Tom Gallagher
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- For other individuals with the same or similar names go to Thomas Gallagher (disambiguation)
Tom Gallagher (born February 3, 1944) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. He is a Republican and most recently held the position of Chief Financial Officer of the State of Florida. He recently lost the Primary election against state Attorney General Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination in the 2006 gubernatorial race. He was succeeded by Alex Sink in January 2007.
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[edit] Early life
Gallagher was raised in Delaware, where he was a high school swimmer. In 1961, he moved to Florida to attend the University of Miami on a partial athletic scholarship. After graduating, Gallagher was commissioned in the United States Army, where he served in the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment. Gallagher was later honorably discharged and returned to Miami to start a business career.
[edit] Family life
Gallagher married Laura Wilson in 1998. Wilson comes from a sixth-generation Florida family and is chairman and CEO of the North Florida Ladies Prayer Brunch. The Gallaghers have an eight-year-old son, Charlie.
[edit] Political career
Gallagher was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1974 and served until 1987. In 1984, he proposed a 10-year freeze on state taxes and spending, and was for some time the Republican whip. Gallagher served as the Secretary of the Department of Professional Regulation in the administration of Republican Governor Bob Martinez. He served in the elected Cabinet position of Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal from 1989 to 1995, and then in the elected Cabinet position of Education Commissioner from 1999 to 2001, and again as Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal from 2001 to 2003. After the Cabinet position of Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal was abolished, Gallagher became the Chief Financial Officer, with essentially the same duties.
[edit] Platform
According to his campaign website, Gallagher was running on a conservative agenda that includes protecting seniors and families, expanding educational opportunities, creating a strong business climate, and strengthening families. While some view Gallagher's conservative (and religious) conversion as a politically expedient attempt to woo conservative Christian votes in the GOP primary, Gallagher maintains that his recent renouncing of previously held beliefs on abortion and gay rights are due to his religious awakening. He has apparently gained strong support among Christian conservatives.
According to his campaign website and public pronouncements, Gallagher as governor would:
- Abortion: Support a 24-hour "waiting period" for abortions and would encourage the state Supreme Court to allow the so-called "informed consent" statute to go into effect. Gallagher also indicated support for the recent South Dakota act that prohibited nearly all abortions in that state.
- Adoption: Encourage the Department of Children and Families to work closer with private adoption agencies, create community-based adoption specialists, and would reduce the financial barrier of adopting a special needs child by allocating a one-time $20,000 stipend.
- Affordable Housing: Increase home ownership by keeping prices down, allow homeowners to move within the same county without paying additional property taxes, and propose a constitutional amendment instituting a property tax rebate plan.
- Cuba: Establish the Office of Cuban Transition Coordinator to work with the Cuban exile community, the State Department's Cuba Transition Coordinator, economists, human rights advocates, and business leaders to position Florida as a strong economic partner in a free and democratic post-Castro era.
- Education: Expand student choice by continuing Opportunity Scholarships for children in failing schools, require schools to spend at least 65% of their budget in the classroom on teachers and materials, and insist that funding for Bright Futures Scholarships remain at current levels or increase.
- Elected Officials: Require Cabinet-level elected officials to place assets in blind trusts to discourage the appearance of conflicts of interest.
- Energy Independence: Implement at least $15 million in tax credits to encourage the development of alternative fuels, particularly biodiesel and ethanol created from Florida's sugar, citrus, cotton, and corn crops. He would also endow $25 million in research at state universities into development of more effective power generation, most notably solar power.
- Environment: Oppose off-shore oil drillings
- Family Values: Increase power of families to instill their own values system by requiring public libraries receiving state funding to install software filters protecting underage users against pornography, make it illegal for minors to rent or purchase Mature or Adult rated video games, and provide a sales tax exemption for parental control devices used in the home.
- Foster Care: Host an annual conference on foster care to bring together prospective foster parents, charities, faith-based organizations, civic organizations, churches, and synagogues.
- Gay Rights: Supports a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
- Government Growth: Propose a constitutional amendment preventing local governments from raising spending growth above the inflation and population growth rates without prior approval by direct vote of the population.
- Gun Rights: Enforce penalties against businesses who fire employees for keeping guns in their car while at work.
- International Trade: Coordinate with the federal government so that necessary security measures do not impede tourism.
- Lawsuit Reform: Reform class action law suits so that Florida is no longer an attractive location nationwide to file such suits, abolish joint and several liability so that defendants are only required to pay for the portion of accidents for which they are responsible, require expert medical witnesses to be licensees in the state, shift the burden of proof for accidents from defendants to plaintiffs, and establish business courts in each circuit so that judges ruling on business litigation can streamline commercial disputes and provide more expert rulings.
- Property Insurance: Use tax revenue generated by hurricane recovery to offset assessments and provide tax relief for hurricane-related expenses. He would use a portion of the Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to retrofit older homes to meet modern building codes. He would cap Citizens Property Insurance (popularly known as Citizens insurance), the state's insurer of last resort, at $1 million policies, thus reducing the state's risk exposure by $810 million. He would also encourage Congress to end America's status as the only country to tax catastrophe reserve savings.
- Transportation: Partner with private business to greatly expand and repair Florida's aging transportation infrastructure, currently ranked as one of the worst in the country. He would implement a value pricing lane in highly congested areas such as Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. He would also prevent the Legislature from continuing to use the State Transportation Trust Fund for non-transportation projects.
- Workforce Training: Modernize the state's community colleges by providing curricula that meet specific industry employment standards.
| Preceded by Bill Gunter |
Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida 1989 – 1995 |
Succeeded by Bill Nelson |
| Preceded by Frank Brogan |
Education Commissioner of Florida 1999 – 2001 |
Succeeded by Charlie Crist |
| Preceded by Bill Nelson |
Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida 2001 – 2003 |
Succeeded by 'Office Abolished' |
| Preceded by 'New Office' |
Chief Financial Officer of Florida 2003 – 2007 |
Succeeded by Alex Sink |
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