The Fine Print

Rick Scott and President Obama: Linked again?

Gov. Rick Scott is scheduled on Friday to act on another big batch of bills, but one of them is sure to overshadow all of the others.

Scott must decide whether to maintain his desire to keep college tuition low - or sign a bill that lets the University of Florida and Florida State University raise its tuition rates above the current 15 percent a year cap set in state law.

This decision in many ways may be a pivotal one for Scott that factors into this year's elections - as well as maybe even Scott's re-election bid in 2014.

Scott must make his up mind on the legislation (HB 7129) at the same exact time that President Barack Obama has been hitting college campuses in North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa. The president has been calling on Congress to stop interest rates on student loans from increasing this summer.

It has turned into yet another fierce partisan fight because Democrats and Republicans are in sharp disagreement on how to pay for it.

Republicans have responded to Obama's push by saying the real problem for young people right now is that they are unemployed or underemployed due to the ongoing problems in the economy.

But at the same time GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney - who Scott has now endorsed - agrees that the interest rate should be keep at its current rate.

Scott himself did not recommend a tuition hike in his budget, although he let stand a five-percent hike for the state's 28 colleges take effect. This week, however, he told reporters that he hopes that the Board of Governors - which oversees the state's universities ( a different set of higher education institutions) - does not use its power to raise tuition up to the full 15 percent now allowed under law.

The governor also said that he not made up his mind on the UF/FSU bill and has prepared both a veto message and a signing message.

You can argue of course tuition hikes - and the student loan issue - are not the same. But at a time that both parties are battling over young voters Scott's action could be used by the Democrats for symbolic purposes.

And it's worth noting that Alachua and Leon counties - the home to UF/FSU - delivered for Obama big-time in 2008. Obama won Florida by more than 236,000 votes. His margin over McCain in those two counties alone was nearly 64,000 votes. Were those votes all from students? No, of course not. But it's fair to say that they helped.

So while there is a political element to all of of this this also a make or break moment for higher education watchers.

The bill was an outgrowth of House Speaker Dean Cannon's speech this past January where he contended that the state's universities are mired in mediocrity and suffer from too much political interference.

In the last several years lawmakers have step-by-step moved closer to this moment. It used to be that tuition was completely in the hands of the Florida Legislature, but they have slowly ceded control to others, primarily the Board of Governors.

This of course has the effect of slowly taking tuition out of the political arena. In the past some Republicans fought this by arguing they did not want to relinquish control over something that affects the pocketbook of thousands of people.

University supporters, however, contend more money is needed to help propel the state's universities forward and make them more competitive with other national schools. The bill would be a first step in that direction.

Still a N.Y. Times article points some interesting facts, including that last year student debt surpassed card debt in 2010 and that for the last three decades tuition has outpaced the rate of inflation.

In many ways Scott and Obama - despite stark differences in many policy areas - are linked together because the jobs situation in Florida (now and in 2014) will be a key to their political success. You can argue over who is responsible, but you can't dismiss the fact that the unemployment rate remains a major factor in their re-election campaigns.

The question is whether or not college affordability becomes another place where the two become connected.

(UPDATE: Scott disappointed UF and FSU supporters and he vetoed the bill. In his veto message, the governor said that he was concerned about the growing debt burden of his students and a lack of jobs for college

"Many Floridians have offered very passionate advice on this issue," Scott wrote. "While this decision has not been easy, I do not feel that I can sign this bill into law without a more detailed plan to ensure the increased tuition requirements on Florida students will provide the return they and other Floridians need on their additional investment."

 

 

The warning letter on the budget that Gov. Rick Scott almost sent out

Gov. Rick Scott on Friday was sent a proposed $70 billion budget approved this year by state lawmakers.

He has until April 21 to sign it and use his line-item veto power to eliminate member and hometown projects or other spending items that the governor finds objectionable.

There's a good chance that this year's budget veto list could be extensive.

Scott of course has made strides to change his dealings with lawmakers from those first few awkward weeks of last year. He even joked this week that he knows a lot more people now which means he's getting a lot more phone calls about items in the budget.

But the question remains just how conciliatory Scott plans to be when it comes to government spending and the budget especially when part of the appeal he made to conservative Republicans and Tea party members was his belief that government spending needs to come down in order to help grow the economy overall.

Consider this: While legislators went along with Scott's desire to bolster education spending (after cutting it deeply the year before) lawmakers did not cut spending as much as the governor had advocated in his own budget recommendations.

And then there's the budget letter he almost sent.

Scott's budget office midway through the session drew up a "draft notice letter" that the governor wanted. Emails show that there was a brief discussion of sending it to the Legislature although ultimately it was never sent out.

And what did the letter say?

"Almost a year later, and after listening to Floridians from many walks of life, I am more convinced than ever that government, if left unchecked, has a tendency to stray from its core mission.  Reducing the size and cost of government are imperative for Florida’s future.    I mentioned in my State-of-the-State address to the 2012 Legislature that as Governor, I view my job to have 3 key requirements:

• Ensuring that Floridians are able to gain employment  
• Securing the right of every Floridian to a quality education
• Keeping the cost of living low

These principles are reflected in my Fiscal Year 2012-13 budget recommendations. Priorities have to be determined and tough decisions have to be made to create a government that is lean and efficient, and most importantly, creates an environment where businesses can flourish and grow jobs.

To maintain my promise to the citizens of Florida to keep government spending in check, I will continue to watch carefully as each house prepares their respective budgets.  I also pledge that I will again closely scrutinize each line item in the anticipated budget for Fiscal Year 2012-13.  As I had noted in the May 26, 2011 veto letter:  “This year, throughout my line-by-line examination of the state budget, I found many expenditures of taxpayer dollars with laudable and important goals but limited accountability.  Those that won my approval this year will not receive approval next year unless my office receives clearly defined measurements submitted with their Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Legislative Budget Requests.” 

 I will watch closely for projects and programs that:

• are not essential to the operation of state government;
• lack sufficient accountability;
• hamper the continued growth of private sector jobs;
• increase our debt burden; or
• represent federal funding that assumes continued state commitment

 With that, I challenge all the members of the Legislature to assess past actions, consider the present critical needs and invest in our future as they finalize their budgets.  

Flash forward to his comments to the press on Tuesday when asked about the budget: "My responsibility is to the taxpayers of the state. If it's a good return on taxpayer money, I'm interested in it."

Last year Scott vetoed more than $600 million although that figure was inflated because the amount of one of the line items was based on land sales that were unlikely to materialize.

But there is the possibility that if Scott sticks to the principles outlined in his "draft notice letter" there could be a sizable amount of vetoes.

It's not just the millions tucked here and there for member projects.

It could be the money lawmakers set aside for school construction projects or private universities. How about the nearly $4 million for public television? Scott vetoed similar funding last year. This year lawmakers have tried to spare a possible veto by calling on the Department of Education to study whether or not public television programs help with learning gains.

The list goes on and on of items that could be targeted, whether its funding for transportation projects, new technology purchase etc. etc.

Scott will not likely top the amount of vetoes he made last year, but depending on how closely he follows his "draft notice letter" the amount could easily be a nine-digit figure.