- April 25, 2024
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1. What would you do to improve the housing market?
We are starting to see some evidence that the housing market has at least stabilized. While during the real estate boom credit was too easy to obtain, we have now seen the pendulum swing in the other direction, and getting legitimate loans has become too difficult. We need to solve this problem, as well as address foreclosure issues in order to see the market return to the levels it should be.
2. What would you do to bring jobs and businesses to Florida?
I will work to deregulate government and free up markets from government involvement.
3. Why should people vote for you instead of your opponent?
I have a personal drive and passion to improve our Northeast Florida communities and our economy. My campaign is focused on boosting our economy and putting people back to work, setting higher standards and ensuring accountability within our education system, and lowering our taxes and reducing the regulatory burden on our businesses.
Following the questionnaire, we had each candidate come in for a follow-up interview. A sample of Hutson’s responses is compiled below.
Travis Hutson believes the state is headed in the right direction, we just need to “make sure that we’re following the same course of the laws that have been in place that are starting to fix everything and not change those laws. … We just need to get rid of some of those hurdles that are in them.
“I’ve got a three point plan: … On small businesses … cut the red tape … the fees and the permitting process. … A great deregulation … that I’ve talked about is the emergency room; … put the burden on the hospitals (to decide whether a patient has to see a doctor or nurse, which) will save us (an) estimated half a billion dollars.
“The second thing … is if you had an existing business … I want to take the tangible tax … down to zero. … We should not charge you, in the state of Florida, a tax to grow your business.
“The third thing is on the unemployment side of things. … I want to make sure that there’s resources out there for them to get educated. … I believe that we can do that … without increasing taxes and changing our budget. … If you look at it, we’re doing it wrong. We need to have most of our spending in education. … You’re not cutting, you’re just deregulating (Medicare). … what I want to do is if you’re 15, 14 years old and you say … ‘College isn’t for me,’ … I want there to be a vocational school set up.”
Hutson has been criticized by Holland for focusing on statewide concerns, and disregarding local concerns. He responded: “I am very strong in terms of think regionally for this district. … My opponent is specifically talking about Flagler. … I’m raised in this district, I live in this district. …
“I’ve been in the private sector, I’ve managed a budget. … I’ve gotten other people employed. … I’ve balanced a budget and made a profit every year in the last three years. … I’m offering to be a job creator. … I know how to do it because I have been doing it. …
“When you go to Tallahassee … you advocate for your district, but you write legislation based on the entire state. … you’ve got to think statewide.” He continued: “That’s what I always do, that’s my litmus test. I want to put the burden out of Tallahassee back on the local government, back on the hospitals, back on whoever it is. If we talk about vocational schools, it should be governed and run by the school board; the elected officials you guys elect … instead of it being an unfunded mandate … I want to put it back on the locals.
“In terms of what I can do better is I sit in the majority party. I can work my way up to leadership. … The Democratic Party’s in the minority party right now, and since they’re in the minority, nothing they do gets passed, nothing they do gets heard. …
“I think that there’s a fundamental difference between her and myself. … I tend to go with the more conservative, Republican free enterprise model. … That’s what I believe.”
