Nan Rich Challenges Rick Scott on Transportation Projects and Jobs

The honeymoon for Gov. Rick Scott is clearly over -- at least as far as Florida Democrats are concerned.

Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich of Weston said on Wednesday that Scott should end the freeze on state transportation contracts and tried a little political jujitsu to turn one of the Republicans strengths against him.

With more than 1 million Floridians out of work, the last thing this state can sustain is the prospect of throwing even more people into the ranks of the unemployed or stopping others from getting hired, said Rich. Its time to move Lets get to work from bumper stickers into practice and allow these projects to begin.

This state cant afford the luxury of waiting for another layer of bureaucrats to sift through contracts already examined by other bureaucrats and given the green light to keep Florida moving, added Rich. If this is how the governor intends to 'get government out of the way, it sure isnt working.

Rich focused on an order from the new governor issued on his first day in office, calling for all contracts -- including those involved with transportation projects that will cost taxpayers more than $1 million --to be reviewed by the newly created Office of Fiscal Responsibility and Regulatory Reform. Rich claimed that this froze $400 million in road projects across the Sunshine State including $84 million being used to add express lanes to I-95.