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Editorial: Scott goes too fast and easy on budget vetoes

 
Just four days after the Florida Legislature approved the state budget and long before he formally receives it, the governor abruptly released $256 million in planned vetoes.
Just four days after the Florida Legislature approved the state budget and long before he formally receives it, the governor abruptly released $256 million in planned vetoes.
Published March 16, 2016

If there remained any doubts that Gov. Rick Scott cares more about his image than his responsibilities, he erased them Tuesday. Just four days after the Florida Legislature approved the state budget and long before he formally receives it, the governor abruptly released $256 million in planned vetoes. It is a peculiar pre-emptive strike that suggests Scott wants to declare victory and avoid another confrontation with Republican lawmakers rather than carefully review the $82.3 billion spending plan, and he ought to take another crack at it.

This is not the executive branch acting as a check on the excesses of the legislative branch. Scott's veto list is $205 million less than the record $461 million he voted last year. Take away his veto of a $55 million sweep of an economic development trust fund, and the total drops to just $201 million. And that's after legislative leaders jammed nearly $100 million in last-minute projects into the final budget after secret negotiations. So much for rooting out unnecessary spending or projects that did not receive any public scrutiny.

Of course, the worthiness of local and regional projects is often in the eye of the beholder. Scott plans to veto $500,000 for the Pinellas Education Foundation to help pay for a new career planning program for high school students, but he is prepared to let stand $500,000 for a residency program for the Florida Orchestra that doubled in size at the last minute. One of the biggest items on the governor's veto list is $11 million for a planned Pasco-Hernando State College performing arts center — even though it has previously received state money. Surely Scott's decision has nothing to do with House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, who supports the project but ensured not a nickel was spent on the governor's job incentive program. It probably also is a coincidence that Scott plans to veto $3 million Corcoran backed for a Pasco County flood prevention project.

The situation is just as curious in Hillsborough. Last year, Scott vetoed $2 million for the Tampa Innovation Alliance to develop a master plan for the area around the University of South Florida. This year, the governor is prepared to let $1.25 million for the alliance become law.

Perhaps Scott has good reasons for specific vetoes, limiting the total and letting other local projects of questionable value go. He didn't explain himself. Of course, he also doesn't have the state budget formally in his possession, so a detailed explanation might be too much to expect. What is clear is Scott wanted to get this off his plate quickly and with little public attention, releasing the surprise veto list on the afternoon of the Florida primary election.

The reality is while Scott went on a victory tour Monday and claimed big successes in his budget statement Tuesday, this legislative session was a disaster for the governor. He did not get $250 million he sought for his job incentive program despite coercing support from mayors and other local officials. He did not get his $1 billion in tax cuts, no matter how he spins it now. He did not get approval of an expanded gambling deal he negotiated with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Republican-controlled Legislature ignored the Republican governor who is just nearing the halfway point of his second term, and it threatened to override budget vetoes if he used the budget knife as often as he did last year.

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Now most lawmakers can hit the campaign trail bragging about local projects they brought home. The governor can avoid another fight and create his own reality. And the losers are Florida taxpayers who expected more openness and accountability regarding how their money is spent.