Charlie Crist issued a statement today about the proposed $77.1 billion Florida budget up for a vote by state lawmakers Friday evening.
“Lawmakers should be commended for approaching the budget in a bipartisan fashion,” said the former Republican turned Democrat, “but I’m very concerned about the level of funding for our schools.”
Crist added that there is good education is essential to long-term job growth in the state. With more than $2.5 billion in new revenues coming into the state this year, Crist calls on the Legislature to restore all of Gov. Rick Scott’s previous cuts to per-student funding, and give our teachers raise, as well as invest in good local schools.
“Governor Scott needs to fix this budget,” he concluded. “He should use his line-item veto and judge every pork project by one test: Would this money be better spent helping Florida’s children?
Crist, who is challenging the incumbent Governor as a Democrat, said Scott should “veto the pork spending,” and call the legislature back to town and demand the money be put into public schools.
