Where Cortes, challenger Goff-Marcill stand
The environment, education, affordable housing and Medicaid expansion are among the top issues for candidates Republican incumbent Bob Cortes and Democrat Joy Goff-Marcil vying for state House District 30 seat in the Nov. 6 general election.
The district straddles the Seminole and Orange county line and includes Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Casselberry, Eatonville and Goldenrod. Of the 112,570 registered voters as of Sept. 1, nearly 38 percent were Democrats, about 33 percent Republican and roughly 29 percent as no party affiliation.
Joy Goff-Marcil has served on the Maitland City Council since 2013. She was named vice mayor last year and will serve on the council until November, when she steps down. She is an attorney who specializes in wills and probate law.
Cortes, 55, introduced a bill this year that would allow local governments to waive impact fees and other costs for developers building affordable housing, along with streamlining the permitting process. It also would give local governments opportunities to acquire surplus state lands for affordable housing, Cortes said.
The idea is to make it easier for builders to construct affordable housing, or “workforce housing,” Cortes said.
“You have folks that make more to qualify for affordable housing,” Cortes said, “but they find paying $2,000 a month in apartment rents that they can’t afford it, like a teacher, firefighter or police officer.”
To encourage physical activity among children, Cortes wants the state and local governments to partner with private organizations to help build more playgrounds and trails, and launch programs that promote exercise. That would help combat diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and other increasingly common childhood ailments.
“It means changing the mentality of our children; instead of playing a video game, they should be encouraged to exercise and eat better,” he said. “It’s about creating healthier communities.”
Cortes opposes the expansion of Medicaid, calling it too expensive for the state. He says he’s more focused on job growth, so people can become medically insured through their employers.
On guns, Cortes opposes universal background checks.
“I believe that what we have right now is working,” he said about the state’s and nation’s current gun laws.
A strong proponent of public schools, Goff-Marcil said the state Legislature should do more to “invest in teachers.” She blasted a teacher bonus program created by the Legislature in 2015 that gives teachers bonuses based partly on scores on exams – such as the ACT and the SAT – they took back when they were in high school.
“You could be an amazing teacher and do well in the classroom,” but then not receive a bonus,” GoffMarcil said. “It’s a terrible way to reward a teacher.”
To boost student academic achievement at lower performing schools, Goff-Marcil, 50, said teachers should receive to teach at schools.
“It’s kind of the opposite of what’s happening now,” she said. “They penalize the failing schools.”
Goff-Marcil also criticized the GOP-led Legislature for consistently cutting public school funding and then earmarking $1 billion for school vouchers last year to help students pay for tuition at private schools with little or no state oversight or accountability.
Goff-Marcil supports the state expanding Medicaid that would give nearly 700,000 uninsured, low income working adults access to health insurance. Florida currently has one of the highest rates of children without health insurance. However, state legislators said expanding Medicaid would cost too much. But Goff-Marcil disagreed.
“It doesn’t save us any money [not expanding Medicaid],” she said. “They [uninsured families] are using the emergency rooms for health care.” incentives those
Goff-Marcil said it’s important for state to protect the environment -- including beaches, waterways and wetlands – for many reasons, including because “tourism is our biggest industry.”
Cortes touts his experience as a legislator and Hispanic background.
“I’m of Puerto Rican descent and born in Brooklyn [N.Y.] and that gives me a unique perspective,” Cortes said. “And I can do a lot more things that she can with a Republican Legislature.”
Goff-Marcil said she supports universal background checks on gun purchases and more funding for public schools.
“We just don’t agree on public education,” GoffMarcil said. “We don’t agree on gun checks. …I support sensible gun legislation.”