Marco Rubio: Difference between revisions
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|office= [[Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives]] |
|office= [[Florida House of Representatives|Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives|]] |
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|term_start= [[January 2]] [[2007]] |
|term_start= [[January 2]] [[2007]] |
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Revision as of 02:56, 31 August 2007
Marco Rubio | |
|---|---|
| Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives| | |
| Assumed office January 2 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Allan Bense |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 28, 1971 Miami, Florida |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Jeanette Dousdebes |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Marco Rubio (born May 28, 1971, Miami, Florida) is the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives for the 2007 and 2008 Legislative sessions. He was first elected to the Florida House as a Republican on January 25, 2000, from the 111th district. He was previously a City Commissioner from West Miami. He received his B.S. from University of Florida in 1993, and his J.D. Cum Laude from the University of Miami in 1996. While studying law, he interned for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen(R, FL).
Career
In November of 2006, he was elected Speaker of the Florida State House for the 2006-2008 term.
He is best known for his book 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future. The book was compiled after Rubio traveled around the state to gather ideas from citizens. This was done through what Rubio calls "Idearaisers". Ideas were also solicited on the website www.100ideas.org.
Rubio has also been the lead proponent of a tax reform package that aims to elimiate property taxes. His proposal for the 2007 legislative session called for property taxes on homes to be eliminated, and for property taxes on all other types of property to be scaled back. Since the State of Florida receives most of its revenue from sales tax, the proposal to cut property taxes would not have reduced revenues for the state government. The tax reform proposal would have reduced revenues to cities and counties by as much as 50%, but Rubio offered to replace approximately half of the lost revenue with an increase in the Statewide sales tax, which would be distributed to cities and counties. The Florida Senate opposed the plan, claiming that the sales tax is regressive, and too unstable to be used as a replacement for property tax. Governor Crist opposed the plan, claiming that the sales tax is not under sufficient local control. The cities and counties opposed the plan, claiming that the tax cuts would be so severe that important services such as fire and police protection would have to be scaled back. It is some measure of Rubio's power and popularity that his proposal is still considered to be fairly likely to pass in spite of such powerful and organized opposition.
He is seen by many as a potential future statewide candidate. Rubio is viewed by many as the ideological heir of Jeb Bush. One telling moment was during Rubio's 2005 designation as Speaker, when Bush handed Rubio a sword he said was symbolic of Rubio's role as a conservative warrior.
Rubio is married to the former Jeanette Dousdebes, a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader (1997). They have three children, Amanda, Daniella and Anthony.