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71-622: The Florida commissioner of education manages the day-to-day operation of the department. The office of education commissioner was originally a Cabinet -level position filled by direct election and directly responsible for education in Florida. The 2002 Florida Constitution Revision Commission submitted a revision to the Florida Constitution , amending Article IV, Section IV to reduce the Cabinet from six elected officials to three. The voters approved

142-546: A Medicaid privatization pilot program, and instituted reforms to the state education system, including the issuance of vouchers and promoting school choice . Bush announced his presidential candidacy on June 15, 2015. He suspended his campaign on February 20, 2016, shortly after the South Carolina primary , and endorsed Senator Ted Cruz on March 23, 2016. Jeb Bush was born on February 11, 1953, in Midland, Texas . When he

213-544: A pro-life advocacy group based in Ocala, Florida , submitted a specialty license plate application—previously vetoed by Governor Lawton Chiles —which passed both houses and was signed into law by Bush on June 8, 1999. Bush signed legislation to restore the Everglades in 2000 as part of a US$ 8 billion project in conjunction with the federal government. He also set aside over one million acres of land for conservation as part of

284-466: A ballot initiative to amend the Florida Constitution to cap growing school class sizes. Bush said he had "a couple of devious plans if this thing passes". Despite his opposition, the amendment passed. In higher education, Bush approved three new medical schools during his tenure and also put forth the "One Florida" proposal, an initiative that had the effect of ending affirmative action admissions programs at state universities. These moves were among

355-449: A description of her daughter's case and then said "Her killer is still on death row and we're still waiting for justice. We won't get it from Lawton Chiles because he's too liberal on crime. . . Lawton Chiles has let us down. . . I know Jeb Bush. He'll make criminals serve their sentences and enforce the death penalty. Lawton Chiles won't." The ad caused a storm of controversy. Florida prosecutors and former Supreme Court justices toured

426-551: A dozen new protections for gun owners. In 2005, he signed into law Florida's stand-your-ground law , which was the first such state law in the United States. Bush is an advocate of capital punishment and 21 prisoners were executed during his term. After the execution of Ángel Nieves Díaz was seemingly botched—it took 37 minutes to complete, and required a second injection of the lethal chemicals—he suspended all executions in Florida on December 15, 2006. During Bush's tenure,

497-410: A fortune in a computer business, and then formed a new company, The Codina Group, to pursue opportunities in real estate . During his time with the company, Bush focused on finding tenants for commercial developments. Codina eventually made Bush his partner in a new development business, which quickly became one of South Florida's leading real estate development firms. As a partner, Bush received 40% of

568-552: A greater margin of victory than in 1998. Bush won 44 percent of the state's Jewish vote in the 2002 race. Bush also won the white female vote in the swing-voting battleground of Central Florida's I-4 corridor . However, he was not able to replicate the same success with African American voters (like he had earlier in 1998), winning only 8 percent of the African American vote. He became the first Republican governor of Florida to win re-election. While governor, Bush presided over

639-429: A land purchase program. In 2001, Bush eliminated civil service protection for over 16,000 state jobs, which had the effect of making it easier to fire employees in those positions. In addition, he issued an executive order which removed racial preferences in state contracting. In 2004, Bush supported an unsuccessful bill to allow illegal immigrants to be issued drivers licenses by the state. Bush supported more than

710-419: A letter grade from A to F, depending on student performance and the degree to which the bottom 25% of the school has improved compared to its past performances. The higher a public school scores, the more funding it receives. The department paid bonuses to teachers certified by the federal government . Up until 2010, the bonus was as much as $ 3,800 annually. This is expected to diminish with diminished income to

781-540: A real estate consultant and paid him a US$ 75,000 fee for finding the company a new location, although the move never took place. Bush did, however, lobby the Reagan administration vigorously and successfully on behalf of Recarey and IMC to waive a rule of Medicare enrollee proportion. Recarey received US$ 781 million in Medicare payments for 197 000 enrollees but did not pay doctors and hospitals for their care. As of 2015 Recarey

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852-739: A school of their choice. He also established the A+ Opportunity Scholarship Program which provided vouchers to students. This program was struck down by the Florida Supreme Court in 2006. Bush helped create the Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship which provides corporations with tax credits for donations to Scholarship Funding Organizations. Those organizations must spend 100% of the donations on scholarships for low income students. Bush declined to raise taxes for education, which led him to oppose

923-414: A shift toward mass transit and helped fund the repeal effort. "It's that arrogance of kind of the 1%," said Orlando transportation engineer Ian Lockwood. According to The Miami Herald , Bush averaged a 58 percent job approval rating during his eight years in office. He left office with a high partisan gap in his ratings: 70 percent among Republicans and 32 percent among Democrats. He also appealed to

994-432: A society where there's equality of opportunity, not equality of results. So I'm going to answer your question by saying: probably nothing." Bush led through much of the campaign. Then with just a few weeks before election day, Bush ran a campaign ad featuring the mother of a 10-year-old girl who had been abducted and murdered many years before. The ad opened with pictures of the girl and then shifted to her mother who gave

1065-584: A state government that reduced taxes by US$ 19 billion and he vetoed US$ 2 billion in new spending, according to The Wall Street Journal . An analysis conducted by economist Martin Sullivan, which eliminated the effects of the federal estate tax repeal (which did not require legislative action to go into effect) and inflation, estimated the cumulative reduction in taxes by the state at closer to US$ 13 billion during Bush's tenure, resulting in tax savings by 2006 of US$ 140 per person, per year. A substantial amount of

1136-490: A statement that the United States had not "eradicated poverty or racism", complained of a word problem that involved the gender pay gap , objected to an author " [talking] about a climate crisis as if it’s a proven fact ". and objected to questions involving elections and vaccines that did not include references to The Federalist Papers or natural immunity. In October, 2022, the Florida Department of Education announced

1207-470: A violation of the state Constitution's equal protection clause , discriminating against "those who are most grievously injured, those who sustain the greatest damage and loss, and multiple claimants." Bush passed a reform to Florida's Medicaid system that moved recipients into private managed care systems. Bush was involved in the Terri Schiavo case , involving a woman with massive brain damage , who

1278-403: The 1986 election of Bob Martinez to the governor's office. In return, Martinez appointed Bush as Florida's Secretary of Commerce. He served in that role from 1987 to 1988, before resigning to work on his father's presidential campaign. Bush frequently communicated with his father's staff from 1981 through 1992. The younger Bush recommended Dexter Lehtinen for the post of U.S. Attorney for

1349-550: The Bush political family , he was an unsuccessful candidate for president of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries . Bush, who grew up in Houston , was the second son of former president George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush , and a younger brother of former president George W. Bush . He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts , and attended

1420-597: The Cato Institute , a libertarian think tank, in their biennial Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's governors. Bush's administration emphasized public education reform. His "A+ Plan" established heightened standards, required testing of all students, and graded all Florida schools. From 1998 to 2005, reading scores of 4th grade students in Florida on the National Assessment of Educational Progress increased 11 points, compared to 2.5 points nationally, according to

1491-570: The Maine Heritage Policy Center , a conservative think tank which opposes standardized testing. Bush has been a proponent of school vouchers and charter schools , especially in areas of the state with failing public schools, although to date very few schools have received failing grades from the state. He established the McKay Scholarship Program which provides vouchers for students with learning disabilities to attend

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1562-640: The University of Texas at Austin , beginning in September 1971. He played on the Texas Longhorns varsity tennis team in 1973. Bush graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American studies . He completed his coursework in two and a half years. In 1974, Bush went to work in an entry-level position in the international division of Texas Commerce Bank , which

1633-500: The University of Texas at Austin , where he earned a degree in Latin American affairs. In 1980, he moved to Florida and pursued a career in real estate development . In 1986, Bush became Florida's secretary of commerce. He served until 1988. At that time, he joined his father's successful campaign for the presidency. In 1994 , Bush made his first run for office, losing the election for governor by less than two percentage points to

1704-550: The Vietnam War , registered for the draft after his graduation from high school in 1971. In the fourth and final draft lottery drawing, on February 2, 1972, for men born in 1953 and to be inducted during 1973, Bush received a draft number of 26 on a calendar-based scale that went to 365. But no new draft orders were issued after 1972, because the U.S. changed to an all-volunteer military beginning in 1973. Though many in his family had attended Yale University , Bush chose to attend

1775-545: The honor roll by the end of his senior year and served as captain of the tennis team. At the age of 17, Bush taught English as a second language and assisted in the building of a school in Ibarrilla, a small village outside of León, Guanajuato , Mexico , as part of Andover's student exchange summer program. While in Mexico, he met his future wife, Columba Garnica Gallo . Bush, who had largely avoided criticizing or supporting

1846-461: The 1998 election, Bush garnered 61 percent of the Hispanic vote and 14 percent of the African American vote. Bush was unopposed in the 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary, and in the general election he faced Democratic challenger Bill McBride . They met for two debates, in the most expensive Florida gubernatorial election yet. Voting went smoothly. Bush defeated McBride 56 percent to 43 percent,

1917-399: The 2002 election. Under the reforms adopted, the secretary of state and education commissioner became appointed officials under the governor who would oversee their respective agencies, while the positions of the comptroller and the treasurer/insurance commissioner/fire marshal were combined into the new position of the chief financial officer of Florida . The Cabinet also lost its control over

1988-423: The Cabinet aides meet to discuss the agenda and to conduct preliminary discussions on a variety of issues slated to come before the full Cabinet. Cabinet aides' meetings are considered an important part of the Cabinet process. Jeb Bush John Ellis " Jeb " Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of

2059-466: The Florida Department of Education: management of K–12 education and community college education which was shifted to the new Florida Board of Education and management of the State University System of Florida to the new Florida Board of Governors . Some environmental policy powers of the Cabinet were shifted to other officials as well. The reforms were seen as ways to strengthen the power of

2130-484: The Florida Information Resource Network (FIRN), which provides Internet access to public schools. The superintendent of public instruction was established to oversee Florida's public schools in the 1868 Florida Constitution . The elected officeholder became the commissioner of education under the 1968 Florida Constitution . A constitutional amendment in 1998 made effective January 2003 reorganized

2201-536: The Florida state legislature created the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) and came up with a public-private partnership model. Government would build the system leveraging state dollars with federal funds and tax-free bonding. The private sector was to invest money in the project, help design and build the network, and be given the franchise to operate the trains (known as design-build-operate-maintain, or DBOM ). Trains would be privately owned, similar to how

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2272-646: The Southern District of Florida and set up a meeting between the Bush Administration and Motorola . He also advocated for Cuban exiles living in South Florida , and supported the Cuban embargo . In 1990, Bush urged his father to pardon Orlando Bosch , a Cuban exile who had been convicted of firing a rocket into a Polish ship which was on passage to Cuba. Bosch was released from prison and granted residency in

2343-485: The U.S. In 1989, Bush was the campaign manager of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen , the first Cuban-American to serve in Congress, in her special election . In 1994, Bush launched an unsuccessful bid for the governor's office against incumbent Democratic governor Lawton Chiles . Bush ran that year as a conservative. At one point, he was asked what he would do for African Americans , and Bush responded: "It's time to strive for

2414-416: The ad was no longer being aired because it had "completed," but that he would have kept it on the air longer. He tried to justify running it by saying that Chiles was in his opinion, "liberal on crime," and hadn't yet acted on some other death warrants. Chiles said when it was his turn to respond that he had supported the death penalty all his life and that he had executed as many people as governor, eight, as

2485-407: The agencies. The governor and Cabinet, all statewide officials, also oversee the separate offices and agencies under their departments. The governor and Cabinet oversees the following agencies: The governor and each member of the Cabinet has an office dedicated to Cabinet affairs. These offices are headed by a chief Cabinet aide, who is assisted by other aides. The week prior to a Cabinet meeting,

2556-721: The airline industry operates in a publicly financed airport. The rail system and its planning was estimated to cost $ 7–$ 8 billion. The Florida HSRA and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) reached an agreement with a consortium that included the Fluor Corporation and Bombardier Transportation . The consortium agreed to invest $ 300 million and utilize the DBOM functionality. The state of Florida would float state bonds, and FDOT would commit $ 70 million annually (increasing three percent yearly to account for inflation) to service

2627-427: The audience (incidentally, the girl in the ad's convicted killer would not be executed until 2013, during the administration of Governor Rick Scott ). Bush lost the election by only 63,940 votes out of 4,206,076 that were cast for the major party candidates (2,135,008; 51% to 2,071,068; 49%). In the same election year, his older brother, George, was elected Governor of Texas . Following his election loss, Bush joined

2698-578: The board of the Heritage Foundation and continued to work with Codina Partners. Alongside T. Willard Fair, the president of the Urban League's Miami affiliate, Bush helped to establish Florida's first charter school . Bush ran again for governor in 1998 , defeating Democrat Buddy MacKay , who was lieutenant governor. Bush ran for reelection in 2002 to become Florida's first two-term Republican governor. During his eight years as governor, Bush

2769-687: The board of a Norwegian -owned company that sold fire equipment to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System , becoming a minority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars , buying a shoe company that sold footwear in Panama , and getting involved in a project selling water pumps in Nigeria . Bush was a lobbyist for Miguel Recarey, who ran International Medical Centres (IMC), a Florida-based health maintenance organization (HMO). Recarey "employed" Bush as

2840-492: The bonds for the next thirty years. Federal monies would pay for the interest on the bonds, and the state monies would satisfy the principal. When the high-speed railroad was running, operating surpluses would also be applied to the debt. The high-speed rail project nearly came to fruition until Bush became governor in 1999 and ended the project his second day in office, stating that the venture posed too much risk and cost for Florida taxpayers. State legislators reacted by adding

2911-927: The changes and it became effective January 7, 2003; after this time, the commissioner of education became an appointed position and the FLDOE became the overall responsibility of the governor. The revised constitution also created a new Florida Board of Education with seven members (one of whom is the commissioner of education), appointed by the governor to oversee the Department of Education. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation - 930 positions Division of Blind Services - 300 positions Annual operating budget for all entities in 2012-13 - approximately $ 18.6 billion Oversee 28 locally governed public state colleges and 47 school district technical centers The department supports 2.6 million students, 3,800 public schools and 318,000 full-time staff and more than 180,000 teachers. The department manages

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2982-505: The concerns that led to the faculty of the University of Florida to deny Bush an honorary degree , while the University of Florida Alumni Association made him an honorary alumnus . As governor, Bush proposed and passed into law major reform to the medical liability system. The Florida Senate , a majority of which were Republican, opposed Bush's proposed caps on non-economic damages for injury and wrongful death . Bush insisted, and called

3053-477: The firm's profits. In 1983, Bush said of his move from Houston to Miami: "On the personal side, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were already living here." On the professional side, "I want to be very wealthy, and I'll be glad to tell you when I've accomplished that goal." During Bush's years in Miami, he was involved in many different entrepreneurial pursuits, including working for a mobile phone company, serving on

3124-488: The footsteps of his father and older brother George, at the age of 14 years in late 1967, Bush began attending high school at the Andover, Massachusetts boarding school Phillips Academy , Andover. Bush completed ninth grade in Houston, but was advised to repeat it at Andover, and was nearly expelled due to poor grades. Bush recreationally used marijuana , hashish , and cigarettes during his high school years, although he made

3195-469: The governor. The meetings of the Cabinet are chaired by the governor , currently Ron DeSantis , and include these officers: Each member is popularly elected statewide and carries one vote in executive decisions. In the case of a tie, the vote cast by the governor decides the outcome. The governor and Cabinet serves as the board of directors of several state agencies and during their bi-weekly meetings discuss agency business and make policy decisions for

3266-521: The incumbent Lawton Chiles . Bush ran again in 1998 and defeated lieutenant governor Buddy MacKay with 55 percent of the vote. He ended up succeeding MacKay after Chiles died in office 23 days shy of his retirement. He ran for reelection in 2002 , defeating Bill McBride and winning with 56 percent, to become Florida's first two-term Republican governor. During his eight years as governor, Bush pushed an ambitious Everglades conservation plan, supported caps for medical malpractice litigation, launched

3337-543: The legislature into five special sessions. The contentious debate even included a senior Bush staffer calling for primary opposition to Republicans who disagreed with the Governor on the reforms. Eventually, the legislature agreed to the caps and Bush's reforms passed. In 2014, after Bush left office, the Florida Supreme Court ruled the damage cap – the "centerpiece" of the 2003 legislation that Bush had pushed for – to be

3408-587: The new curriculum. In completing this initiative, Florida joined roughly half of US states that currently have a financial literacy component to their public education curriculum. The State of Florida requires students to take the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) each year in grades 3-10. Students' results from the FAST are compiled to generate a grade for each public school under former governor Jeb Bush 's "A+ Plan." Under this plan, public schools receive

3479-523: The office so its head was no longer elected and created a State Board of Education. In 2022, the Florida Department of Education rejected a record 41% of mathematics textbooks for non-compliance with the state's new B.E.S.T. Standards, which replace Common Core . The department claimed that the books rejected "incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies", including critical race theory (CRT), social–emotional learning (SEL), and Common Core. Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran stated that

3550-425: The previous two administrations; that "as Governor, I hold the phone as they walk into the death chamber, I give the last command before they pull the switch." And then he said: "You put on this ad, Jeb. You knew it was false. You even admitted it was false. . . I'm ashamed that you would use the agony of a mother and the loss of her daughter in an ad like this. It's demagoguery, pure and simple. Every paper in

3621-469: The project on the 2000 ballot as a constitutional amendment which was ultimately passed by voters. The amendment directed Bush and legislature to start building the railroad system by 2003. Bush vetoed funding for both the project and the board, and led a high-profile campaign to repeal the constitutional requirement that mandated the construction of the high-speed system. Voters repealed the constitutional amendment. Many who voted believed they were supporting

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3692-471: The racial and gender diversity of the state's judicial bench increased. However, according to the Wall Street Journal , Democrats criticized some of Bush's judicial appointments as being "overtly partisan and political". Bush often used the line-item veto to limit state spending. He exercised his veto to stop other legislation as well (such as a bill about " parenting coordinators "). In 1995,

3763-537: The recount. In 1998, Bush defeated his Democratic opponent, Lieutenant Governor Buddy MacKay, by over 418,000 votes (2,191,105; 55 percent to 1,773,054; 45 percent) to become Governor of Florida . He campaigned as a "consensus-building pragmatist". Simultaneously, his brother, George W. Bush won a re-election victory for a second term as Governor of Texas, and they became the first siblings to govern two states simultaneously since Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller governed New York and Arkansas from 1967 to 1971. In

3834-416: The reviews, revealing that the majority of reviewers—largely educators—found no evidence of the textbooks containing CRT, but more often flagged for containing SEL. Most of the accusations of prohibited content came from Chris Allen—a vice chair of a chapter of the conservative group Moms for Liberty —who accused textbooks of promoting CRT because of its inclusion of data surrounding an implicit bias test and

3905-411: The selection of a 13-member working group, including educators and curriculum developers, as well as the financial experts, Dr. David Phelps and Kim Kiyosaki , that would develop the state's new financial literacy curriculum. This curriculum was later completed in 2023, and received support from notable celebrities, including Mark Cuban and Matt Higgins , to get students excited about and engaged with

3976-442: The state also increased its reserves from US$ 1.3 billion to US$ 9.8 billion, which coincided with Florida receiving the highest possible bond rating for the first time. According to Kurt Wenner, VP of research at Florida Tax Watch, Bush was governor during one of the strongest revenue periods for the state of Florida, due in part to the boom in property values, so that revenue grew despite the tax cuts he implemented. Bush reduced

4047-491: The state has looked at that ad; everyone of them has said it is a new low. Your father had the record in the Willie Horton ad, but you've outdone that. And Jeb, I'll tell you how long you ran that ad, you ran that ad til' your polls started telling you you were taking a beating on it, and you still are taking a beating on it! It was a mistake, you shouldn't have done it," as whoops and applause rang out from Chiles partisans in

4118-409: The state is aiming to prevent "indoctrination or exposure to dangerous and divisive concepts in our classrooms". The state did not provide any specific examples of content that led to the books being rejected. The state later approved 19 previously-rejected books, after claiming that publishers "made fixes" that removed " woke content." In May 2022, the state published records disclosing the results of

4189-541: The state with Chiles saying that Bush didn't know what he was talking about. It was compared, including by a rankled Chiles, to the Willie Horton ad run on behalf of Bush's father in 1988. Bush further caused himself problems after being asked by reporters shortly after the ad started airing if signing death warrants immediately would have changed the outcome of the case by saying "No." With polls showing that voters had doubts about Bush's integrity, Chiles began pounding on

4260-476: The state's government workforce by 11 percent. In May 2006, as part of a US$ 448.7 million line-item veto of state funding, he cut a total of US$ 5.8 million in grants to public libraries , pilot projects for library homework help and web-based high-school texts, and funding for a joint-use library in Tampa. As Governor of Florida, Bush received grades of B in 2000, A in 2002, B in 2004, and C in 2006 from

4331-407: The state. Florida Cabinet The Florida Cabinet is a body of the government of Florida comprising the attorney general , the commissioner of agriculture , and the chief financial officer that engages in the collective governance of the state. Created following Reconstruction , when there had been a widespread distrust of the governors appointed by the federal government, the cabinet

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4402-475: The tax savings in the higher estimate came from the phasing out of the federal estate tax law implemented in 2001 under President George W. Bush , for a total tax savings of US$ 848 million per year; Jeb Bush did not push for a replacement with a state tax. The biggest reduction in taxes was due to the elimination of the state's Intangible Personal Property Tax, which applied to holdings of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and money market funds. During Bush's tenure,

4473-409: The theme that Bush could not be trusted. In every commercial, no matter what the subject, Chiles ended with the tagline: "That's why we can't trust Jeb Bush with our future." At the candidates last debate, the only one of the campaign held in prime time, moderator Tim Russert asked Bush how he could continue to justify running the ad that was "by your own admission, misleading." Bush responded that

4544-530: The train, though in fact a "yes" vote was to approve the repeal. FDOT spokesperson Nazih Haddah commented that "the rhetoric was inflammatory and misleading. It was really exaggerating tactics that were used to defeat this. The financing and the project were sound. It really squandered a great opportunity for this state." Other public officials stated that Bush's underhanded tactics were emblematic of his willingness to protect moneyed interests – including developers, energy producers and highway builders – who opposed

4615-429: Was appealed to the federal courts. On January 24, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, thus allowing the Florida court's ruling to stand. While Governor of Florida, Bush was opposed to abortion . He supported a law requiring parental notification for teen abortions and requested that the courts appoint a guardian for the unborn child of a mentally disabled woman who had been raped. Choose Life ,

4686-541: Was a fugitive living in Spain. The IMC fraud was one of the largest in Medicare history. Bush volunteered for his father's campaigns in 1980 and 1988 . During the 1980 campaign, Bush worked as an unpaid volunteer, and expressed great admiration for his father. In the mid-1980s, Bush got his start in Florida politics as the chairman of the Dade County Republican Party. Dade County played an important role in

4757-489: Was credited with initiating environmental improvements, such as conservation in the Everglades , supporting caps for medical malpractice litigation , moving medicaid recipients to private systems, and instituting reforms to the state education system, including the issuance of vouchers and promoting school choice . Bush was governor when his brother George won an intensely fought election recount in Florida to become president. Bush recused himself from any official role in

4828-439: Was founded by the family of James Baker . In November 1977, he was sent to Caracas , the capital of Venezuela , to open a new operation for the bank, where he served as branch manager and vice president. Following the 1980 presidential election, Bush and his family moved to Miami-Dade County, Florida . He took a job in real estate with Armando Codina , a 32-year-old Cuban immigrant and self-made millionaire. Codina had made

4899-435: Was on a feeding tube for over 15 years, and whose husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, wished to remove the tube. This move was opposed by Terri Schiavo's parents in the courts. Bush signed " Terri's Law ", legislation passed by the Florida legislature that authorized him, as governor, to keep Schiavo on life support . The law was ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court on September 23, 2004. That decision

4970-478: Was originally designed to decentralize authority from the governor . Thus, until January 7, 2003, Florida was unique among states in that its cabinet consisted of six independently elected members who each held an equal vote with the state governor in executive decisions. The original Cabinet positions were: In 1998, Florida voters voted to amend the Florida Constitution to shrink the Cabinet to its current three members. This amendment took effect in 2003, following

5041-519: Was six years old, the family relocated to the Tanglewood neighborhood of Houston , Texas . The nickname "Jeb" is composed of his initials J.E.B. (John Ellis Bush). He grew up with two younger brothers, Neil and Marvin , one younger sister, Dorothy , one older brother, George , who is seven years older, and, for the first eight months of his life, an older sister, Robin . Jeb Bush initially attended Grady Elementary School in Houston. Following in

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