Tomorrow, Rick Scott plans to sign his Tea Party budget, which is nothing short of a nightmare for Florida.

By signing the budget tomorrow, Rick Scott will be destroying the jobs of tens of thousands of middle-class Floridians. Firefighters, police officers, teachers and nurses across Florida will get pink slips and the fragile economic recovery in Florida will be greatly damaged by Rick Scott and the Republican Legislature’s extreme agenda.

We have 24 hours to try and change his mind.

Click here to email Rick Scott and tell him to veto the budget. Tell Rick Scott to call the Legislature back into session to pass a budget that doesn’t harm middle class families or destroy jobs.

Floridians are already seeing headlines across the state of the disastrous affects of Rick Scott’s budget. The Miami Herald reported that pink slips have already been given to 1,400 teachers in Broward County alone. In Pinellas County, 1,100 teachers were recently told they won’t be returning to the classroom next fall.

The $1.3 billion cut to Florida’s public schools means as many as 17,000 teachers across the state will be laid off and schools will have to close because of the Republicans failed policies which hurt the educational opportunities for Florida’s children.

As if all this wasn’t enough, we can’t forget how this will affect Florida’s economy. The number one reason why businesses don’t move to Florida is because of concerns about Florida’s schools.

We all know that quality public schools create jobs and enhance our economy and communities. Now, we need to tell Rick Scott that education is too important to the future of our state to sign this budget.

Email Rick Scott and ask him to veto the job-destroying budget tomorrow.

Rick Scott works for us, let’s work to hold him accountable.

Sincerely,

Rod Smith
Chairman, Florida Democratic Party

Statement from Representative Bullard:

GOVERNOR SCOTT TO SIGN A JOB-DESTROYING BUDGET

Miami, FL – State Representative Dwight M. Bullard (D-Miami) issued the following statement:

After a campaign promise to put Floridians back to work and not to raise new taxes, Governor Rick Scott plans to sign a state budget that does just the opposite.

Don’t put lipstick on a pig and tell me it’s not a pig.  Don’t reduce state employees’ salaries by 3 percent and tell me it’s not an income tax. Don’t cut Florida’s funding for education, the Department of Children & Families, and reject the high-speed rail plan and tell me you are putting Floridians back to work. 

If passed, this budget will:

· Slash Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals, nursing homes, health departments, hospice care, and non-emergency transportation

· Raise tuition by 8 percent at every state university and college, and allow universities to increase tuition up to 15 percent

· Eliminate services for people with developmental disabilities

· Reduce total funding for public schools by $1.35 billion

· Decrease spending for Healthy Start, a program for women and infants

· Raid a transportation Trust Fund that could eliminate 8,400 private-sector and public jobs

· Institute a 3 percent income tax on teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public-sector workers

Today, I’m asking all Floridians to stand with me in urging Gov. Scott to veto this proposed budget.  Please call him at (850) 488-7146 prior to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 26.

Representative Mark Pafford Urges the Governor to VETO THE BUDGET

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- State Representative Mark Pafford (D-West Palm Beach) released the following statement:

“With genuine concern for the hard-working people I serve and all Floridians, I strongly urge Governor Rick Scott to veto in its entirety the jobs-destroying budget legislation on his desk.

“It is impossible to know precisely how bad this budget is, but I voted against it, and I believe the governor should reject it, because it obviously hurts Florida’s economy.

“It is a budget that eliminates, and does not create, jobs for Floridians. It is a sorely deficient budget that is inappropriately balanced on the backs of our middle class, especially public school teachers, police officers, firefighters, and small business owners. And unlike the months that go into crafting budgets for cities and counties, the Legislature dedicates insufficient time, only a few months, to developing a state budget. Floridians deserve a responsible budget, not a political budget.

“By vetoing the entire budget -- rather than simply rejecting a few token line items -- and calling the Legislature back into session to craft a better state spending plan, the governor can help prevent the hardship that this budget will bring to thousands of Floridians.”