Politics

Sen. Rick Scott: Gov. Cuomo ‘Wants Florida Taxpayers To Bail Him Out’

CNN

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott said Sunday that Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should stop asking for more coronavirus stimulus money because his state has overspent on “every liberal thing there is.”

“I was a governor for eight years,” Scott told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I watched a lot of these individuals, they were governors when I was, like Andrew Cuomo, and I got elected at the same time. He didn’t balance his budget. He borrowed more money every year.”

Claiming that New York’s state budget is “almost double” that of Florida, the senator said the reason is because Cuomo “doesn’t want to cut anything. You know, he’s involved in every liberal thing there is and he wants Florida taxpayers to bail him out.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘We Won, He Lost,’: Sen. Rick Scott Goes Off On Andrew Cuomo Over State Bailouts)

Scott said the yearly exodus of New York residents to Florida can largely be accounted for by “people … who moved here to get away from the ridiculous taxes up there.”

As far as federal spending, Scott noted that “we’ve given them $50 billion for the Medicaid program … We gave them $30 billion for their higher education and K-12 … We gave them money through FEMA … We’ve given them other direct grants … a total of $270 billion … I mean, give me a break.”

Cuomo has argued that New York has been “bailing out” most other state with payments to the federal government.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the press at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, on March 27, 2020. - The New York National Guard, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and Javits employees are constructing a 1,000-bed facility at the center, as the state tries to contain the rising coronavirus cases. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the press at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, on March 27, 2020. (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s not the time to be saying, ‘Well, you put in a dollar more than I did, or I put in $5 more than you did.’ … But if you want to go to who’s getting bailed out and who paid what, nobody would be bailing out New York state,” Cuomo said during a recent news briefing. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Rick Scott To Release Video Going After Gov. Andrew Cuomo For Saying New York Bails Out Florida)

CNN host Dana Bash also cited a study from the Rockefeller Institute that “found that Florida receives $25 billion more in programs than it pays in taxes. New York pays $22 billion more in taxes than it receives in programs. So why shouldn’t Florida be willing to chip in to help New York?”

Scott responded, “The government of New York has never sent a dime, while I’ve been up there in D.C., to the federal government. They don’t do it,” Scott said.

“What happens is, their citizens, while they’re working in New York, pay into Social Security and Medicare and they get sick and tired of all the taxes up there and move to Florida and receive those benefits. That’s not the government of New York sending a dime to the federal government.”

Scott was recently asked if he believes the sun and hotter temperatures in Florida are helping to contain the coronavirus. He replied that the evidence is “not conclusive” that it does but would seem to indicate so.