Rick Scott didnt exactly cover himself with glory this legislative session but, when things got rough, he fell back to his political bread and butter: opposing Obamacare. Now he has some major challenges to get his agenda through the special session while ensuring the GOP isnt too fractionalized for 2016.
Scotts big goal this session was his $670 million tax cut package and he didnt get it. The tax cuts died as a result of the fight between the House and the Senate over Medicaid expansion and the budget.
If Republicans across the state believe in one thing, its tax cuts. But Scotts proposal was a casualty in the war over Medicaid expansion and the budget. Even with Republicans in firm control of both chambers, he couldnt get tax cuts over the finish line.
Wandering off the reservation a bit and leaving some room to accept Medicaid expansion, the governor left no room for doubt and went back to basics: opposing Obamacare. Since he burst on the political scene, Scott worked his way up the ladder with his enmity to Obamacare. One of the reasons Scott beat Bill McCollum in 2010 was by convincing Republican primary voters that he would do a better job against Obamacare, even if McCollum was the one who started the legal challenge to it.
Since then, Scott has done well by being steady with his opposition to the president's health care reform. It helped him unite the GOP after the divisive primary against McCollum. It helped him get the support of Republicans in the Legislature, even if they had first backed McCollum and had concerns about a stranger and outsider like Scott at the helm in Tallahassee. And it helped keep Republicans in line when Charlie Crist ran against Scott last year.
With the regular session now done and a special session coming up, Scott is going back to the tried and true. Like Steve Crisafuli on the House side, he is now claiming Medicaid expansion is growing Obamacare. Thats not something Republicans in the Senate behind Medicaid expansion want to hear. Conservatives and tea party supporters at least have to be considering primarying some of the Senate Republicans and Scotts comments arent helping the incumbents. They dont want to be lashed to Obamacare.
Scott has three big goals ahead for the special session. Getting a budget without Medicaid expansion is a big one and he should be able to get that, especially with the feds continuing to shift and pivot on whether or not LIP funds are tied to Medicaid expansion. The tax cuts might be harder, even if Republicans have big majorities in both chambers. Scott also wants to ensure the Republicans are back on the same page and ensure the nasty fight in Tallahassee doesnt spill over. The GOP cant afford to have its leaders at each other's throats in 2016 and Scott still has to work with the Legislature for three more years.
Those can all be done, of course, but Scott has to do it in a way that quickly heals the wounds. Much was made about Scott hitting the road in the final week of session, but the writing was already on the wall. Scott will have to be far more active in bringing the House and the Senate together, and likely he will. If he does that, he will have to back down on his rhetoric against senators, but he might just be able to ride out the storm.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
