Guest Editorial:
Scott’s speech all about U.S. Senate bid.
Before beginning his final State of the State Address on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott said the event was “a little different than the first one.”
Indeed. Seven years ago, Scott was the outsider who won despite early hostility from the state’s Republican establishment. Today, Scott is like so many others in Tallahassee: focused on higher office and aligning his words and proposals to a potential campaign, not the state’s immediate needs.
On Tuesday, Scott talked much more about the political and economic crisis in Venezuela than he talked about the opioid crisis in Florida. If Scott runs for the U.S. Senate this year as expected, he wants to look tougher on the left-wing government of Nicolas Maduro than incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson . ...
Though the governor said Florida has “come back even stronger” from Hurricane Irma, he said nothing about increased storm preparedness and response. He did not mention the property-insurance crisis that Irma has made worse. And, of course, he did not mention climate change and rising seas that make hurricanes more powerful and storm surge more damaging.
Scott did mention his two trips to Puerto Rico to “help in any way I could” and how Florida should be “the most welcoming state” for Hurricane Maria refugees from that island. They could be a big factor in this year’s elections. Scott did not mention that the administration of his “friend,” President Trump, has done a terrible job of restoring power to Puerto Rico . ...
Scott continued to portray himself as the savior of Florida’s economy. He noted the 1.5 million jobs created since he took office after the worst of the Great Recession had passed and the Obama Recovery was about to begin. You can’t beat timing . ...
Scott included his support for a constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds vote in the Legislature to raise taxes and, presumably, fees. The idea is mostly symbolic. The Legislature almost never raises taxes. During the recession, though, legislators raised vehicle fees to help balance the budget. The Legislature has reduced those fees as times have gotten better. Scott wants to lower them more . ...
But in proposing a budget of $87.4 billion — a $5 billion increase — Scott plays his own financial games. The governor, who was a budget-cutter when his priority was Tea Party voters, finds much of that “new” money by raiding trust funds, including the fund meant to help supply affordable housing.
And his call for “historic” education spending depends on rising local property taxes, in most cases by more than property owners would save from lower vehicle registration fees.
If Scott gave a campaign speech disguised as a session-opening address, so did House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes.
Corcoran’s priority is “sanctuary cities,” where local officials supposedly make it hard for federal officials to arrest unauthorized immigrants. Really? That’s the most important issue facing Florida?
If Corcoran runs for governor, as expected, he will need an issue to set him apart from Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis in the GOP primary. Immigration could be that issue. Putnam must be noticing. He recently accused Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum of wanting to make Florida a “sanctuary state,” a claim PolitiFact called “Half True.”
The session opened amid new revelations about what critics call Tallahassee’s “culture of sex” — harassment or consensual. With the capital’s image so bad, you’d hope the Legislature and the governor could forget about campaigning long enough to worry about real priorities . ...