On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott began a week-long “victory tour” to tout the Legislature’s tax and fee cuts, but Democrats blasted the governor while highlighting the wrong priorities and missed opportunities of the legislative session.
Scott has planned stops in Jacksonville today, and will visit over the next few says, Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers, Miami, West Palm Beach, Panama City and Gainesville. He plans to tout the $500 million in cuts, the centerpiece of which is a nearly $400 million rollback in auto registration fees that will kick in this fall.
But, Florida Democratic Party Vice Chair Annette Taddeo said, that although Scott calls his education budget ‘historic’ it’s not even back to the 2007 per-pupil funding levels and Bright Futures continues to be cut to the bone.
“Bills to expand opportunity did not even get a vote this session, while special interests got special treatment and taxpayer handouts,” said Taddeo, in a statement. “Florida’s women, seniors, students, and middle class deserved better – and for Rick Scott to go on a victory tour is just insulting to those left behind.”
Justin Spiller, FDP Vice Chair, also called out Scott and the GOP for their refusal to hear bills that would raise the minimum way or expand access to affordable health care.
“Rick Scott is here in Jacksonville today to talk about some supposed victories, but these ‘victories’ are just as phony as his misleading TV ads. Rick Scott and the Republicans had many chances to help expand opportunity for the middle class, and they failed,” he said. “Instead, they looked out for the biggest special interests and the wealthiest corporations while refusing to even hear bills that would raise the minimum wage or expand access to affordable health care.”
“Expanding access to health care would help the more than 40,000 uninsured military veterans in Florida. Rick Scott should know better than to take his reelection campaign into Jacksonville when this city has thousands of veterans who aren’t able to access the care they need,” Spiller added.
