Living in Florida, I definitely see the difference compared to even New Jersey, where I have been given a parking ticket in a private parking lot because one car was over the white lines, so everyone had to follow suit by perhaps 2 feet, and a cop then tickets everyone. Completely illegal, but you pay the $25 fine because it’s cheaper than taking a whole day to argue in court.
I was driven down Gulf Blvd and there was literally nobody on the road, so I was doing 12 miles over the speed limit, not paying attention. A cop pulled me over, and because I had no speeding ticket, he said here, I don’t want to be the first to give you one. In New Jersey, you have to have your car inspected. When I moved to Florida and had my car registered there, I asked if I needed to have it re-inspected. They laughed and said, “Oh, we don’t do that stuff here.” I will never leave Florida.
There is even a proposal now to eliminate property taxes to make housing more affordable. We have no income tax and a balanced budget. Additionally, we were not under lockdown due to COVID, so the only stores that went out of business were chains, not local companies. Florida shows it can be done. When states tax income, they spend as they please and then continually raise taxes. It’s always about the government, never the people.