Turns out that in an election year, Gov. Rick Scott doesn't
mind spending taxpayer money. The governor on Monday signed into law the
largest state budget ever while vetoing the smallest amount of spending since
taking office. That leaves in place hundreds of millions in legislative special
projects, many of which never received a full public vetting. This is a budget
grounded more in Scott's re-election campaign than in his professed fiscal
conservatism.
In a departure from previous years, Scott offered no public explanation about why he vetoed 110 projects totalling just $69 million. He did not hold a public ceremony to sign the $77.1 billion budget — $3 billion bigger than just a year ago. His office instead churned out news releases trumpeting the "It's Your Money Tax Cut Budget," a reference to $500 million in tax cuts.
Scott and Republican legislators have boasted the 2014-15
budget represents record spending on education. There are new investments, like
a combined $30 million for facilities for the University of South Florida,
including for the USF St. Petersburg business college, the USF Heart Health
Institute and the USF Morsani medical school. But state universities haven't
made their way back from recent budget cuts even as Scott insisted tuition stay
flat. And while public schools will spend more per student than when Scott took
office, it is still less than the record from 2007-08, and construction money
is still siphoned off to privately run charter schools.
A true fiscal conservative would have insisted lawmakers
first adequately fund essentials like education before indulging in so much
hometown cooking. Rather than use his veto pen to back up his rhetoric, Scott
avoided making enemies as he hits the campaign trail.
Read the full editorial here.