The Fine Print

Alex Sink says this is "probably the smartest" thing Rick Scott has done while governor

On the campaign trail, Gov. Rick Scott accused his Democratic rival of allowing the state’s pension fund to lose billions when she was in office.

 One hard-hitting television ad said that Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink had allowed the state to invest in “risky investments” and a spokesman even called her oversight of the retirement fund for teachers, state workers and county employees a “disaster.”

“You have been a failed fiscal watchdog,’’ Scott told Sink during one of their televised debates.

But in the two-and-a-half months since Scott became governor he has made no sweeping changes in the agency that oversees the pension fund – or pushed to change any of the investment policies now in place. He’s left in place Ash Williams, the executive director of the State Board of Administration, the agency that runs the state pension plan.

The target of his attacks says Scott may have learned after the election that things were better than he suggested.

“Maybe he’s seen the light and recognized we definitely have one of the top five pension funds in the country,’’ Sink said.

Sink added that his decision so far to not make any changes is “probably the smartest thing he’s done for now.”

Read the story here at the Herald-Tribune.

Did harsh campaign for governor turn off voters? Report says maybe.

The highly charged and negative campaign for governor might have turned off a higher number of voters this past year.

Or so suggests a new state report drawn up by the Florida Division of Elections.

The report - which is sent to the Florida Legislature after every major election - shows that the number of voters who did not cast a "valid" vote in November nearly doubled from four years ago, surging from .97 percent in 2006 to 1.83 percent overall. This number includes people who wrote down the wrong name on the ballot, left the ballot blank, or cast a vote for more than one candidate.

The biggest reason for the jump was because voters skipped the race between Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and left the ballot blank.

You can read more about it here at the Florida Tribune.

Here's a copy of the report: Download Overvote Undervote report

Does Rick Scott has a stimulus problem?

Here's what Gov. Rick Scott said last summer when it comes to the federal stimulus:

"It's not free money,'' Scott told reporters during a campaign bus trip across North Florida.

Scott, who was then a candidate running against Attorney General Bill McCollum, also said at that time that he would not have balanced the state budget with any money from the controversial federal stimulus package.

"I would have figured out how to balance the budget without it," Scott said. "We have to live within our means, governments have to live within their means. There’s a day of reckoning."

Scott also said then that "stimulus spending didn't help us."

Let's flash forward to now. Scott last week signed a sweeping executive order that froze new rules - and suspended for up to 90 days any contract that is worth more than $1 million.

None of the contracts can go forward until the newly created Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform reviews them. Some of the contracts - including a $450 million sole source contract with Bank of America - have been approved. The Scott administration has also let loose nearly $90 million worth of road-building projects.

But some of the road projects - and just as importantly - some of the pending contracts were funded with federal stimulus dollars.

Example: Scott has held up nearly $117 million worth of contracts that would take stimulus money and give it local groups around the state in order to do weatherization grants for low-income families. This is stimulus money that is intended to be used to help people lower their utility bills while also helping create jobs. The contracts now held up would go to organizations stretching across the state from Miami-Dade County to Orange County to Northeast Florida to Bay County. This program came under a little bit of scrutiny as some wondered why stimulus money was going to help people lower air-conditioning bills instead of helping their homes withstand winter weather. But information provided to Scott's office contends that the weatherization grants have created or saved 800 jobs as of the final quarter of 2010.

When asked about Scott's past comments regarding the stimulus, Brian Burgess, a spokesman for the governor said in an e-mail that this does not mean that the governor would halt the pending contracts. He said that the governor "thought it was wrong to use federal stimulus dollars (i.e. one time cash grants) to balance the state budget."

UPDATE: The Scott administration on early Friday evening announced it had approved a whole long list of contracts, including the contracts for weatherization grants that were funded with federal stimulus dollars.

 

 

 

Rick Scott's math problems

During his campaign for governor Rick Scott sharply attacked Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink for some of her budget proposals and said that they would be too expensive. Scott then quipped that Sink was practicing "Obama math." That led to Sink's own rejoinder that she didn't know what Obama math was even though she had been a math major at Wake Forest University.

In the next few weeks, Scott, however, will have to show how his math adds up.

Scott must hand over his own budget recommendations to the Florida Legislature by Feb. 4 - or about a month before the 2011 session. The tight time schedule is one of the reasons that many people in Gov. Charlie Crist's budget office were given until next June to resign. Scott's team - led by Donna Arduin, the budget chief for former Gov. Jeb Bush - have already started working furiously on the proposal. Arduin has been given her own office on the 17th floor of the Capitol to help with the effort.

This budget proposal could be the key in determining how successful Scott will be during his first year in office. And it will be interesting to see how Scott will accomplish the budget goals he outlined during his campaign.

Math problem No. 1: Scott says in his "7-7-7" jobs plan that he could save nearly $1.4 billion by requiring employees to start contributing for their own pensions (pg. 12). But as explained in this story in the Herald-Tribune the state of Florida is only paying slightly less than $700 million now on behalf of its employees. The rest of the money flowing into the Florida Retirement System actually comes from counties, school districts, sheriffs and other local governments.

So how does Scott make up the difference? One possible explanation is that he will use employee contributions from school districts - namely teachers - to help pay for the property tax cut he also wants to offer. Scott has proposed slashing school property taxes by 19 percent, but he says he would do it without cutting funding to education. So if you ask teachers to start paying for their own pensions, which would reduce their salary, is that, or is that not, a cut?

When pushed this week to explain how Scott planned to get $1.4 billion in savings, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll said it would be revealed in Scott's budget plan. "Stay tuned,'' she said.

Math problem No. 2: Scott's team has said that the governor-elect plans to aggressively move ahead with his school reform proposals in the coming year. Scott's plan got some attention at the time he announced it, but there was plenty of coverage following his appearance Thursday at a rally of groups who help provide corporate income tax scholarships -  or "vouchers" - to low-income families. Scott again repeated his call for offering every student in Florida the opportunity of going to the school of their choice.

It has been previously noted that Scott wants to cut the corporate income tax while potentially expanding the scholarships, which are funded to a large extent by the tax. There's also legal implications to Scott's plan that may not be solved without a constitutional amendment given past Supreme Court rulings on vouchers.

But on top of that there remains the practical question of how much it would cost to expand vouchers and virtual education beyond current use. (Although it's important to remember that legislators this past year authorized the expansion of the one of the state's main voucher programs.) There will be some argument that you can save money by moving children out of public schools into private ones - but that depends on how much funding is authorized and whether or not the state plans to pick up the complete cost or merely subsidize part of it. Plus, there is the cost of helping pay for students already in private schools or students who are home schooled. The latest figures from the Department of Education show more than 62,000 children are home-schooled and more than 313,000 are in private schools.

Math problem No. 3: The existing budget shortfall - which is not a "deficit" - is now moving ever higher than previously forecast. This week brought news of higher than expected expenditures in Medicaid, lower property tax values for schools (although that dropped the cost of Scott's property tax cut plan slightly) and lower-than-anticipated sales tax collections over the last three months. Combined this pushes the expected budget shortfall to more than $3 billion.

Some of the projected shortfall is due to the loss of federal stimulus funds and continued growth in Medicaid but the shortfall is also dependent on legislative action. Lawmakers can whittle down this shortfall if they decide to forego some expenses such as buying environmentally-sensitive land or refusing to maintain student funding at current levels. Scott has suggested his own ways to deal with the budget shortfall, including cuts in the state prison system and the elimination of 5 percent of the state workforce (which is already the leanest and cheapest in the nation according to a new report from the Department of Management Services.)

Still Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, was cautious when asked this week how he plans to fill the shortfall while at the same time going along with Scott's plan to cut property taxes and corporate income taxes. Alexander said one big place to look for savings will be Medicaid. Legislative leaders and Scott agree on making changes to the health care program, although there remains questions as to whether or not the federal government would sign off on them.

But then Alexander said that while he would like to put money back into Floridians pockets he said it won't be an easy task to balance the budget, saying that lawmakers have already made a lot of cuts the last few years. He also then made sure to say that the campaign is over and now it's time to govern.

"I would hope that all of us take a deep breath and move away from campaign rhetoric and start focusing on how do we make the best decisions possible to move our state forward," Alexander said.

 

 

Rick Scott's long list of challenges

A beaming Governor-elect Rick Scott and his wife, Ann, showed up at the governor’s mansion on Monday night where they joined Gov. Charlie Crist and First Lady Carole Crist for a symbolic menorah lighting ceremony.

Scott helped 11-year-old Mendy Oirechman light the candles of a large menorah that was placed up against one of the front windows and he later held hands with Crist as they briefly danced with some of the rabbis in attendance.

The ceremony, which was started under former Gov. Jeb Bush, was a tangible sign of some of the many social responsibilities that come with being governor. But it also could be seen as a prelude of many of the large and small challenges that will confront Scott once he is sworn into office in early January.

During the half-hour ceremony, he was reminded of Florida’s insurance problems when he was asked whether he planned to follow Crist’s footsteps. Crist went to Jerusalem and placed a prayer in the Wailing Wall where he asked God to spare Florida from hurricanes.  Rabbi Schneur Z. Oirechman politely asked whether or not the mezuzah that now sits on the door jamb into Crist’s office would remain once Scott becomes governor. Crist back in 2007 took some heat from groups such as the ACLU for placing the religious symbol in his office.

But there are many other large challenges that are looming for the rookie governor whether it's the state budget mess, the dismal economy, Medicaid and even the brewing leadership battle for the Republican Party of Florida.

The complete rundown on Scott's challenges can be found here at the Florida Tribune.

Lesson No. 1 from 2010: "It's all about the base."

Current Republican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher had a mantra that he used over and over again during the 2002 re-election campaign of Jeb Bush.

"It's all about the base,'' Thrasher would say and then smile. "Remember, it's all about the base."

If there is any lesson about 2010 for Florida Democrats that may indeed be it.

For the last four gubernatorial cycles, Democrats have been unable to field the type of candidate who would inspire their base - from teachers, union workers, African-Americans or you name it - to defeat the Republican candidate on the ballot.

Alex Sink, who despite the GOP attacks on her, was actually a cautious and at times moderate politician. Sink, who went out of her way to not be seen on President Barack Obama, now joins a list of other middle-of-the road Democrats who could not find a path to victory.

That list includes her husband, Bill McBride, who was embraced eight years ago on the grounds that he would be more electable than Janet Reno, despite her strong following in South Florida. The feeling among many Democratic leaders was that Reno was too liberal and would lose to Bush.

Two months ago Steve Schale, the Democratic operative who led Obama's successful effort in Florida in 2008, contended that the 600,000 edge in voter registration between Democrats and Republicans was enough to provide a wall to an impending GOP tide. That's why it made sense, he argued, to have a candidate who could appeal to the independent voters of the state.

Democrats also made a decision this campaign cycle to attack Republicans over their series of financial scandals - including the indictments of Ray Sansom and Jim Greer - as opposed to either focusing on the economy or on wedge issues that could have helped with the Democratic base.

Well, you can see the result: A sweep in the Cabinet, a veto-proof majority in the Florida Legislature and the election of Rick Scott, a candidate who was initially deemed unelectable by many members of the Republican establishment.

Overall, turnout on Tuesday was greater than it was four years ago. More than 5.3 million votes were cast compared to 4.88 million in the race that Jim Davis lost to Charlie Crist.

Sink will go down as a candidate who did better than the three previous candidates for governor. And did get a higher number of votes in several Democratic leaning counties including Broward. She also did exceptionally well in Miami-Dade where in the closing days she ran a hard-hitting radio ad going after Scott on his immigration policy.

But take a closer look: She did no better than Davis did in Palm Beach County. The presence of Rod Smith, a Gainesville prosecutor and another moderate, only added about 5,000 votes in Democratic-leaning Alachua County.

Now take a look at Scott's numbers: He did better in GOP strongholds then Crist did back in 2006, such as Bay, Brevard, Collier, Escambia, and Lee. Scott also picked up nearly 17,000 more votes in Miami-Dade County than Crist did four years earlier.

So Lesson No. 1 again - it's all about the base.

 

 

Florida's wild expensive election could have big stakes

Florida's bitter, expensive and wild election season will finally lurch to a close on Tuesday.

Voters, besieged by a barrage of political ads, could be forgiven for thinking that the main issues are Medicare fraud, lockstep devotion to President Barack Obama and reckless plans to raise taxes.

But the election's impact on a state with a million residents out of work and hundreds of thousands of homes in foreclosure looms far more prominently than all that campaign vitriol filling airwaves and mailboxes.

"I think that Florida is at a crossroads and so is our country, and the Florida election can make a determination of the future of America," said Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an independent for U.S. Senate.

Crist's decision to leave office after just one term to run for a Senate seat helped spark a frenzied run for governor and marked the first time in more than 100 years that both the governor and all the seats on the Cabinet were open at the same time.

Democrats hope to win back the governor's mansion after 12 years of Republican control and begin to chip away at GOP dominance of the Florida Legislature.

"There's an opportunity here in this election to bring some balance back," said Karen Thurman, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party.

Florida voters could help decide the direction of the country and the state. They could help Republicans seize the U.S. House, give the Legislature a veto-proof majority, or pass amendments that could alter the state's political makeup.

A longer look at Florida's high-stakes election can be found here.

Legislator says Scott will help make abortion nearly illegal in Florida

A state legislator claims in a new message to supporters that Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott has pledged, if elected, to throw his support behind a bill that would make abortion illegal in Florida in nearly all instances, including rape and incest.

An e-mail sent out by Rep. Charles Van Zant this week urges his supporters to vote for Scott because he personally promised to sign into law the "Florida Right to Life Act." Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights, added that "Scott pledged that he would assist in advancing the Florida for Life Act through both Florida's House and Senate."

Van Zant, a minister and an architect, added in his e-mail that he had a follow-up conversation with Scott about whether the Naples businessman would make abortion illegal in Florida: "He immediately said 'Yes, that's what I believe and that's what I will do.' He telephoned me last week to assure me that he would keep this issue before our state government," Van Zant added.

Asked directly whether Van Zant's e-mail was accurate, Scott campaign spokesman Travis Burk said that "Rick Scott's pro-life position has not changed." Scott has in the past said he is opposed to abortion but does support it for the life of the mother as well as victims of rape and incest.

The Scott campaign refused to answer other questions about the e-mail. Repeated attempts to reach Van Zant were unsuccessful.

Legal experts say that if such a ban on abortion is approved in Florida, it will trigger a legal war that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court and have national implications.

Here's the entire story at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

And here's the entire text of Van Zant's e-mail regarding the governor's race:

Dear friends,

Thank you for the many concerned phone calls and e-mails regarding who to vote for in this election cycle.  Many of the races before us have become so controversial due to negative campaigning that the lines for voters are blurred unless you really know the candidates and the issues.  Below please find my opinion and recommendation regarding various state level races and issues, including candidates to vote for, ballot amendments and Supreme Court Judges.  Some have been difficult decisions but have been made with prayer and some based on conversations with the candidates themselves.  Local races for State Legislature, County governments and School Board are not included.

Although you will now have my opinion and recommendation before you, please pray and ask God who to vote for so that ultimately your vote is cast with personal conviction.  Another good thing to do is to look up the Supervisor of Elections website for your county and print out the sample ballot provided.  This will have additional candidates and issues that are not included in this e-mail.  Fill it in and take it with you to the voting booth.  This way you won't be making such important decisions at the moment of voting but will have them well thought out before you get there. 

Florida Governor: Rick Scott / Jennifer Carroll

Please read all the information regarding this recommendation as it is critical for you to be informed about this race.  First, I've known Jennifer Carroll for years.  She is a remarkably devoted conservative who consistently has stood for lower taxes, smaller government, and our free enterprise system while maintaining her allegiance to God and country.

I met Rick Scott during the Primary election and have spent time with him on two occasions and have talked to him on the phone and prayed with him several times. He has taken stands on key issues that define this election for conservatives. Florida's Governor will affect several neighboring states and the Judeo-Christian community of the entire region will be affected by his passage or veto of certain Bills. 

Regarding abortion: Rick Scott pledged that he would assist in advancing the Florida for Life Act through both Florida's House and Senate. He also promised that, once passed, he will sign it into law on behalf of Florida's unborn.  He also added that "in addition to changing our laws we need a campaign to educate people not to destroy their unborn children."  To that I say - Amen.

During our second meeting, I said, "The second mail piece I received from your campaign carried the message that if you were Governor, you would sign legislation making abortion illegal in Florida. Since that was early during the Primary Campaign in a field of Republican Candidates, do you still intend to make that an issue during the General Campaign?"  He immediately said "Yes, that's what I believe and that's what I will do." He telephoned me last week to assure me that he would keep this issue before our state government.

Regarding the issue of state spending, Rick Scott promised that he would budget state spending down and "outsource" state jobs where possible.  This does not mean that he would send state jobs overseas.  Quite the contrary, it means that lucrative jobs within Florida's state government would be bid out to competitive bidders that exist within Florida's business community. This would create jobs for Floridians in the private sector and reduce state spending (and necessary tax dollars) dramatically.  In short, this means state spending and taxes would both decrease and jobs for Floridians would increase.

Regarding property tax reform, his plan calls for a reduction of property taxes by 19 percent.  We desperately need that.

Regarding our Second Amendment rights: according to past NRA president Marion Hammer, Rick Scott has an A rating from the NRA.   His opponent, Alex Sink, has an F rating. To the extent that our citizens' right to keep and bear arms is ever infringed upon, our freedom is diminished.  The National Rifle Association does more to protect our Second Amendment Rights than any other organization in the country.  One main reason that we enjoy the freedom we have today is because our right to keep and bear arms has been protected without infringement.  We must have a governor with an A rating from the NRA.

Also, I wanted to check out opposition claims that Rick Scott was linked to a great Medicaid fraud scandal. So, I contacted a Prosecutor with the State Attorney's office. The reply to my request says:

"Mr. Scott was never a target of the investigation. I have read all the materials I can find on Rick Scott and the HCA investigations.  I have not found any documents that suggest that Rick Scott was ever considered a target of an investigation.  He was not charged with any crime, he was not interviewed about any wrong doing."

 

Scenes of the final days of the Scott campaign: Change and liars

If everyone who said hello to Rick Scott at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium winds up voting for him then Tuesday's primary may turn out differently than the current polls suggest.

Scott - joined by Pat Summerall, the father of his campaign manager - intensely worked the crowd at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on Saturday night. And there was plenty of people to talk to since a lightning delay at the game between the Jaguars and Miami Dolphins forced everyone to crowd into the concession areas, terrace suites and "The Bud Zone." But it was clear that many, many people knew who Scott was and had seen his face on television.

In some instances, people recognized Scott - who has spent nearly $50 million on his campaign for governor - and not Summerall, the on-air personality who graced America's television screens for decades.

Tony Sleiman, the owner of the Jacksonville Landing, led the way for Scott and guided him through the stadium.

"I want change,'' Sleiman said. "I'm tired of the same ole, same ole."

Randy Childress, a Republican voter in Jacksonville, said he had already voted for Scott and echoed Sleiman by saying "It will be a good change for us."

His other reason was simple. "He's made his money. He won't take ours."

Not everyone was as positive. Ed Dowling saw Scott about to go into a door and rushed over to him, shook his hand, and proceeded to tell him that he wasn't voting for either Scott or Attorney General Bill McCollum.

"You're both lying through your teeth,'' said Dowling.

Scott's foray into Jacksonville capped off a day that saw him wind across North Florida. While traveling to the stadium, Scott blasted the Republican Party of Florida, noting reports that the party's federal account has dwindled to just around $50,000. He said this was a sign that the party was wasting its resources in an effort to help his primary rival McCollum.

"They don't care about all the other candidates, they are worried about one candidate, Bill McCollum,'' said Scott. "That makes no sense, you bankrupt the party, you don't care about any other candidates. And they are using it to attack it a conservative business person who believes in the exact principles of the Republican Party probably way more than the guy that they are helping.

"This makes no sense, there's something wrong going on,'' added Scott.

Ironically, Scott wound up walking into Jacksonville Municipal Stadium just yards away from where John Thrasher had set up a tent. Thrasher, the current RPOF chairman who is also running for state Senate, brushed aside Scott's complaints. He pointed out that the party raised more than $7 million in its state account and he predicted that the party would raise a large amount of money during its September Victory dinner where Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is scheduled to speak.

"I'm excited about where we are,'' said Thrasher.

Thrasher acknowledged that the party doesn't have a lot of money in its federal account, but said "we're starting to get some." He wouldn't answer directly Scott's criticisms, but said that people were waiting to see the outcome of the primary.

"Once we have our nominee on Tuesday, we'll be fine,'' said Thrasher. "People have been holding out because they are waiting to see what happens."

Make or break week for McCollum?

On Sunday afternoon, Attorney General Bill McCollum spent several hours preparing for his first debate against Naples businessman Rick Scott.

The core of McCollum campaign team assembled at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables along with others such as House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach.

When McCollum emerged he had a serious game-day look on his face. When asked how the preparation was going, McCollum said he had some more "boning" up to do but he otherwise he said he was ready to go.

The stakes for the two debates this week could be pretty high. McCollum is trailing by double-digits in the polls after Scott's onslaught of television advertising.

But Scott is a political novice who has never debated before, even in high school. So the debate in Miami and later this week in Tampa could provide a sharp contrast to voters, although neither one of the debates will be televised statewide.

Keep reading about the debate here.