Governor Rick Scott has signed his first budget, and caught lawmakers by surprise with his intentions for the money he cut.  Scott told WOKV News Thursday morning that college construction projects, budget turkeys, and other projects are on his veto list.

During a special budget signing ceremony at The Villages in Sumter County, Scott said he cut $615 million worth of "special interests" from the budget and called on the legislature to redirect that money to education.

In a school board workshop Friday morning, Duval County Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals said he's not surprised the governor made such a request, given Scott's falling approval rating, and called on the community to call their state legislators and ask them to return to Tallahassee to appropriate some of that money to the schools.  Despite the plea, Pratt-Dannals said he's doubtful that any of that money will reach Duval County Schools.

Board member Becki Couch, presumably responding to a WOKV story about State Senator Stephen Wise referenced during the meeting, said it's arrogant for lawmakers to think that a special session is not warranted given the crisis facing local schools. 

The $69.7 billion budget approved by the state Legislature includes about $203 million worth of projects identified by Florida Tax Watch as "budget turkeys."  Those items range from money for charities like the Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Wounded Warrior Project, to over $130 million for construction projects at college campuses across the state.  Much of that money was vetoed by the governor.

"There are way far too many tax dollars in the budget that should be put into other priorities," said Scott, "I have a line-item veto. There's 3036 lines of the budget, I've gone through every one of them, I've probably gotten a phone call on every one of them, and I'm making sure that we don't waste tax dollars," Scott told WOKV.

Before vetoing the projects, the governor also expressed doubt that the state can afford to borrow more money to build colleges under the Public Education Capital Outlay program, which pays back "loans" with money from a 2.5 percent gross receipts tax on electric, gas and telecommunications services. "We have over 23 billion dollars worth of debt in the state, so as you know, I've been very focused on making sure we don't increase the debt in our state," said Scott.  Like many other taxes in Florida, the tax revenue that pays back those loans has fallen along with the economy. 

Scott's critics were quick to point out that he rejected a call to veto a "raid" on the state Transportation Trust Fund.  The fund is filled by gasoline taxes and spent traditionally on road projects, but state lawmakers decided to take $150 million out of that fund to help balance the budget this year.

Although he didn't stop it from happening, Scott told WOKV he's deeply concerned about the raid because it could kill construction jobs and slow down growth in the economy. "We got to make sure that we have the money for infrastructure in our state, this state is going to be one of the fastest growing states again."