In the News
Fact Check: Rick Scott's Economic Recovery Only Helps the Wealthy and Well-Connected
Rick Scott wants Floridians to believe the economy has turned around — but they know better. Full-time workers receiving the minimum wage are not able to support themselves and their families. Instead of raising the minimum wage, Rick Scott gives taxpayer handouts to special interests and campaign donors.
- Orlando Sentinel Headline: Pew Report: Florida economic recovery isn’t so rosy. Rick Scott’s Florida is illustrated by a “hollowing out” of middle class jobs, an “eroding” ability to create well-paying jobs, and “53 percent of the decline in Florida’s unemployment rate is due to people dropping out of the labor pool.” [Orlando Sentinel, 2/25/14]
- Orlando Sentinel Headline: Florida Ranks 2nd in Nation for Long-term Unemployment. “Florida ranks second among states with workers who have been unemployed for at least six months, researchers say.” (Orlando Sentinel, 2/8/14)
- Florida’s Consumer Confidence Trails National Levels. (Tampa Bay Times, 1/28/14)
- PolitiFact Headline: Mostly False: Rick Scott Brags About Florida’s Declining Unemployment Rate. (PolitiFact, 9/13/12)
- Rick Scott Is Not Looking Out For “Average Working People.” (PolitiFact, 6/3/13)
- Tampa Bay Times Headline: Florida Democrats’ push for minimum wage increase makes Gov. Scott ‘cringe.’ “When I hear a politician say that we have to raise the minimum wage so working families can make ends meet, I cringe, because I know that statement is a lie.” – Gov. Rick Scott (Tampa Bay Times, 1/8/14)
- Tampa Tribune Headline: High-Speed Rail Would Have Been Profitable, State Report Says. “The high-speed rail project that Gov. Rick Scott doomed last February by turning down more than $2 billion in federal money would have made an annual surplus of $31 million to $45 million within a decade of operation, according to a state report…. According to data from both consulting firms hired by the state, the project, which would have given Florida the nation’s first high-speed rail line, would have been a fiscally sound decision.” (Tampa Tribune, 3/19/13)
- Refusing High-Speed Rail Funds Cost Florida Tens Of Thousands Of Jobs. “Building the Tampa-Orlando HSR line is projected to create 23,000 job-years of direct construction jobs and more than 48,000 job-years of work through both direct and spin-off employment during the four-year construction period.” (Central Florida Partnership)
- Rick Scott Gave Fat Contract To Well-Connected Firm That Bungled Unemployment Website. “The vendor blamed for the website that locked thousands of Floridians out of their unemployment benefits was awarded a $31.6 million contract by another state agency, despite being significantly underbid. Suzanne Vitale, who was then the Department of Children and Family’s deputy secretary, awarded Deloitte Consulting a contract to modernize the state’s system for tracking Medicaid eligibility, even though it sought about $6 million more than a bid by a rival firm, Accenture.” (Tampa Bay Times, 2/21/14)