Crowley Political Report

 
Did Gov. Rick Scott fib to the Tea Party and the rest of us?

It sure looks that way, according to a report this morning by Lloyd Dunkelberger, the long-time Tallahassee reporter for the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Lakeland Ledger and Gainesville Sun.

Apparently,  Scott's $5.2 billion in budget cuts is really only $3.5 billion.  Why? Because Scott wants to shift the $1.3 billion for university tuition and $453 million for county clerks of courts out of the state budget.

As Dunkelberger points out, the money is still collected but from Floridians but it is taken out of the state budget.

When Senate  budget chairman J.D. Alexander of Lake Wales asked the Scott's budget director, Jerry McDaniel, if the real reduction was only $3.5 billion, McDaniel said - "that's correct."

Who in the world thought it was a good idea for Gov. Scott to tell folks he was cutting the budget by more than $5.2 billion when in fact he is not?

 Art by Patrick Crowley