Source: Miami Herald
THE VILLAGES -- At a campaign-style event that banned some Democrats, Republican Gov. Rick Scott fashioned himself into Florida’s new veto king Thursday when he axed $615 million from the state budget before signing it.
The biggest target of the veto pen: $305 million targeted for environmental land buys. Scott also cut $169 million in college projects and vetoed scores of hometown spending lawmakers earmarked for their districts.
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Members of The Villages Democratic Club were barred from the budget signing by Scott staffers who said the outdoor event in The Villages town square was “private.” Other staffers and Republican operatives scoured the crowd and had Sumter County sheriff’s deputies remove those with anti-Scott signs or liberal-looking pins and buttons. They escorted more than a dozen people off the property.
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Fasano suggested Scott’s emphasis on education was a result of Wednesday’s news from Quinnipiac University, which released a poll that indicated he had the lowest approval rating of any governor, 29 percent. The poll also showed a majority of voters said the budget was “unfair.
