
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Now, with all this being said, you still need 60
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percent vote.
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In order for this to pass. So every single time
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this was on.
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The ballot, it got 60 percent to vote, and it passed. 2008,
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Amendment 1, it approved in January. It moved the portability
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for Save Our Homes. 2020, they extended from two years
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to three years. And then 2024, they raised it again
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with inflation to $.
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50, 000.
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So now in 2026, we're looking at this saying, all right,
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we're taking this.
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From $ 150, 000.
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To $ 250, 000.
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All I'm telling you is this, that over the years
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in the history of Florida, when this has been approved,
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the world didn't come crashing down. The economy didn't collapse.
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Everything that she's saying is irresponsible because the history says, well,
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all those things didn't occur over the last decade. Six
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times this has been on the amendment over the course
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of this history of the state of Florida.
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So here's what's really a fact.
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Palm Beach County saw its budget expand by 58% in 2019,
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and mostly due to increased property tax revenue. They got
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a windfall of money because of rising property tax values.
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And over this period, the county's population only increased by 6%.
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I don't know about you, Joe, but my revenue in
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my business hasn't gone up by 58%. But, you know,
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that's just for that. But over that same time frame.
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We do have to, in fact, in.
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Inflation, increase costs by 31%. So there will be some
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increased spending by governments that's warranted. But this particularly impacts
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retirees on fixed income, whom nobody's talking about. Lower-to-middle-income homeowners,
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whom trying to buy a home for the first time,
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have been stressed to begin with. But now, with inflation
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pushing higher prices across the board, rising tax for particular
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board members, Ultimately, voters must decide if reducing taxes on
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homeowners is more important than funding some local government. And
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I'm not talking about essential services like police and fire.
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We have to take care of our guys and protect
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us and keep our streets safe.
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And we need them, and we will fund them.
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But November's result will tell us whether the evidence for
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rooting has been pinched tightly enough to ask the local
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government to tighten them down just a little bit.
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And property tax reform, obviously one of the big issues.
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If this doesn't get done, then I guess we'll see
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where we go from there if voters don't approve that.
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Property insurance, another issue. Any specific bills in your head
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that you might want to write or help write or
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at least support should you get into the statehouse?
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Well, as it relates to property insurance or property
tax
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or just me in general?
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Anything to help the consumer, whether it be the property taxes,
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the property insurance, anything else to help. You know, people
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are having affordability issues right now.
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Yeah, and let me speak to the property insurance is
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very important. And holding insurance companies accountable to bring their
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rates down is something.
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That, you know, I will be committed to doing. But
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beyond that, the more.
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Competition drives prices down, meaning citizens was our main insurer,
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the government, basically. Now that we've got businesses stepping into
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the arena, we've got 21 new insurers in Florida, we're
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expecting for that to drive rates down because there's competition now.
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And now competition, when they're competing for our business, for
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our insurance premiums, for our homes, they're going to have
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to compete against 21 other companies. So that means prices
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should come down.
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But I'm going to continue to work to make sure.
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That is the case, to drive bills down.
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And I believe Peggy Gossett-Salmon has some bills that we've
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been talking about in that space as well.
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So I'm excited to get the opportunity to work on that.
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And then lastly, as it relates to education, I believe
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that our graduating seniors should be able to pass the
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immigration test that we make all new citizens who want
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to come to our country legally taken pass. So I
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believe getting civics back into school is civics with a purpose.
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And that means that you're going to be taking civics
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in order to, when you're a senior going to graduate
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high school, to be able to pass the immigration test
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that we make new citizens.
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Through our country pass.
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And so that's something that I'm.
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Pretty excited about that no one's really doing that.
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I think will help our students really regain a value
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for this country and begin to love and work hard
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again for their families and that American dream stays alive.
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That's what I was going to ask you. What's your
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main motivation for that immigration test for people who are
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already citizens?
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Well, first off, I think it's irresponsible for our kids
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to graduate and not know anything about our country and
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not be able to pass the very immigration test that.
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Other people who come here who want.
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To be here have to pass.
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Number two, I think it reminds us of what was
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paid in order for us to be free, start our company,
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have our families, raise our families here and live here
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and enjoy this country, it costs something. And so our
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kids should understand that. And that means they're going to
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work hard for their families because they know that the
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opportunity that they.
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Have is a blessing.
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And so we want to get back to some of
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those basic, fundamental, common-sense things where our kids understand the
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value of working hard, believing in this country, loving this country,
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and taking care of their families, and just basic common-sense stuff.
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We're going to teach them how to read, write, and civics.
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We're not going to teach.
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Them about boys' and girls' bathrooms or any of the
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weird stuff that's happening on the left. We're going to
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keep it very basic, very simple, and we're going to
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get back to the basics for this country.
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Two candidates in this race, Statehouse District 87, the incumbent Democrat,
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Emily Gregory, and the gentleman we're talking to now, Republican
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John Maples. In a nutshell, to wrap up this interview, John,
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why ultimately should folks give you a shot, put you
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in the Statehouse?
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Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you for the opportunity
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to be here today. Decisions that we're making today, Joel,
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shape what tomorrow looks like for our kids, our grandkids.
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You and I will be just fine, but we're fighting
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for them. And I want you to know that I'm
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here to the folks in District 87.
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I'm listening.
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You can trust me.
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My name is John Maples.
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I'm a Republican candidate.
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For Florida District House 87, and I would appreciate your
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support on and before November 3rd.
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Thank you, guys.
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All right, John. Appreciate you talking to the voters in
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District 87. Again, John Maples. Republican candidates here on WJNO.com.