Gov. Scott in South Florida to attack the Republican-controlled Legislature

SUNRISE – With the Florida legislative session in its final days, Gov. Rick Scott was far from the state capital Wednesday as he began an unusual tour of the state to pressure the Legislature — which is controlled by fellow Republicans.

Scott criticized legislators of both parties for ignoring his demands for money for the Visit Florida tourism promotion agency; money for Enterprise Florida, the agency that attempts to lure businesses to the state; and money to help pay for reconstruction of the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee.

“We do these things, it’ll be a much better place to live, and that’s what I want to do every day,” Scott said during his last stop of the day at Rick Case Kia in Sunrise.

The governor said people should contact their state representatives and senators on Thursday and Friday and tell them to support his spending priorities. Earlier, he made the same plea at stops in Lake Mary, Tampa and Riviera Beach. He didn’t emphasize his biggest potential weapon, the possibility of vetoing all or parts of the budget. “I’ll look at all my options,” he said.

The governor’s “Fighting for Florida’s Future” tour is aimed at reversing budget decisions made by Republican legislative leaders.

“It’s unusual and unorthodox, just like much of the governor’s style,” said Sean Foreman, a political scientist at Barry University.

Foreman said Scott’s anti-Tallahassee tour “demonstrates just how much things have devolved in Tallahassee in recent years.” Scott has rarely shown much interest in cultivating the kind of relationships that help make things run smoothly in the capital city. “There have been some attempts to play within the system, but mostly Governor Scott is willing to color outside the lines and chart a new course.”

Paula Dockery, a former Republican state legislator from Lakeland who now writes a syndicated political column, was even more direct. “This is so ridiculous (and self-serving). These are members of his own party and after 7 years in office, Scott still doesn't know how to work WITH the Legislature,” Dockery said Wednesday in a Facebook post.

Scott has spent much of the past 10 days far away from the action in Tallahassee. He spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week on a trade mission to Argentina. On Friday, he traveled to Atlanta to speak at the National Rifle Association Convention, where he sharply criticized U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., whom Scott is widely expected to challenge in next year’s election.

Speaking to reporters after the Sunrise appearance, Scott said the trip to Argentina benefited the state. “You’ve got to go there when you have the opportunity,” he said. He didn’t address the Atlanta appearance before an important Republican constituency.

Asked if personal involvement might have prevented the Legislature from thumbing its nose at him, Scott said, “I’m going to keep working every day. The key is going to be all of you calling your House and Senate members.”

The fight between the governor and Legislature involves politics and policy.

• Scott is fighting to stay relevant and appear relevant as he contemplates a challenge to Nelson. Scott can’t run for re-election next year because of term limits.

Scott said Wednesday he didn’t have a timetable for any announcements, and noted he didn’t enter the 2010 race for governor until the year of the election

David Bergstein, press secretary for the campaign organization for U.S. Senate Democrats, said in a statement that Scott’s tour shows he’s “a typical Tallahassee politician who is only ever looking out for himself.”

• The spending Scott wants for Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida is controversial.

Cuts to the economic development and tourism promotion agencies have been championed by House Speaker Richard Corcoran, a Republican who regards spending in those areas as corporate welfare. Free-market oriented Republicans don’t think the government should be in the business of picking economic winners and losers, and subsidizing their choices with tax money.

“Making cuts to wasteful spending and killing corporate welfare will help the Legislature pass a balanced budget that focuses on real priorities for Floridians. Enterprise Florida has failed in their mission and for too long has puts the Legislature in a compromising position of funding a crony program that is outside the scope of the core functions of government,” Chris Hudson, state director of Americans for Prosperity said by email.

In Sunrise, Scott was surrounded by people who want those agencies funded, including Case, the owner of multiple automobile dealerships; Bob Swindell, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, Broward’s economic development agency; and Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan, who is a Democrat.

Scott wants $100 million for Visit Florida; a legislative budget agreement over the weekend allocated $25 million. Scott wants $100 million for Enterprise Florida; the Legislature’s number was zero. The governor also wants $200 million for the dike; the Legislature allocated nothing.

Scott said money spent on the business subsidies and on tourism promotion more than pays for itself through the resulting economic activity and Swindell mocked the thinking from legislators who believe the state can prosper despite cutting Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida. Under that logic, he said, “then Rick and Rita Case should stop advertising.”

Case said the money Scott is seeking is needed to bring businesses and tourists to the state. “We’ve got to market this state like there’s nobody coming at all. And when that happens we’re going to continue our growth. If we stop doing that, we’re in big trouble in the state of Florida.”

Scott’s pitch: “This is a big deal. We have the chance. We have just a few days left in the session. The budget won’t be finished until Friday and then voted on Monday. Everybody needs to call their House and Senate members. It’s surprising to me that they don’t understand right now the value of marketing our state. We’ve got to keep marketing our state to get more tourists. It’s one out of every six jobs in our state. It’s really the lifeblood of our state. On top of that we’ve got to keep doing economic development. We’ve got to recruit these companies.”

Scott’s tour continues on Thursday and Friday in Pensacola, Panama City, Naples, Sarasota, Jacksonville and on the Space Coast.