Politifact.com: Statements from Rick Scott

Rick Scott - Rick Scott says K-12, state university funding is highest in last six years

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 11:28:08 -0400

The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Rick Scott says K-12, state university funding is highest in last six years

Gov. Rick Scott bragged that his final state budget continues a trend of record funding for education. "For the sixth straight year, we have secured record funding for K-12 and state universities to ensure every student has the opportunity to receive a world-class education in Florida," Scott wrote in a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner on March 16. Scott’s claim is at odds with Democrats and state educators who say the education budget doesn’t go far enough to cover classroom needs. The 2018-19 budget includes specific allotments for school safety and mental health ...

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Rick Scott - Rick Scott says Bill Nelson has done nothing on gun control, ignoring his Senate record

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 17:14:21 -0500

The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Rick Scott says Bill Nelson has done nothing on gun control, ignoring his Senate record

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson criticized Gov. Rick Scott for not appearing at the CNN town hall following the Parkland shooting. "There is no representative of the state of Florida," Nelson said during the Feb. 21 town hall in which Marjory Stoneman Douglas students spoke. "Our governor did not come here." Days later at a press conference where Scott announced a proposal for $450 million in school security funding, a reporter asked Scott to respond to Nelson’s criticism. Scott, a Republican, is widely expected to challenge Nelson, a Democrat, in the 2018 elections. "Bill Nelson is a ...

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Rick Scott - Gov. Rick Scott's Full Flop on oil drilling

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 17:41:30 -0500

The Truth-o-Meter says: Full Flop | Gov. Rick Scott's Full Flop on oil drilling

Gov. Rick Scott met with a member of President Donald Trump’s administration and struck a deal to remove Florida from a list of states proposed for more offshore oil drilling. "As a result of our interest in making sure that there's no drilling here, Florida will be taken off the table," Scott said Jan. 9th, after meeting with U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in Tallahassee. Zinke highlighted Scott’s role in the deal. "Florida is obviously unique," Zinke said. "For Floridians, we are not drilling off the coast of Florida, and clearly the governor has expressed that it's important." Scott’s ...

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Rick Scott - Florida Gov. Rick Scott says he's cut taxes 75 times, creating 1.3 million jobs. Did he?

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 14:02:52 -0500

The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Florida Gov. Rick Scott says he's cut taxes 75 times, creating 1.3 million jobs. Did he?

For years, Republican Gov. Rick Scott has touted an ever-growing pile of tax cuts he has achieved for the state. In 2013, he claimed he cut taxes 24 times. In 2014, that number grew to 40. Now, as Scott rounds out his last full year in office (and ponders a run for the U.S. Senate), the tally has been raised once more. "We’ve cut taxes 75 times, cut $7.5 billion worth in taxes, and as a result we’ve added over 1.3 million jobs," Scott said Nov. 9 during a news conference in Tampa. Scott's past boasts rated Half True, because ...

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Rick Scott - Yes, Florida has the second-lowest state taxes per capita

Thu, 13 Apr 2017 10:00:00 -0400

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Yes, Florida has the second-lowest state taxes per capita

Gov. Rick Scott travels the state with a rap sheet of talking points laying out all he’s done to lower taxes — a topic, no doubt, on many Floridians’ minds ahead of Tax Day. (Tuesday!) Scott launched into this list during a roundtable discussion in Pensacola on April 7. "We’ve cut taxes 55 times. Our job growth rate is showing almost double the rest of the country. Our labor force is growing four times the rest of our county, and we have the second-lowest tax burden, per capita, state taxes in the country," Scott said. We previously evaluated an ...

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Rick Scott - Yes, Florida really is the only state to tax commercial leases, as Gov. Rick Scott said

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 11:55:57 -0500

The Truth-o-Meter says: True | Yes, Florida really is the only state to tax commercial leases, as Gov. Rick Scott said

At his State of the State address, Gov. Rick Scott once again promised to cut the state's tax on commercial leases, something he says is unique only to Florida. "Florida is now the only state in the nation to tax commercial leases," Scott said March 7. Florida does levy a 6 percent sales tax on the total rent paid for any commercial property, including storefronts, offices and warehouses. But is that the only state-level tax of its kind? Scott’s team sent over an October 2015 report from Florida TaxWatch, a group that takes a critical look at state ...

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Rick Scott - Gov. Rick Scott says cutting Enterprise Florida will hurt rural areas

Wed, 22 Feb 2017 06:00:00 -0500

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Gov. Rick Scott says cutting Enterprise Florida will hurt rural areas

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and House Speaker Richard Corcoran are at war over the future of state agencies that promote tourism and provide corporate incentives to recruit jobs. In an unusual venting session with reporters in Tallahassee on Feb. 7, Scott attacked House Republicans for proposing a bill that would kill Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida. (Since that time, Corcoran has proposed slashing Visit Florida’s budget but not kill it.) "When the House wants to stop Enterprise Florida, they are hurting our poorest communities. They're hurting our rural communities," said Scott, a Republican. We went in search of ...

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Rick Scott - Gov. Rick Scott paints fellow Republicans as job-killers for Enterprise Florida, Visit Florida votes

Fri, 17 Feb 2017 10:31:20 -0500

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Gov. Rick Scott paints fellow Republicans as job-killers for Enterprise Florida, Visit Florida votes

Gov. Rick Scott is painting fellow Republicans as job-killers for their support of a bill that would decimate the state’s agencies for tourism promotion and business incentives. Scott has escalated his feud with House Speaker Richard Corcoran by calling out legislators on their own turf for votes in committee to dismantle Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida. Scott credits these two groups for helping usher 1.2 million private-sector jobs into the state since he was elected. In his view, a vote to eliminate the agencies is a vote against jobs. At a stop of the "Fighting for Florida’s Jobs" tour in ...

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Rick Scott - Rick Scott says federal government has shortchanged Florida on Zika money

Mon, 12 Dec 2016 16:25:05 -0500

The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Rick Scott says federal government has shortchanged Florida on Zika money

Florida Gov. Rick Scott hopes that his ally headed to the White House, President-elect Donald Trump, will speed up funding for Florida to combat the Zika virus. While announcing that state health officials had lifted the zone of active Zika transmission in one area of Miami-Dade County, Scott mentioned his ongoing feud with President Barack Obama’s administration about the pace and size of federal dollars flowing to Florida. "It has been more than two months since over $1 billion in Zika funding was signed by President Obama, and the federal government has still only committed $7 million to help reimburse ...

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Rick Scott - Rick Scott misleads about the inventors of Obamacare by ignoring Republicans' roles

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 06:00:00 -0500

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Rick Scott misleads about the inventors of Obamacare by ignoring Republicans' roles

Donald Trump’s White House win gave Florida Gov. Rick Scott a powerful ally in his fight against Obamacare. In a Nov. 30 op-ed in USA Today, the former hospital executive reiterated his 2010 campaign pledge to fight for repeal of the federal health care law. "Other than President Obama and a few stragglers, everyone now realizes that Obamacare was a terrible notion," wrote the Republican governor. "It was sold on a lie. It was invented by liberal academic theorists who have no interaction with real families and businesses and therefore it doesn’t work." Scott’s piece leaves out ...

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