Sen. Alexander Praises Gov. Scott's First Session

On the verge of sine die, Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, lauded Gov. Rick Scott for helping to move his "bold goals" through the Legislature.

Alexander bumped heads with Scott early on in his administration, taking issue with Scott's unilateral sale of state planes without legislative approval. But in an impromptu Q&A with reporters, Alexander said Scott helped to guide the Legislature during regular session, which ends Friday.

"I think from his inaugural speech all the way through, he has set the overall agenda for the Legislature and to a large degree we've followed suit. Now, you know maybe the details get changed around, but at the end of the day, I'd say that in large degree I think he should take a big victory lap and say in fact he did set the agenda and for the most part we followed suit," Alexander said.

Scott has gotten some of his big-ticket items of his agenda through the Legislature this session, while others have languished or fallen victim to the process. His idea of having a 5 percent contribution rate for state workers was reduced to 3 percent by the Legislature. Lawmakers also raised the tax exemption for small businesses as a way to appease Scott, who called for a much more ambitious plan to cut the overall corporate income tax rate, saving businesses $2.4 billion over two years before eventually phasing out the tax altogether.

Alexander said that while Scott still has a "learning curve," he has faith the governor will be able to get up to speed in the coming years.

"He's probably like all new governors, he's kind of finding his feet," Alexander said. "I expect that just as (former Gov. Jeb Bush's) first year was a little wobbly ...there's a learning curve particularly for folks like Jeb and the governor to understand how to fully interact. He seems to be a bright guy and he's adapting well."