Conservative policies created in Tallahassee don’t have to stay in the Sunshine State, fittingly Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist.

At a Florida TaxWatch event in Palm Beach, the national tax expert said Republican dominance in state politics gives Florida a chance to prove conservative policies work.

“The good news is that Florida is a model of good government for the rest of the nation,” he said. “Sometimes people say, well, Florida has no income tax. Where did they get all that money? And a few years ago, your budget was $115 billion.”

Norquist told attendees that conservative politics created in red states can repel doubters on a number of topics. He didn’t stick to tax policy and discussed Florida’s history with concealed carry laws. In 1986, the state approved the “shall-issue” concealed carry permit.

“You were the first traffic light state to do this,” Norquist said. “And all of a sudden, everything they said was going to happen didn’t go ahead. Crime is down, not up. All physical violence has gone down, not up.”

More recently, the Legislature passed transport without permit on guns through legislation passed in 2023 and signed by government. Ron DeSantis.

He also emphasized expanding school choice in Florida.

“Florida was one of the first to adopt a lot of different types of school, and now 10 states have approved education savings accounts for everyone,” he said, predicting that Texas and Tennessee will soon follow suit.

Instead, he said Democratic-dominated states tried to implement programs only to repeal them, even as they supported nationwide expansion. He said Massachusetts mandated health coverage as governor, Michael Dukakisran for president in 1988, then repealed it after Dukakis lost so the state wouldn’t have to absorb the cost. However, the program later became used as a model for the President of Barack Obama The Affordable Care Act.

In particular, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts. Mitt Romney implemented a similar program prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Norquist also pointed to a “Medicare for All” program passed in Vermont, which U.S. Sen. Bernie Sandersa Vermont independent, pushed nationally. But in 2014, Vermont abandoned its single-payer health program.

But conservative programs passed more successfully. He pointed to “right-to-try” legislation that will never be heard in Congress because Food and Drug Administration officials have openly scoffed at allowing unapproved drugs to treat terminal illnesses. But Arizona passed a bill, and soon enough 36 other states followed suit. That prompted the action at federal level.

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