Gov. Rick Scott expounded a bit on his plans for cutting the budget in an interview published today by the Wall Street Journal, saying he expects to get to $5 billion in cuts.
While most of what he said he has said before, he did explain a little further which regulatory functions of the state he thinks should be eliminated – those that are duplicative.
“If it’s something that the federal government is already regulating or if it’s something the county is already regulating whatever, why would you need that?” Scott asks.
Permits for development will be his biggest target for regulatory review, Scott said, citing large numbers of permits needed by developers.
Scott says he’ll get to $3.6 billion in cuts to close the budget gap, plus cut more to afford tax cuts to the tune of $2 billion, through a line-by-line look at spending.
“You go through every agency and look where you can save the money,” Scott said. “What agency should be regulating drugs and things like that? Well, I think the agency that’s already regulating a whole lot of other things….It’s just piece by piece, and you add it up and it’s pretty big dollar.”
Scott plans to discuss more of his budget proposals at a manufacturing plant in Tampa today.
The News Service of Florida
