PALM BEACH — Attorney General and 2010 Republican governor candidate Bill McCollum called for low taxes, “common-sense regulation,” improved education and “meaningful, significant litigation reform” in remarks to Florida TaxWatch’s annual meeting this morning at The Breakers.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the presumed Democratic nominee for governor next year, couldn’t attend the meeting because of a scheduling conflict but plans to appear by video, a spokeswoman said.

Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio is scheduled to deliver the luncheon keynote speech today. His GOP Senate primary rival, Gov. Charlie Crist, was invited but can’t appear because he’s getting ready for the special legislative session that begins Thursday.

Floridians so far have received less federal stimulus money than any of their fellow Americans, despite an unemployment rate here that ranks among the highest in the country and a budget crisis that few states can match.

Calabro

Florida has received more total dollars than all but three other states from a stimulus pot of about $198 billion so far for infrastructure projects and social services, according to figures reported this week by The Wall Street Journal.¹ That total includes money Congress left for states to divide among themselves and other dollars that federal departments have already disbursed.

But Florida received just $505 per person, which ranks last among the 50 states, all U.S. territories combined and Washington, D.C., according to a Palm Beach Post analysis of the Journal’s data.

The numbers raise significant questions about the stimulus program, which President Obama said during a February stop in Fort Myers would help curtail the state’s rising unemployment rate.²

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1. Wall Street Journal, 06/30/09: Stimulus Spending, Breakdown by State
2. Remarks of President Obama, 02/10/09, Fort Myers.