Small Business Incentives and Jobs
As a small business owner , Millie knows the struggles working families are facing to make ends meet, find jobs and secure a safe future for their families. Millie will work to create private/public partnerships for increasing access to capital for small businesses, training opportunities for unemployed workers, and  incentives for new jobs to strengthen South Florida's economy.

Florida Small Businesses Create Jobs

In Florida, close to 2 million small businesses employ over 70% of our workers. Due to the tough economic environment, even small businesses with strong balance sheets are struggling to access capital because the banks are not lending.

We must build on the strengths of our community. The infrastructure is already in place for us to become a world class technology hub as the gateway for Latin America. It is time to bring the high tech companies of the world and their high paying jobs to our community.

Geographically, Florida is perfectly positioned for exports. We must grow Florida's export opportunities. Every dollar we invest in promoting exports returns $57 to our economy.

Our Florida Small Businesses Create Jobs Plan includes:

· Payroll tax exemptions for small businesses who hire unemployed workers and keep them employed for a year or more

· Cut fees to small businesses

· Make state bids and RFPs more accessible to small businesses by creating a pool of prequalified small businesses that have the capability of performing portions or entire projects.

· Create a Mom & Pop business state grant program

· Work with local banks to encourage lending to small businesses

· Work with the Labor Department to bring employee training dollars to South Florida to provide the skills for a world class workforce and better paying jobs

· Aggressively recruit high tech and renewable energy industries that will generate high paying jobs

· Work with our Congressional delegation to bring funds to expand and deepen the Port of Miami so we can effectively compete with the Panama Canal expansion

· Provide training and assistance for small businesses to expand their business through exports

How to pay for this?

We have over 180 sales tax exemptions to special interests that we must review and repeal those that do not benefit the public. We must also enforce collection of Internet sales taxes that are already required by law. Finally, closing out corporate tax loopholes that allow wealthy out of state corporations to avoid paying their fair share, will bring additional revenues to Florida that we can use to pay for these incentives to small businesses so they can create much needed Jobs.

Improve Education
Our children deserve the best education possible. Millie will work to make sure South Florida schools receive our fair share of tax dollars. By increasing the investment our state makes in our schools, we are able to bring more of our tax dollars for Florida Schools from the federal government. Presently, South Florida only receives 60% of our state and federal taxes! We need our fair share. The misguided attempts by the incumbent leadership in Tallahassee to deny teachers 50% of their merit pay and ignore advanced degrees and National Certification based on only standardized tests that do not measure real learning in the classrooms, is looming over our heads again in 2011. Millie will be a strong voice for our teachers and our children to ensure we have the best education possible, and continue to make strides in reducing high school dropout in our state.

Save Our Homes
More families are facing foreclosure and losing their homes every day. Skyrocketing property taxes and property insurance are choking working families who can no longer afford the American Dream of owning a home. Millie will fight to find solutions to help families in peril of losing their homes, to lower our property taxes and to end the abuses of property insurance companies who take their profits out of state and continue to ask for rate hikes.

Elderly Services
Our seniors have worked hard all their lives to provide for and nurture us, and we owe them the respect of protecting their health and basic needs. Millie will protect elderly services funding and fight to reduce fraud, waste and mismanagement of our Medicaid and Medicare tax dollars so we can use those funds to provide more services. We need to keep our seniors in their homes for as long as they are able. This not only increases the quality of their lives, but it saves us tax dollars since it is much more expensive to care for seniors in nursing homes than to provide needed services at home.