Gov. Rick Scott must be getting to like these ceremonial bill signings, where local leaders are invited to help him celebrate enactment of a bill already signed into law. Tuesday marked a ceremonial two-fer.
Scott planned stops in two TV markets, Naples and West Palm Beach, to twice ceremonially sign a bill that creates a dedicated source of money for restoration of the Everglades, a program the Legislature branded as the Legacy Florida Initiative.
In each of the past two years, Scott has signed the state budget -- the most important bill of any session -- in private, with no lights, cameras or questions. But Tuesday's dual ceremonies bring to 10 the number of victory lap events this year compared to two in 2015 for a governor widely seen as laying the groundwork for a U.S. Senate candidacy two years from now.
That's a lot of blue Sharpie pens, which Scott hands out as souvenirs after a signing ceremony.
The subjects, dates and places of Scott's previous 2016 bill signing ceremonies were for Israel (April 6 in Boca Raton); veterans (April 7, Palm Beach); tax cuts (April 13, Jacksonville); Holocaust memorial (April 18, Davie); rape kits (April 21, Tampa); benefits for fallen officers (April 25, Orlando); college affordability (May 23, Boca Raton again) and mental health and substance abuse funding (May 25, Miami).
Comments