Ex-Sen. Dockery: Florida GOP is 'scared of Charlie Crist'

Former Republican state Sen. Paula Dockery of Lakeland says it was "kind of silly" and "dumb" that the Republican Party of Florida mounted a campaign urging that Democratic candidate for governor Nan Rich be given speaking time at last weekend's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Hollywood.

Dockery said that by promoting Nan Rich, Republicans showed their true colors.

"It looks like they're scared of Charlie Crist," Dockery said on the weekly public affairs program Florida This Week on WEDU-Channel 3 in Tampa. "They want to pump up Nan Rich, who was not getting much traction on her own ... I think it just sends the message that they're worried about Charlie Crist and it was kind of a dumb thing."...

Kentucky's governor fires back at Scott's job-poaching efforts

Gov. Rick Scott is targeting yet another state in his effort to poach out-of-state jobs -- and this time the other governor is firing back.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, took issue with Scott's characterization of the Bluegrass State as a land of high taxes and anti-business regulation.

"Gov. Scott's description of the business climate in Kentucky is so far from the existing reality that one wonders whether he's had too much of that Florida sun (and the high property taxes that go with it)," Beshear said in a statement released Tuesday....

Scott improving in new poll, but still trails Crist by 10 points

Gov. Rick Scott's poll numbers are showing signs of progress, but he would still lose to former Gov. Charlie Crist by 10 points if the 2014 election were held today, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

Still one of America's least popular governors, Scott trails Crist 47 percent to 37 percent in a face-off between the Republican governor and his possible now-Democratic rival.

But the poll contains a glimmer of hope for Scott: Voters are closely divided in their assessment of his job performance, with 43 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving. That's a significant improvement over the previous Quinnipiac poll in March, when 36 percent of voters approved of Scott's performance and 49 percent disapproved....

Remembering this day in Rick Scott history

Florida Republicans are having a lot of fun pointing out the contradictions in Charlie Crist's record with a feature called "This Day in CRIST-ory," with a logo that resembles the History Channel. But this day, June 17, is historic for a very different reason.

It was on this day in 2010, three years ago, that Rick Scott walked into the state Division of Elections in Tallahassee, wrote a check and got his name on the Republican primary ballot for governor of Florida. It was also the first time Scott held a press conference, and his performance is memorable for a lot of reasons. The Buzz recently reviewed the videotape, courtesy of our media partners at BayNews 9....

Gov. Rick Scott going to Paris, looking for jobs to bring back to Fla.

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott heads overseas again today, this time to Paris as the leader of a trade mission aimed at bringing more aerospace jobs to Florida.

It's Scott's ninth overseas trade mission as governor and his second in recent weeks. He went to Santiago, Chile, last month.

The main event on the four-day trip to France is the 50th International Paris Air Show, described by state officials as the world's largest exhibition combining defense, space and aerospace....

Gov. Scott announces deal to bring 3,000 Amazon jobs to Florida

Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday announced a deal with online retail giant Amazon to bring 3,000 jobs to Florida by the end of 2016.

The company is prepared to spend more than $300 million on new warehouses, The Associated Press reported. Earlier, Scott had nixed a deal to bring Amazon to Florida out of concerns that such a deal would result in higher taxes for Floridians because it would make online purchases through Amazon subject to Florida sales tax, which they are not now....

Wavering Gov. Scott won't take stand on federal immigration bill

Gov. Rick Scott recently angered some Hispanics when he vetoed a bill that would have allowed children of immigrants to get temporary Florida driver licenses, even if they didn't have all of the necessary documents. Scott said he vetoed the bill because it was based on a policy change by President Obama, not a specific act of Congress -- a move that could cost him support among Hispanic voters in Florida in 2014....

Gov. Rick Scott signs 4 bills, vetoes 3 others

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott signed four more bills into law Wednesday and vetoed three others.

Scott vetoed a tax bill that included an amendment he opposed dealing with a dispute in Key West between a private landowner and the Monroe County property appraiser. The bill (SB 354) was intended to save Southeast Housing, a British company, millions of dollars, by declaring certain military property exempt from property taxes retroactive to 2007....

Gov. Scott signs four bills into law, vetoes three others

Gov. Rick Scott signed four more bills into law Wednesday and vetoed three others.

Scott vetoed a tax bill that included an amendment he opposed dealing with a dispute in Key West between a private landowner and the Monroe County property appraiser. The bill (SB 354) was intended to save Southeast Housing, a British company, millions of dollars, by declaring certain military property exempt from property taxes retroactive to 2007....

Crist will rally Democratic women in Scott's hometown of Naples

Charlie Crist's next step in his effort to to connect with grass-roots Democrats comes on Saturday morning in Gov. Rick Scott's hometown of Naples.

Crist is the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the Democratic Women's Club of Collier County. The club's web site describes Crist as "very charismatic and exciting." A photo of Crist's face on the site is juxtaposed next to one of Scott, showing him asking in a cartoon-line balloon, "Why is everybody always pickin' on me?"...

Florida prison system owes $600,000 in back pay or time off to 710 employees

TALLAHASSEE — Florida's prison system, grappling with a chronic budget deficit, must give $600,000 in money or extra time off to hundreds of workers who were not paid while they were on duty.

Ending months of protracted negotiations, the Department of Corrections agreed with the U.S. Department of Labor to provide back pay or compensatory time to 710 correctional officers at the state's largest and oldest prison, Union Correctional in Raiford....