If you know anything about Florida Governor Rick Scott you know one of his mantras -- less taxes.
And as the legislature gets set to meet next month, Scott's budget will be a test of whether he's staying true to his campaign promises on that.
PolitiFact Florida has checked the budget against a couple of Scott's tax cut promises and has found that his proposals are, at least, on track.
On the campaign trail, Scott proposed saving Floridians $120 million a year by cutting the Communications Sales Tax.
"We put this on the Scott-O-Meter which tracks whether or not he has kept campaign promises. We have now started on his second term and the promises he made during the 2014 campaign and on this one we slide it to In The Works which mean it has not been completed but there has been some movement on it," explained Josh Gillin of PolitiFact Florida. "The Communication Services Tax is a tax that is levied on cable and phone and satellite communications and it's kind of a complicated formula. But what Scott has asked for in his budget proposal is a reduction 3.6 percent. The cut that Scott has asked the legislature to consider is quite a bit more than that $120 million. All told it would cut about $470 million."
Another of the pledges Governor Scott made during his bid for a second term was that he would turn on the funding spigot for springs restoration and water programs, one thing he had largely ignored his first term.
"This is another one that is In The Works. We're waiting to see what the legislature does when they convene in March," Gillin said. "What we are talking about here is, instead of the big ticket items like Everglades restoration, this one recommends $50 million for cleaning up the states fresh water springs. The other part of that is a new recommendation for this year -- $50 million for alternative water supplies."
