Good afternoon Chairman Simpson and Senators of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you and to provide a statement for your consideration.

I have now been serving in Governor Scott’s administration for over three years, first in his counsel’s office and for the past fifteen months as the head of the Department of Economic Opportunity.  I feel very fortunate to have had these opportunities to serve the people of Florida, and am especially grateful for the chance to implement the sound economic policies that Governor Scott and this Legislature have enacted over the last three years.

Florida’s economy is resurgent and our economic turnaround is leading the nation.  As Governor Scott recently announced, our unemployment rate has fallen more than five points from a recession high of 11.4 percent, the second largest decline in the nation and below the national average for the ninth straight month.  The private sector in Florida has added more than 500,000 jobs since December 2010, and we have a job growth rate that consistently outpaces national growth.  Job demand is at a record high, with 278,000 openings as of last month.  Tourism, and the revenue that comes with it, is also at record levels.  Our state is competing for business relocations and expansions that, just a few short years ago, would have been unthinkable.

These positive developments are not happening by chance.  Policy matters.  By keeping taxes low and regulation sensible, Governor Scott and this Legislature have created the pro-growth environment that has fostered Florida’s nation-leading economic turnaround.  To work these past fifteen months at the agency that is at the forefront of implementing many of these policies has been fulfilling and rewarding.

Indeed, as I’ve interacted with Floridians from around the state, I’ve come to understand that our economic turnaround is not just about the unemployment rate and job counts.  It’s about people’s lives.  Those half-a-million jobs are a new start for families in this state who were devastated by the recession.  The 95 million tourists are income for family businesses that struggled in recent years to make ends meet.  The 278,000 job openings are a promise for the future for those still struggling or looking to advance.  Working at DEO has taught me that policy matters to people’s lives, and that we at the Department have to remember that each and every day.

When I appeared before the Senate last year for confirmation, I pledged that transparency, accountability, and efficiency would be the watchwords of my tenure at DEO.  I also noted that the agency was still in its infancy, and that I would endeavor to realize the vision of the 2011 legislation that created DEO out of three legacy agencies.  A year later, I am pleased to report the progress we have made on several fronts.

As a general matter, I can report that the three distinct agencies that originally formed DEO have melded into a single culture pursuing a unified mission.  Through a variety of agency-wide initiatives, we have strengthened the ties between economic, community, and workforce programs, while also streamlining agency operations and advancing employee morale and development.

In two recent confirmation hearings, I catalogued accomplishments across the agency, but in the interest of time I will focus on the Division of Community Development, the work of which is most relevant to this Committee.

The Division of Community Development is charged with assisting local governments and communities with growth management and development, and it does so through a variety of programs. 

Overall, during the past year, the Division has undertaken a comprehensive review of many of its grant and loan programs to ensure efficacy, accountability, and transparency.  The Division has revised contracts, tightened up auditing procedures, and reconciled accounts that had longstanding problems.  For example, the Division’s monitoring process for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Community Services Block Grant Program is so effective that the federal Department of Health and Human Services is using Florida’s system as the national model.

Turning to specific programs, the State Small Business Credit Initiative has directly invested in small businesses more than $6.5 million in venture capital and provided more than $19 million in loan participation and loan guarantees.

On the technical assistance front, the Division awarded $1.2 million in planning grants in the last year.  The Division has also held multiple planning workshops around the state.  For example, the Division participated in Envision Bradford, Envision Alachua, Franklin County’s economic diversification summit, and the Rural Economic Development Boot Camp held in Okeechobee.  The Division has also recently launched the Competitive Florida initiative, a new program that will specifically focus on rural communities seeking technical assistance and targeted grants for asset mapping, strategic planning, and economic development. 

The Division also continues to help low-income Floridians with heat and energy needs.  Through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the Division has assisted more than 186,000 households this fiscal year; and through the Weatherization Assistance Program, the Division has funded the weatherization of more than 2,000 dwellings. 

As for growth management, the Division has improved a website that allows for greater transparency.  The “Florida Papers” website features or will feature digitized versions of documents related to comprehensive planning, Developments of Regional Impact, and Areas of Critical State Concern.

Pursuant to statutory changes made last Session, the Division has worked with local governments, base commanders, and the Florida Defense Support Task Force to identify and prioritize land acquisitions that will prevent base encroachment and promote responsible growth around our military installations. 

Let me turn from the Division of Community Development to a challenge that a different DEO division faced over the last few months.

In October 2013, the Division of Workforce Services launched Connect, a multi-year redesign of the thirty-year-old, obsolete computer system used for Reemployment Assistance.  As is well known, technical problems surrounded the launch and caused delays for some claimants, but I am pleased to report that we have turned the corner and claimant service in the RA unit is now better than performance under the old system.

For example, in our adjudication unit, we now have approximately 3,000 active cases, a number far below the nearly 50,000 active cases present in the old system just before the launch of Connect.  The age of those cases has also been significantly reduced.  As is the case in all states and by design of the program, there will always be an active adjudication caseload, and the number of cases will fluctuate with economic, policy, and staff changes.  But the bottom line is that we have we resolved the delays caused by Connect’s launch and even worked through the caseload carried in the old system.

Our Contact Center is also seeing significantly reduced call volume.  Indeed, Contact Center performance is now at a level better than any in recent memory, and is well exceeding performance just prior to the launch of Connect.

In sum, while the launch of Connect was not as smooth as we had hoped for, the agency has been able to recover in a few months, and service from a claimant perspective is now better than it was prior to Connect’s launch.  Additional challenges may, of course, arise, but we will do what is necessary to serve Floridians, fix problems, and optimize performance.

In closing, then, I think it is fair to say the Department has had a very busy year, with many accomplishments.  Like any large and complex organization, we faced our share of challenges.  But I would submit that the measure of leadership is not whether the challenges come, but how the agency responds when they inevitably do come.  I am proud of the staff at DEO and all of our accomplishments these past fifteen months.  I am grateful for their service and support, as my record is a reflection of their hard work. 

I am also grateful to Governor Scott for his confidence in me and my team.  Being a part of his administration and the economic turnaround he has helped foster is one of the great professional privileges of my life.

I thank the Committee for considering my nomination and I welcome any questions you may have.