Florida's Scott: I Still Want Budget Cuts

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who campaigned on lowering taxes for property owners and businesses, said Tuesday that he still hopes to see the cuts in the state budget, even as lawmakers reached a deal that doesn’t include them.

“I'm confident with the House and Senate we have that we'll get tax reductions, because everybody understands this is about jobs, it's about putting our state back to work,” Scott said, the Sunshine State News reported Wednesday. “Part of putting our state back to work is making sure we reduce the size of government, the cost of government, and put money back in taxpayers' hands, that's what's going to create private-sector jobs.”

With less than two weeks before the end of the regular legislative session, it looks like lawmakers have come to a budget deal to fill the state’s $3.8 billion budget shortfall. While the deal includes drastic cuts, it doesn’t incorporate Scott’s proposal to drop the business income tax from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent next year.

Scott has not said whether he would veto the budget if it doesn’t include enough tax cuts.


“I’m confident that the right thing will happen,” he said. “We’re going to reduce the size of government, the cost of government, and we’re going to make sure that we’re going to get taxpayer dollars back in taxpayer hands through tax reductions.”