Gov. Rick Scott late on Wednesday vetoed the controversial alimony bill, but signed off on ethics and campaign finance bills less than an hour after the Legislature gave the nod to one of his top priorities – a sales tax exemption for manufacturing equipment purchases – leading many to speculate there was a quid pro quo.
The proposed alimony bill Scott vetoed would have imposed limits on the amount of alimony and the length of time one would receive financial support from an ex-spouse. The measure would also have made it more difficult to collect alimony if marriages were of an 11 year duration or less and would require both parents to split custody evenly between divorcing parents.
In vetoing the bill, Scott wrote alimony, “represents an important remedy for our judiciary to use in providing support to families as they adjust to changes in life circumstances. As a husband, father and grandfather, I understand the vital importance of family.”
Scott elaborated he couldn’t support this legislation because, “it applies retroactively and thus tampers with the settled economic expectations of many Floridians who have experienced divorce. The retroactive adjustment of alimony could result in unfair, unanticipated results.”
The ethics and campaign finance bills – SB 2 and HB 569 – signed by Scott were top priorities for House Speaker Will Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel) and Senate President Don Gaetz (R-Niceville), according to news reports.
The bills get rid of the controversial “committees of continuous existence,” or CCE’s and provides for the creation of new political committees that can accept unlimited amounts of campaign contributions. It also which raises the limits on individual contributions significantly from the current $500 to $3,000 for statewide candidates and $1,000 for everyone else.
Also, ethics bill SB 2, imposes new rules on conflicts of interest, increases the ability for the Ethics Commission to collect fines that are owed, bars legislators from leaving office and going to work as Tallahassee lobbyists, loosens rules on financial disclosure deadlines, and opens the door to legislators who want to shield their assets in a blind trust.
Many have suggested the speed with which Scott signed off on the ethics and campaign finance bills and vetoed the alimony bill, following the Legislature’s passage of the 96-page bill sales tax exemption for manufacturing equipment purchases bill (HB 7007), was no accident.
Speaker Weatherford refused to allow debate or questions on this bill, as it sped through the House, tampabay.com reported.
“The governor never said it was a quid pro quo,” Weatherford told reporters afterward. “He told us it was important to him. I think the word he utilized was ‘goodwill.’ ”
