Governor highlights some recent accomplishments

The day prior to discovering two Florida residents — one in Hillsborough and one Manatee County — had tested “presumptively positive,” for the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Lakeland, taking something of a victory lap.   

DeSantis was one of the speakers at the 2020 Lay of the Land Conference, an annual, well-attended event, hosted by SVN | Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate. The conference was at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

DeSantis, according to a statement, checked off some of the big victories his administration has helped facilitate. High on his list: the state’s low unemployment rate of about 3% and Florida’s resilient and strong economy, including a state budget that’s about half that of New York state even though Florida has a higher population.  

The governor also spent time on a major issue, higher education, stressing a college degree is no longer essential to achieve financial success, the release states. DeSantis told the crowd some people with a high school diploma and a skill like welding will make more money than “the bottom half” of those with college degrees — and without incurring student debt. “Nobody’s better because they get a four-year degree,” he added.

Closer to home, DeSantis drew laughs from the crowd, the release states, when he said he and his wife will soon have another child, their third age 3 or younger. “We go from man-to-man to zone defense,” the governor quipped.