Despite his bashing of the president during the campaign, Scott has set himself an Obama-ambitious agenda. In addition to his job-creation promise, he has vowed to phase out corporate income tax, cut property taxes by 19 percent, reduce the state work force by five percent, expand public school voucher programs, and make business-friendly changes to the civil justice system. He also wants to sell the governor's official jet.

Unlike his top-down corporate days, Scott cannot accomplish his agenda alone. He needs the support of a majority of his fellow elected officials. However, as Gary Fineout reports in his column on page 12, a Republican governor and Republican-heavy Legislature does not necessarily guarantee a buddy-system at the Capitol. The leaders in the House and Senate proved that during the November Special Session. As Jon Mills, a former Democratic speaker of the House during Gov. Bob Martinez's tenure, told the Miami Herald in a recent interview, "Legislators are cognizant they are representing the whole state — people who agree with them and those who don't agree with them. And all those folks have to run again."

As insurance professionals, we also "represent" a variety of interests — carriers, insureds, wholesalers, employees, employers, the entire spectrum of Florida's human and corporate population. Although many in our industry strongly supported Alex Sink, the reality is that we will have Scott leading our state come January. For an industry perspective on this, I encourage you to read the Opinion piece by Florida Insurance Council President Cecil Pearce on page 19. He says, in essence, that the election is over, and the insurance industry is ready to "get to work."

Scott must deliver his first budget on Feb. 4, and the Legislature convenes on March 8. Tick-tock.