HIGHLIGHTS

Governor Jeb Bush

Plenary Speaker
Friday, July 16th, 2004

Governor John Ellis "Jeb" Bush was born in Midland, Texas. After first arriving in Florida, he helped start a real estate development company that today is one of the largest, full-service commercial real estate companies in South Florida. In 1987-88, he served as Florida's Secretary of Commerce and promoted Florida's business climate worldwide.

Following an unsuccessful bid in 1994 for the Governor's Office, Governor Bush founded the Foundation for Florida's Future, a not-for-profit organization to influence public policy at the grassroots level. As chairman of the foundation, he co-founded the state's first charter school - Liberty City Charter School - with the Urban League of Greater Miami.

He was elected Florida's 43rd Governor in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, becoming the first Republican to be re-elected Governor in the state's history. Since taking office, his top priority has been creating a world-class educational system through high standards and increased accountability. To achieve this goal, he has provided a record four-year increase of $2.9 billion (26 percent increase) in K-12 funding. He believes passionately that all children should learn a year's worth of knowledge in a year's worth of time.

Governor Bush also boosted the state's reserve funds while reducing the state's tax burden to its lowest level in a decade. He has focused the state's resources toward protecting Florida's natural environment with an historic $2-billion commitment to saving Florida's Everglades. He has also increased health insurance coverage for needy children and provided unprecedented levels of funding and services to the elderly and the developmentally disabled.

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