Florida Gov. Rick Scott Has Some Strange Ideas About Job Creation

Apparently when the Governor said that he wanted to “Make Florida the Job Creation Model for the Nation” he was just kidding. The truth is Scott has zero intention of providing any solutions that could serve as a model for the nation -- and he is going to need those 20,000 jobs he just sent to California to dig him out of the hole he is burying himself in. How can he honestly claim that he favors job creation while making decisions that send tens of thousands of high paying construction and engineering jobs to other parts of the country?

The traditional GOP economic lens, likely employed by Gov Scott when analyzing the cost-benefit of transit, is apparent in this report by the South Florida Business Journal, which notes that “…the state subsidizes Tri-Rail $34.6 million a year, while passenger revenue covers only $10.4 million of the $64 million annual operating budget.” Comparatively, we spend tens of billions of dollars on highway construction and maintenance, of which only a fraction comes from user fees and taxes. The economic boogeyman conservatives use against transit projects ignores the facts – we spend more than four times what we bring in from car user fees and taxes on highway projects, with diminishing returns on those investments on the land-use and development side.

Despite Scott’s self-proclaimed “keen business sense,” his myopic focus on the economics of the initial HSR phase illustrates a clear lack of vision. HSR is intended to be built out over multiple phases, with a second phase connecting Orlando with Miami. The economic vitality of the system is hinged on the completion of the network as a whole and not just the 84-mile segment linking Tampa and Orlando. Duh.